Iraq's lesson for Afghanistan

September 26, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

The routing of the Iraqi Army in June is reason to reexamine military assistance to Afghanistan.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

To read this post and thousands more articles, subscribe today!

Iraq has received "credible" intelligence that Islamic State militants plan to attack subway systems in Paris and the United States, Iraq's prime minister said on Thursday, but senior US and French officials said they had no evidence to back up the claim. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he had received the information Thursday morning from militants captured in Iraq and concluded it was credible after asking for further details. The attacks, he said, were plotted from inside Iraq by "networks" of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Hundreds of Islamic extremists have surrendered in Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon following the military's recent victories with air and ground attacks, military authorities said Wednesday. The Nigerian Defense Ministry has said it has killed hundreds of insurgents recently in the country's northeast. Several militant commanders were among the dead including Mohammed Bashir, whom the Nigerian military identified as a double who posed in videos as Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, a military statement said Wednesday.

A woman punched repeatedly by a California Highway Patrol officer on the side of a freeway in an incident caught on video will receive $1.5 million under a settlement, and the officer has agreed to resign. CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow confirmed the settlement in an emailed statement and an attorney for Marlene Pinnock confirmed the dollar amount for The Associated Press. The punching occurred after motorists' 911 calls reported that Pinnock, who is bipolar, was walking along the freeway and the responding officer pulled her from traffic, according to a legal document in the case.

Ukraine's leader said Thursday that "the most dangerous part of the war" has passed and that the conflict with pro-Russia separatists in the country's east is on the wane. Artillery fire, however, still rang out in the region's largest city. In a news conference in Kiev outlining a six-year plan for Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko said: "I have no doubt whatsoever that my peace plan will work and that the main and most dangerous part of the war is behind." Poroshenko's plan includes reforming all major government agencies in the country. The president said he hoped those reforms would make the country ready for membership in the European Union by 2020.

A plan by Central American governments to boost economic growth in the region and cut illegal immigration to the United States foresees major spending on infrastructure and energy projects, a draft of the proposal showed on Wednesday. The "Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle" aims to renovate highways, city bypasses and border crossings in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as carry out improvements to other infrastructure in the region.

A stumble by Apple set off a rout in the stock market Thursday, its worst day in nearly two months. The selling started early and picked up strength in the afternoon. By the close of trading, all 30 big companies in the Dow Jones industrial average and the 10 industries in the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost ground. The S&P 500 index lost 32.31 points, or 1.6 percent, to close at 1,965.99. The Dow slumped 264.26 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 16,945.80. The Nasdaq composite, which is dominated by technology companies, dropped 88.47 points, or 1.9 percent, to 4,466.75.

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error