Pentagon: Afghan situation ‘confused, complicated’
MADRID – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Sunday promised a full and transparent investigation into whether a U.S. aircraft providing support for American and Afghan commandos was responsible for the explosions that destroyed a hospital in northern Afghanistan, killing 22 people.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Spain, Carter said, “the situation there is confused and complicated, so it may take some time to get the facts, but we will get the facts.”
He said he spoke to Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and to Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during his flight to Madrid, adding that “there will be accountability as always in these incidents, if that is required.”
Iraq’s Prime Minister opens Green Zone to all citizens
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi declared the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad open to all of his citizens for the first time in 12 years Sunday amid efforts to cut spending and appease citizens who have been protesting for basic public services.
Al-Abadi referred to the opening of the Green Zone as part of the “measures promised to our citizens and this opening that we are witnessing points to continued plans to reform – actions which we will not back down from,” a statement from his office said.
The four-square-mile compound on the west bank of the Tigris River was declared off-limits to the public in the wake of the 2003 U.S.-led occupation. The complex is home to several palaces once belonging to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Today, it contains a number of residential apartment buildings and homes.
Palestinians now barred from Jerusalem’s Old City
JERUSALEM – A series of grisly Palestinian attacks that killed several Israeli civilians has prompted the government to take unprecedented security measures amid growing public debate over whether the specter of another Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, is on the horizon.
Israel’s prime minister vowed a “harsh offensive” to counter rising violence that has focused in recent weeks over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site sacred to both Muslims and Jews, in a series of so-called “lone wolf” Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
On Sunday, Israel announced that Palestinians would be temporarily barred from Jerusalem’s Old City, the first time Israel has taken this step since 1967.
Fiorina makes opposition to PP her campaign focus
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina has spent the last two weeks repeating an erroneous description of videos secretly recorded by anti-abortion activists. That seems bound to continue as she makes her opposition to Planned Parenthood a centerpiece of her 2016 campaign.
Campaigning in South Carolina on Friday, Fiorina said she “absolutely” stands by her criticism of Planned Parenthood. She accused the women’s health organization – it’s also the nation’s largest abortion provider – of pushing “propaganda” against her while being “aided and abetted by the media.”
The Associated Press
