April 16, 2016 He said the United States wants to do more in the fight and is "only limited by our own ingenuity" and ideas. Carter expressed confidence that the White House will approve recommendations, saying nothing he has asked President Barack Obama for yet in the conflicts has been turned down.
Carter spoke to reporters at Al-Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, an important launching point for military operations against the Islamic State group in the region. His visit comes as the U.S. is considering moves to boost the number of American troops in Iraq, as well as other steps to help the Iraqis take on IS.
Carter suggested the U.S. may consider shifting the nature of its military campaign against the extremists, adding there could be more rapid targeting of the enemy as intelligence on the ground improves.
"As we've learned more and are more on top of the enemy, you can do more dynamic targeting," Carter said. Late last month, U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that he and Carter believe there will be an increase in U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks. Any final decision would be worked out with the Iraqi government and require Obama's approval.
It's unclear whether the increase would force the White House to formally approve a higher cap on troop levels in Iraq, now set at 3,780. The Pentagon says there are close to 3,400 U.S. troops there now. According to U.S. officials, however, there are actually as many as 5,000 American forces in the country, but some do not count against the cap because they are in Iraq on temporary duty.
Dunford and Carter have said that accelerating the fight against IS could mean using Apache helicopters for combat missions, deploying more U.S. special operations forces or using American military advisers in Iraqi units closer to the front lines.
The U.S. also is likely to provide additional artillery fire and targeting help for Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul. Those American forces, however, would remain well behind the front lines. Carter has said that Obama and other U.S. leaders will encourage other Gulf nations to contribute economically to the effort to rebuild Iraq once IS is defeated.
Obama and other U.S. officials are expected to attend the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council leaders' summit next week in Saudi Arabia. The six member countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Carter said Saturday that the U.S. hopes that the Gulf nations will support Iraq politically as it tries to establish a more successful multisectarian government. During his visit to the air base, Carter spoke with troops, including those who have been flying and supporting the airstrikes over Iraq and Syria.
Two large Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, an F-22 Raptor fighter jet and and F-15E strike fighter were arrayed in the hangar where Carter spoke. U.S. Air Force Col. Johnny Barnes, the vice commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing told reporters that Russian fighters in Syria haven't impeded U.S. airstrikes. But he acknowledged that there were moments in northwest Syria when the Russian jets were an "inconvenience.

There are plenty of mysteries in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and one of them involved iconic droid C-3PO. In case you didn’t notice, C-3PO had a red left arm instead of his usual gold-colored arm. This mysterious change was totally unexplained in the movie itself and we’ve never had any answer for it… until now.
Per iO9, the first issue of the new Marvel comic Star Wars: C-3PO #1 offers details about how C-3PO got his not-so-shiny new red arm. Spoilers obviously follow below.

10 secrets you missed while watching ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
The story starts off when C-3PO and a group of allied droids land on an unidentified planet to rescue Admiral Ackbar, who has been kidnapped by the First Order. As you might have guessed with anything involving Admiral Ackbar, the droids’ plan to rescue him is… well… “It’s a trap!”
In the ensuing fights with a number of different monsters on the planet, all of C-3PO’s droid companions are killed and C-3PO himself has his arm ripped off. The final droid to die in his crew just happened to have a red arm that C-3PO attached to his own body and decided to keep there as a reminder of his fellow droids’ sacrifices.

The actress kept her makeup natural and sported a silvery-blond hair color. (Photo: Rex)No one would even have known that she wasn’t wearing a bra if it weren’t for the fact that the camera flash caused her vest to go ever-so-slightly transparent. But as this is an actress who’s happy to discuss her menstrual cycle and has tripped up in front of the world at the Oscars, it’s safe to assume she doesn’t care about the fact that her lingerie secret was released. Related: 11 Times Jennifer Lawrence Has Wowed in White and Tempted Us to Follow Suit Coincidentally, Lawrence made this fashion statement on April 12, otherwise referred to as Equal Pay Day, the date that women would have to work until this year just to earn the salary men made last year. The actress has been very outspoken about her experience negotiating for commensurate compensation. “I’m over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my opinion and still be likable! F*** that,” she wrote in Lenny Letter. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard.” Seems going braless is the 21st-century grandchild of 1960s bra burning. Cheers to that!

