Cameron, Beckham urge pro-EU vote

Cameron, Beckham urge pro-EU vote

LONDON

From the prime minister to sports and pop icons David and Victoria Beckham, supporters of Britain staying in the European Union urged voters Tuesday to think about future generations when they cast ballots in a referendum that has divided the nation.

With the black door of 10 Downing St. offering a statesman’s backdrop, Prime Minister David Cameron appealed directly to EU-wary older voters, saying that leaving the bloc would risk the country’s economic security - and younger generations would have to live with the consequences.

“Do think about the hopes and dreams of your children and grandchildren,” he said. “They can’t undo the decision we take,” he said. “If we vote out, that’s it. It’s irreversible.”

US-led coalition: One-third of Fallujah cleared

BAGHDAD

Only a third of Fallujah has been “cleared” of Islamic State militants, the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday, days after the Iraqi government declared victory in the city west of Baghdad, which was held by the extremists for more than two years.

Other parts of the city are “contested,” said U.S. Army Col. Christopher Garver, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, with clashes underway between Iraqi forces and IS fighters. Most of the cleared terrain is in the south of the city and “clearing operations continue outward from the city center,” Garver added.

No ‘magic bullet’ against jihadist propaganda

ORLANDO, Fla.

The Orlando massacre at a popular gay nightclub shows no one yet has “found the magic bullet” to prevent Americans from being inspired to violence by jihadist propaganda on the Internet, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday as she visited a city still shaken by the shootings.

The case underscores the challenges the government faces in countering the narrative of radical extremism, Lynch said in an interview with The Associated Press.

At the scene of the carnage, workers removed a temporary fence that was erected around the Pulse nightclub. State officials wondered how they would pay for resources drained by the June 12 massacre, and investigators kept probing for gunman Omar Mateen’s motives for the rampage, in which 49 people were killed and dozens more wounded. Mateen died in a gunbattle with police.

Women strive for combat jobs

WASHINGTON

Six months after the Pentagon ordered all combat jobs open to women, seven female Marines are either serving in those posts or waiting to serve, and 167 are performing noncombat duties in front-line units, according to new data obtained by The Associated Press.

The numbers underscore the difficulty of integrating women into the demanding jobs, and reflect the small number of women who want to be combat Marines and can pass the new tough physical standards required to qualify. So far this year those standards have weeded out most female hopefuls and have also disqualified some men.

Six out of seven female recruits – and 40 out of about 1,500 male recruits – failed to pass the new regimen of pull-ups, ammunition-can lifts, a 3-mile run and combat maneuvers required to move on in training for combat jobs, according to the data.

Failing the tests, taken about 45 days into basic training, forces recruits into less physically demanding Marine jobs.

Associated Press