War | GlobalPost

Britain told U.S. Japan might be preparing for war in Feb. 1941

Kyodo News InternationalMay 22, 2013 22:16

Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that transcripts of bugged telephone conversations indicating the possibility Japan could go to war with Britain in early 1941 be sent to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, government papers declassified Thursday showed. The telephone conversations and intercepted telegrams suggested the possibility the Japanese embassy in London was at one point in February 1941 preparing for Japan to join forces with Germany and declare war on Britain, the documents released at the National Archives in London revealed.

AFP 0100 GMT News Advisory

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 22:16

Duty Editor: James Hossack Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + 'Soldier' killed in Britain in suspected Islamist attack + FBI kills man during questioning over Boston bomber ties + US formally admits killing Awlaki in Yemeni drone strike Britain-unrest-military-murder,WRAP LONDON Two men wielding knives and a gun murder a man believed to be a British soldier near a London barracks, before delivering an Islamist tirade to passers-by.

U.S. military lawyers put more pressure on Guantanamo

Thomson ReutersMay 22, 2013 20:48

By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - Military and civilian lawyers for prisoners at the Guantanamo naval base urged U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to improve conditions for detainees, putting more pressure on the Obama administration to make good its promise to close the camp. The plea from 18 lawyers representing "high-value" prisoners came before a speech by President Barack Obama on Thursday when he will address counterterrorism measures such as drone strikes and closing Guantanamo.

Obama to resume transfers from Guantanamo

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 20:30

President Barack Obama plans to resume transfers of inmates from Guantanamo Bay to other countries in a fresh bid to close the controversial US prison, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. In the coming weeks, Obama will try to accelerate efforts to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo partly by lifting a long-running ban on sending Yemeni inmates to their home country, the newspaper said, citing unnamed US officials. The White House, the Pentagon and officers at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay all declined to comment on the report.

Obama to resume transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo, WSJ reports

Agencia EFEMay 22, 2013 20:16

Washington, May 22 (EFE).- The U.S. government will resume the transfer of prisoners suspected of committing terrorist acts from the base at Guantanamo, Cuba, as a step leading toward closing the prison, government officials told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. U.S. President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to give a speech on counterterrorism efforts on Thursday, will reaffirm in that address his commitment to close the prison, one of his campaign promises that has remained unfulfilled since 2008.

Army sergeant accused of videotaping female cadets

Thomson ReutersMay 22, 2013 19:31

By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Army sergeant at the Military Academy has been accused of videotaping female cadets in the showers a West Point, a defense official said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of sex-related incidents that has rocked the armed forces. Sergeant First Class Michael McClendon was charged last week with four violations of U.S. military law in connection with the incident and has been transferred to a new base pending outcome of an investigation by Army investigators, officials said.

U.S. probe of Benghazi attack focused on more than five suspects

Thomson ReutersMay 22, 2013 19:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An investigation of the attacks on the American diplomatic mission and nearby annex in Benghazi, Libya, last year is looking at more than five potential suspects, a U.S. national security source said on Wednesday. The source would not identify the suspects who have come to the attention of the FBI, which is investigating the September 11, 2012, attacks that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

US defends attack on Awlaki as lawful

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 19:00

In a letter to Congress, President Barack Obama's administration formally acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that it killed radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and three other US citizens in strikes abroad. Here are the main points of a letter from US Attorney General Eric Holder to members of Congress on the counter-terrorism operations, which he defends as legal and justified. The drone strikes have long been referred to in media reports, but never publicly confirmed by the administration.

Access to U.S. chemical-site records is spotty

Thomson ReutersMay 22, 2013 18:31

By Ryan McNeill and M.B. Pell NEW YORK (Reuters) - A law Congress passed more than a quarter-century ago to alert the public to chemical hazards is seen today by some government officials as a potential tip sheet for terrorists. As a result, public access to hazardous-chemical inventories is often spotty.

Israel general sees increased risk of surprise war

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 18:15

Middle East unrest increases the chance of Israel becoming embroiled in a surprise war, the head of its air force said on Wednesday. "When you look (around) today I think that a surprise war can be born in very many configurations," Major General Amir Eshel told a conference near Tel Aviv in remarks broadcast on local television and radio. "I don't so much see a surprise war in the near term, but it can be born from isolated incidents which escalate very quickly and oblige us to act across the spectrum," he said, without elaborating.