Iraqis protest against Turkey’s troop deployment in north

facebook twitter youtube google-plus instagram soundcloud coub Applications RSS العربيةESPРУСDEFR ИНОТВRTДRUPTLY QUESTION MORE LIVE 08:59 GMT, Dec 13, 2015 News USA UK Russian politics Business Sport Op-Edge In vision In motion Shows More HomeNews Thousands of Iraqis protest against Turkey’s troop deployment in north Published time: 12 Dec, 2015 21:13 Get short URL Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration against Turkish military deployment in Iraq, at Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, Iraq, December 12, 2015 © Ahmed Saad Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration against Turkish military deployment in Iraq, at Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, Iraq, December 12, 2015 © Ahmed Saad / Reuters 2.4K4 Thousands of Iraqis across the country protested against the deployment of Turkey’s troops to a base near the northern city of Mosul, held by Islamic State militants. Protesters chanted anti-Turkish slogans and burned and trampled on Turkish flags. At least 4000 people joined in with the rally at Tahrir Square in Bagdad. They called on Ankara to immediately withdraw its forces from Iraq calling the actions of Turkish authorities “a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty” and “occupation.” "We consider any military presence on Iraqi land as foreign aggression which we should stand against using all possible means," Hadi al-Amiri, a Shiite lawmaker, who also leads the armed Badr Organisation, said during the rally in Baghdad, as quoted by Reuters. Demonstrators also trampled on the Turkish flag and hit a caricature of the Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with slippers as a demonstration of disrespect, Reuters reported. Several thousands of Iraqis also gathered in the country’s southern city of Basra. The demonstrators also reportedly burned the Turkish flag during the rally. Some Shiite militia members also joined the protests in the city, carrying banners reading “Death to Turkey. Death to Erdogan” and threatening violence against Turkish soldiers unless Turkey’s forces are withdrawn. "We are on high alert now awaiting orders from our commanders to set fire to the ground beneath the feet of Turkish soldiers," Amjad Salim, a local commander of the Bard Organization in Basra told Reuters. "If Turkey thinks Iraq is busy with fighting Daesh [Islamic State] and it can seize the opportunity to deploy troops then it should think twice before making such a mistake," said Abu Muntathar al-Moussawi, a local commander of another militia group called Asaib Ahl al-Haq. In the Iraq’s south-eastern city of Nasiriyah demonstrators called on the country’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi to take a “firm stance” against Turkey’s “aggression,” Press TV reports. During a protest in the city of al-Diwaniyah in central Iraq, hundreds of people called on the government to expel the Turkish ambassador and break off relations with Ankara. Earlier on Saturday, al-Abadi once again condemned the deployment of Turkish troops to northern Iraq and stressed that Baghdad regards it not as an anti-terrorist action but as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Tensions between the two countries have increased dramatically since Turkey deployed about 150 soldiers backed by artillery and around 25 tanks to a base near the ISIS-controlled northern Iraqi city of Mosul on December 4. Turkey has consistently claimed the troops were deployed in order to train local Kurdish Peshmerga forces adding that the move complied with previous agreements between Ankara and Baghdad. Iraqi authorities regard the move a flagrant breach of the country’s sovereignty and repeatedly call on Ankara to withdraw its forces. Baghdad issued an ultimatum demanding that Turkish troops leave its territory but Turkey refused to comply with it. Iraqi government also appealed to the UN Security Council about Turkish forces’ presence seeking assistance in resolving the crisis. Erdogan said that Turkish forces withdrawal from Iraq is “out of question” and denounced the Iraqi appeal to the UNSC as “not honest.” 2.4K4 Sponsored Links More From The Web Monster Of The Deep And Rainbow Opal Hits Museum South Australia Tourism Top Ten Cheap All-Inclusive Resorts TripCyber What NOT To Put In The Bin Earth911 by Taboola More from RT.com Mystery over who bombed Turkish convoy allegedly carrying weapons to militants in Syria Turkey stopped violating Greek airspace after Russian Su-24 downing - Athens source 'No need to shoot': Israel reveals Russian warplane ‘crossed’ into its control zone from Syria Posting rules FAQ Where to watch Schedule Promoted Links Recommended Grow Your Business With 8 Tips for Web Design that Converts The Collective Former NATO Commander Wesley Clark on the US Response in Iraq Guide To Composting In The Winter Earth911 Turkey risks provoking next world war – Iraq’s Vice President Maliki by Taboola News USA UK Russian politics Business Sport Op-Edge In vision In motion Shows More Live Where to watch Schedule Legal disclaimer Privacy policy Feedback About us Contact info RT NEWS APP Android iOS Windows phone Windows 8 العربية Español Русский Deutsch Français ИНОТВ RTД RUPTLY ApplicationsRSS facebooktwitteryoutubegoogle-plusinstagramsoundcloudcoub RT.com © Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 2005–2015. All rights reserved.

An Investment Opportunity in South Australia

Fantastic Quiet Location! Close to School, Elizabeth Rise, Munno Para Malls, German Club. Situated back to back with The Boys Scout Association SA This is a detached Home on a spacious Lot. The home is cheaper than price of land itself. It is just 14 years old, this quality detached dwelling is having 3 good size north-east facing bedrooms with bright sun rays entering early morning to naturally warm in winter months saving a lot of dollars on annual power consumption. All these rooms are fully and neatly carpeted. The kitchen includes easy to maintained cook top, under bench oven and double stainless steel sink. The home is laid out with open plan layout incorporating spacious living room, dining/ lounge and separate kitchen. All this is recently renovated with shiny floating board floor. All aove is equipped with a reverse cycle split system air conditioner for year round comfort. The bathroom is fresh and clean with tiles and paint work. Secured car parking is available in carport under the main roof with a roller door. Set on a 439 sq m lot in City of Playford there is plenty of room for BBQ and kids to play. The property is situated back to back with the lot of The Boys Scouts Association South Australian branch (Guides) adjacent to German Club and located at walking distance to Foodworks, Elizabeth Rise Centre, Munno Para Mall, Elizabeth Down Primary School,and Argana Park. This property would be ideal for the first home buyer, Elizabeth Down Primary School Staff, retiree or investor. Elizabeth Mall, Munno Para Town Centre and Parabank shopping centre are located at few minutes drive. Ongoing development project of 56 two level homes near the subject property is going to add more value in years coming, so don't be late in a competitive and emerging market which will soon increase its current market value. The home was recently tenanted at $295 p/w. ========================================================== Lobethal Switches "Lights On" 13 December Posted on December 13, 2015. Featuring topics like Featured, AHM - Events This Sunday 13 December is the night when they switch on the Lights of Lobethal. The Lights of Lobethal Christmas Festival has been lighting up the Lobethal Valley in the Adelaide Hills for more than 60 years and is the known as the largest Community Christmas Light Display in the Southern Hemisphere! Jump in your car (even better a convertible) and head to Lobethal for a magical Christmas festival that continues every night until Wednesday 30 December 2015. There are even bus tours you can get on. Click here for more ifnormation. While the light displays are the main attraction, visitors are treated to a nightly Living Nativity, Santa's Cave, local markets and street stalls. The Christmas Pageant is held on the 23 December.

