bombings Yemen part of broader sectarian struggle

 The horrific attacks on Shiite mosques in Yemen on Friday highlight a growing and more lethal sectarian struggle in the Middle East that is pitting Iran and its Shiite allies against rival Sunni regimes and militant organizations.

A group claiming to be a Yemeni branch of the Islamic State, composed of Sunni extremists, claimed responsibility for Friday's bombings. They were carried out by as many as four suicide bombers at two mosques controlled by Shiite rebels in Sana'a, Yemen's capital. The claim could not be verified.

Al-Masirah TV, a network owned by the rebels, said 137 worshipers were killed and 345 wounded in the multiple attacks.

The conflict in Yemen, as in Syria and Iraq, is rooted in the centuries-long animosity between the two branches of Islam. The Houthi rebels are Shiites from northern Yemen. They now control the capital and large swaths of the country, which has a Sunni majority.

Sunni extremists, such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, are increasingly emerging as champions of beleaguered Sunnis in the Shiite-dominated countries, analysts say.

"Regardless of who attacked the mosques, al-Qaeda's influence and support is expanding dramatically in Yemen" as sectarian tensions grow, said Abdulkader Sinno, an Indiana University professor who has written about insurgent organizations.

Friday's attacks were the deadliest in Yemen in decades and appeared to have targeted Shiite worshipers to fan sectarian flames.

Similar violence

The suicide bombings reportedly happened during noon prayers in the the capital city of Sanaa. The mosques were crowded with worshippers at the time. Video provided by Newsy Newsy

Matthew Levitt, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the sectarian conflicts in the Middle East are more intractable and complex than conventional wars between nations because of the religious passions and ancient hatreds.

"The sectarianism were seeing today is much more dangerous," Levitt said.

When Islamic State militants poured into Iraq from Syria last year, many Sunnis residents refused to resist and some cooperated as they routed Iraq's troops. That's because the Sunnis, a ruling minority under dictator Saddam Hussein, felt threatened by the Shiite government in Baghdad and viewed the militants as protectors, even though the residents didn't share the militants' extreme view of Islam.

The sectarian conflicts in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and other parts of the Middle East are part of a broader struggle between powerful Sunni regimes, such as Saudi Arabia, and Iran, the region's Shiite powerhouse.

"It makes things more complicated and nastier," Levitt said. "These are no longer self-contained conflicts."

Grizzlies send banged-up Blazers to 4th straight loss 2015

Jeff Green had 23 points and Mike Conley scored 21 with nine assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 97-86 victory over the struggling Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Zach Randolph added 17 points for Memphis, which won its second straight. Marc Gasol had 13 points, and Tony Allen finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 27 points and seven assists. LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points, but didn't play in the second half because of an injury to his left hand. C.J. McCollum finished with 13 points, and Dorell Wright scored 10

PORPortland Trail Blazers (44-24)	27	17	18	24	86	Final
MEMMemphis Grizzlies (49-21)	35	18	24	20	97
The Trail Blazers also played the second half without starting forward Nicolas Batum, sidelined with lower back pain. The team said X-rays on Aldridge's hand were negative. The loss was the season-worst fourth straight for Portland, which was creeping up the Western Conference standings a week ago. The defeat dropped the Trail Blazers four games behind the Grizzlies for the second playoff seed in the West. What started out as a good shooting night for both teams ended with both slipping near 40 percent — Memphis shooting 42 percent to 43 percent for Portland. Memphis, however, connected on 11 of 18 from outside the arc, including Green going 5 of 7 and Conley 3 for 5. The 11 3-pointers matched Memphis' season high. Both teams shot better than 60 percent in the first quarter. Memphis couldn't keep the pace, missing its first 10 shots in the second and going almost six minutes without scoring. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers crafted an 11-0 run. Memphis reversed the trend, eventually carrying a 53-44 lead into the break behind 15 points from Conley and 10 from Allen, with the backcourt pair hitting all 10 of its shots in the half. Memphis built the lead to double digits early in the second half, and the Grizzlies maintained the advantage through the third quarter. Portland managed to cut into the lead in the fourth, but Memphis was able to stay in front with Randolph scoring 11 points in the final period. TIP-INS Trail Blazers: The loss marked Portland's first four-game skid in a year. . Portland has lost nine of its last 10 to Memphis. . Portland C Chris Kaman sat out with a right shoulder strain sustained in Friday night's loss at Orlando. . Portland wrapped up a five-game road trip. Grizzlies: Memphis played without guard Courtney Lee, who was out with a sore right hand. . The Grizzlies scored 35 points in the first quarter, their most in an opening period this season. ... Memphis won all four games against Portland this season, the first season sweep of the Trail Blazers in franchise history.

