Kurdish fighters in fierce clashes, struggling to repel Islamic State
SURUC, Turkey — Kurdish militiamen are putting up a fierce fight to defend a Syrian town near the border with Turkey but are struggling to repel the Islamic State group, which is advancing and pushing in from two sides, Syrian activists and Kurdish officials said Saturday.
The battle for Kobani is still raging despite more than two weeks of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition targeting the militants in and around the town. The strikes, which are aimed at rolling back the militants’ gains, appear to have done little to blunt their onslaught on Kobani, which began in mid-September.
Just outside the Turkish town of Suruc, across the border from Kobani, some 200 people gathered at a cemetery Saturday to bury two Kurdish fighters, a woman and a man, who died in the fighting.
The two fighters — 22-year-old Mujaid Ahmed and 20-year-old Fatma Sheikh Hassan — were laid to rest in two simple wooden coffins. Men took turns heaving shovels of dirt to cover the coffins as women wept. One woman kneeled over a freshly dug grave, tears streaming down her nose as others tried to console her.
Then, the crowd — which included Kurds from Suruc and others from Kobani — broke into song, ending the burial ceremony with chants of “Long live Kobani!”
Financial leaders pledge ‘bold’ steps to aid economic recovery
WASHINGTON — World financial leaders on Saturday promised “bold and ambitious” action to boost a global recovery that has shown recent disturbing signs of weakness.
That pledge from the International Monetary Fund’s policy-setting committee comes after a week of stomach-churning swings in the financial markets triggered by growing fears that parts of Europe could be in danger of slipping into another recession.
The 188-nation IMF called increasing economic growth an “utmost priority” and pledged to make the necessary structural changes that would stimulate greater growth.
But finance leaders have made similar promises in the past, only to fall short when trying to follow through.
The commitments came in a closing statement from the IMF’s steering committee at the fall meeting of the IMF and World Bank.
Obama wrapping up Calif. fundraising trip
SAN FRANCISCO — President Barack Obama on Saturday wrapped up a week that saw him raise campaign money for Democrats on both coasts.
Obama attended a “round table” discussion at the home of Democratic donor and Zynga founder Mark Pincus and his wife, Ali, with about 25 supporters who paid up to $32,400 for the privilege, according to Democratic officials.
It was Obama’s fourth California fundraiser in three days and was closed to media coverage.
This coming week brings more of the same for the president, including his long-anticipated, first appearance at a campaign rally this election season. At an event Wednesday in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he’ll help boost Gov. Dannel Malloy and state Democrats. Malloy is in a tight re-election race in a state Obama won easily in 2012.
Obama has worked hard all year to raise money for Democratic congressional and gubernatorial candidates. But his dismal approval ratings — in the low 40s, according to recent polls — so far have sidelined him from the campaign trail as candidates have avoided appearing with him, especially those from states where Obama lost in past years.
By wire sources