Investors brace for oil price 'lower for even longer' after OPEC

Mon Dec 7, 2015 | 9:22 AM EST An energy installation on a property leased to Devon Energy Production Company by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is seen near Guthrie, Oklahoma September 15, 2015. REUTERS/Nick Oxford Reuters/Nick Oxford Investors brace for oil price 'lower for even.. By Henning Gloystein and Gavin Maguire SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Investors are betting on the oil price staying lower for even longer after OPEC's decision to ditch a formal production ceiling, pushing U.S. crude futures for delivery nearly 10 years away below $60 a barrel. This could possibly harm the ability of U.S. shale producers, among the casualties of OPEC's strategy of pumping hard to retain market share, to lock in profitable prices for future deliveries. U.S. crude futures for front-month delivery fell below $40 per barrel on Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed last week to agree on an output target to reduce a bulging oil glut that has cut prices by over 60 percent since 2014. In the run-up to the OPEC decision, oil derivatives showed investors had, unusually, been willing to pay more to protect against a surprise rally in the price, than a surprise fall. That bet has now been unwound, meaning they are once again expecting a higher likelihood of further declines than that of a bounce back. The most popular options contract is one that gives the holder the right to sell crude oil futures at just $35 a barrel. "Oil is going to make lower lows and lower highs for the foreseeable future and, in terms of market reaction post-OPEC, I'm not surprised, but it does leave the door open for prices to fall," Gain Capital analyst Fawad Razaqzada said. LOSS OF CONFIDENCE As recently as late November, U.S. crude for December 2022 delivery and onward was trading slightly above $60 per barrel, but following the OPEC meeting, contracts out to December 2024 are below $60, trading data shows. "It means that there is a loss of confidence in the market after OPEC, and people expect low prices to last longer", said Oystein Berentsen, managing director of crude oil at Strong Petroleum in Singapore. "Hence the back of the curve will be under pressure from producer hedging via selling the back of the curve to limit loss or lock in a small profit to reduce risk." Goldman Sachs said after the OPEC-meeting that it expected oil prices to remain "lower for longer," with a risk that oil prices could fall as low as $20 per barrel. "The rising probability that markets may need to adjust through 'operational stress', when surpluses breach capacity, leaves risks to our forecast as skewed to the downside in coming months, with cash costs near $20 per barrel," the bank said. Bearishness has been brewing in the derivatives market for some time. Options data shows holdings of December 2016 put options at $25, $30 and $35 a barrel have risen 41 percent in the last two months and open interest in those three contracts now equates to nearly 90 million barrels of oil. <0#CLZ6+> "Price levels just aren't high enough for many shale producers to hedge," said Mark Keenan of Societe Generale. "In addition, due to the short production timelines associated with many shale wells because of their steep well depletion rates, there is little need to hedge five years or more into the future." (Additional reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Singapore and Amanda Cooper in London; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Hardy)

Muslims experiencing hate attacks after California shooting

Sat Dec 5, 2015 9:55AM Muslims pray at Dar al-Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, on Friday, December 4, 2015. (AP photo) American Muslims fear that a new wave of Islamophobia is spreading across the United States, fueled by this week’s mass shooting in California. Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, stormed a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 21 in the deadliest shooting in the US in three years. Hours later, the couple died in a fire exchange with police. Only hours after news broke that suspects had Muslim names, American Muslims strongly condemned the incident, but this did not stop the US mainstream media from spewing hate and venom against Muslims and Islam. American Muslims and their prayer leaders across the country say they are experiencing a wave of death threats, assaults and vandalism unlike anything they have experienced since the September 11 attacks in 2001 in the United States, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Followers of the Islamic faith in the US say that they observed an escalation in hateful attacks against Muslims this autumn after two of the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, made hideous remarks against Islam and Muslims. They say the threats, vandalism and violence grew after the last month attacks in Paris that were allegedly claimed by the Daesh terrorist group. The female shooter involved in Wednesday’s killing spree in California had also pledged allegiance to Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to three US officials familiar with the investigation. An investigator looks at a black SUV that was involved in a police shootout with suspects, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in San Bernardino, California. (AP photo) As the San Bernardino attack was happening, investigators believe Malik put a post on Facebook, pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi, the officials told CNN on Friday. Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said at a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday that groups like Daesh and al-Qaeda are “trying to divide our society and to terrorize us.” “Our message to them is we will not be terrorized and we will not be intimidated,” either by the terrorists or, he said, “by hatemongers who exploit the fear and hysteria that results from incidents like this.” Many of America’s approximately 3 million Muslims say such tensions could increase during a US presidential race that they fear is already injecting anger and bigotry. “My identity and everything that I am becomes erased every time one of these incidents occurs,” Nabihah Maqbool, 27, a law student at the University of Chicago told The New York Times. “It all becomes collapsed into these senseless acts of violence being committed by people who are part of my group.” Maqbool said that while driving back to Chicago after recent Thanksgiving vacation with her family, she did not stop to pray on the grassy lawn outside an interstate rest stop because of concerns of being victimized. “I just got so nervous that something could happen to me by any unhinged individual who saw me as someone who deserved violence,” she said. Republican presidential hopefuls Ben Carson (left) and Donald Trump participate in the Republican Presidential Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California on September 16, 2015. (AFP photo) Some Muslim Americans say they fear that the recent divisive remarks by Republican candidates Trump and Carson could strengthen their appeal in a race in which controversial comments laced with xenophobia and misogyny have failed to diminish the popularity of candidates. ============================================================================================== Sat Dec 5, 2015 | 11:42 AM EST Pakistani in California shooting became hardline in Saudi Arabia: relatives ‹ The Pakistan identification card of Tashfeen Malik is shown in this undated handout picture from a government official and obtained by Reuters on December 5, 2015. REUTERS/Handout via Reuters The Pakistan identification card of Tashfeen Malik is shown in this undated handout picture from a government official and obtained by Reuters on December 5, 2015. Reuters/Handout via Reuters Tashfeen Malik is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the FBI, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/FBI/Handout via Reuters Tashfeen Malik is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the FBI, December 4, 2015. Reuters/FBI/Handout via Reuters The Pakistan identification card of Tashfeen Malik is shown in this undated handout picture from a government official and obtained by Reuters on December 5, 2015. REUTERS/Handout via Reuters The Pakistan identification card of Tashfeen Malik is shown in this undated handout picture from a government official and obtained by Reuters on December 5, 2015. Reuters/Handout via Reuters Tashfeen Malik is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the FBI, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/FBI/Handout via Reuters Tashfeen Malik is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the FBI, December 4, 2015. Reuters/FBI/Handout via Reuters › Pakistani in California shooting became hardline...X KAROR LAL ESAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - The