From the Trenches World Report
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US officials are discussing an option that would keep a small residual military force in north-east Syria to secure oil fields and continue the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS) militants.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he had not made a final decision on that option and has not yet presented it to President Donald Trump. Continue reading “Small US force may guard Syrian oil fields”
Three U.S. Army soldiers were killed during training at Fort Stewart in Georgia, according to officials.
The soldiers, part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, were pronounced dead on the scene after the Bradley Fighting Vehicle they were riding in was involved in an accident early Sunday morning, Patrick Husted, division public affairs officer, said in a news release. Continue reading “3 US Army soldiers killed during training at Fort Stewart in Georgia, officials say”
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared divided over the legality of Kansas prosecuting three immigrants for violating identity theft laws by using other people’s Social Security numbers in a dispute over whether the state impermissibly encroached on federal control over immigration policy.
The justices heard arguments in the state’s appeal of a 2017 Kansas Supreme Court ruling that voided the convictions of the three restaurant workers and found that a 1986 federal law called the Immigration Reform and Control Act prevents states from pursuing such prosecutions. Continue reading “U.S. Supreme Court divided over Kansas illegal immigrant identity theft case”
One of the sons of the infamous drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested — but subsequently released — by security forces after his detainment sparked intense fighting in northern Mexico Thursday night.
More than 30 militarized police and National Guard members were patrolling the northern city of Culiacan – the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state – when they were fired upon from a house, officials said. Continue reading “Mexican police release El Chapo’s son after arrest turns into shootout”
STUART, Ia. — Four people, including three law enforcement personnel, were injured after an attempt to serve an arrest warrant led to gunfire at a central Iowa apartment building.
Three Guthrie County sheriff’s deputies and a Stuart police officer went to 615 SW Seventh St., Apt. 1, in Stuart at 10:40 p.m. to deliver a warrant, said Adam DeCamp, special agent in charge with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Continue reading “Iowa police shooting: Two Guthrie County sheriff’s deputies shot serving arrest warrant; two others injured in officer-involved shooting”
The combination of guns and alcohol is especially dangerous, and far too little has been done to address it. Federal law doesn’t restrict access to guns by people with a history of alcohol abuse, and fewer than half of U.S. states impose prohibitions of this kind. The risks to public safety are increasingly clear, and the issue demands more careful attention than lawmakers have allowed up to now. Continue reading “Drivers With DUIs Shouldn’t Be Armed”
Vice President Mike Pence announced from Ankara on Thursday that Turkey has agreed to cease its military operation in northern Syria for 120 hours so that Kurdish forces can withdraw from the area.
The big picture: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously said that he would “never” agree to a ceasefire, after the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria paved the way for Turkey to begin a military assault on U.S-allied Kurdish forces that they view as terrorists. The breakthrough came after five hours of negotiations between Pence and Erdogan and followed the authorization of sanctions against Turkish officials earlier this week by President Trump.
Continue reading “Pence announces Turkey has agreed to temporary ceasefire in Syria”
For many years now I have focused a considerable amount of analysis on the subject of Syria, with an emphasis on the country’s importance to the global elites as a kind of geopolitical detonator; the first domino in a chain of dominoes that could lead to a war involving international powers. I believe this war will develop on multiple fronts, most importantly on the economic front, but it could very well turn into a shooting war involving numerous actors. Continue reading “The Syrian Debacle Is Actually Well Planned Chaos”
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a sharecropper’s son who rose to become the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, died early Thursday of complications from longstanding health issues, his office said. He was 68.
Cummings was a formidable orator who passionately advocated for the poor in his black-majority district , which encompasses a large portion of Baltimore as well as more well-to-do suburbs. Continue reading “Powerful Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings has died”
Abandoned by the United States and facing a deepening Turkish military offensive, Kurdish forces near the northern Syrian border have struck a deal with the Syrian government, marking a major shift in the country’s eight-year war.
On Monday, Syrian troops were reportedly advancing north towards the border to confront Turkish forces, returning for the first time in years to a region where the Kurds had established relative autonomy, and further solidifying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on the country. Continue reading “Kurdish forces backed by US strike deal with Syria’s Assad, in major shift in 8-year war”
Los Angeles city and county firefighters battled a fast-spreading wildfire that ignited at around 9 p.m. Thursday, prompting evacuations in the northern part of the county.