Calif. anti-gay proposal 'terrifying,' 'laughable'

USA TODAY NEWS: The chances are slim that a proposal to make it legal to execute gays and lesbians will appear on the ballot in California.
Still, the measure proposed by Orange County attorney Matthew Gregory McLaughlin has caused concern for some.
"It's terrifying and almost laughable in the same breath," said Donald Bentz, executive director for the Sacramento LGBT Community Center.
Bentz worries the measure could actually come before voters.

It's a little scary that that actually could happen and if it does get to the ballot, the firestorm that this is going to create and the hate crimes that could result from that," he said.
Last week, a group of state lawmakers filed a complaint against the proponent. The legislature's LGBT Caucus is asking the state bar to review McLaughlin's membership for violating a "good moral character" clause.
But legal experts don't see the state bar stepping in.
"I think that's problematic under the First Amendment because he's not acting as a lawyer when he's submitting these proposals, he's acting as a citizen," said Vikram Amar, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis.
Amar added that he's confident the proposal would not become law.
"Something like this will ultimately never become law because it blatantly violates the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution," Amar said. "There's no question this is not even going to be a real thing, but the question is at what point do you put an end to it



The State Attorney General's Office said it's reviewing the proposal. According to Amar, the attorney general would need to file a lawsuit to stop the proposal and get the courts to support her on grounds that the measure violates the Constitution.
If the attorney general's office approves the proposal, more than 300,000 valid signatures would need to be collected on petitions before it would be placed on the ballot.

Obama demands confirmation vote for Loretta Lynch 2015

President Obama jumped into the fray over attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch on Saturday, demanding that Senate Republicans confirm her and "stop playing politics with law enforcement and national security."
Citing her qualifications as a U.S. attorney in New York, Obama said in his weekly radio address that the Senate's Republican leadership has engineered "the longest confirmation process for an attorney general in three decades."
Lynch's stalled nomination — Obama tapped her in November — has become the latest dispute between the president and Senate Republicans, this one carrying racial overtones. Lynch would be the nation's first African-American woman to serve as attorney general, if the Senate confirms her.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said Lynch will receive a vote after Democrats end their filibuster of the human trafficking bill. Because of the Senate's recess schedule, Lynch may not get a confirmation vote until mid-April.
"The only thing holding up that vote is the Democrats' filibuster of a bill that would help prevent kids from being sold into sex slavery," said McConnell spokesman Don Stewart. "The president has yet to lift a finger to get that bill passed

Democrats said they oppose the human trafficking bill because it includes an unrelated anti-abortion provision, and that Lynch deserves an up-or-down vote in any case.
As the debate over Lynch's nomination drags on, race has become something of a factor.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said this week that Republicans have put Lynch "at the back of the bus" in delaying her nomination. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called Durbin's remarks "offensive and unnecessary

It's unclear whether Lynch has enough votes to win confirmation in the Republican-run chamber. McCain said he would fight the nomination because Lynch supports Obama's executive actions on immigration that would defer deportations for millions of migrants. Those orders are currently the subject of legal challenges.
In his radio speech, Obama noted that, as of Monday, Lynch would have waited longer for a confirmation vote than the seven previous attorney general nominees combined.
Saying that "this is purely about politics," Obama said Republicans are delaying the vote "until they can figure out how to pass a bill on a completely unrelated issue. But they could bring her up for a yes-or-no vote at any time

The president also said: "Republicans promised that Congress would function smoothly with them in charge. Here's a small chance for them to prove it."
Congressional Republicans have criticized current Attorney General Eric Holder, who will stay on the job until a successor is confirmed.
Also criticizing the delay of a vote on Lynch, Holder joked this week that "it's almost as if the Republicans in Congress have discovered a new fondness for me. Where was all this affection the last six years?"

Remains in wood stove may be Food Network star 2015

The suspect in the deaths of a Food Network chef and her husband told authorities that he stored and destroyed the bodies of his two victims, according to search warrants released Friday.
And investigators say they found human remains inside a wood stove in the home of the man charged with killing the finalist in season eight of the Food Network Star TV show, her husband and their unborn child.