estranged relatives of Tashfeen Malik, a Pakistani woman accused of shooting dead 14 people in California, say she and her father seem to have abandoned the family's moderate Islam and became more radicalized during years they spent in Saudi Arabia. Malik, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, is accused of storming a gathering in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday and opening fire in America's worst mass shooting in three years. Investigators are treating Wednesday's attack as an "act of terrorism." On Saturday, the Islamic State (IS) group claimed the couple as their followers. There is no evidence yet that IS directed the attack or even knew the attackers. Malik's killing spree has horrified her Pakistani relatives. Her father cut off contact with his family after a feud over inheritance, they told Reuters, and moved to Saudi Arabia when his daughter was a toddler. There, it seems, he turned to a stricter form of Islam. "From what we heard, they lived differently, their mindset is different. We are from a land of Sufi saints ... this is very shocking for us," said school teacher Hifza Bibi, the step-sister of Malik's father, who lives in Karor Lal Esan town in central Punjab province. Sufism, a strain of Islam popular in parts of Pakistan, emphasizes a mystical, personal religious connection. Devotees often play music and dance at shrines, and their practices are looked on with suspicion by orthodox Muslims. "Our brother ... went to Saudi and since then he doesn't care about anyone here," Bibi said. "A man who didn't come to attend his own mother's funeral, what can you expect from him?" Tashfeen Malik returned to Pakistan and studied pharmacy at Bahauddin Zakaria university in Multan from 2007 to 2012. She lived in a university hostel. An identity card said she was 29 years old at the time of the shootings. "She was known to be good student with no religious extremist tendencies," an intelligence official based in the nearby town of Layyah told Reuters. Malik's uncle Javed Rabbani, a clerk in the town's education department, said he has not seen his brother in 30 years. "We feel a lot of sadness but we also feel ashamed that someone from our family has done this," he said. "We can't even imagine doing something like this. This is a mindset that is alien to us." Malik visited Pakistan in 2013 and 2014, security officials told Reuters, but it's unclear who she met or where she visited. Pakistani media reported she had links to the radical Red Mosque in the capital of Islamabad, but a cleric and a spokesman at the mosque said they had never heard of her before. (Additional reporting by Amjad Ali in ISLAMABAD and Syed Raza Hassan in KARACHI; Writing By Katharine Houreld; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) ==================================================================== Sat Dec 5, 2015 | 2:19 AM EST Exclusive: Investigators piece together portrait of Pakistani woman in shooting massacre 1:11 AM EST | 01:54 Unveiling the female killer in California shooting By Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Tashfeen Malik's path to accused mass killer in California began in a small city on the Indus River in Pakistan's Punjab province. It was from here, when she was a toddler, that she moved with her father Gulzar 25 years ago to Saudi Arabia, where he became more deeply religious, more conservative and more hardline, according to a family member. A picture slowly emerged on Friday of the role and possible motivations of 27-year-old Malik in this week's killing of 14 people in California, including her apparent pledge of allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State militant group, according to U.S. officials. Malik, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, is accused of storming a holiday party on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, and opening fire in America's worst mass shooting in three years. The intensive search for clues, extending to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, could help U.S. investigators piece together what drove Malik and her husband to leave their infant daughter with his mother, don assault-style clothing and carry out the shooting. Malik, who entered the United States on a fiancée visa, and Farook, the son of immigrant parents from Pakistan who had worked as a health inspector, were killed in a shootout with police just hours after the attack. U.S. investigators were evaluating evidence that Malik, a Pakistani native who had been living in Saudi Arabia when she married Farook, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, two U.S. government sources said. They said the finding, if confirmed, could be a "game changer" in the probe. CNN reported that one U.S. official said Malik had made the pledge to al-Baghdadi in a posting on Facebook on Wednesday, the day of the attack, under an account that used a different name. Though large information gaps remain, it appeared to be the strongest evidence so far that the attack may have been inspired by Islamic State. But U.S. government sources said there was no sign that it had been directed by the militant group, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and claimed the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. FATHER BECAME "CONSERVATIVE AND HARDLINE" Two Pakistani officials said Malik was from Karor Lal Esan, a city on the west coast of the Indus River in southern Punjab province. She moved to Saudi Arabia with her father, an engineer, 25 years ago, they said. She returned home five or six years ago to study at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan to become a pharmacist, they said. The area in Punjab where she spent her early years and later went to university is a “recruitment ground” and stronghold of Islamist groups with ties to al Qaeda, said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. Among the militant groups with a presence there is Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the November 2008 killing spree in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai. "Our brother changed a lot since he went to Saudi," Malik's uncle, Javed Rabbani, said of Malik's father. "When relatives visited him, they would come back and tell us how conservative and hardline he had become," he said in an interview with Reuters. A source close to the Saudi government said that during Malik’s time in Saudi Arabia nothing came to authorities’ attention there that suggested she was involved with radical Islamic groups. Malik was not on any Saudi law enforcement or intelligence watchlist, the source said. Malik's father, Gulzar, had built a house in Multan, where he stays when he visits Pakistan, according to another uncle, Malik Anwaar. He said Gulzar had a falling-out long ago with the rest of the family, citing a dispute over a house among other matters. “We are completely estranged,” Anwaar said. Rabbani said he had been contacted by Pakistani intelligence as part of the investigation into the San Bernardino shooting. Malik had two brothers and two sisters and was related to Ahmed Ali Aulak, a former provincial minister, the Pakistani officials said. The exact circumstances of how Farook and Malik met remained unclear but they had apparently been married for two years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Malik was in the United States on a visa under a Pakistani passport. While Farook had an active presence online, Malik's digital footprint is harder to trace. A Facebook profile established under an alias by Malik was removed by the company for violating its community standards, which prohibit praise or promotion of “acts of terror," a spokesman said on Friday. But her name was attached to a gift registry for their baby hosted by the website TheBump.com. According to the registry, Malik's baby had been due on May 17. Just hours before the couple opened fire on Farook’s co-workers in a government building in San Bernardino, they had dropped off their daughter at his mother’s house, telling her they had a doctor’s appointment. (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali, Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Bill Trott, Will Dunham, Toni Reinhold) ============================== The Latest: Islamic State group praises California shootings Dec. 5, 2015 5:47 AM EST 0 5 photos Kayla Gaskill, Connie Pegler Kayla Gaskill, left, is comforted by her mother, and Connie Pegler, right, at a makeshift memorial... Read more SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — The latest on the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California (all times local): 2:40 a.m. The Islamic State group's official radio station has aired a statement saying the mass shooting in California was carried out by two "supporters" of the extremist group. While praising the attack, the group stopped short of claiming responsibility for it. The Al-Bayan report