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April 13, 2016 Christianity's two most important leaders, still officially divided by a thousand-year schism, will be speaking with an increasingly unified voice that has gone beyond the realm of religion to confronting pressing issues such as climate change and humanitarian crises around the globe.
The visit, which comes on the heels of Francis' historic meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is evidence of an increasingly important Catholic-Orthodox partnership that has been strengthened by shared concern for Christians being exterminated by Islamic extremists in the lands of Jesus' birth.
Francis has called these indiscriminate attacks on Christians — Catholic, Orthodox and others — an "ecumenism of blood," and it wouldn't be surprising if he uses the term again on Lesbos when he meets with refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.
"The ecumenical patriarch and popes for the last generation have increasingly begun to speak together on issues of common concern," said George Demacopoulos, chair of Orthodox Christian studies at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. "What you have here is a more specific case: You have the uniqueness of Pope Francis and the ecumenical patriarch at a tipping point in historical and European events."
According to the Greek organizers, Francis and Bartholomew will visit with new arrivals at Lesbos' Moria refugee registration center, which has essentially been turned into a detention center for refugees slated for deportation under the controversial EU-Turkey plan, which calls for new arrivals in Greece to be returned to Turkey. From Moria, Francis, Bartholomew and the head of the Church of Greece, Athens Archbishop Ieronymos, will visit the port in Mytilene, the island's capital, to meet residents and hold a prayer service.
"It's an extraordinary occasion," said Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Vatican's justice and peace office. "It's a historic event because something like this has never happened before." Francis told his weekly general audience Wednesday that he and his Orthodox "brothers" were going "to express the closeness and solidarity to both the refugees and the citizens of Lesbos and the entire Greek people, who have been so generous in their welcome."
The Catholic and Orthodox Churches split in 1054 in a dispute over papal power, among other things. The Second Vatican Council's call for greater Catholic outreach to other Christians resulted in Pope Paul VI's historic meeting with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, in Jerusalem in 1964.
In 2014, Francis and Bartholomew marked the 50th anniversary of that event with a meeting in Jerusalem, which was followed by Francis' visit to Istanbul later that year. The two men clearly get along well: Francis cited Bartholomew's environmental writings in his own 2015 ecological encyclical — a first for a pope.
Bartholomew is the Istanbul-based "first among equals" in global Orthodoxy. The Greek church is independent of the patriarchate, one of the self-governing, "auto-cephalous" Orthodox churches that also include the Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian churches. While the Greek church and Ecumenical Patriarchate get along, the Greek church has been far less cozy with the Vatican.
Not so long ago, the Greek church adamantly opposed a papal visit. When St. John Paul II toured Greece in 2001, the first pope to do so since the Great Schism, he was met with howls of protest by Greeks who considered it a Roman Catholic attempt to establish authority over the Orthodox Church. Orthodox monks and nuns prayed through the night to stop the visit, ordinary Orthodox took to the streets to protest and monastery bells tolled in mourning.
There was even a diplomatic standoff over whether John Paul would kiss the ground upon his arrival, as was his custom upon landing in a foreign country. In the end, he did kiss a pot of soil. More importantly, John Paul issued a sweeping apology upon arrival in Athens for the "sins of action and omission" by Roman Catholics against Orthodox, including the Crusades-era sacking of Constantinople, the center of Greek Byzantium.
Fifteen years later, there has been no hint of protest at Francis' visit. And Catholic-Orthodox relations are clearly getting stronger: Bartholomew became the first ecumenical patriarch since the Great Schism to attend the installation of a pope when he was a guest of honor at Francis' 2013 installation Mass. Francis recently met with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, the first-ever meeting between a pope and a Russian patriarch.
A delegation from the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate recently returned from Syria on a humanitarian aid mission that drew up a list of Christian sites that need to be repaired, evidence that even with the most estranged Orthodox church, Francis is finding common cause.
That said, Francis isn't visiting Greece on an official state visit but rather on a humanitarian mission to a Greek island, and just for a few hours. In an indication of the delicate protocol issues at play, both diplomatic and ecclesial, there's no shared version of how the visit came off.
Bartholomew's office said he had invited Francis to join him in Lesbos via letter on March 30. The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, the decision-making body of the Greek church, said Francis had asked to come to Greece to highlight the plight of refugees, that the synod had proposed he visit Lesbos and invited Bartholomew to come along.
The Vatican said Francis had accepted an invitation from Bartholomew and the Greek president — no mention of the Greek Orthodox Church — though Bartholomew has no jurisdiction to invite the pope to Lesbos, Demacopoulos noted.
"Lesbos belongs to the archbishop of Athens," he said. "The reality was that this was the patriarch's idea. The pro-forma is that he had to go through the archbishop of Athens and the state of Greece to make it happen."