Robert Jason Owens, 36, of Leicester, N.C., was charged earlier this week with first-degree murder and murder of an unborn child in the deaths of fellow Leicester residents Joseph "J.T." Codd, 45, and his wife, Cristie Schoen Codd, 38. The couple had married in September.
Owens admitted to investigators that he had hit Codd with a pickup truck, according to a search warrant. The documents had no indication of how Schoen Codd, who went by her maiden name of Schoen professionally, was killed.

Owens, who knew the Codds because he had done remodeling at their home, also has been charged with breaking and entering and larceny, accused of breaking into the Codds' home and stealing a laptop, jewelry and a Glock handgun with a combined value of $1,500, according to arrest warrants.

 

In a news conference Friday afternoon, Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan would not talk about a motive for the killings. Warrants show that deputies took 11 knives and a saw blade from Owens' home.
The search warrants released Friday allege that Owens was seen putting garbage bags in a dumpster Sunday evening. Detectives were able to recover the bags and found items belonging to Schoen Codd, and Owens later admitted he went into the Codd residence and stole the items.
Investigators believe the Codds died Thursday, three days before a relative filed a missing persons report, Duncan said. The break-in at the Codd home was discovered Sunday afternoon when officers went to check on them because of the report.

Duncan said investigators weren't sure exactly when the break-in happened.
Deputies found the couple's two dogs alone in the house, unattended apparently for days, and saw Schoen Codd's purse and her husband's wallet as they looked for signs of the Codds, according to the search warrant. Three vehicles were parked in the driveway.

Islamic State releases troops' IDs, urges attacks

A group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division posted the threat on a website Friday night, stating that the troops identified carried out bombings on Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan, the New York Daily News reported Saturday.
The group called on the troops to be killed "in their own lands" as they "walk their own streets thinking they are safe," according to the Daily News. The list reportedly includes photos and personal data on Marines, sailors and airmen, many of whom are pilots.

Lt. Col. John Caldwell, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, also called the threat "unverified," but said command leaders have been notified if Marines assigned to their units were on the list. Federal law enforcement authorities with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are also involved.
"NCIS is conducting in-person notifications to the affected Navy and Marine personnel regarding this presently unverified threat/data breach," Caldwell said.
An unnamed Defense Department official told The New York Times that the personal data released on the Marines, sailors and airmen appears to be information found in public records or online searches. It doesn't appear the information had been hacked from government servers, TheTimes reported.
Lainez and Caldwell both stressed that troops and their families should be mindful of personal information they post online.
"It is recommended Marines and family members check their online/social footprint, ensuring privacy settings are adjusted to limit the amount of available personal information," Caldwell said. "Vigilance and force protection considerations remain a priority for commanders and their personnel worldwide."

Hunt for third Tunisia museum attacker

 

Tunisia's president said a hunt is underway for a third attacker after more than 20 people were killed by gunmen at a museum in the country's capital last week.
Speaking with French TV network iTele from inside the Bardo Museum on Sunday, President Beji Caid Essebsi said the attack involved "three aggressors" and the third man escaped, the Associated Press reported.

 

Surveillance video of two gunmen walking through the museum was released by the Tunisian Interior Ministry on Saturday. The footage shows the attackers carrying bags and assault rifles. They encounter a man as he comes down some stairs and point their weapons at him, before he flees.
The gunmen stormed the museum, a popular tourist attraction in the capital of Tunis on Wednesday, taking hostages and gunning down civilians before two attackers were killed by police. The death toll has risen from 23 to 25, according to media reports. Most of the dead were foreign tourists, at least 17 of them from cruise ships.


On Saturday, authorities said more than 20 suspected militants were arrested, including 10 believed to have been directly involved in the attack.
The slain gunmen were identified as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui, both Tunisians. Prime Minister Habib Essid said Laabidi had been flagged by intelligence authorities, although not for "anything special."
The Islamic State released an online recording claiming responsibility for the shooting rampage. However social media accounts linked to a group in Tunisia affiliated with al-Qaeda also published purported details of the operation, Reuters reported.


Laabidi's brother on Saturday described him as a sociable person who "enjoyed a drink with mates," according to the BBC.
He said his brother was "brainwashed by swines who send young men to their death in the name of religion," the broadcaster reported. Rafik Chelli, the Interior Ministry's top security official, said the two dead gunmen trained in camps in Libya before the attack.
More than 3,000 Tunisians have joined Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the Tunisian government estimates. Training camps in neighboring Libya provide easy access to the fight for Tunisian Muslims discontent with the fledgling democracy in Tunis.