Saturday echoed a claim carried Friday by the IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency. The radio report did not refer to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik as actual members of the Islamic State group. Militants affiliated with IS who carry out attacks are commonly referred to in the group's propaganda as "lions," ''fighters" or "mujahedeen." — From Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo. ___ 11 p.m. Police say a package addressed to the home of the suspected attackers in Southern California's mass shooting has been determined to be safe after it spurred the evacuation of a UPS facility. San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan says Friday night that the item has been rendered safe and posed no threat. Burguan said earlier that the package was from a "reputable vendor" and the UPS center was evacuated out of caution. The evacuation lasted about three hours. The facility is about a mile from the social services center where 14 people were killed by a husband and wife on Wednesday. ___ 9:45 p.m. Police say a Southern California UPS facility has been evacuated because a driver noticed a package addressed to the home of the husband and wife behind this week's deadly attacks. San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan says it appears the package is from a "reputable vendor" but the facility was cleared out and a bomb squad has been called out of caution. Burguan said the driver had left the facility Friday night and returned after noticing the address in nearby Redlands. The facility is about a mile from the social services center where 14 people were killed on Wednesday. ___ 6 p.m. The brother of one of the shooters in an attack that killed 14 people in California is a Navy veteran who earned medals for fighting global terrorism. According to military records obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, Syed Raheel Farook — the brother of gunman Syed Rizwan Farook — was in the Navy from 2003 to 2007. During his stint, he received the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, among other awards. After going through training in the family's native Illinois, Syed Raheel Farook served for three years aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise as an information system technician. He now lives in Southern California, where his brother and the brother's wife were killed in a shootout with authorities after the Wednesday attack. ___ 3 p.m. Attorneys for the family of a California shooter say he was married to a soft-spoken housewife who only spoke with female relatives. Mohammad Abuershaid and David Chesley, who represent Syed Farook's family, say Farook's wife, Tashfeen Malik, wore a veil that covered her face and didn't drive. The couple opened fire on a holiday party of Farook's co-workers, killing 14 people. They say Farook's mother lived with the couple but she stayed upstairs and didn't notice they had stockpiled 12 pipe bombs and well over 4,500 rounds of ammunition. Abuershaid and Chesley say the couple left their 6-month-old daughter in her care when they carried out Wednesday's attack. They say the child is with child protective services. Farook's brother-in-law is beginning the legal process to adopt the girl. ___ 2:35 p.m. Attorneys for the family of a California shooter are cautioning the public against rushing to judgment about terrorist connections to the attack. Mohammad Abuershaid and David Chesley, who represent Syed Farook's family, said there's no proof linking the shooters to a broader terrorist organization and most of the evidence focuses on Facebook posts made under an alias by Farook's wife, Tashfeen Malik. When asked to explain possible motivations for the attack, Chesley said at a news conference Friday that co-workers made fun of Farook for his beard and said he was isolated with few friends. Abuershaid and Chesley said the family was shocked by the attack that left 14 people dead and they saw no signs that the couple would be aggressive or had extreme views. The FBI has said it's investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. ___ 1 p.m. FBI Director James Comey says findings in a sweeping federal investigation into the California mass shooting indicate the two shooters showed signs of radicalization but were not part of a broader network. But Comey noted there's still "a lot evidence that doesn't quite make sense." Comey says Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik didn't appear on the FBI's "radar screen" before the shooting Wednesday that killed 14 in San Bernardino. The couple opened fire at a holiday banquet for Farook's co-workers before dying in a gunbattle with police. ___ 12 p.m. An IS-affiliated news agency Aamaq says the two shooters in the deadly California attack were "supporters" of the Islamic State group, but it stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack. David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said he wasn't aware of the report but wasn't surprised IS would attempt to link itself to the attack. He said investigators are looking carefully to determine if there is an IS connection. Bowdich said at a news conference that the bureau is investigating the shooting that left 14 people dead as an act of terrorism. He says neither Syed Farook nor his wife, Tashfeen Malik, was under prior investigation. The couple opened fire at a holiday banquet for Farook's co-workers before dying in a gunbattle with police Wednesday. ___ 11:29 a.m. The FBI says it is investigating the deadly mass shooting in California as an "act of terrorism." David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, made the declaration at a news conference Friday in California. He also said the shooters attempted to destroy evidence, including crushing two cellphones and discarding them in a trash can. He said authorities continue to investigate the case to understand the motivations of the shooters and whether they were planning more attacks. ___ 10:45 a.m. The woman who helped her husband kill 14 people at holiday party in California praised the leader of the Islamic State group in a Facebook post just minutes into the attack. A Facebook executive told The Associated Press that Tashfeen Malik posted the material under an alias account at 11 a.m. Wednesday. That was about the time the first 911 calls came in and when the couple were believed to have stormed into the San Bernardino social service center and opened fire. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not allowed under corporate policy to be quoted by name. The company discovered the Facebook account Thursday. It removed the profile from public view and reported its contents to law enforcement. — From Associated Press writer Tami Abdollah in Washington, D.C. ___ 10:20 a.m. Pakistani intelligence officials say Tashfeen Malik, one of the shooters in the California massacre, moved as a child with her family to Saudi Arabia 25 years ago. The two officials say the family is originally from the Pakistani town of Karor Lal Esan, about 200 miles southwest of the capital of Islamabad in Punjab province. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the press. Her father, Gulzar Malik, moved to Saudi Arabia about three decades ago for work. The officials say his family — including Tashfeen Malik, then only a few years old — joined him there 25 years ago. Another person close to the Saudi government says Tashfeed Malik didn't stay in Saudi Arabia but eventually returned to Islamabad and lived there, returning to Saudi Arabia for visits. Tashfeen Malik and her husband, Syed Farook, killed 14 people at a holiday banquet for his co-workers before dying in a gunbattle with police. — Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad ___ 9:45 a.m. An expert says the revelation that one of the California attackers pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group on Facebook suggests the woman was inspired by IS ideology but wasn't necessarily in direct touch with the group. John Cohen, a former counterterrorism coordinator for the Homeland Security Department and a Rutgers University professor, said those people are harder to detect. He says the counterterrorism infrastructure is built on preventing tightly organized attacks directed by a specific group, not detecting people inspired by IS but operating independently. He says that means different tools are needed to prevent those types of attacks. Cohen says IS has aggressively used social media and have "successfully inspired thousands of people." Tashfeen Malik helped her husband, Syed Farook, kill 14 people at a holiday banquet for his county co-workers before dying in a gunbattle with police. ___ 9:35 a.m. A California landlord has invited media into the town house rented by the California attackers. An MSNBC reporter on Friday found a crib, toys, a child's book of the Quran, family pictures and shredded documents inside the