| At least 32 Islamic State fighters killed in strikes in Syria's Raqqa: monitor Posted: 06 Dec 2015 07:48 AM PST  At least 32 Islamic State fighters were killed and 40 more wounded in Syria's Raqqa province on Sunday, in a series of air strikes believed to be carried out by a U.S.-led coalition targeting the jihadists, a monitoring group said. More than 15 explosions hit Islamic State positions in the countryside of Raqqa province and near its capital, Raqqa city, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Raqqa is Islamic State's Syrian stronghold.
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| Knife attacker slashes man in London 'terrorist incident' Posted: 06 Dec 2015 09:44 AM PST  By James Davey and William James LONDON (Reuters) - A knife attacker slashed a man at an east London metro station, reportedly screaming "This is for Syria!", in what police described as a terrorist incident, prompting a senior minister to urge Britons on Sunday not to be intimidated. A pool of blood near the ticket barriers at the Leytonstone Underground station, about six miles (10 km) east of central London, could be seen in footage posted on Twitter that also showed the suspect confronting police on Saturday evening. One man, thought to be 56 years old, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was in a stable condition at a London hospital.
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| Turkey to stop sending soldiers to Iraq after Baghdad protests Posted: 06 Dec 2015 01:30 PM PST  By Stephen Kalin and Orhan Coskun BAGHDAD/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Sunday it would halt further transfers of troops to an area near the Islamic State-controlled Iraqi city of Mosul after Baghdad threatened to appeal to the United Nations to force Turkey to withdraw its soldiers. Turkey deployed hundreds of forces to a camp in the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq on Thursday, calling it a routine rotation to train Iraqis to retake Mosul from Islamic State, which captured Iraq's second-largest city in 2014. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his country might turn to the U.N. security council if Turkish troops sent to northern Iraq were not withdrawn within 48 hours.
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| Pearl Harbor ceremony unites former U.S. and Japanese pilots Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:44 PM PST  By Karin Stanton HONOLULU (Reuters) - Former U.S. airman Jack DeTour, 92, and Japanese fighter pilot Shiro Wakita, 88, sworn enemies during World War Two, together poured whiskey from a battered canteen into Pearl Harbor on Sunday to commemorate the 1941 attack on the U.S. naval base. As the sun rose over the USS Arizona Memorial, the two former enemy pilots joined the "Blackened Canteen" service on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the Dec. 7 attack, which took 2,403 lives and drew the United States into World War Two. Standing side by side after meeting for the first time ever, retired Air Force Colonel DeTour and former Imperial Japanese Navy Zero Pilot Wakita together gripped the war-torn U.S. military-issue metal canteen and poured whiskey into the watery grave of the U.S. Navy ship sunk by Japanese bombers.
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| Clashes erupt in Athens on anniversary of student's killing by police Posted: 06 Dec 2015 11:26 AM PST  Black-clad protesters and riot police fought pitched battles in Athens on Sunday on the seventh anniversary of a teenager's killing by police. The shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008, a year before Greece's economic crisis began, had led to the country's worst riots in decades. Demonstrators threw scores of petrol bombs, bricks and broken marble at police in riot gear who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
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| Saudi-led forces fight Houthi border advance, killing 20: residents Posted: 06 Dec 2015 12:01 PM PST  Helicopters and fighter jets belonging to a Saudi-led coalition on Sunday repelled Yemeni Houthi fighters who were pressing a six-day-old offensive to seize Saudi territory, residents and Saudi state television said. Two residents told Reuters that 20 Houthi fighters had been killed at the southern border of the Saudi provinces of Najran and Jizan, while Saudi state television put the number of Houthi dead at 50. The Houthis and allied fighters loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have been trying to capture Saudi territory since March, when a Saudi-led alliance of Gulf states intervened in Yemen to try to reverse the Houthis' seizure of the capital and restore Saleh's Gulf-backed successor, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
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| Knee surgery rules out Cazorla for up to four months Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:41 PM PST  Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that key midfielder Santi Cazorla has undergone knee surgery and will be sidelined for up to four months. The 30-year-old Spain international was injured early in the second half of Arsenal's draw at Norwich last weekend, but remained on the pitch for the rest of the game. "Santi wanted to have a chance to come back quickly so he didn't want to last too long for 25 opinions and he decided to go straight away.
