Report: US considering training Syrian rebels
Report: US considering training Syrian rebels
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering a plan to use U.S. military trainers to help increase the capabilities of the Syrian rebels, in a move that would greatly expand the current CIA training being done quietly in Jordan, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Any training would take place outside Syria, and one possible location would be Jordan.
The officials said no decision had been made, but that discussions were going on at high levels of the government. It comes as the Obama administration prods Congress to authorize limited military strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in retaliation for a deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack.
The proposal to use the U.S. military to train the rebels — something the administration has resisted through more than two years of civil war — would answer the demands of some lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to do more to train and equip the Syrian opposition. President Barack Obama in June decided to provide lethal aid to the rebels, but so far none of that assistance has gotten to the opposition.
Low-cost plans could lead to big medical bills
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s health care law appears to mirror a trend in job-based insurance, where employees are being nudged into cost-saving plans that require them to pay a bigger share of their medical expenses.
Two independent studies out this week highlighted attractive prices for less-generous “bronze” plans that will offer low monthly premiums but require patients to pick up more of the cost if they get sick.
Consumers might avoid “rate shock” over premiums, but some could end up struggling with bigger bills for the care they receive.
The Obama plans will be available starting Oct. 1 for people who don’t have access to coverage on the job.
Zimmerman’s wife filing for divorce
ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman’s wife filed for divorce Thursday, less than two months after her husband was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin and a week after she pleaded guilty to perjury in his case.
Shellie Zimmerman made the decision because of “disappointment,” her attorney, Kelly Sims, wrote Thursday in an email to The Associated Press. The 26-year-old Zimmerman told ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week that she was having serious doubts about remaining married.
The interview came just after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge for lying during a bail hearing following her husband’s arrest for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Her husband, who was acquitted on second-degree murder and other charges in July, wasn’t in the Sanford, Fla., courtroom as she was sentenced to a year’s probation and 100 hours of community service — even though she supported him and lied about their finances.
ABC first reported the divorce filing. Email messages and phone calls to Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, were not immediately returned.
Family prepares to claim Castro’s body
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The family of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro planned to claim his body Thursday as investigations sought to determine how a man who was perhaps Ohio’s most notorious prisoner managed to hang himself with a bedsheet while in protective custody.
Castro was a month into his life sentence for holding three women captive in his home for a decade when he committed suicide Tuesday night.
Two reviews ordered Wednesday by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Gary Mohr were underway.
By wire sources