Redlands, California, home. There was a computer screen, but no computer. Authorities have said that Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, stockpiled 12 pipe bombs, tools to make more explosives and well over 4,500 rounds of ammunition at the home. The couple had a 6-month-old daughter. The residence is in a neighboring city to San Bernardino, where the couple opened fire on a holiday party of Farook's county co-workers Wednesday, killing 14 people. ___ 8 a.m. A U.S. law enforcement official says the wife of the couple blamed in the deadly California shootings pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and the terror group's leader on Facebook using an alias then deleted the messages before the attacks. Specifics details about Tashfeen Malik's postings weren't disclosed Friday by the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not allowed to discuss an ongoing investigation. The remarkable disclosure about Malik's online activities provided the first significant details suggesting a motive for her participation with her husband, Syed Farook, in the shootings that killed 14 people and injured 21. Malik was a Pakistani woman who came to the U.S. in 2014 on a fiancee visa before Farook married her in California. — From Associated Press writer Tami Abdollah in Washington, D.C. ___ 5:50 a.m. The brother-in-law of one of the attackers in San Bernardino, California, says Syed Farook was a 'bad person,' but he wasn't radical. Farhan Khan also told NBC News he is beginning the legal process to adopt Farook's 6-month-old daughter, who was dropped off with relatives Wednesday morning before the shooting that left 14 dead. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a shootout with police following their deadly rampage. In excerpts of the interview released Friday, Khan expressed disbelief that Farook would leave behind his infant girl and said he was angry with Farook for the attack. ======================================== Photo The main gate of Bahauddin Zakariya University, where Tashfeen Malik studied pharmacy, in Multan, Pakistan, on Sunday. Credit Asim Tanveer/Associated Press Advertisement Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyShare This Page Email Share Tweet Save More Continue reading the main story CAIRO — As a tide of Islamist violence washed across Pakistan in recent years, Bahauddin Zakariya University in the southern city of Multan struggled to halt spreading intolerance, with mixed results. That university has come into the spotlight in recent days as one of the few known way points for Tashfeen Malik, the Pakistani-born woman who along with her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, took up assault rifles and, the police say, killed 14 people last week in San Bernardino, Calif. Ms. Malik’s role in the decision to attack is of particular interest, in part because on the day of the assault she posted on Facebook that the couple was dedicating the massacre to the Islamic State. She and her husband were killed in a gun battle with the police after the attack. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE President Obama in the Oval Office on Sunday night.Obama Says of Terrorist Threat: ‘We Will Overcome It’DEC. 6, 2015 President Obama in the Oval Office last year. His aides usually prefer the imagery of the president striding to a lectern in the East Room to deliver an address.For Speech, Obama Selects a Setting He Usually Shuns: The Oval OfficeDEC. 6, 2015 At the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in San Bernardino, Calif., on Sunday, prayers were written for the 14 people killed last week.The City: San Bernardino Community Struck by Massacre Seemed on Verge of TurnaroundDEC. 6, 2015 During Ms. Malik’s time as a pharmacy student at the Multan university, starting in 2007, as Taliban attacks shook Pakistan, the area around Multan and her nearby hometown gained notoriety as centers of radical sectarian activity. The authorities’ concern became so great that in the months after Ms. Malik left the university, officials there began helping Pakistani intelligence agencies monitor for extremist activity on campus. The officials even installed surveillance cameras in the residence halls, out of concern that they had become recruiting grounds for radical groups. Photo Tashfeen Malik Credit FBI, via Associated Press Teachers described Ms. Malik as a polite and driven student who was visibly devout, always wearing the niqab face covering and avoiding contact with male students. But that hardly made her unique in southern Pakistan, particularly after she had spent most of her life in Saudi Arabia, and the timing and circumstances of her shift into militancy remain a mystery to investigators. Still, in the turbulence of that moment, and in the broader generational tensions stemming from Pakistani families who, like Ms. Malik’s, go to Saudi Arabia for opportunity and return practicing a more conservative brand of Islam, there are clues to the cultural and religious way stations of her apparent transformation. Culturally, Ms. Malik, 29, straddled several worlds, having been born in Pakistan, raised in Saudi Arabia and married in the United States. Her family, which comes from the remote Layyah District of Punjab Province, moved to Jidda, Saudi Arabia, in 1989, according to interviews with some of her relatives and former neighbors in the area. They say that her father, an engineer, left in anger, having fallen out with his brothers over a property dispute. From 2007 to at least 2012, Ms. Malik studied in Multan, the main city in southern Punjab, famed for its sparkling religious shrines that mark it as a historical center of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. Although Ms. Malik obtained her place under a quota system that reserves places for the children of expatriate Pakistanis, she quickly impressed professors with her diligence and ability. Some thought she might eventually become a lecturer. “We felt she could be an asset to the university if she joined the faculty after completing her studies,” Dr. Khalid Hussain Janbaz, a former lecturer, said in a phone interview. Advertisement Continue reading the main story No male lecturer knew what she looked like, however, because of the niqab. And though conservative Muslims were not unusual there, Ms. Malik developed a reputation as someone who purposefully avoided making friends with men and who was deeply rooted in her Saudi upbringing. After two years living at Maryam Hall, a hostel for female students, she complained to one faculty member that she was uncomfortable with the behavior of the other women. “She told me, ‘My parents live in Saudi Arabia, and I am not getting along with my roommates and cannot adjust with them, so can you help me?’ ” Dr. Syed Nisar Hussain Shah recalled. Soon after, Ms. Malik moved into a private house in the city that her parents rented for her. “I would call Tashfeen a Saudi girl,” Dr. Shah said. “She had just come to Pakistan for her degree.” In many ways, Ms. Malik was a classic product of the conservatizing influence that Saudi Arabia has brought to bear on countries like Pakistan. Critics of Saudi influence usually focus on the funding of hard-line mosques and religious schools, a criticism echoed on Sunday by the German vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, who connected the export of Saudi-style Islam to the danger from growing extremism in Europe. “We must make it clear to the Saudis that the time of looking the other way is over,” Mr. Gabriel said an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. But Ms. Malik’s family represents a different strand of the same phenomenon: changes wrought by Pakistanis who, since the 1970s, have migrated to Saudi Arabia for work, only to return with a far more conservative creed. Relatives and neighbors said that, after some years in Saudi Arabia, Ms. Malik’s father, Gulzar, rejected the Barelvi school of Sunni Islam that his family had traditionally practiced, and turned to the stricter Deobandi school. He stopped returning home for weddings, and his children, including Ms. Malik, did not meet their Pakistani relatives. “There was a lot of friction within the whole family as they adhered to different sects,” said Zahid Ghishkori, a journalist based in Islamabad who is from the same district as the family. In recent interviews in the United States, some of Mr. Farook’s male relatives spoke of Ms. Malik’s conservative ways with suspicion, saying they had never seen her face and noting that she chose not to drive. Dr. Shah, of the university faculty, said he was shocked by the news that Ms. Malik was suspected of committing a mass killing. He said he did not think she had become radicalized at the university, because it does not have a reputation for extremism. But neither Multan nor Ms. Malik’s university have been immune to extremist currents. A proliferation of hard-line religious schools across