Yahoo! News: Iraq

CSI Supports Conference on Future of Religious Minorities in Middle East at St. Antony's, Oxford
Female 2-star heads Air Force sex abuse prevention
Hezbollah entry in Syria fans Shiite-Sunni fires
Sermons on Syria fan Mideast sectarian flames
Hezbollah-backed Syrian troops press offensive
U.N. launches record appeal for victims of Syrian war
May another solid month for women in US job market
Jeremy Scahill’s ‘Dirty Wars’ Brings America’s Dark Secrets to Light
As Syrian refugee flood escalates, UN asks record $5.1 billion in aid
WikiLeaks trial is high-profile case for low-profile lawyer
Suicide blasts kill 19 in Iraq, including Iranians
Suicide blasts kill 16 in Iraq, including Iranians
U.N. launches biggest aid effort for half of Syria's population
Samantha Power at UN evokes 'Camelot' and may be 'friend of Israel'
Syrian troops capture central villages from rebels
AP Interview: Sabra: Syria war becoming sectarian
UN: Syria refugees could reach 3.5M this year
Iraq bomber hits Iranian pilgrims, at least nine dead
Obama embracing some Bush-era anti-terror policies
John Ferguson spreads goodwill for America through the power of music
Officials: Car bomb kills 8 Iran pilgrims in Iraq
China's Iraqi-oil dominance: Should the U.S. be miffed?
Today in History

CSI Supports Conference on Future of Religious Minorities in Middle East at St. Antony's, Oxford

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 03:37 PM PDT

OXFORD, England, June 7, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- St. Antony's College at Oxford University is hosting a conference on "The Future of Religious Minorities in the Middle East, North Africa and the Two Sudans" today, June 7, and tomorrow, June 8. Amine Gemayel, the former president of Lebanon, and Lord Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, are addressing the conference tonight. The conference is supported by Christian Solidarity International (CSI), a Christian human rights group campaigning for religious freedom and human dignity worldwide.In his introductory remarks, Dr. ...

Female 2-star heads Air Force sex abuse prevention

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 02:35 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has put a female two-star general in charge of a beefed-up office responsible for sexual assault prevention and response, elevating its status at a time of increasing political pressure to crack down on sexual abuses.

Hezbollah entry in Syria fans Shiite-Sunni fires

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:29 PM PDT

CAIRO (AP) — The Egyptian cleric was in a fervor. With Hezbollah's Shiite fighters helping Bashar Assad crush Syrian rebels, he wanted to sound the alarm to Sunnis across the Middle East: "Now is the time for jihad."

Sermons on Syria fan Mideast sectarian flames

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:27 PM PDT

By Mariam Karouny and Alastair Macdonald BEIRUT/CAIRO (Reuters) - Sunni Muslim preachers condemned Iran and its "Satanic" Shi'ite allies in Friday sermons, after a battle in Syria that has inflamed sectarian rhetoric which risks spreading violence around the Middle East. In Tehran, the non-Arab power behind the Shi'ite strand of Islam followed by a minority of Muslims, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for restraint and unity, blaming Western powers and Israel for fomenting the sectarian strife. ...

Hezbollah-backed Syrian troops press offensive

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:03 PM PDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters pressed forward with their offensive in the country's opposition-held heartland on Friday, taking two small villages and entering a third near a strategic town that was captured by the government earlier this week, while the U.N. asked donor countries for $5.2 billion in humanitarian aid as it predicted the number of refugees could more than double by the end of the year.

U.N. launches record appeal for victims of Syrian war

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:36 PM PDT

By Crispian Balmer and Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United Nations warned on Friday half of all Syrians would need humanitarian aid by the end of 2013 and launched what it said was the biggest emergency appeal in history to cope with the civil war crisis. "Syria as a civilization is unraveling," said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, announcing the call for some $5 billion before the end of the year. The joint statement by U.N. ...

May another solid month for women in US job market

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:18 PM PDT

Steady job growth in May once again benefited American women over men. Unemployment for adult women, those 20 and older, fell for the third time in four months to 6.5 percent. That's the lowest since January ...

Jeremy Scahill’s ‘Dirty Wars’ Brings America’s Dark Secrets to Light

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:17 PM PDT

In Jeremy Scahill's years of traveling to war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia as an investigative journalist, he's gained a reputation for going places others won't."Journalists are thieves in a lot of ways," Scahill tells TakePart. "We take people's stories and we don't give much back to them at all. I feel a responsibility to the people who let me into their lives. ...

