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The United States runs its air operations against ISIS in Iraq from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. The base, used by other NATO forces as well, is not American. It is Turkish, and the U.S. needs government permission to fly from there. Since the 15 July coup attempt in Ankara, U.S. forces at Incirlik are essentially hostages to the Turkish government. The Turkish base commander and his aides have been arrested; U.S. personnel are confined to base; outside power has been cut off; and while the U.S. has been permitted to resume operations over Iraq and Syria, it is working...

Even some diehard loyalists say he needs to set aside lingering bitterness and get behind the GOP nominee. They volunteered for Ted Cruz, gave him campaign money and still adore the Texas senator. But now it’s time, say even some of his longtime loyalists, for Cruz to finally endorse Donald Trump. Cruz, who will address the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, remains one of the GOP’s most prominent holdouts, refusing to back his presidential primary rival even as most other Trump critics have come around — if only with their noses plugged.

Jarrett Hill was sitting in a Los Angeles Starbucks scrolling through Twitter and answering Facebook messages while listening to Melania Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention on Monday night. Something made him stop. It was the phrase "strength of your dreams." "It kind of made me pause for a minute," Hill told The New York Times. "I remembered that line from Michelle Obama's speech." Not bad for a guy chilling at a coffee shop. Except, Hill is actually a trained journalist who not long ago was laid off from a broadcast job. According to his LinkedIn profile, his last...

The US military is doing "prudent planning" in case it needs to move its anti-ISIS operations out of Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey following the country's failed coup, several US defense officials told CNN Tuesday. The Turkish government cut off the power to the base after the coup attempt took place Friday, leaving it without a commercial power supply for four days and counting. The Pentagon has been able to fully operate the base through generator power but said it would be difficult to continue indefinitely. The Turks still have not given a clear explanation about why they cut...

3 CNN anchors discussing Don Jr's speech while onlooking delegates are holding up signs: "Clinton News Network", and "Don't Believe the Liberal Media". I laughed out loud and got dizzy as the camera kept trying to avoid the signs. Hope you saw it.

Another day, another speech by a member of the Trump family — and another round of plagiarism charges coursing through social media. The Daily Show's Twitter account seemed to pounce first when it pointed out lines from Donald Trump Jr.'s speech that seemed to be identical to words first used in a May article by F.H. Buckley in The American Conservative called "Trump vs. the New Class."

After losing the Republican presidential primary, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has decided to back House Speaker Paul Ryan in his contentious primary battle against Wisconsin businessman Paul Nehlen. Nehlen is running on a pro-America platform arguing, in contrast to Ryan, that the needs of American citizens should be a Congressman’s first priority. If elected, Nehlen would likely join the pro-America wing of the GOP Congress led by Sen. Jeff Sessions and Congressman Dave Brat. By contrast, Speaker Ryan is the ideological leader of the globalist wing of the Republican Party. Ryan emphasizes that the needs of foreign citizens are equal...

President Barack Obama wrote an open letter to law enforcement officers on Tuesday in which he reiterated “full-throated support” for America’s boys in blue and deemed “any attack on police [as] an unjustified attack on all of us.” Obama opened by praising police for “time and again, [making] the split-second decisions that could mean life or death for you and many others in harm’s way.”“Every day, you accept this responsibility and you see your colleagues do their difficult, dangerous jobs with equal valor,” he added. “I want you to know that the American people see it, too. We recognize it,...

It's not just United Health, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and boutique commercial insurers initially praised by the president as a model for his massive healthcare experiment. The trend of health insurance providers losing money on Obamacare's disproportionately older and sicker (and therefore more expensive to cover) enrollees is a nationwide problem that's driving companies out of the individual market and forcing rates upward. Fewer choices, higher costs, and disappointing enrollment statistics. Via John Sexton, here's a Politico report on the 'Affordable' Care Act's unstable, unsustainable status quo: For the insurance companies doing business in the state–the ones issuing policies to those 600,000 people–Obamacare has turned into a financial sinkhole....