southern Punjab have obtained a reputation as incubators for sectarian and militant groups, some of which enjoy the tacit support of political leaders and elements of the Pakistani security forces. In response, the university kept a “very vigilant eye” on its students, said Dr. Janbaz, the lecturer, and coordinated with intelligence agencies to install surveillance cameras. Ms. Malik, however, never came under scrutiny, he said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story “We never heard anything suspicious about her activities,” he said. “She kept to herself and seemed to just focus on her studies.” But the authorities did little to stop a virtual witch hunt on campus that led to a nationally publicized death after Ms. Malik left the university. In 2013, Islamist students there accused Junaid Hafeez, a young lecturer in English who had traveled to the United States as a Fulbright scholar, of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in comments he made on his Facebook page. Mr. Hafeez was later charged with blasphemy, a crime that carries a possible death penalty in Pakistan, and he is currently in jail awaiting trial. Mr. Hafeez has struggled to find legal representation since two men fatally shot his lawyer, Rashid Rehman, in May 2014, in what was seen as punishment for daring to defend someone accused of blasphemy. Pakistani security officials say there is no indication yet that Ms. Malik moved in extremist circles on campus or in the city. Yet they have sought to restrict reporting from the area in recent days, often by issuing quiet threats to Pakistani reporters to back off. The officials conducted a search of Ms. Malik’s former home in Multan on Saturday. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said that investigators from the United States were “working closely with our foreign counterparts,” including Pakistan, to gather more information about Ms. Malik and Mr. Farook. At a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Pakistan’s interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, pledged to cooperate with the American investigation. But Mr. Khan criticized some of the American news media’s coverage of the attack. “The wrongdoing of an individual Muslim or Pakistani does not mean the entire country or religion is at fault,” he said. Ms. Malik’s estranged relatives, however, have been vocal in expressing shame over her actions. “We are ashamed and shocked about this act done by our niece,” Malik Ahmed Ali Aulakh, a relative and a former provincial minister, told Agence France-Presse. “Why did she do something so gruesome? We can’t believe it.” Salman Masood and Taha Siddiqui contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Waqar Gillani from Lahore. A version of this article appears in print on December 7, 2015, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: In Conservative Pa

Police respond to active shooting situation in San Bernardino

Click here to invest in South Australian Residential Commercial, Rural Properties, Schools & Businesses. Letter of Invitation: I would be available to answer any queries regarding best suburbs to integrate socially, just to let you know 21 suburbs of South Australia which are red-flagged by Australian banks. I am happy to provide detail answers to any questions with reference to Property Investment, Subdivision, Development, Buying/ Selling Residential, Commercial, Rural Properties and Businesses. I am available in person (Tue/Thu at 1289 South Rd, St. Marys, SA 5042 12 to 5 p.m) or on cell to answer any questions, and concerns you have to decide about your Real Estate. (Cell: 0431 138 537, Email: Saqlain@Dukesrealestate.com) by cassandra.garrison 6:18 AM Suspects opened fire on a holiday party on Wednesday at a social services agency in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others, then fled the scene, triggering an intense manhunt and a shootout with police, authorities said.Officer wounded in pursuit with suspect, but suspected to recover. Two suspects killed: one male, one female - both were armed with assault rifles and handguns. In 2015, there have been more than 350 shootings in which four or more people died: https://t.co/dFobY78RSY https://t.co/Xjmn877bes ============================ Deaths reported in shooting in San Bernardino, California * Police confirm at least 14 deaths * Manhunt underway for up to three possible suspects * Shooting took place at facility serving people with developmental disabilities * Police spokeswoman says suspects heavily armed and possibly wearing body armor * Bomb squad on scene to defuse possible explosive device UPDATE: Police searched on Wednesday for up to three suspects in the shooting of as many as 20 people, some of them fatally, at a social services agency for the developmentally disabled in the Southern California city of San Bernardino, authorities said. San Bernardino Police Lieutenant Richard Lawhead told a local NBC television network affiliate there were multiple fatalities, and a reporter for that channel said he saw the bodies of three victims following the shooting rampage. MSNBC also reported that law enforcement authorities had confirmed the three deaths. ----------------- Rescue crews tend to the injured in the intersection outside the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California in this still image taken from video December 2, 2015. REUTERS/NBCLA.com/Handout via Reuters ------------------------------------------ Thu Dec 3, 2015 | 4:40 AM EST Leaving behind baby and bombs, couple sows panic in California Police officers conduct a manhunt after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California December 2, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake Police officers conduct a manhunt after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California December 2, 2015. Reuters/Mike Blake Leaving behind baby and bombs, couple sows panic...X By Tim Reid and Dan Whitcomb SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Reuters) - On Wednesday morning, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, dropped off their six-month-old baby with Farook's mother, saying they were going to a doctor's appointment. By noon, according to police, the couple had donned assault clothing, armed themselves with rifles and stormed a holiday party attended by San Bernardino County employees, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others. Before sunset, after a shootout with police, they were both dead, leaving a grieving community with few clues to puzzle out the motive for the carnage. Syed Farook, born in the United States, worked as an environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County, inspecting restaurants for health violations, according to authorities and a website that tracks public employees. As part of his job, he also inspected public pools at locations including apartment and senior housing complexes and country clubs. Records show him performing these duties as recently as July. On Wednesday, he attended the annual holiday gathering for employees of his department, but then left, returning later with weaponry and Malik. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that the shooting spree had clearly been planned in advance and that the suspects left several explosive devices, which appeared to be pipe bombs, at the scene of the massacre. SueAnn Chapman, a cashier and waitress at China Doll Fast Food, a restaurant that Syed Farook inspected earlier this year for his job with the county, said he didn't seem unusual when he turned up. "He was real quiet," Chapman said. "He checked the food and said he was here because somebody complained. ... He looked completely normal." Burguan said he did not know whether Farook and Malik were wed, but officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who had been in touch with the family said they were husband and wife. The couple were married for two years and have a six-month-old baby girl, Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of CAIR, told Reuters. The couple left the baby with Farook's mother in the nearby city of Redlands early on Wednesday morning, Ayloush said, relaying information he got from the brother-in-law of Farook. They told her they were going to attend a doctor's appointment for the wife. Burguan said that police investigating the shooting went to a house in Redlands on Wednesday afternoon, and saw the couple take off in a black SUV. Police pursued the car to San Bernardino, where the gun battle ensued that left Farook and Malik dead. Farook's family was originally from South Asia, while Malik was believed to be from Pakistan and had lived in Saudi Arabia before coming to the United States, Ayloush said. Farook had an older brother, he added, who had served in the U.S. military. Public records suggest possible turbulence in Farook's younger life. In 2006, Rafia Farook, who records indicate is Farook's mother, filed in