Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Senate unanimously passes defense spending bill
• New judge appointed in Fort Hood shooting case
• Obama to fill key posts in weeks, Hagel on Pentagon short list
• India's sports bureaucracy booted from the Olympics
• Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General, to Speak at Opening of 2013 NAFSA Conference of International Educators
• Factbox: Defectors from Assad government in Syria
• NATO backs Patriot anti-missile system for Turkey
• Dick Cheney to Receive Hudson Institute's Herman Kahn Award
• New commander faces challenge of winding down Afghanistan war
• Inside the mind of Iran's Khamenei
• Threat of chemical warfare in Syria means it's time for US, NATO no-fly zone
• Iraq government stops Turkish minister landing in Kurdistan
• A look at the Patriot missiles en route to Turkey
• Factbox: "Fiscal cliff" offers of Republicans, Obama compared
• Drought May Have Killed Sumerian Language
• Officials: NATO to decide on missiles for Turkey
• SEO Calls on the World Food Bank & the FAO of the UN to implement Food Program for the 2.5 Million Syrians Facing Starvation
• Aides: Obama ‘Genuinely Conflicted’ Between Rice and Kerry
• Turkish energy minister denied permission to land in Northern Iraq: official
• A brief history of chemical weapons
• Turkish minister's plane denied permission to land in Northern Iraq: official
• Officials: Gunmen kill 6 family members in Baghdad
• Terrorist attacks soar, deaths down from 2007 peak: study
• Vienna tops quality of life global survey of cities

Senate unanimously passes defense spending bill Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:38 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted 98-0 to approve a wide-ranging defense bill that authorizes $631.4 billion in funding for the U.S. military, the war in Afghanistan and nuclear weapons. The bill, passed after five days of debate and consideration of hundreds of amendments, must be reconciled with the version passed by the House of Representatives before it can go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. ...

New judge appointed in Fort Hood shooting case Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:27 PM PST The Army's highest legal branch appointed a new judge to preside over the case of the Fort Hood shooting suspect, indicating the court-martial is on track to move forward after lengthy delays.

Obama to fill key posts in weeks, Hagel on Pentagon short list Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is expected to announce his nominees for secretaries of state and defense in the next two weeks, with former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel on the short list of potential choices to head the Pentagon, senior administration officials said on Tuesday. Hagel, whose appointment would give Obama's reshuffled second-term Cabinet a bipartisan cast, met the Democratic president at the White House this week to discuss a post on his national security team. But there was no sign that Obama had decided on any of the key nominations he will put forth. ...

India's sports bureaucracy booted from the Olympics Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:50 PM PST In a rare move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided Tuesday to suspend India's national Olympic body, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), citing bad governance and meddling by the Indian government.

Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General, to Speak at Opening of 2013 NAFSA Conference of International Educators Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:35 PM PST 65th Annual Conference to Feature Prominent Peace and Justice AdvocatesOscar Arias, Former President of Costa Rica, Nobel Peace LaureateRye Barcott, Former U.S. Marine, Peace Activist in KenyaWASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nobel Peace Prize winner and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be the opening speaker at NAFSA: Association of International Educators' 2013 Annual Conference and Expo.Annan will address 8,000 international educators from 120 countries expected at the conference's opening plenary session on Tuesday, May 28. ...

Factbox: Defectors from Assad government in Syria Posted: 04 Dec 2012 11:44 AM PST (Reuters) - Some prominent defectors from Bashar al-Assad's Syria in 2012, after foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi left the country this week. * Brigadier-General Adnan Qassem Farzat announced in March he had joined rebel forces in protest at the shelling of his home town. * Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil minister, announced his defection in March, the first by a senior civilian official since the start of the uprising. * Jordan granted political asylum to Colonel Hassan Hamada, a Syrian pilot who flew his MiG-21 fighter to the kingdom in June. ...

NATO backs Patriot anti-missile system for Turkey Posted: 04 Dec 2012 11:02 AM PST NATO announced Tuesday that it will deploy Patriot anti-missile systems near Turkey's southern border, shoring up defenses against the threat of cross-border attacks from Syria and bringing the United States and its allies closer to Syria's civil war.

Dick Cheney to Receive Hudson Institute's Herman Kahn Award Posted: 04 Dec 2012 10:56 AM PST WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Thursday, December 6th at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, Hudson Institute will confer its 2012 Herman Kahn Award on former Vice President Dick Cheney in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the United States and its government. Cheney will be introduced and formally presented with the Kahn Award by his former chief of staff and former national security advisor, Hudson Senior Vice President Lewis Libby. Vice President Cheney will accept the award and he will pay tribute to noted investor and philanthropist Allan R. ...

New commander faces challenge of winding down Afghanistan war Posted: 04 Dec 2012 10:55 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, who takes over as head of international forces in Afghanistan next year, faces the challenge of winding down a war in a country where he has little experience using a strategy he did not devise. Dunford, whose nomination was confirmed by the Senate on Monday night, will be the fifth commander of the International Security Assistance Force since President Barack Obama took office, a leadership churn that worries Afghan war analysts. ...

Inside the mind of Iran's Khamenei Posted: 04 Dec 2012 10:09 AM PST Deep inside an old Tehran political prison, three turns off a dark corridor and through a small gap, lies a bleak cell for solitary confinement. Too narrow for a prisoner to extend his arms, it was once the cell of the man who today holds the official title in Iran, "God's deputy on earth."

