U.S. prepares military options in Syria against Islamic State

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is preparing military options, including surveillance flights, to pressure Islamic State in Syria, U.S. officials said on Monday, but they cautioned no decision had been made to expand U.S. action beyond the limited airstrikes under way in...
U.S. prepares military options in Syria against Islamic State

California passes law mandating smartphone kill switch

Smartphones sold in California will soon be required to have a kill switch that lets users remotely lock them and wipe them of data in the event they are lost or stolen.

The demand is the result of a new law, signed into effect on Monday, that applies to phones manufactured after July 1, 2015,...
California passes law mandating smartphone kill switch

Freed US reporter"s Dad praises son"s noble cause

JOINVILLE-LE-PONT, France (AP) — The overjoyed father of the American journalist freed by Islamic militants said Monday that his son and others who venture into dangerous lands like Syria deserve praise for wanting to “bear witness … tell the truth about what’s...
Freed US reporter"s Dad praises son"s noble cause

Mourners urge black Americans to take action

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The mourners filled an enormous church to remember Michael Brown – recalling him as a “gentle giant,” aspiring rapper and recent high school graduate on his way to a technical college.
But the funeral that unfolded Monday was about much more...
Mourners urge black Americans to take action

Rival second Libyan assembly chooses own PM as chaos spreads

BENGHAZI Libya/CAIRO (Reuters) – The Libyan parliament that was replaced in an election in June reconvened on Monday and chose an Islamist-backed deputy as its prime minister, leaving the chaotic country with two rival leaders and assemblies each backed by armed factions.
The election...
Rival second Libyan assembly chooses own PM as chaos spreads

Remote, gas-rich islands on Indonesia"s South China Sea frontline

RANAI Indonesia (Reuters) – The word “sleepy” could have been invented for Ranai, the largest town in Indonesia’s remote and sparsely populated Natuna archipelago.
It has few cars and only two sets of traffic lights. The cloud-wreathed mountain looming over it resembles...
Remote, gas-rich islands on Indonesia"s South China Sea frontline

Father of black Ferguson teen appeals for calm at funeral

FERGUSON Mo. (Reuters) – The father of Michael Brown, the black teenager who was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri on Aug. 9, appealed for calm as family, politicians and activists gathered for the funeral on Monday following weeks of unrest.
The sometimes violent...
Father of black Ferguson teen appeals for calm at funeral