a Riverside court for divorce from her husband, also named Syed Farook. She enumerated multiple instances of domestic abuse in the legal filing, and said her husband "threatens to kill himself on a daily basis." During one incident, she said in a court filing, her son came between them "to save me." (Additional reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb, Robin Respaut, Heather Somerville, Julia Love and Dan Levine in San Francisco and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Sue Horton and Mary Milliken) ======================================================= Family 'shocked' by shooting, had no idea the attack was going to take place: Farook family representative U.S Fri Dec 4, 2015 | 4:35 PM EST FBI investigating California massacre as 'act of terrorism' 5:17 AM EST | 01:34 Vigil held to honour San Bernardino victims FBI investigating California massacre as 'act of...X By Dan Whitcomb and Mark Hosenball SAN BERNARDINO, Calif./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating this week's massacre of 14 people by a married couple in California as an "act of terrorism," officials said on Friday, noting that the female shooter had pledged allegiance to a leader of the militant group Islamic State. Tashfeen Malik, 27, a native of Pakistan who lived in Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years, and her U.S.-born husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, were killed in a shootout with police hours after the Wednesday attack during a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles. If the investigation does prove that the attack was the work of people inspired by Islamist militants, it would be the most serious such attack since Sept. 11, 2001. Malik had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an online post, David Bowdich, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Los Angeles office, said at a news conference. "Based on the information and the facts as we know them, we are now investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism," Bowdich said. Asked about a reported Facebook post by Malik on the day of the attack pledging loyalty to Islamic State, Bowdich said, "Yes, there was a pledge of allegiance." But a U.S. government official said there was no evidence that Islamic State even knew who the shooters were. Islamic State, which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, took claim for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris in which gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130. NO SIGNS OF A CELL The couple had two assault-style rifles, two semi-automatic handguns, 6,100 rounds of ammunition and 12 pipe bombs in their home or with them when they were killed, officials said. "The investigation so far has delivered indications of radicalization by the killers and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations," Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey told reporters in Washington. "We have no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group or form part of a cell. There is no indication that they are part of a network." ADVERTISEMENT Related Coverage Names released of 14 people slain in California shooting Accused California shooter raised no red flags in Saudi: source News agency says Islamic State followers carried out California attacks Bowdich also said the FBI was examining crushed cellphones found near the shooting scene. The couple may have been planning an additional attack, he added. Farook, born in Illinois to Pakistani immigrant parents, worked as an inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Environment Health, the agency whose holiday party he and Malik are accused of attacking on Wednesday. Investigators are looking into a report that Farook had an argument with a co-worker who denounced the "inherent dangers of Islam" prior to the shooting, a U.S. government source said. The couple's landlord in the town of Redlands opened their townhouse to media on Friday, leading to a flurry of reporters and camera crews surveying the scene. The landlord later asked media to leave. RELATED VIDEO Video 01:03 Gunman Farook's sister: 'I don't even know if I would forgive him' The FBI's search of the home turned up no evidence to suggest they had been working with any foreign militant group, a U.S. government source said. PROBE EXTENDS TO PAKISTAN Pakistani intelligence officials have contacted Malik's family in her homeland as part of the investigation, a family member said. "I only found out about this tragedy today when some intelligence officials contacted me to ask me about my links with Tashfeen," Malik's uncle, Javed Rabbani, said in an interview. "I had heard in the news that this tragedy had taken place but I could never even imagine that it would be someone from my family. Of course, we are in shock." He said his brother, Malik's father, had become considerably more conservative since moving with his family to Saudi Arabia a quarter century ago. FBI to update on San Bernardino investigation Friday: White House Facebook removed suspect profile after California shooting FBI chief says no sign California shooters were part of larger group Tashfeen Malik had not come to the attention of authorities while living in Saudi Arabia, according to a source close to the Saudi government. She had moved back to Pakistan five or six years ago to study pharmacy, Pakistani officials said. Christian Nwadike, who worked with Farook for five years, told CBS that his co-worker had been different since he returned from Saudi Arabia. "I think he married a terrorist," Nwadike said. Twenty-one people were wounded in the attack, the worst gun violence in the nation since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Farook had not been under surveillance by the FBI or any other law enforcement agency, Bowdich said, adding that there was no evidence that additional threats lingered following the shooting. (Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in Islamabad, Idrees Ali and Doina Chiacu in Washington, Rory Carroll and Dan Whitcomb in San Bernardino, Curtis Skinner in San Francisco and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker) ==================================================================== Gunman Farook's sister: 'I don't even know if I would forgive him' The sister of Syed Farook, one of the suspects in the massacre in California, says she is deeply saddened and no had indication of her brother's plans. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). TRANSCRIPT - ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) The sister of the male suspect in the San Bernardino mass shooting says she isn't sure if she'll ever be able to forgive her brother. Speaking in an interview, Saira Khan, sister of Syed Farook, said "I want to say I'm sorry. Deeply saddened. It's a sad day for all of us." Khan says Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik gave no indication of their plans ahead of the mass shooting that left 14 people dead at a holiday party in California. "So many things I asked myself. I ask myself if I had called him that morning or the night before, asked him how he was doing, what he was up to...if I had any inclination maybe I could have stopped it," said Khan. Farook and Malik were killed in a shootout with police hours after the Wednesday massacre at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles. The couple left behind a 6-month old daughter. Farook's brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said, "What he did to his own family, his daughter, to the innocent people there, no, I won't forgive him." Twenty-one people were wounded in the attack, the worst gun violence in the nation since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 27 people died. ===============================

U.S. deploying new force to Iraq to boost fight against Islamic State

