Islamic State affiliate in Egypt releases purported image of beheaded Croatian hostage
CAIRO (AP) — A Croatian hostage abducted in Egypt by Islamic State militants has been beheaded, according to a gruesome image circulated Wednesday online — a killing that, if confirmed, would be the first of its kind involving a foreign captive in the country, undermining government efforts to project stability and buttress an economic turnaround.
The killing of the 30-year-old oil and gas sector surveyor would deal a blow to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s attempts to burnish the country’s reputation a week after he unveiled a new extension of the Suez canal in a much-hyped ceremony attended by international dignitaries.
It will also likely rattle companies with expatriate workers in Egypt and cast a cloud over hopes of boosting international investment and tourism following years of unrest in the wake of Egypt’s Arab Spring uprising.
The still photo, circulated by IS supporters on social media, appeared to show the body of Tomislav Salopek, a married father of two, wearing a beige jumpsuit like the one he wore in a previous video. A black flag used by the Islamic State group and a knife were planted in the sand next to his body.
A caption in Arabic said Salopek was killed “for his country’s participation in the war against the Islamic State,” and came after a deadline had passed for Egypt to meet his captors’ demands to free jailed Islamist women.
Officials: At least 13 dead in huge explosions in China port city of Tianjin
TIANJIN, China (AP) — Huge explosions sparked overnight at a warehouse for dangerous materials in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin killed at least 13 people, injured hundreds and sent massive fireballs into the night sky, officials and state media outlets said Thursday.
CCTV, the state-run broadcaster, said that another 248 people had been admitted to hospitals in the city, east of Beijing. The explosions late Wednesday knocked off doors of buildings in the area and shattered windows up to several kilometers away.
“I thought it was an earthquake, so I rushed downstairs without my shoes on,” Tianjin resident Zhang Siyu, whose home is several kilometers from the blast site, said in a telephone interview. “Only once I was outside did I realize it was an explosion. There was the huge fireball in the sky with thick clouds. Everybody could see it.”
Zhang said she could see wounded people weeping. She said she did not see anyone who had been killed, but “I could feel death.”
Police in Tianjin said an initial blast took place late Wednesday night at shipping containers of a warehouse for hazardous materials owned by a logistics company.
Clinton’s email troubles persist; backers say it’s just politics, but will campaign suffer?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Try as she might to focus on the policies she wants to enact if elected president, Hillary Rodham Clinton just can’t dig out of her inbox.
Clinton’s email problems are getting worse. She agreed to turn over her private server to the Justice Department this week on the same day Congress got word that at least two emails that traversed the device while she was secretary of state contained information that warranted one of the government’s highest levels of classification.
The developments suggest the investigation into the security of Clinton’s email setup could run deep into 2016, as she is trying to win the Democratic nomination for president and, potentially, the general election.
Clinton campaign aides argue there’s nothing for investigators to find. What worries them more is the lingering whiff of political scandal in a tightening primary race, and they pushed back hard on Wednesday, trying their best to dismiss the matter as nothing more than politics.
“Look, this kind of nonsense comes with the territory of running for president. We know it, Hillary knows it, and we expect it to continue from now until Election Day,” campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri wrote in an email to campaign supporters.
Obama administration review of Keystone XL pipeline permit taking 5 times longer than average
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas has dragged on for nearly seven years, more than five times the average for such applications.
The White House insists it’s simply following a standard and well-established process.
In the 6 1/2 years since TransCanada Corp. first applied for a permit, the $8 billion project has become a flashpoint in the debate over climate change.
Under a George W. Bush-era executive order, oil pipelines crossing U.S. borders require a presidential permit, setting off a government-wide review coordinated by the State Department.
An Associated Press examination of every cross-border pipeline application since 2004, when Bush revised the process, shows that the Keystone review has been anything but ordinary.
Top general: US should consider embedding troops in Iraqi units if little progress made
WASHINGTON (AP) — If Iraqi forces aren’t making good progress against Islamic State militants in the next several months, the U.S. should consider embedding American troops with the Iraqis, the Army’s retiring top general said Wednesday.
Gen. Raymond Odierno, who retires as Army chief of staff on Friday, said the U.S. forces would not be directly involved in the fight.
“I believe that if we find in the next several months that we’re not making the progress that we have, we should probably absolutely consider embedding some soldiers with them, and see if that would make a difference,” Odierno told reporters. “I think that’s an option we should present to the president.”
Speaking during his final Pentagon press conference, Odierno hit a broad range of topics, and spoke at length about Iraq and his frustrations as a commander who spent three long tours there only to see the country plunge again into chaos.
He discounted suggestions — including by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump — that the U.S. should take more aggressive military action in Iraq, saying the solution lies with political and economic reforms. He said the U.S. could probably go into Iraq with enough force to defeat the Islamic State, but the success would not last.
