Egypt strikes back at militants

Egypt strikes back at militants

CAIRO

Egyptian warplanes launched new airstrikes and troops went house-to-house Thursday in the troubled Sinai Peninsula, a day after Islamic State-linked militants set off the area’s bloodiest fighting in decades in an unprecedented, coordinated attack.

The combat, described as “war” by the media and officials, heightened tensions across Egypt as it marks the second anniversary today of the military’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a move that fanned an insurgency in north Sinai that has grown stronger.

Kentucky clerk sued for not issuing marriage licenses

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

Four Kentucky couples are suing a clerk who is refusing to issue gay-marriage licenses – or any marriage licenses at all – after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that same-sex couples have a legal right to marry.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed a federal lawsuit against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis on Thursday afternoon on behalf of two homosexual and two heterosexual couples, all of whom were turned away when they tried to get marriage licenses from Davis’ office this week.

Davis has said that her Christian beliefs prevented her from complying with the Supreme Court decision, so she decided to issue no more marriage licenses to any couple, gay or straight.

Man with rifle, ammunition detained at mall

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.

Authorities in North Carolina say they have detained a man walking through a mall with an assault rifle, a bulletproof vest and multiple rounds of ammunition.

Lt. Todd Joyce said the man was detained at the entrance of the Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville on Thursday evening after first being spotted in a Macy’s store at the shopping center.

The store was evacuated and some other businesses in the mall closed their doors briefly while officers searched the rest of the mall for a second armed person. No one else was found.

McConnell: Senate unlikely to confirm Cuba ambassador

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Republican majority is unlikely to confirm an ambassador to Cuba as the United States prepares to re-open its embassy in the communist country after more than 50 years of hostile relations.

In a speech to a local chamber of commerce in Kentucky, McConnell called Cuba “a thuggish regime” that is “a haven for criminals” fleeing prosecution in the United States.

Police: No evidence of shooting at Wash. Navy Yard

WASHINGTON

Investigators found no evidence of a shooting after the Washington Navy Yard went on lockdown Thursday when someone reported shots fired in the same building where a gunman killed 12 workers in a rampage two years ago.

D.C. police said a woman called from inside a Navy Yard building to report that she might have heard sounds of gunshots about 7:20 a.m. However, investigators found no sign of a shooting, a shooter or anyone injured.

Associated Press