US to send 1,500 more troops to Iraq; Solar plant applying for federal grant to pay off federal loan...more

Islamic State crisis: US to send 1,500 more troops to Iraq  The Pentagon said the troops would train and assist Iraqi forces.

President Barack Obama authorised the deployment following a request from Iraq's government, the Pentagon added.

IS militants control large areas of Iraq and Syria but have been targeted by hundreds of air strikes by a US-led coalition since August...

World's largest solar plant applying for federal grant to pay off federal loan   After already receiving a controversial $1.6 billion construction loan from U.S. taxpayers, the wealthy investors of a California solar power plant now want a $539 million federal grant to pay off their federal loan.

"This is an attempt by very large cash generating companies that have billions on their balance sheet to get a federal bailout, i.e. a bailout from us - the taxpayer for their pet project," said Reason Foundation VP of Research Julian Morris. "It's actually rather obscene."...

George W. Bush: I Read the Bible Every Day During My Presidency    ..."I read the Bible every day during my presidency," Bush said. "The easiest time to be faithful is during a time of crisis. The hardest time for faith is when all is well. Faith informed my principles and decisions, but not my tactics. It would give me strength, but I didn't use my faith to make decisions. Freedom is a faith-informed principle.”...

Dozens Found Dead Near Peak of Japan Volcano
Police in central Japan say they have found bodies of 31 hikers near the summit of Mount Ontake, a volcano that erupted without warning on Saturday, spewing ash, rocks and steam.

Officials confirmed four deaths while 27 others were described as being in a state of "cardiac arrest," a term Japanese authorities often use to describe the dead until doctors can examine the body...

Church bells toll as Philippines remembers thousands killed a year after typhoon Haiyan  Candles lit up the streets of the central Philippine city worst-hit by the strongest storm to make landfall as thousands remembered more than 6,300 people who died a year ago when typhoon Haiyan smashed into the country...

What It’d Look Like if Star Wars Spilled Into the Real World
Thomas Dagg was obsessed with Star Wars a kid growing up in Ottawa during the 1990s. He watched the trilogy on VHS so many times he wore out the tapes. When his parent’s promised him a Star Wars toy as a reward, he let the dentist pull two teeth without any complaints. And he’d save his weekly allowance to buy toys to add to his expansive Star Wars collection.

Dagg is now 24 and a successful photographer in Toronto who still loves the films. He credits Star Wars with inspiring him to become an artist, and he’s spent two years working on a personal project called, appropriately, Star Wars. He uses Photoshop to seamlessly blend characters and spaceships from the films into every day scenes. The images invite viewers into the world of his childhood, when he imagined seeing a galaxy far, far away in everything around him...