April 12, 2016 An official Serbian government statement is expected later Tuesday. Jeremic has told B92 television the candidacy presents "an honor and a privilege" and a "chance to improve the image of the country."
The secretary-general is chosen by the 193-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council. For the first time this year, all member states will have a chance to question candidates.
Jeremic was General Assembly president in 2012-13.

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April 12, 2016 Vardy scored two second-half goals in a victory that also guaranteed the surprise English leader a place in next season's Champions League. He takes player of the week for his performance. "Four years ago he was a stranger, but Jamie Vardy is now the face of the day in the Premier League," Manos Staramopoulos of Dimocratia in Greece said. "The forward, 28, scored twice against Sunderland and essentially takes Leicester to touching distance of the miracle of winning the title."
Tottenham had to settle for runner up to Leicester, despite beating Manchester United 3-0 on Sunday with three goals in six minutes against Louis van Gaal's side. Real Sociedad takes third after its surprise 1-0 victory at home against Barcelona in the Spanish league. The result allowed Atletico Madrid to move three points behind Luis Enrique's side, which still tops the standings in Spain.
"Real Sociedad proved that it's not just the likes of Real Madrid that can beat Barcelona with a victory that has kept the race for the La Liga title well and truly alive," Marco Monteverde of News Corp. Australia said.
Juventus is fourth after coming from a goal down to defeat AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro, maintaining its position atop Serie A. Bayern Munich takes fifth after following up its 1-0 Champions League quarterfinal first leg victory against Benfica with a 3-1 triumph at Stuttgart.
Atletico, Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool complete the top 10 teams of the week. Vardy takes the player honors for spearheading Leicester's attack, while Andy Carroll of West Ham enters the poll for the first time this season in second, after a hat trick for in his team's 3-3 draw against Arsenal.
Divock Origi of Liverpool is third for scoring three goals over two games. He netted once in the 1-1 Europa League quarterfinal draw in Germany against Borussia Dortmund, and then twice in the emphatic 4-1 Premier League win against Stoke.
"It was a fantastic week for Liverpool's Divock Origi," Jonathan Johnson of beIN Sports USA in France said. "Having failed to score since mid-February before that, could this be take off for the 20-year-old's Anfield career?"
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid is fourth after scoring in his side's 4-0 victory over Eibar. Hatem Ben Arfa polls fifth for his hat trick in Nice's 3-0 home win over Rennes in France's Ligue 1. Paul Pogba, Geronimo Rulli, Luis Suarez, Miroslav Klose and Fernando Torres round out the top 10 players of the week.
Associated Press Global Football 10
Players:
1. Jamie Vardy, 84 points.
2. Andy Carroll, 77.
3. Divock Origi, 60.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo, 58.
5. Hatem Ben Arfa, 46.
6. Paul Pogba, 44.
7. Geronimo Rulli, 40.
8. Luis Suarez, 35.
9. Miroslav Klose, 29.
10. Fernando Torres, 25.
Teams:
1. Leicester, 85.
2. Tottenham, 81.
3. Real Sociedad, 74.
4. Juventus, 65.
5. Bayern Munich, 55.
6. Atletico Madrid, 49.
7. Wolfsburg, 40.
8. Real Madrid, 30.
9. Paris Saint-Germain, 28.
10. Liverpool, 23.

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April 12, 2016 Harry placed a wreath of white and yellow flowers at the Innocent Victims Memorial. The circular stone and slate memorial is devoted to victims of war, violence and oppression across the world. Survivors Richard Paciukanis, 60, and his wife, Bernadette, said they found the lighting of the candles "moving."