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| Political knives out after California attack Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:39 PM PST  With dust from the California massacre barely settled, the killings are sharpening the US political divide over gun control and spurring attacks on President Barack Obama's counter-terrorism strategy. As Obama prepared to address the nation on his plans to keep Americans safe and defeat IS, Republican foes lined up on the Sunday talk shows to attack his leadership. In the wake of Wednesday's attacks by a young Muslim couple believed to have embraced radical ideology, Republican presidential contenders slammed the president for pushing stricter gun laws while failing to tackle the threat from Islamic extremism head-on.
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| Report: FBI looking into Blatter's role in bribery case Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:38 PM PST LONDON (AP) — The FBI is investigating Sepp Blatter's role in a kickbacks scandal that involved his predecessor as FIFA president, Joao Havelange, the BBC reported Sunday. |
| Watson wins World Challenge by 3 shots Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:33 PM PST NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — A few years after Bubba Watson made it onto the PGA Tour, he started waking up early to play practice rounds with Tiger Woods. He didn't ask a lot of questions of the world's No. 1 player who already had 14 majors when he was 32. |
| Opposition complains as Venezuela voting extended Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:22 PM PST  Venezuelan authorities said they would keep voting stations open at least an hour longer than scheduled in Sunday's key legislative election, sparking cries of foul play by the opposition. The government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) said there were still people waiting in line to cast their ballots at the official closing time of 6:00 pm (2230 GMT). "For this reason, the CNE has decided to extend the opening hours of polling stations until 7:00 pm or for as long as there are voters waiting in line," the deputy head of the council Sandra Oblitas told reporters.
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| French far right sees record gains in first polls since attacks Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:21 PM PST  France's far-right National Front (FN) saw record gains in the first round of regional polls Sunday, held under a state of emergency just three weeks after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris. The FN came first with between 27.2 and 30.3 percent of the vote nationwide and topped the list in at least six of 13 regions, according to early estimates. FN leader Marine Le Pen and her 25-year-old niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen broke the 40-percent mark in their respective regions, shattering previous records for the party as they tapped into voter anger over a stagnant economy and security fears linked to Europe's refugee crisis.
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| Mark Cavendish to start 2016 season in Australia Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:15 PM PST MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — British cycling star Mark Cavendish will start his 2016 season at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Victoria state next month, also making his debut for South Africa-based Team Dimension Data. |
| China's Simin Feng wins LPGA Tour Q-school Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:14 PM PST DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — China's Simin Feng completed a wire-to-wire victory in the LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament on Sunday to regain a full exemption. |
| The Latest: Venezuela voting draws to close, some polls open Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:13 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Here's the latest on Sunday's important congressional elections in Venezuela (all times local):
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| Marseille fights back for 2-2 draw against Montpellier Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:09 PM PST Marseille twice came back to secure a 2-2 draw at home to relegation-threatened Montpellier in Ligue 1 on Sunday, while Bordeaux earned a crucial 1-0 win against fellow struggler Guingamp. |
| Libya's rival governments shun UN, sign separate peace deal Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:06 PM PST BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Lawmakers from Libya's rival parliaments have reached a power-sharing agreement in Tunisia, shunning a U.N.-brokered deal to avoid the "foreign intervention" tainting it, an internationally recognized government representative said Sunday. |
| Burkina Faso coup leader charged with complicity in murder Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:06 PM PST OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso's military tribunal has charged the general who briefly took power in a recent coup with complicity in the assassination of former revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in 1987, the tribunal's director said Sunday. |
| From Bangladesh flood map to the Bank of England, a 'carbon bubble' is born Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:04 PM PST  By Nina Chestney and Bruce Wallace PARIS (Reuters) - Poring over a Bangladeshi flood map as a London financial analyst 12 years ago, Mark Campanale had no idea the moment would spawn a financial concept powerful enough to rivet central bankers, anger oil moguls and fuel a grassroots movement to get investors to dump their fossil fuel holdings. "I was offended that the markets weren't picking up the risks, given what we knew about coal and climate change," Campanale recalls.