Santa Ana winds of up to 60 mph helped the Saddleridge Fire jump two freeways and grow to more than 1,600 acres with zero containment by 1 a.m. Friday, the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed. Continue reading “Fast-spreading wildfire prompts evacuations in Southern California”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States announced on Friday a new, large deployment of forces to Saudi Arabia to help bolster the kingdom’s defenses following the Sept. 14 attack on its oil facilities, which Washington and Riyadh have blamed on Iran.
The planned deployment, which was first reported by Reuters, will include fighter squadrons, one air expeditionary wing and air defense personnel, the Pentagon said. Continue reading “U.S. to deploy large number of forces to Saudi Arabia”
Many questions remained unanswered early Friday after an attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea sent oil prices higher, in the latest attack on energy-industry infrastructure in an increasingly volatile part of the world. According to the New York Times, a fire erupted on an Iranian oil tanker about 60 miles from the Port of Jeddah on Friday after the tanker’s two major tanks were struck by missiles, causing an oil spill. Continue reading “Iranian Oil Tanker Struck By 2 Missiles Near Saudi Port”
MATAMOROS-BROWNSVILLE BRIDGE, U.S.-Mexico border, Oct 10 (Reuters) – U .S. asylum seekers camped out in a dangerous Mexican border town occupied a bridge to Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, leading to the closure of the crossing, witnesses and authorities said.
Hundreds of the migrants have been camped for weeks on the end of the bridge in Matamoros, Mexico, a city known for cartel control of people trafficking and gang violence. Continue reading “Migrant protesters occupy U.S.-Mexico border bridge, close crossing”
An Arizona county assessor is accused of human smuggling as part of a scheme that involved more than 40 pregnant women from the Marshall Islands brought to the United States to give up their babies for adoption, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Paul D. Petersen, an adoption lawyer licensed in Utah and Arizona and elected Maricopa County assessor, was arrested Tuesday night in Arizona, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes told reporters. He faces 11 felony counts in Utah, including human smuggling, sale of a child and communications fraud. He also faces fraud, conspiracy, theft and forgery charges in Arizona. Continue reading “Arizona official accused of human smuggling via a Marshall Islands adoption scheme”
A planned Turkish military operation in northern Syria has now begun, the country’s president announced Wednesday, as Kurdish fighters say warplanes are already bombing civilian areas in the region.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted that the maneuvers being carried out against Syrian Kurdish forces –which Ankara considers terrorists allied with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey – are part of Operation Peace Spring. Continue reading “Turkey launches military assault in Syria as Kurdish fighters say warplanes are bombing region”
Breitbart – by Charlie Spiering
A Senior White House official clarified Monday that President Donald Trump was not immediately withdrawing troops from Syria, after Trump’s phone call with the Turkish president.
“This does not constitute a withdrawal from Syria. We’re talking about a small number of troops that will move to other bases within Syria,” the official noted, citing 50-100 troops in the region. Continue reading “White House Clarifies: Donald Trump Moving 50 Troops Within Syria, Not Out of the Country”
Washington Examiner – by Anna Giaritelli
Nearly 1 million people arrived at the U.S. border with Mexico and were encountered by law enforcement over the past 12 months, marking a major spike from any year in the past decade, the country’s top border official announced Tuesday.
Just under 980,000 people were encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal 2019, which ran from Oct. 1, 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which handles all border and trade affairs. A total 521,090 people were encountered along the southern border in fiscal 2018. Continue reading “Nearly 1 million people encountered at Mexican border over past 12 months”
Contract talks aimed at ending a 21-day strike by the United Auto Workers against General Motors have taken a turn for the worse, hitting a big snag over product commitments for U.S. factories, a union official wrote in an email to members.
The letter from UAW Vice President Terry Dittes casts doubt on whether there will be a quick settlement in the contract dispute, which sent 49,000 workers to the picket lines on Sept. 16, crippling GM’s factories. Continue reading “GM Workers Strike Continues as Negotiations Hit Snag Over Commitments to U.S. Factories”