As Syrian refugee flood escalates, UN asks record $5.1 billion in aid

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:01 PM PDT

In an effort to grapple with what may become the largest refugee crisis ever, the United Nations asked today for a record breaking $5.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Syria and neighboring countries.

WikiLeaks trial is high-profile case for low-profile lawyer

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 11:45 AM PDT

By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Private First Class Bradley Manning was seeking a civilian defense attorney to bolster his government-appointed legal team in 2010, he considered a number of lawyers experienced in courts-martial. His aunt, herself a lawyer, helped vet names of possible lawyers for the case suggested by Army veterans and activist supporters. The family fielded unsolicited offers from attorneys eager to take the high-profile case in which Manning is accused of passing more 700,000 classified files to WikiLeaks in the biggest unauthorized release of secret files in U.S. ...

Suicide blasts kill 19 in Iraq, including Iranians

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 11:38 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Suicide attackers rammed car bombs on Friday into a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims and a police checkpoint west of Baghdad, killing 19 people in all, in the latest bout of violence to rattle Iraq.

Suicide blasts kill 16 in Iraq, including Iranians

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 11:13 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Suicide attackers rammed car bombs on Friday into a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims and a police checkpoint west of Baghdad, killing 16 people in all, in the latest bout of violence to rattle Iraq.

U.N. launches biggest aid effort for half of Syria's population

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:42 AM PDT

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations launched a $5 billion aid effort on Friday, its biggest ever, to help up to 10.25 million Syrians, half the population, who it expects will need help by the end of 2013. The appeal comprises $2.9 billion for refugees, $1.4 billion for humanitarian aid and $830 million for Lebanon and Jordan, the biggest recipients of Syrian refugees. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said the $5 billion funding target was massive but achievable. "Let's put it into perspective," he said. ...

Samantha Power at UN evokes 'Camelot' and may be 'friend of Israel'

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 09:35 AM PDT

It may be that Samantha Power, President Obama's unusual nominee for UN ambassador, won't necessarily face a high-voltage confirmation hearing to decide if she is sufficiently pro-Israel to represent the US in New York.

Syrian troops capture central villages from rebels

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 09:11 AM PDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters pressed on with their offensive Friday in the country's opposition heartland, taking two small villages near a strategic town that was captured by the government this week.

AP Interview: Sabra: Syria war becoming sectarian

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 06:50 AM PDT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The leader of Syria's main opposition group on Friday warned that the involvement of Hezbollah is transforming the war in Syria into a sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, and says peace negotiations aren't possible as long as Hezbollah and Iran are fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's regime.

UN: Syria refugees could reach 3.5M this year

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 06:21 AM PDT

BERLIN (AP) — The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries could more than double to 3.5 million by the end of the year, the United Nations said Friday as the global body launched its biggest humanitarian appeal ever.

Iraq bomber hits Iranian pilgrims, at least nine dead

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:23 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Iranian Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in Iraq on Friday, killing at least nine people in an attack likely carried out by Sunni Muslim insurgents trying to ignite sectarian conflict. Al Qaeda's local wing and other Sunni insurgents have been on the offensive since the start of the year in an attempt - spurred in part by the mainly Sunni rebellion in neighboring Syria - to provoke the kind of Shi'ite-Sunni bloodshed that killed thousands in Iraq in 2006-2007. ...

Obama embracing some Bush-era anti-terror policies

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:09 AM PDT

Five years into his presidency, Barack Obama presides over a national security apparatus that in many ways still resembles the one left behind by President George W. Bush. Drones are killing terrorism ...

John Ferguson spreads goodwill for America through the power of music

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:00 AM PDT

Amjad Dabi had a simple wish: to keep polishing his technique on his favorite piano compositions by the French Impressionist masters Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. But in the midst of a brutal civil war in his native Syria, his artistic pursuits became more futile and perilous by the day.

Officials: Car bomb kills 8 Iran pilgrims in Iraq

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:19 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say a suicide car bomb attack has killed eight Iranian pilgrims and wounded 25 others north of Baghdad.

China's Iraqi-oil dominance: Should the U.S. be miffed?

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 03:55 AM PDT

Counter-intuitively, this might actually be good news for U.S. consumers and companies