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| U2's Bono honors victims in Paris, San Bernardino Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:03 PM PST PARIS (AP) — U2's performance in Paris on Sunday night wasn't just about music — it had a mournful tinge, too. |
| Biden visits war-scarred Ukraine to reaffirm US support Posted: 06 Dec 2015 04:00 PM PST  US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev late Sunday to reassure its pro-Western leaders that Washington remains committed to Ukraine despite stepped-up efforts to work with Russia against Islamic State jihadists. Biden's three-day visit is his fourth to Kiev since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and then watched with approval as pro-Kremlin insurgents carved out their own region in the eastern industrial heartland of the ex-Soviet state. After arriving at around midnight (2200 GMT on Sunday), he is due to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Monday and deliver a highly-anticipated address to parliament the following day.
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| English clubs hopes to avoid more Champions League ignominy Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:58 PM PST MANCHESTER, England (AP) — English soccer went through a period of introspection last season after the Premier League failed to have a representative in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. |
| Fiorentina moves 2nd after Napoli loses 3-2 at Bologna Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:57 PM PST  MILAN (AP) — Napoli missed the chance to reclaim top spot in Serie A as it fell to a surprise 3-2 defeat at relegation-threatened Bologna on Sunday and slipped to third after Fiorentina beat Udinese 3-0.
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| India gets cash flowing in flood-hit south as banks open Sunday Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:43 PM PST  India's banks will work on Sunday to aid residents left without food, power and access to money in the flood-hit southern city of Chennai and surrounding areas, as cash dispensers have been emptied or lost power due to electricity outtages. India's fourth largest city was swamped by torrential rains - the heaviest in a century - during the past five days, and the government has asked banks to restore basic services and supply cash machines as swiftly as possible, replenishing cash by boat or providing mobile ATMs if necessary. In a statement late on Saturday, the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, said it would remain open to support bank transactions and help supply cash to local lenders.
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| Obama to urge Americans 'to not give in to fear' Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:42 PM PST  President Barack Obama will make a rare primetime address Sunday laying out plans to keep Americans safe and defeat the Islamic State group, days after 14 people were shot dead in California. Obama's top law enforcement officer, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, said the president hoped to reassure the US public, spooked by a seemingly new type of terror attack on the home front. IS has praised the San Bernardino shooters, Syed Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, as "soldiers" of its self-proclaimed caliphate, while stopping short of claiming outright credit for the attack.
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| Police question suspect in London Tube stabbing Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:42 PM PST  British counter-terror police on Sunday questioned a 29-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after a stabbing attack in a London Underground train station that is being treated as a "terrorist incident". Detectives from Britain's Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) searched a home in east London in connection with Saturday's attack at Leytonstone station, which left a 56-year-old man with serious knife injuries. Amateur video footage of the incident showed one passer-by shouting "You're no Muslim" at the suspect as he was pinned down by officers in the ticket hall, where a pool of blood could be seen on the ground.
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| Australian who joined Kurdish forces in Syria sent home Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:31 PM PST MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian who joined Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State militants in Syria has returned to Australia where he was questioned by police after being deported from Germany. |
| World Cup winner Luca Toni plans to retire at end of season Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:28 PM PST  VERONA, Italy (AP) — World Cup winner Luca Toni says he plans to retire at the end of the season.
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| Marine Le Pen and niece lead France's FN into dominant territory Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:18 PM PST  One is a pragmatist: a 47-year-old lawyer by training who has steered France's far-right National Front (FN) from pariah status to mainstream. On Sunday, Marine Le Pen and Marion Marechal-Le Pen -- respectively the daughter and grand-daughter of the FN's firebrand founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen -- established themselves as major players in France's political landscape. The first round of regional elections placed the FN on track to break the grip of Socialists and conservatives, cementing the party's grassroots' rise across the country.
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| US women cancel exhibition due to poor field conditions Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:17 PM PST  HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. women's soccer team abruptly canceled a victory tour exhibition game Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago because of poor field conditions at Aloha Stadium.
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| Robertson downs Liang to win second UK snooker title Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:15 PM PST  Australia's Neil Robertson became the first player to make a maximum 147 break in a UK Championship final on his way to beating China's Liang Wenbo 10-5 on Sunday. The left-handed Australian, 33, made the maximum in the sixth frame as he dominated the final against the Chinese outsider. Robertson, the 2010 world champion and a former number one, was 5-3 up at the interval in the best-of-19 final.
