Iraq
Ex-Marine to face death penalty in 2025 mass shooting at North Carolina bar
BOLIVIA, N.C. | A prosecutor announced Wednesday that he would seek the death penalty against a former Marine charged in a mass shooting last year that left three people dead and several others wounded. “We are not blind to who this defendant is,” Brunswick County District Attorney Jon David said of defendant Nigel Max Edge. […]
Movie Review: In ‘Heart of the Beast,’ Brad Pitt and a dog try to survive in the wild
Brad Pitt loves a lone wolf character. Even in ensembles, he’s often the quiet one just to the left (but, you know, still the focus). The guy who sees everything and says little, drawing people, when there are any, into his orbit with sheer charisma. Small talk is for the strivers, not the stars, maybe? […]
As the last US troops pack up in Iraq, militias signal their weapons will stay
BAGHDAD | Two deadlines are looming for Iraq at the end of the month: the end of a decades-long U.S. military presence and the disarmament of non-state armed groups. The U.S. withdrawal is underway, and officials say the hundreds of troops remaining in northern Iraq will be out by the Sept. 30 deadline. The Iraqi […]
Iran is forging a new ring of proxies to threaten US allies in the Gulf, officials say
CAIRO | In July, Saudi Arabia and the United States bombed Iran-backed militias in Iraq after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities that had been claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another Iranian ally. Now, regional officials tell The Associated Press that the Houthis helped the Iraqi militias plan and execute the two-day […]
Iran war renews concerns about the lasting toll of traumatic brain injuries to US troops
WASHINGTON | When Joe Shearer was a Marine fighting in Iraq, a blast from an enemy mortar round knocked him down and made him vomit. He got up and kept going despite a searing headache. When a roadside bomb struck his Humvee convoy months later, the explosion’s shock wave swept through his body before headaches […]
Mediators see progress in efforts to halt Iran war as drone attacks rattle region
CAIRO | Mediators have achieved progress in getting the United States and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials said Monday, after both sides paused attacks following a period of rapidly escalating tensions. But scattered attacks by armed groups across the region underscored the lingering tensions. Saudi Arabia said it had shot down drones fired by […]
Joe Biden interviews with memoir ghostwriter reveal him discussing sensitive information
Newly released audio tapes, disclosed by a conservative activist group, appear to show Joe Biden sharing classified information with a biographer and sometimes claiming memory lapses during interviews that occurred before his election to the presidency in 2020. About three hours of audio and 117 pages of transcripts — with many redactions — were released […]
Drones target northern Iraqi city where US forces are based as US-Iran fighting escalates
IRBIL, Iraq | Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran. The conflict has flared again over the past week, as the U.S. pounded Iran while […]
US military identifies soldier killed disarming a drone in Iraq as a 30-year-old from North Carolina
WASHINGTON | The U.S. military on Tuesday identified a soldier who was killed while disarming an Iranian drone in Iraq as a 30-year-old from North Carolina. The military said it was investigating the death of Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of Fayetteville during a controlled detonation on Sunday at an air base in Irbil in northern […]
Trump defends Iran war, baselessly claims election fraud in California, maligns ‘Meet the Press’
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. | President Donald Trump is dismissing the idea that launching the war with Iran this year betrayed his refrain of “No new wars” that he made repeatedly as he campaigned again for the White House. Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said he “didn’t guarantee” there would […]