Threat of chemical warfare in Syria means it's time for US, NATO no-fly zone Posted: 04 Dec 2012 09:39 AM PST President Obama's warning to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad not to use chemical weapons in the country's ongoing civil war is just one more signal that in this ever-escalating crisis, it's time for the international community to intervene.

Iraq government stops Turkish minister landing in Kurdistan Posted: 04 Dec 2012 09:28 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - A plane carrying Turkey's energy minister to an energy conference in Iraqi Kurdistan was denied permission to land on Tuesday by the central government in Baghdad, underlining its strained relations with Ankara and Iraq's Kurdish region. The minister's private plane, which was en route from Istanbul to the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, was forced to land in the Turkish city of Kayseri, southeast of the capital Ankara. Iraq's civilian aviation authority said it had refused the plane permission because it had not complied with regulations. ...

A look at the Patriot missiles en route to Turkey Posted: 04 Dec 2012 09:04 AM PST NATO's expected decision Tuesday to provide Turkey with Patriot missiles returns the spotlight to an American-manufactured, anti-missile system that has undergone a series of renovations since entering service more than three decades ago.

Factbox: "Fiscal cliff" offers of Republicans, Obama compared Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:58 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Both President Barack Obama and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made opening offers in negotiations to resolve the "fiscal cliff. Here is a look at the two proposals, which are aimed at averting a more drastic combination of tax increases and spending cuts that economists say could cause a recession: REPUBLICAN OFFER House Republican leaders on Monday called for $2.2 trillion in new deficit reductions over 10 years. ...

Drought May Have Killed Sumerian Language Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:54 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO — A 200-year-long drought 4,200 years ago may have killed off the ancient Sumerian language, one geologist says.

Officials: NATO to decide on missiles for Turkey Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:15 AM PST NATO foreign ministers are expected Tuesday to approve Turkey's request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defense against strikes from neighboring Syria, which Western governments fear is a growing possibility given the increased desperation of President Bashar Assad's regime.

SEO Calls on the World Food Bank & the FAO of the UN to implement Food Program for the 2.5 Million Syrians Facing Starvation Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:38 AM PST SEO urges the UN food program and the FAO, Food and Agricultural Organization, and the WFB to immediately provide Syrians inside the country and in refugee camps, with sustainable food resources to meet the FAO standards and maintain food security. The primary estimates are, "Nearly 2.5 million people displaced from their homes require immediate support," Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said, "But "global aid efforts are now reaching only 1.5 million. ...

Aides: Obama ‘Genuinely Conflicted’ Between Rice and Kerry Posted: 04 Dec 2012 06:22 AM PST President Obama is said to be "genuinely conflicted" about whether to nominate his favored candidate, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, or Sen. John Kerry as his next secretary of State, two aides said. Rice faces stiff resistance from some Republican senators — as well as grumbling among some foreign-policy elites who question her suitability — yet the GOP objections may backfire, making the president even more likely to nominate her so as not to be seen as backing down.

Turkish energy minister denied permission to land in Northern Iraq: official Posted: 04 Dec 2012 05:38 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - A plane carrying Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz to an energy conference in Iraqi Kurdistan was denied permission to land on Tuesday by the central government in Baghdad, a Turkish energy ministry official said. The plane, which was en route from Istanbul to the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, was forced to land in Turkey's Kayseri, southeast of the capital Ankara, the official said. The plane would not seek permission to land again and the minister would now not attend the conference, the official said. ...

A brief history of chemical weapons Posted: 04 Dec 2012 05:01 AM PST Several international agreements have sought to limit the use of chemical weapons in warfare, beginning with the 1675 Strasbourg Agreement that banned the use of poison bullets in conflict. More recently, a United Nations initiative led to the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993. The convention, which has been signed by 182 states, enforces a comprehensive ban on developing, producing, stockpiling and using chemical weapons. Syria is not among the signatories to the Convention and thus is not legally bound by its prohibitions.

Turkish minister's plane denied permission to land in Northern Iraq: official Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:45 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - A plane carrying Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz to northern Iraq's Arbil was denied permission to land on Tuesday by the central government in Baghdad, a Turkish energy ministry official said on Tuesday. The plane, which had taken off from Istanbul, was forced to land in Turkey's Kayseri, a city southeast of the capital Ankara, the official said. Yildiz had been due to attend an energy conference in Arbil. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Nick Tattersall)

Officials: Gunmen kill 6 family members in Baghdad Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:23 AM PST Police and health officials say gunmen have broken into a house in eastern Baghdad, killing six members of an Iraqi family.

Terrorist attacks soar, deaths down from 2007 peak: study Posted: 03 Dec 2012 09:03 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of terrorist attacks each year has more than quadrupled in the decade since September 11, 2001, a study released on Tuesday said, with Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan the most affected. The number of annual deaths in attacks, however, peaked in 2007 -- the height of the Iraq conflict -- and has been falling ever since. The survey reported 7,473 fatalities in 2011, 25 percent down on 2007. That figure included dead suicide bombers and other attackers. ...

Vienna tops quality of life global survey of cities Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:09 PM PST VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's capital offers its residents the best quality of life of any city in the world and Baghdad the worst, according to the latest global survey from consultant group Mercer. The Austrian capital with 1.7 million residents came top of the survey for the fourth year in a row, boasting of a vibrant cultural scene alongside comprehensive health care and moderate but rising housing costs. Its opulent architecture from the time of the Habsburg empire makes it a tourist magnet. The reliable public transport system costs just 1 euro ($1. ...

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