Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon spokesman says the U.S. has carried out two airstrikes today on an Islamic State group staging area in eastern Syria. Rear Adm. John Kirby says the U.S. military was aiming for an area used by the militants to move equipment across the border into Iraq. He tells CNN that the U.S. also struck targets in Iraq, near the Kurdish city of Irbil and the capital, Baghdad.
NEW YORK (AP) — A striking shift is expected to be evident today when President Barack Obama focuses on defeating Islamic State militants during an address to the United Nations General Assembly. He'll be a commander in chief overseeing a war against militants in two Middle Eastern nations, despite a presidency mostly focused on ending conflicts in the region. Obama is also likely to emphasize efforts to solve the Ebola and Ukraine crises.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 140 countries are present for the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting but solutions are scarce even though they face multiple global crises. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's state of the world report today is expected to be bleak. Norway's foreign minister calls the situation "unprecedented in decades."
MADRID (AP) — A 21-year-old Spaniard is hospitalized for medical and psychiatric evaluations after his arrest in the stabbing of five people in an hour in broad daylight in northeastern Spain. Spanish police say the man admitted to the stabbings when police stopped him in the street yesterday. All the victims remain hospitalized.
BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia is about to send a group of cold-blooded killers to war, even though they are essentially unarmed. The enemy is the mealybug, which threatens to destroy cassava, one of the developing world's most important staple foods. The fighters are tiny wasps that don't even sting but lay eggs inside the mealybug. They're eaten from the inside by the feasting larva. The plan is to release thousands of wasps into the wild.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