Tue Dec 1, 2015 | 8:06 PM EST 2:59 PM EST | 01:57 U.S. sending new force to Iraq to hit ISIS By Phil Stewart and Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was deploying a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to conduct raids against Islamic State there and in neighboring Syria, a ratcheting up of Washington's campaign against the group that met a cool reaction in Iraq. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the deployment of the new "specialized expeditionary targeting force" was being carried out in coordination with Iraq's government and would aid Iraqi government security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces. "These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders," Carter told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, using an acronym for Islamic State. "This force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations into Syria." Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement stressing that foreign ground combat troops were not needed in Iraq and that deployment of foreign forces could not happen without Iraqi approval. Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim armed groups pledged to fight any such deployment of U.S. forces to the country. Jafaar Hussaini, a spokesman for Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the main Shi'ite militant groups, said that any such U.S. force would become a "primary target for our group." "We fought them before and we are ready to resume fighting," he said. An Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plan to deploy the special operations forces unit to Iraq was discussed and agreed with the government of Iraq before Carter's announcement. Officials noted that Carter, speaking to Congress, stressed that any U.S. operations by the unit in Iraq would be carried out at the invitation of the Iraqi government. Iraqi Shi'ite militias pledge to fight U.S. forces if deployed EXPANDING U.S. OPERATIONS While the force is expected to number only about 200, its creation marks the latest stepping up of U.S. military pressure on Islamic State while also exposing American forces to greater risk, something President Barack Obama has done only sparingly. The force is separate from a previously announced deployment of up to 50 U.S. special operations troops in Syria to coordinate on the ground with U.S.-backed rebels fighting in a civil war raging since 2011. Obama is under pressure to accelerate a U.S.-led coalition's efforts to combat Islamic State, in particular after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people. He has been reluctant to commit large numbers of U.S. ground troops, instead deploying limited numbers of advisors and elite forces. Fred Hof, formerly a top State Department advisor on Syria, said the planned deployment of special forces to Iraq to conduct raids and gather intelligence represented a shift by Obama. Hof, who is now at the Atlantic Council think-tank, said the U.S. special forces were filling a gap in capable ground forces to fight Islamic State, which won control of Iraq's Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi in May and also controls the northern of Mosul. Obama "is edging as closely as he can to try to fill this … gap without violating in a technical sense his own ‘boots on the ground’ dictum," Hof said, referring to Obama’s frequent pledges not to return to U.S. troops to a large-scale ground war. That pledge, he said, does not appear to apply to U.S. special operations forces. Obama in August 2014 authorized the first U.S. air strikes in Iraq since the 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal and has deployed more than 3,000 American military forces to train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces to fight Islamic State. His critics, including Republicans in Congress, accuse Obama of moving too slowly against Islamic State, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks. Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said on Tuesday the new force represented more "incrementalism" in the Obama administration's approach toward Islamic State.

Exclusive: Russia may freeze Turkish Stream gas project - Gazprom sources

Tue Dec 1, 2015 | 3:37 PM EST A view shows the company logo of Gazprom company installed on the roof of its office building in Moscow, August 10, 2015. Reuters/Maxim Shemetov Exclusive: Russia may freeze Turkish Stream gas...X By Denis Pinchuk and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia may freeze work on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project for several years in retaliation against Ankara for the shooting down of a Russian air force jet, two sources at Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) told Reuters. The Kremlin has imposed trade sanctions on Turkey over last week's jet incident although so far the measures have not affected the Russian energy exports to Turkey that are the core of their economic relationship. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Tuesday that no decisions had been made on the project and on a nuclear power station that Russia is building in Turkey. Freezing work on the pipeline - intended to pump Russian gas, via Turkey, into southeastern Europe while bypassing Ukraine - would have a more symbolic than practical effect because the project is already beset by delays and doubts over its viability. Any freeze would also not affect another Russian project to boost gas exports to the north of Europe. Gazprom is going ahead with plans to expand the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany despite resistance from several ex-communist states in eastern Europe. Gazprom sources said no decision had been taken inside the company about changes to the Turkish Stream schedule in response to the row with Ankara, but added that they were awaiting instructions from President Vladimir Putin. "We're expecting that the head of state, in all likelihood, could declare a freezing of Turkish Stream, or at least some kind of timeout should be announced," said one Gazprom source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second source in Gazprom, who also did not want to be identified, said: "We are still hoping that Turkish Stream will be pushed back by a few years, rather than completely canceled." Ulyukayev said last month that Turkish Stream could be among the projects affected by sanctions against Turkey, but he did not specify how. On Tuesday he left open the future of the pipeline and nuclear power station. "There have been no decisions at this stage on suspending, freezing or ending financing for these projects," he told reporters in Brussels. "We are working on the assumptions that they will be carried out as they were agreed." Gazprom is pursuing a strategy of diversifying the routes by which it supplies gas to Europe - its biggest export market - so that less passes through Ukraine. In the past, rows between Moscow and Kiev have disrupted transit flows through Ukraine to the European Union. Russia's annexation of Crimea last year and a rebellion by pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine have made the relations more fraught, and added urgency to the search for an alternative. The project is to involve, initially, building a new gas pipeline under the Black Sea to Turkey, and in subsequent phases the construction of a further line from Turkey to Greece, and then overland into southeastern Europe. Even before the row with Ankara, the project had been delayed and reduced in scale, leading some industry insiders to doubt if it would ever happen. In October, the completion date for the first phase was pushed back from 2016 to 2017. Russia abandoned a previous attempt to build a new route to southern Europe after Bulgaria, where the pipeline was to have made landfall, pulled out under pressure from Brussels. NORTHERN PROJECT In September, a group of European companies signed an agreement with Gazprom to expand its Nord Stream pipeline so that it can deliver increased volumes directly from Russia to Germany, also without pumping them through Ukraine. Gazprom, E.ON EON.UL, BASF (BASFn.DE)/Wintershall WINT.UL, OMV (OMVV.VI), ENGIE (ENGIE.PA) and Royal Dutch Shell form the new consortium for the project, which is called Nord Stream II and aims to double the route's annual capacity to about 100 billion cubic meters of gas. The new pipelines are due to start transporting gas by the end of 2019, according to the consortium. The plan has met opposition from the U.S. government and some eastern European countries, which say it allows the Kremlin to squeeze Ukraine out from its role as a transit country. The pro-Western government in Kiev, in power since street protests overthrew a Moscow-friendly president last year, earns significant revenues from transit fees. Ten EU countries have written a letter to the European Commission saying that Nord Stream II runs counter to the bloc's interests. Polish Minister for Maritime Affairs Marek Grobarczyk told Reuters last week the project would harm energy security by deepening dependence on Russian gas. "There is a broad agreement within EU countries ... that building Nord Stream II stands against the idea of diversification and the idea of the internal market and would lead to an increase of energy supplies from one direction and one supplier," Grobarczyk said. Hungary, a country which backed the aborted South Stream project, has accused the EU of exercising double standards over which pipeline routes it supports and which it opposes. "They complained about South Stream because it would have bypassed Ukraine. Does Nord Stream II traverse Ukraine?", Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Nov. 20. "Interestingly, South Stream was problematic, while Nord Stream is not." (Additional reporting by Pawel Sobczak and Anna Koper in WARSAW, Marton Dunai in BUDAPEST, Humeyra Pamuk in ISTANBUL; Writing by Christian Lowe and Jack Stubbs; Editing by Andrew Osborn and David Stamp)