By rapidly appointing two heirs, Saudi Arabia's King Salman has pressed pause on "succession Sudoku", as one leading local journalist calls speculation over whose star is rising and whose waning in the large and secretive Al Saud ruling family.
Republicans exploring a 2016 White House run are pounding away at President Barack Obama's strategy for stopping Islamic State militants but, wary of Americans' war fatigue, are so far providing few specifics on what they would do differently.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday sent Congress his long-awaited formal request to authorize military force against Islamic State, meeting swift resistance from Republicans as well as his fellow Democrats wary of another war in the Middle East.
Lawyers for an Iraqi war veteran will argue at the start of his trial on Wednesday that he was insane when he fatally shot former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, whose best-selling autobiography was turned into the hit movie "American Sniper."