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| Britain deploys army to rescue Storm Desmond flood victims Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:11 PM PST  Britain deployed army personnel, lifeboats and a military helicopter on Sunday to rescue people trapped by floods that have deluged parts of the country in the wake of Storm Desmond. Thousands of homes and business were affected by the heavy rains and strong winds that battered Britain over the weekend, with one death reported in London after a man was blown into the path of a bus, police said. Hardest hit were Cumbria and other parts of northwest England, where towns and villages were flooded with water that reached waist height in some places.
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| Adele breaks another record with second-week US sales Posted: 06 Dec 2015 03:07 PM PST  Adele's album "25" has broken another record, selling more than one million albums in the United States in its second week after a massive debut, a tracking service said Sunday. By sustaining huge success for a second week, the British singer becomes the first artist to sell more than one million albums in two separate weeks since at least 1991, when Nielsen Music began systematic data. "25" sold 1.1 million albums in the week through Thursday, bringing to 4.49 million copies the total US sales since it came out on November 20, Nielsen Music said.
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| Oil-rich Venezuela votes in tense economic crisis Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:51 PM PST Venezuelans voted Sunday in tense elections that could see the opposition seize legislative power from the socialist government and risk sparking violence in the oil-rich, cash-poor nation. Electoral commission deputy chief Sandra Oblitas said there was "very high turnout" as polls closed at 2230 GMT, with first results expected from 0230 GMT Monday at the earliest. With the country of 30 million people suffering soaring inflation and poverty, a broad coalition of opposition parties is vying to gain control of the National Assembly for the first time in 16 years. |
| French far-right makes major breakthrough to top regional elections Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:47 PM PST  By Ingrid Melander and John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France's far-right National Front pulled off a historic win on Sunday, topping the vote in the first round of regional elections, in a breakthrough that shakes up the country's political landscape before 2017 presidential elections. Boosted by fears over the Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13, as well as by record unemployment and immigration, Marine Le Pen's party secured 29.4 percent of the vote nationally, the interior ministry said, with over 85 percent of the votes counted. "This is a historic, extraordinary result," FN lawmaker Marion Marechal-Le Pen told TF1 television.
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| Windies great Walsh queries Australia's pace obsession Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:46 PM PST  West Indies fast bowling great Courtney Walsh has questioned Australia's new pace obsession leading into this week's opening Test in Hobart. Walsh, the fifth all-time leading Test wicket-taker with 519 and second only to Glenn McGrath as most prolific paceman, said he was surprised by Australia's wisdom of opting for those who bowl at speeds of above 140kph (87 mph). Australia's chief selector Rod Marsh used the reasoning last week in choosing Nathan Coulter-Nile in the squad for the first Test despite not having played a four-day game since March.
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| Clinton: Possible IS gains if Palestinian leadership vacuum Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:30 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton says "the black flag" of the Islamic State group could be flying over the Palestinian territories if the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas fail to keep order.
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| Sweden-Israel rift deepens over comments on Palestinian deaths Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:19 PM PST  By Dan Williams and Simon Johnson JERUSALEM/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Relations between Sweden and Israel hit a fresh low on Sunday after Israel said Sweden's foreign minister had accused it of unlawful killings and Stockholm responded by saying that the comments had been "blown out of reasonable proportion". Relations between the two countries have nose-dived since Sweden's Social Democrat-led government recognized a Palestinian state last year. Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom deepened the rift by describing Palestinians' plight as a factor leading to Islamist radicalization.
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| Villarreal's Bakambu scores 2 in comeback win over Rayo Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:14 PM PST BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Villarreal forward Cedric Bakambu scored twice to secure a 2-1 comeback win at home over Rayo Vallecano that kept his team in touch with the top of the Spanish league on Sunday. |
| French regional vote: National Front dominates first round Posted: 06 Dec 2015 02:13 PM PST  PARIS (AP) — France's far right National Front won more support than any other party in the first round of regional elections Sunday, according to polling agency projections, in a new boost for Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration strategy and a new blow to President Francois Hollande's Socialists.
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