Clinton blames FBI’s Comey for her defeat in call with donors

(Reuters) – Hillary Clinton blamed FBI director James Comey for her stunning defeat in Tuesday’s presidential election in a conference call with her top campaign funders on Saturday, according to two participants who were on the call. Clinton was projected by nearly every national public opinion poll as the heavy favorite going into Tuesday’s race. Instead, Republican Donald Trump won the election, shocking many throughout the nation and prompting widespread protests. Clinton has kept a low profile since her defeat after delivering her concession speech on Wednesday morning. Clinton told…

Taliban bomber kills four Americans at NATO base in Afghanistan

A Taliban suicide bomber dressed as a laborer blew himself up at the NATO air base at Bagram north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, killing four Americans and wounding at least 17 people in one of the bloodiest attacks against U.S. forces since President Barack Obama took office. Two U.S. military service members and two U.S. contractors were killed, and 16 other U.S. service members were wounded, along with a Polish soldier who was part of the NATO mission, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement.…

Trump win puts U.S.-Russia hostility on hold – but for how long?

(Reuters) – After years of rising U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine, Syria, cyber attacks and nuclear arms control, Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president may offer a narrow window to repair relations as he and Russian President Vladimir Putin size up each other. But Trump’s ascent to the White House carries the risk of dangerous miscalculation if the U.S. president-elect and Putin, two willful personalities and self-styled strong leaders who have exchanged occasional compliments, decide they have misjudged one another, according to Russia experts and others. U.S. officials and private analysts…

Iraqi special forces seize Mosul district in fresh push

(Reuters) – Iraqi special forces said they pushed deeper into Mosul on Friday despite heavy resistance from Islamic State militants using civilians as cover, and were holding half a dozen city neighborhoods seized in the last 10 days. The elite Counter Terrorism Service troops broke through Islamic State defense lines to enter the city early last week and have since been embroiled in a brutal, close-quarter combat with waves of suicide bombers and snipers. The special forces are the spearhead of a wider coalition of 100,000 fighters seeking to crush…

Iraqi forces preparing advance on south Mosul

(Reuters) – Iraqi security forces are preparing to advance toward Mosul airport on the city’s southern edge to increase pressure on Islamic State militants fighting troops who breached their eastern defenses, officers said on Thursday. The rapid response forces, part of a coalition seeking to crush the jihadists in the largest city under their control in Iraq or Syria, took the town of Hammam al-Alil, just over 15 km (10 miles) south of Mosul, on Monday. Officers say they plan to resume their advance north, up the western bank of…

Trump and Obama meet to discuss transition

(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump met on Thursday for the first time, setting aside the deep rancor that dominated the long campaign season as they discussed the transition to the Republican’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Their 90-minute meeting in the White House Oval Office, with no aides present, took place just two days after Trump’s stunning election defeat of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Obama, who vigorously campaigned for his fellow Democrat to succeed him, had repeatedly called Trump unfit for the president’s office,…

Thousands of anti-Trump protesters take to streets of U.S. cities

(Reuters) – Demonstrators marched in cities across the United States on Wednesday to protest against Republican Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election win, blasting his campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and other groups. In New York, thousands filled streets in midtown Manhattan as they made their way to Trump Tower, Trump’s gilded home on Fifth Avenue. Hundreds of others gathered at a Manhattan park and shouted “Not my president.” In Los Angeles, protesters sat on the 110 and 101 highway interchange, blocking traffic on one of the city’s main arteries as…

Anxious world leaders seek clarity on Trump policies

(Reuters) – World leaders offered to work with Donald Trump when he takes over as U.S. president, but expressed anxiety over how he will handle problems from the Middle East to an assertive Russia and whether he will carry out a number of campaign threats. Several authoritarian and right-wing leaders hailed the billionaire businessman and former TV show host, who won the leadership of the world’s most powerful country against the odds in Tuesday’s election. China, a target of Trump’s ire during his campaign, appealed for cooperation. Mexico also struck…

Trump triumphs over Clinton in stunning White House upset

(Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump stunned the world by defeating heavily favored Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election, ending eight years of Democratic rule and sending the United States on a new, uncertain path. A wealthy real-estate developer and former reality TV host, Trump rode a wave of anger toward Washington insiders to win the White House race against Clinton, the Democratic candidate whose gold-plated establishment resume includes stints as a first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state. Worried a Trump victory could cause economic and global uncertainty, investors…

Islamic State abducts more than 200 near Mosul, retreats with thousands: U.N.

(Reuters) – Islamic State fighters abducted 295 former Iraqi Security Forces members near the militant stronghold of Mosul and also forced 1,500 families to retreat with them from Hammam al Alil town, the United Nations human rights organization said on Tuesday. The abductions took place last week as Iraqi government forces, Kurdish peshmerga and Shi’ite militias backed by U.S.-led air strikes pushed an offensive to recapture Mosul from Islamic State. “People forcibly moved or abducted, it appears, are either intended to be used as human shields or – depending on…