ISLAMIC STATE-AMERICAN MILITIAMAN
Westerners join Kurds fighting Islamic State group in Iraq
SINJAR, Iraq (AP) — U.S. Army Iraq veteran Jordan Matson is one of dozens of Westerners now fighting with the Kurds against the Islamic State group.
The 28-year-old from Wisconsin wears a Rambo-styled bandanna and a tactical vest with the words “Christ is Lord” scribbled on it.
Matson, three other Americans and an Australian national who spoke to the AP all said they arranged to join Kurdish forces through a Facebook page run by the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, the main Syrian Kurdish militia fighting in northern Syria and Iraq.
The Westerners say they’re drawn to helping Kurds, Yazidis and other minority ethnic groups caught up in the battle, facing possible destruction at the hand of extremists.
Matson says he’s there to defend people who the Islamic State group has enslaved or killed “just for being part of a different ethnic group or religion.”
Sound:
226-a-03-(Jordan Matson, former U.S. Army soldier now fighting with the Kurds against Islamic State militants, in AP interview)-“has been crippled”-Jordan Matson, a former U.S. Army soldier now fighting with the Kurds, says he thinks the U.S.-led coalition has been too slow to respond to Islamic State militants, often called ISIS. (4 Feb 2015)
< 228-a-11-(Jordan Matson, former U.S. Army soldier now fighting with the Kurds against Islamic State militants, in AP interview)-“passion you came for”-Jordan Matson, a former U.S. Army soldier now fighting with the Kurds, says he’s committed to the fight and knows he could be killed. (4 Feb 2015) < 227-a-17-(Jordan Matson, former U.S. Army soldier now fighting with the Kurds against Islamic State militants, in AP interview)-“brothers in arms”-Jordan Matson, a former U.S. Army soldier now fighting with the Kurds, says he felt he needed to offer to help fight Islamic State militants in Iraq. ((refers to Islamic State group as ISIS)) (4 Feb 2015) < NIGERIA-VIOLENCE Using troops and planes, 3 African nations battle Boko Haram MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — The armed forces of Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon have sent ground troops and warplanes against Boko Haram, with hundreds of the Islamic group’s fighters reported killed Wednesday. Chad’s army said its troops were attacked Tuesday in Cameroon by Boko Haram, the Nigerian extremist group that has slaughtered and kidnapped civilians and has had the upper hand against Nigeria’s military. Cameroonian troops also have reportedly mobilized to join the Chadians in confronting the invaders. Meanwhile, warplanes from Nigeria and jet fighters and helicopter gunships from Chad pursued a bombing campaign that has forced the Islamic fighters from more than a dozen towns in northeast Nigeria where Boko Haram declared an Islamic caliphate in August. This week’s military actions mark the biggest offensive against Boko Haram in its more than five-year history. Sound: 223-c-14-(Michelle Faul (mee-SHEHL’ FAWL), AP correspondent)-“from the extremists”-AP correspondent Michelle Faul reports that African Union forces have been able to wrest control of a number of Nigerian towns from Boko Harum. (4 Feb 2015) < 225-c-17-(Michelle Faul (mee-SHEHL’ FAWL), AP correspondent)-“has been spreading”-AP correspondent Michelle Faul reports that the presence of African union troops in Nigeira has heartened the Nigerian armed forces. (4 Feb 2015) < 224-c-21-(Michelle Faul (mee-SHEHL’ FAWL), AP correspondent)-“fighters were killed”-AP correspondent Michelle Faul reports troops from Chad claim to have inflicted mass casualties on the insurgent group. (4 Feb 2015) < 222-c-09-(Michelle Faul (mee-SHEHL’ FAWL), AP correspondent)-“this Islamic uprising”-AP correspondent Michelle Faul reports three militaries, using ground troops and warplanes, have been fighting Boko Haram on at least two fronts with hundreds of the Islamist fighters reported dead. (4 Feb 2015) < EPISCOPAL FUTURE Bishop grateful for ruling that SC parishes own property CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Bishop Mark Lawrence says he’s grateful a state judge has ruled that the Diocese of South Carolina and its parishes – not the national Episcopal Church – own the diocesan name, symbols and a half billion dollars in church property. Lawrence told reporters Wednesday that he now hopes the diocese, which broke with the national church in 2012, can move forward. Late Tuesday, Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein, who presided at a trial last summer, ruled that the diocese and its parishes own their real, personal and intellectual property. The conservative diocese and more than half of its 70 congregations left the national church in 2012 amid differences over theological issues, among them the authority of Scripture and the ordination of gays. The diocese then sued to protect its identity and $500 million in church property. An attorney for the diocese composed of parishes that remained with The Episcopal Church says it plans to appeal. Sound: 251-a-11-(Bishop Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, at news conference)-“savior Jesus Christ”-Bishop Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, says he’s glad a state court has ruled that the breakaway diocese’s parishes can keep their church property. (4 Feb 2015) < 252-a-10-(Bishop Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, at news conference)-“our God-given mission”-Bishop Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, says the breakaway diocese would like the court proceedings to end. (4 Feb 2015) < 253-a-05-(Bishop Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, at news conference)-“around the world”-Bishop Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, says the breakaway diocese is still Anglican but no longer part of the national Episcopal Church. (4 Feb 2015) < PRIEST-FAMILY-KILLED Priest’s son charged in death of parents, 5-year-old boy HOUSTON (AP) — Police say the son of an Episcopal priest has been charged with capital murder in the killings of his parents and their 5-year-old son at their Houston apartment. Isaac Tiharihondi was arrested about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in Jackson, Mississippi. The 19-year-old was jailed in Mississippi pending extradition to Houston. Police say 51-year-old Israel Ahimbisibwe (ah-heem-bih-SEEB’-weh), 47-year-old Dorcus Ahimbisibwe and 5-year-old Israel Ahimbisibwe, Jr. were found dead in their apartment Monday morning. Israel Ahimbisibwe served as Vicar of Houston’s Church of the Redeemer. According to court documents, Tiharihondi had told his family he had joined the Marines and was about to report to duty on Friday. But his parents thought he