Indian rapper targets US chemical giant in bid for damages

" An Indian rapper is targeting Dow Chemical with rhymes " demanding the U.S. company pay more in victims' compensation and environmental damages stemming from a horrific chemical gas leak that killed thousands of people and sickened countless others. Sofia Ashraf debuted "Dow vs. Bhopal: a Toxic Rap Battle" last month, calling the story of what happened in the central Indian city of Bhopal "a critical message to get out there."

What Blair said to Bush: the 525 day route to the Iraq war that spawned a Parliamentary ‘contempt’ action

The 9/11 terror attacks on the US which killed 3000 people proved to be the catalyst for a fundamental change in the US and UK's approach to Iraq with talk of military action already on the agenda within a matter of weeks. The long-awaited Chilcot Report showed that while there was a public narrative of negotiation, the country was actively planning for a possible conflict after then president George Bush's famous summit with prime minister Tony Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas in April, 2002.

PolitiFact: Obama overstates boost in trade with Mexico and Canada

President Barack Obama pauses while making a statement on Afghanistan from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The president said the U.S. will leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan when he completes his term, down slightly from the current number but well up from the 5,500 he announced previously, arguing America's interests depend on helping Afghanistan's struggling government fight continuing threats from the Taliban and others.

David Cameron to commit more British troops to Afghanistan

US president Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron during a group photograph at the Presidential Palace ahead of a working dinner on day one of the Nato summit The Prime Minister, attending the Nato summit in Warsaw, will announce that he is to deploy up to 50 additional personnel to help build up the beleaguered Afghan security forces. They will join the 450 British troops already in the country who had been due to return at the end of this year but will now have their mission extended into 2017.

Spectators watch Fourth of July fireworks at Ault Park, Monday, July…

An owl named "Distinto" flies to her trainer inside a park as part of the birds exercise routine outside a cage at the former Buenos Aires Zoo, Argentina, Friday, July 1, 2016. The city government announced last week it will transform the city's zoo into an ecological park for a limited number of species, and begin with the transfer of birds of prey to natural reserves.

Japanese navy docks Thursday for weekend visit to Mayport and Saturday concert at UNF

It's "Furorida e yokoso!" - Welcome to Florida! - for sailors, officers and 200 newly commissioned ensigns on board three Japanese warships who dock Thursday at Mayport Naval Station as the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Training Squadron makes a three-day goodwill visit. As the training squadron's visiting sailors enjoy liberty at a new port of call, its military band will join Navy Band Southeast for a free public concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at the University of North Florida.

.com | US punishing North Korean leader for human rights abuses

Washington The US imposed sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and 10 other top officials on Wednesday for human rights abuses in an escalation of Washington's effort to isolate the authoritarian government. Although North Korea is already sanctioned to the hilt because of its nuclear weapons program, it is the first time that Kim has been personally sanctioned, and the first time that any North Korean officials have been blacklisted in connection with rights abuses, such as running the nation's notorious gulag and running down defectors.

NATO summit a defining moment in Polish security aspirations

" The Polish capital once lent its name to the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet-led defense alliance that stood as a counterweight to NATO during the Cold War. This week, in a sign of how dramatically strategic alliances have shifted in Eastern Europe, Warsaw will host a two-day NATO summit, the first time that Poland has hosted a top-level meeting of the Western military alliance that it joined in 1999.

Heavy flooding in China leaves 181 dead or missing

Luis Urias homered and singled, scoring two runs as the Lake Elsinore Storm topped the Stockton Ports 7-1 on Wednesday. In an Associated Press story published in The Free Lance-Star on June 28, former Virginia governor and current U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is quoted a BEIJING - Water levels are starting to recede in central and eastern China after days of heavy downpours broke levees, flooded cities and villages, halted public transportation, and left at least 181 people dead or missing.

Obama to maintain 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan into 2017

US President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he will maintain about 8,400 American troops in Afghanistan into 2017 through the end of his administration, slowing the planned drawdown of the US military presence in the country. Obama said the security situation in Afghanistan remains "precarious" and the country's security forces are still "not as strong as they need to be."

US and Georgia sign ‘defence partnership’

The United States and Georgia signed a security deal Wednesday designed to shore up the former Soviet republic's defences against Russia as it waits to join NATO. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili inked the agreement at a ceremony in Tbilisi just two days before the annual NATO summit in Warsaw.

CHART: How The U.S. Troop Levels In Afghanistan Have Changed Under Obama

President Obama came into office pledging to end the U.S. military role in Afghanistan's war. But on Wednesday, the president announced there will still be around 8,400 American troops there when he leaves office in January, more than 15 years after America launched what's become the longest war in its history.

Obama to slow pace of Afghanistan troop withdrawal

President Barack Obama pauses while making a statement on Afghanistan from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The president said the U.S. will leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan when he completes his term, down slightly from the current number but well up from the 5,500 he announced previously, arguing America's interests depend on helping Afghanistan's struggling government fight continuing threats from the Taliban and others.

Obama to leave about 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan at yeara s end

President Barack Obama said Wednesday the U.S. will leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan when he completes his term, down slightly from the current number but well up from the 5,500 he announced previously, arguing America's interests depend on helping Afghanistan's struggling government fight continuing threats from the Taliban and others. In a statement at the White House, Obama said he was acting after receiving recommendations from top military leaders who urged him to revise his earlier plan.

Obama Again Extends Troop Presence In Afghanistan

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that there will be 8,400 troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office, an increase from a previous announcement that there would be 5,500. WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama again stalled the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, announcing on Wednesday that he plans to keep 8,400 American troops there through the remainder of his presidency.

Senators warn against troop cuts in Afghanistan

The international military mission in Afghanistan will fail if troop levels are reduced further, with potentially dangerous repercussions for the rest of the world, a delegation of U.S. lawmakers warned during a visit to Kabul today. Fifteen years after an American-led operation toppled the Taliban in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama is considering whether to maintain the current level of 9,800 U.S. troops or reduce it to 5,500 by the end of the year, as current plans call for.