This article was originally published on Time.com.
Hillary Clinton and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sparked controversy at an event on Saturday with a racially charged joke.
Clinton and de Blasio were joined onstage by Leslie Odom Jr. in costume as Aaron Burr, whom he plays in the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. Clinton thanked de Blasio for his endorsement–which many pointed out came rather late in the game–and ribbed him, “Took you long enough.”
The mayor replied, “Sorry, Hillary, I was running on C.P. time.”
The abbreviation refers to the stereotype of “Colored People time,” and several people in the audience could be heard gasping or groaning. Odom, who is black and whom the New York Times suggests was in on the joke, rebuked him, saying, “I don’t like jokes like that, Bill.”
Clinton dryly replied, “Cautious politician time. I’ve been there.”
The exchange prompted pushback online, both from bloggers and social media users.

Ashton Wilson seems just as unhappy as Future about the news.

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LONDON (AP) — While the rest of her subjects call Queen Elizabeth II "Your majesty," her great-grandson knows her as "Gan-Gan." The Duchess of Cambridge reveals that tidbit in a television documentary celebrating the queen's 90th birthday to be broadcast on Britain's ITV channel over Easter. March 19, 2016 In her first solo interview since marrying Prince William in 2011, the former Kate Middleton says the queen is a doting great-grandmother to Prince George and Princess Charlotte and "she always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we go and stay."
"Our Queen at Ninety" also features interviews with the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry. The queen turns 90 on April 21, but her official party will take place in June with a celebration in London.

March 29, 2016 Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, will visit the monument of love, the Taj Mahal, during the tour to India and Bhutan from April 10-April 16, Kensington Palace said Tuesday. The visit should have special resonance for William because his mother, the late Princess Diana, was photographed there alone — an image that came to underscore the breakup of her marriage with Prince Charles.
"He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother's memory is kept alive by so many who travel there," the Cambridges' communications secretary Jason Knauf said. "Twenty-four years on from her visit to the Taj, the duke and the duchess are looking forward to seeing this beautiful place for themselves and creating some new memories as they say thank you to the people of India at the conclusion of this tour."
The trip will also include a somber moment at the Taj Palace Hotel, one of the scenes of the Mumbai attacks. The royal couple will lay a wreath and meet members of the staff who helped protect guests during the attack.
The visit will be their first to India and Bhutan. They will not be taking their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. The royal couple will also attend a Bollywood charity event and pay their respects to Mahatma Gandhi at the place where he was assassinated in 1948.
In a nod to William's conservation efforts, the couple will also travel to Kaziranga National Park in the state of Assam. The park is home to two-thirds of the world's population of Indian one-horned rhinos as well as endangered swamp deer.
In Bhutan, the couple will meet the king and queen of the small landlocked country in the shadow of the Himalayan peaks. The duke and duchess will hike five to six hours in total for a visit to Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery that dates to 1692.

April 11, 2016 On the second day of their weeklong royal tour of India, Britain's Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, placed a wreath and bowed their heads as they stood in front of a memorial for Gandhi in New Delhi. They then toured a museum near the spot where the independence leader was assassinated in 1948.
Prior to that, William and Kate laid a wreath at a memorial to honor Indian soldiers who had died in World War I. The royal couple spent the first part of the day in Mumbai, where they met with the young entrepreneurs and the venture capitalists likely to fund some of their enterprise ideas. Kate, dressed in a cream wool crepe outfit, smiled and waved at crowds of onlookers who had gathered outside the cafe where the meeting was held.
In the evening, the couple attended a garden party in New Delhi to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday, which is April 21. William addressed a large gathering of prominent Indians at the reception to speak about his grandmother, Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
The prince said his trip to India celebrated the link between Britain and India, which was part of the British empire before gaining independence in 1947. He also read out a message from Queen Elizabeth hailing the "enduring friendship, shared culture and business opportunities between the two countries."
William and Kate are traveling without their two children — 2 1/2-year-old Prince George and 11-month-old Princess Charlotte. They had taken George to Australia with them in 2014 on their last royal tour.
On Tuesday, the royal couple will sit down for lunch with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before traveling to the Kaziranga National Park, home to two-thirds of the world's Indian one-horned rhinos, in the northeastern state of Assam.
They'll also take a one-day trip to neighboring Bhutan at the invitation of the Himalayan kingdom's King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema. William and Kate will then head back to India, where they'll wind up their tour with a visit to the Taj Mahal, retracing the steps of a 1992 visit to the monument of love by William's mother, the late Princess Diana.