Jamie Ling

Syria: US raids have failed to weaken ISIL

Syria's foreign minister has said US-led air strikes had failed to weaken the grip of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria and the group would not be tackled unless Turkey was forced to tighten border controls.<p>A US-led alliance started attacking ISIL targets in Syria in …

Rand Paul Slams Obama's 'Absurd' Legal Argument For ISIS Fight

In order to justify its airstrikes against the Islamic State jihadists, President Barack Obama's administration has cited authorizations for military force that date back to 2001 and 2002.<p>Paul, a likely presidential candidate in 2016, called that argument "absurd" four times in a Wednesday …

Inside the Islamic State’s capital: Red Bull-drinking jihadists, hungry civilians, crucifixions and air strikes

Activists tell of the Isis elite living in relative luxury as civilians face poverty, hunger, inflation and power shortages<p>The beleaguered inhabitants of Raqqa, self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State (Isis), are suffering widespread hunger, crippling inflation, chronic power shortages and …

FBI warns military of ISIS threat

The FBI issued a warning Sunday to members of the U.S. military that ISIS is calling for attacks against them, according to a law enforcement source, saying that "overseas based individuals are looking for like-minded individuals in the U.S. to carry out these attacks."<p>"We also request members of …

Egypt militant group allied with Isis claims it killed US oil worker in August

Oklahoma newspaper published obituary for man named William Henderson in August, saying he had ‘passed suddenly’ while working in Egypt<p>An Egyptian militant organisation allied with the Islamic State (Isis) group has claimed responsibility for the killing of an American oil worker.<p>Ansar Beit …

Islamic State militants kill 16 Iraqi soldiers on Syria border

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters killed 16 Iraqi soldiers in an attack on a western border crossing with Syria on Monday, the head of the local provincial council Faleh al-Issawi said.<p>A black flag belonging to the Islamic State is seen near the Syrian town of Kobani, as pictured from the …

ISIS Is Running An Alarmingly Effective Terrorist State

At times, the group appeared to have a less-than-strategic approach to holding its suddenly Belgium-size domain, baiting a US-led coalition into airstrikes and opening fronts against the Syrian, Iraqi, and Kurdish militaries.<p>But as a new report from Charles Lister of the Brookings Institution's …

Teen ISIS Bride From Britain Blogs About The Death Of Her Jihadi Husband

Umm Khattab al-Britaniyyaa says she is an 18-year-old who has been living in Syria for five months.<p>Swedish newspaper <i>Göteborgs-Posten</i> reported on Oct. 30 that a Swedish fighter in his late twenties had been killed by coalition airstrikes early in the morning of Oct. 28, in Kobani.<p>It seems likely …

Turkey's Erdogan says Russia has suffered from terrorism, will together fight Isis

Despite acknowledging their differences over the Syria conflict, Russia and Turkey have agreed to fight Islamic State (Isis) militants in Syria …

21 Phrases You Use Without Realizing You're Quoting Shakespeare

William Shakespeare devised new words and countless plot tropes that still appear in everyday life. Famous quotes from his plays are easily …

The fall of the Berlin Wall: what it meant to be there

Twenty-five years on, Timothy Garton Ash asks what hindsight can’t reveal – and wonders where the 1989 generation might lead us<p>We throw chocolates up to the putty-faced East German frontier troops, as they stand guard – against whom? defending what? – atop a Wall that since yesterday has become …

No exit: Britain’s social housing trap

The shortage of housing and the impact of Thatcher’s right-to-buy scheme have created a bureaucratic nightmare in which people are stranded for years, waiting to move into a place they can call home<p>To estate agents, England’s Lane, tucked away in a corner of Hampstead, is one of London’s most …

What kind of King will Charles III be?

When Prince Charles becomes king, will he be able to stop his compulsive ‘meddling’? And if he can’t, what will it mean for the monarchy and the United Kingdom?<p>On 15 September, while President Obama was meeting with his advisers in the White House and deciding how to unleash the world’s most …

How do you sell God in the 21st century? More heaven, less hell

Growing up as an evangelical, I was terrified of hell. But in recent years, Christian pastors have abandoned damnation in favour of a more upbeat vision<p>A couple of years ago, a Chicago-based corporate-identity consultant Chris Herron gave himself the ultimate challenge: rebrand hell. It was half …

Two centuries after the Marquis de Sade, a French exhibition traces his influence: http://bit.ly/1yKsNdC

The 10 Best Movies You Missed in 2014

And how to catch up with them.<p><b>You've been chilled</b> by the marriage-gone-awry suspense of <i>Gone Girl</i>, stupefied by the cinematic inventiveness of <i>Birdman</i>, and terrified by the twisted mentor-mentee relationship of <i>Foxcatcher</i>, but what about those other must-see films from 2014 that you didn't have time …

Recent Iran airstrikes in Iraq help drive Islamic State from 2 towns

Iranian warplanes have launched several airstrikes in recent days against<p>Islamic Statemilitants in eastern Iraq, U.S. and Iranian officials said Tuesday, the latest sign that America's longtime adversary is conducting a parallel but largely unacknowledged military campaign in the conflict.<p>At least …

Turkey's Erdogan disputes gender equality as 'against nature'

Turkish President<p>Recep Tayyip Erdoganhas stirred controversy again with a speech Monday disputing gender equality and defining women's role in society as motherhood.<p>In an address to the Women and Justice Summit in Istanbul, Erdogan laid out his view of a "much more fair, humane and conscientious …

Iraq army, allies reclaim towns from Islamic State

Iraqi and allied forces have wrested control of two towns in the eastern province of Diyala from the<p>militantgroupIslamic State, Iraqi officials said Monday.<p>Saadiya and Jalawla, less than 20 miles from the Iranian border, were retaken after a two-day operation that brought together Iraqi army and …