was lying and had planned to confront him about this before they were killed, according to an affidavit. Police said the U.S. Marine Corps had no record of Tiharihondi ever enlisting. Authorities allege Tiharihondi beat his parents to death with a lamp, a baseball bat and a hammer. BICYCLIST KILLED-BISHOP Baltimore grand jury indicts bishop charged in fatal DUI BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore grand jury has indicted an Episcopal bishop in a collision that killed a cyclist. Grand jurors delivered a 13-count indictment Wednesday against Bishop Heather Cook. Authorities said she struck Thomas Palermo in December, and then left the scene. She later returned and police said her blood-alcohol content was .22. The legal limit in Maryland is .08. Police also said she was texting when she hit Palermo. The Baltimore state’s attorney’s office says charges in the indictment include automobile manslaughter, manslaughter by vehicle, homicide by motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, texting while driving and failure to remain at the scene. Cook was consecrated in September as bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, the diocese’s second-highest position. The church has put her on leave and is investigating her conduct. GAY MARRIAGE-ALABAMA Alabama chief justice: Don’t issue gay marriage licenses MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s chief justice is telling probate judges that they are not required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite a federal judge’s decision overturning the state’s gay marriage ban. Chief Justice Roy Moore sent a letter Tuesday to probate judges, saying the judge’s decision isn’t binding on them. Moore said a lower federal court can’t force the state to redefine marriage. U.S. District Judge Callie Granade’s order will go into effect Feb. 9 unless the U.S. Supreme Court grants a stay. The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed an ethics complaint against Moore over his comments. Moore was removed from office in 2003 for defying a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a state building, but was re-elected in 2012. MEASLES OUTBREAK Disneyland measles outbreak isn’t largest in recent memory LOS ANGELES (AP) — The largest U.S. measles outbreak in recent history isn’t the one that started in December at Disneyland. It happened months earlier in Ohio’s Amish country, where 383 people fell ill after unvaccinated Amish missionaries traveled to the Philippines and returned with the virus. The Ohio episode drew far less attention, even though the number of cases was almost four times that of the Southern California outbreak, because it seemed to pose little threat outside isolated religious communities. The Disneyland outbreak has already spread well beyond the theme parks that attract tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe. Dr. James Cherry, a pediatric infectious disease expert at UCLA, says the outbreak “could continue to smolder” if not enough people get vaccinated. HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL-CONTRACEPTIVES Judge clarifies exemption from birth control mandate FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has clarified the steps organizations must take to get exemptions from the health care law’s birth control mandate. The federal judge — in Fort Myers, Florida — granted an injunction sought by the Christian and Missionary Alliance Foundation, allowing them to stop paying for contraception in their health benefits plan. The order was the latest dealing with the birth control mandate since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that some businesses can, because of their religious beliefs, choose not to comply with the health care law’s requirement that contraception coverage be provided to workers. The Fort Myers judge says organizations applying for the exemption need only to notify federal authorities, and they don’t have to identify their insurers. MUSLIM HARASSED-DELTA AIRLINES Arab civil rights group says Delta mistreated Muslim family ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is asking Delta Air Lines to take action after an employee threatened to remove a Muslim family from a Detroit-bound flight when another passenger harassed the mother over her head-covering. Delta says it “doesn’t condone discrimination of any kind” and is investigating. The Washington-based civil rights group says the Arab-American family was aboard the plane Monday preparing to leave Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Detroit when a passenger berated the hijab-clad woman and her four children, saying, “This is America.” The group says a Delta employee took no action against the harassing passenger, instead telling the woman and children to change seats. It says the employee refused to listen to the husband and told the wife she’d “better be quiet” or they’d be kicked off the plane. VATICAN-UKRAINE Pope decries ‘scandal’ of Ukraine Christians at war VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has denounced the surge in fighting in eastern Ukraine, saying it’s a “scandal” that Christians are fighting among themselves. During his weekly general audience Wednesday, Francis called for greater international efforts to bring Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops back to negotiations. The U.N. says indiscriminate shelling and an escalation in the fighting have killed at least 224 civilians in the past three weeks, raising the death toll to 5,358 people since April. Francis said: “I think about you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and I think that this is a war among Christians! You have the same baptism, and you’re fighting among Christians. Think about this, this scandal.” In urging prayers for peace, he said prayer was a “protest before God in times of war.” VATICAN-ROMERO Pope Benedict, not Francis, unblocked Romero sainthood case VATICAN CITY (AP) — The monsignor who spearheaded the saint-making process for El Salvador’s slain Archbishop Oscar Romero says it was Pope Benedict XVI — not Pope Francis — who removed the final hurdle in the tortured, 35-year process. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia told reporters Wednesday that it was Benedict who “gave the green light.” Many had assumed that Francis, the first Latin American pope, had done so. Speaking a day after Francis declared that Romero died in 1980 as a martyr for the faith, Paglia said the beatification would likely be within a few months in San Salvador. Paglia says Benedict told him on Dec. 20, 2012 that the case had passed from the Vatican’s doctrine office, where it had been held up for years over concerns about Romero’s orthodoxy, to the saint-making office.