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's retribution picked up pace on Monday as the number of people arrested with alleged links to the plot reached 7,543. They included more than 6,000 soldiers, 100 police officers, 755 judges and prosecutors and 650 civilians. Earlier Monday, a senior security official told the Reuters news agency that 8,000 police officers, including those based in the capital Ankara and the biggest city Istanbul, had been removed from their posts on suspicion of links to last weekend's abortive government takeover. About 1,500 finance ministry officials were suspended, a ministry official said, and CNN Turk said 30...

Armed with an axe and a knife, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee on Monday night attacked passengers on a train in Germany, injuring at least five people. The Islamic State has now claimed responsibility for the attack and said in a statement that the refugee was a member of the terror group who was responding to their call to go after countries that are part of the anti-ISIS coalition. "Even during the first emergency call, a witness said that the attacker was shouting 'Allahu akbar' on the train," Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's interior minister, told ZDF Television. "Also, during the search of...

GOP officials crushed an attempt to change party rules Spicer downplayed the idea the aborted rebellion was a sign of discontent in the party. "Forty-four states were in support. This is a tiny, tiny group of folks that have made noise," he said.

Newt Gingrich spoke with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren live from Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena on Day One of the RNC convention Monday night. At the beginning of their conversation, they addressed the controversy around who is and who isn’t present at the convention as the Republican Party gets ready to crown Donald Trump their 2016 nominee. At least one speaker, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), has yet to endorse the GOP nominee. Susteren asked Gingrich if he believed Trump’s former presidential opponent would finally announce his support for Trump during his speech Wednesday night. “Well I hope he does” endorse...

Key restrictions on Iran's nuclear program imposed under an internationally negotiated deal will start to ease years before the 15-year accord expires, advancing Tehran's ability to build a bomb even before the end the pact, according to a document obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The document is the only text linked to last year's deal between Iran and six foreign powers that hasn't been made public, although U.S. officials say members of Congress have been able to see it. It was given to the AP by a diplomat whose work has focused on Iran's nuclear program for more...

Sorry, page would not let me to excerpt anything, need to go to the link to read article.

Republicans looking to unseat Donald Trump as their party’s presidential nominee appear to have the signatures they need to force a full vote on the national convention rules, a move intended to provide a platform for anti-Trump voices and to embarrass the billionaire.

The post-coup crackdown in Turkey has been been swift and brutal, concerning observers that the country may be pushed closer to authoritarianism and away from democracy and the rule of law. Some 6,000 people, mostly soldiers, have been detained on charges of high treason, and more than 2,700 judges and prosecutors were purged Sunday for alleged links to the coup plotters. Authorities issued arrest warrants for another 188 high court judges, and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said the ruling AKP party will consider bringing back the death penalty for perpetrators. On Monday, the government said 30 governors and 8,000...

With the exception of NBC, battleground polls released so far in July show voters are moving toward Donald Trump. In four battleground states — Iowa, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania — Trump gained an average of five points and caught Clinton in at least one poll in each state. If that five point shift is quietly happening in North Carolina and New Hampshire, other battleground states where we have no recent non-NBC polls, then Trump is also quietly ahead in both, bringing him to within 266-272 in the Electoral Vote. He would still need to win Michigan, Virginia, Maine, Ohio or some...

A judge in Baltimore Monday acquitted the highest-ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, marking the fourth trial that prosecutors failed to win. Lt. Brian Rice faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. He opted for a bench trial by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams. The judge previously dismissed a second-degree assault charge, and prosecutors dropped a second misconduct charge against the 42-year-old officer, who is white. Gray died a week after suffering a spinal injury in a police van last year, touching off protests and rioting. Rice's failure to seatbelt Gray, Williams...

Passed over for the job of joining the Republican presidential ticket as Donald Trump’s running mate, Newt Gingrich showed Monday that his willingness to serve as an attack dog has not diminished. In a pair of morning show interviews Monday on ABC and MSNBC, respectively, the former House speaker showed no hesitation in sharing his opinions on, among other topics, President Barack Obama, race in America, the Bush family and Trump’s campaign. Gingrich dismissed the notion that the lack of prominent Republicans at this week’s national convention in Cleveland represented some larger trouble within the GOP. He attacked 2012 Republican...