Iraqi state forces, militia man checkpoints after bloodshed

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security forces on Sunday set up checkpoints and manned them alongside unarmed members of a militia group, Iraqi police officials said, to protect anti-government protesters in central Baghdad plazas, two days after a deadly attack by unknown gunmen. The militia group, Saraya Salam or...

Iran says new budget bucks US oil embargo, uses Russian loan

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's president said on Sunday his country will depend less on oil revenue next year, in a new budget that is designed to resist crippling U.S. trade embargoes. Iran is in the grip of an economic crisis. The U.S. re-imposed sanctions that block Iran from selling its crude oil abroad,...

In Florida, Trump says he's Israel's best pal in White House

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than him because, unlike his predecessors, “I kept my promises." Trump energized an audience that numbered in the hundreds at the Israeli American Council National Summit in...

Iraqi officials raise toll to 25 killed in Baghdad bloodshed

BAGHDAD (AP) — Anti-government protesters wielding a blood-drenched flag returned to Baghdad's central plaza on Saturday after a night of bloody attacks that left 25 people dead and more than 130 wounded. Storm clouds gathered over Khilani Square as the protesters surveyed the blackened facade of a...

Pensacola naval base shooting tests US-Saudi relations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. defense and military officials on Saturday reaffirmed America's continued commitment to and relationship with Saudi Arabia after a Saudi Air Force student's deadly attack at a Navy base in Florida. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and others attending a security conference in...

Iran frees Chinese-American scholar for US-held scientist

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Princeton scholar held for three years in Iran on widely criticized espionage charges was freed Saturday as part of a prisoner exchange that saw America release a detained Iranian scientist, a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington after months of...

Pentagon chief plans to shift US focus to China and Russia

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday he still plans to shift the American military’s focus to competing with China and Russia, even as security threats pile up in the Middle East. Esper outlined his strategic goals and priorities in a speech at the Reagan National...

Report: Some 14,000 to run for 290 seats in Iran parliament

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s official IRNA news agency reports that nearly 14,000 people have registered to run for office in the country’s parliamentary elections in February. The Saturday report said the exact number would be announced Sunday but already the number of potential candidates was...

Report: Iranian soldier shot 3 policemen to death

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency is reporting that a soldier has shot three policemen to death in the country's south. The Saturday report said the incident took place at a police station near the port city of Bandar Lengeh, some 1,000 kilometers , or 620 miles, south of the...

Iran’s foreign minister says Chinese-American Princeton scholar to be freed in exchange for US-held Iranian scientist

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister says Chinese-American Princeton scholar to be freed in exchange for US-held Iranian scientist.