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BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi military officials say Sunni militants have captured two border crossings as they press on with their offensive. The officials say militants seized a crossing into Jordan and another into Syria after government forces there pulled out. The insurgents have also captured four towns since Friday in Anbar province, where militants linked to al-Qaida have controlled the city of Fallujah and parts of the provincial capital Ramadi since January.
CAIRO (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry is asking Arab countries to resist funding Sunni fighters in what is turning into a cross-border war between Iraq and Syria. Kerry says that support eventually could help the spreading insurgency in Iraq. He says the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has become a threat not only to Iraq, but to the entire Mideast, and perhaps beyond. Kerry spoke in Cairo after meeting with new Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (AHB'-del fat-AH' el-SEE'-see).
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is falling short of its commitment to the rising ranks of female veterans. An Associated Press review finds nearly one in four VA hospitals lacks a fulltime gynecologist and 15 percent of community-based clinics don't have designated women's health providers. When community-based clinics refer veterans to outside facilities to be screened for breast cancer, more than half the time their mammogram results are not provided to patients within the required two weeks.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The U.S. military is looking into allowing all of the nation's veterans who served honorably to shop online at exchanges that sell discounted, name-brand goods. That perk that is currently available only to current service members, veterans who served for 20 years or longer and their family members. The change is being proposed by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service director as a way to show appreciation for veterans and to offset a loss of revenue as troops return from overseas.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The contract that covers dock workers who handle hundreds of billions of dollars of imports and exports at 29 West Coast ports is set to expire. The union representing nearly 20,000 dockworkers has been negotiating with shipping lines and port terminal operators, but no deal is likely before their contract ends June 30. Both sides say they will negotiate beyond the deadline without disruptions to trade, but jittery retailers aren't taking any chances. Some importers have shifted to ports on the Gulf and East Coasts, or have stocked up for back-to-school and holiday shopping.
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