Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Syrian army takes town, and upper hand
• Afghan president condemns U.S. airstrike that killed a child
• Market bombings, attacks across Iraq kill 29
• Seven killed in Iran quake, no damage to nuclear station reported
• 31 dead as car bombs rock Iraq
• Iran and Gulf states make tentative diplomatic moves
• Syrian refugee host countries need 'massive' aid: UN
• Syrian troops capture town near Lebanon border
• Iran's Arab neighbors want assurances nuclear deal not against them
• Iran's Arab neighbours want assurances nuclear deal not against them
• Exxon sells Iraq oil stake to PetroChina
• Market bombings, attacks across Iraq kill 22
• Series of bombings across Iraq kill 13
• Video shows execution of Syrian rebels by Al Qaeda-linked group
• Iraq officials say separate bombings kill 5
• PetroChina buys stake in Iraq project from Exxon
• Giving thanks to U.S. soldiers — and celebrating their homecoming
• Afghanistan's Karzai stands alone in high-stakes game with U.S.

Syrian army takes town, and upper hand Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:49 PM PST Syrian troops recaptured the strategic town of Deir Attiyeh Thursday, less than a week after losing it, taking the advantage in its bid to crush rebels just north of Damascus. The seizure of Deir Attiyeh, on the Damascus-Homs highway, comes two weeks into an army offensive in the Qalamoun region, important to the regime for its proximity to the capital and to the rebels for the supply lines it offers to neighbouring Lebanon. The opposition demands that any talks should lead to a transition in which President Bashar al-Assad plays no role. "Our heroic army has taken total control of the town of Deir Attiyeh in Damascus province after it crushed the terrorists' last enclaves there," state television said.

Afghan president condemns U.S. airstrike that killed a child Posted: 28 Nov 2013 12:24 PM PST President Hamid Karzai said U.S. forces had bombed a home in southern Afghanistan, killing a small child and wounding two women, and condemned the attack as a sign of disregard for civilian lives, his spokesman said on Thursday. The strike could not have come at a worse time, as Karzai is engaged in a stand-off with the U.S. government over a bilateral security agreement that will decide whether U.S. troop stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014. "It shows that U.S. forces have no respect for the decisions of the Loya Jirga and life of civilians in Afghanistan," said Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi. "If such operations continue, there will be no agreement." The United States has threatened to pull its troops out of Afghanistan after 2014 - an outcome known as the "zero option", as it did in Iraq two years ago - unless a deal is clinched by the end of this year, Karzai, however, has so far refused to sign, despite getting approval from the Loya Jirga last week.

Market bombings, attacks across Iraq kill 29 Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:23 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Three car bombs exploded at outdoor markets and on a street full of shops near Iraq's capital, the deadliest of a series of attacks across the country that killed at least 29 people Thursday, officials said.

Seven killed in Iran quake, no damage to nuclear station reported Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:21 AM PST At least seven people were killed in an earthquake in Iran on Thursday near the city of Bushehr, where the country's sole nuclear power plant is situated, state news agency IRNA reported. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5.6, struck about 40 miles northeast of Bushehr on the Gulf coast, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. No damage to the nuclear plant was reported. IRNA said seven people had died, and quoted the governor of Bushehr saying there was "total calm" in the area.

31 dead as car bombs rock Iraq Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:00 AM PST Attacks in Iraq killed 31 people Thursday as 11 car bombs struck nationwide, the latest in a surge of violence that has sparked fears Iraq is slipping back into all-out sectarian war. The bloodshed, in which more than 6,000 people have been killed this year, is the worst prolonged stretch of unrest since 2008 and comes just months before a general election, forcing Baghdad to appeal for international help in battling militants. Although there have been no claims of responsibility for much of the unrest, officials see the hand of a resurgent Al-Qaeda emboldened by the civil war raging in neighbouring Syria. They cut down civilians as well as security forces in a wide variety of incidents targeting markets, bus stations, a funeral tent and the convoy of a top police official, security and medical sources said.

Iran and Gulf states make tentative diplomatic moves Posted: 28 Nov 2013 10:21 AM PST United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on a rare visit to Iran on Thursday called for a partnership with Iran, but suspicion remains despite Tehran's tentative overtures towards its Gulf neighbors. Mostly Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states are wary of Iranian influence in the Middle East, fearing the Shi'ite-led country is seeking regional dominance and stirring sectarian tensions. Improving relations with regional countries is a central plank of Iran's diplomatic policy under its new president, Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who will visit Kuwait and Oman next week. "We are neighbors but do not confine ourselves to this and are calling to be partners," Sheikh Abdullah was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Syrian refugee host countries need 'massive' aid: UN Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:08 AM PST UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that regional countries hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees need "massive" international aid to help them cope with the influx. "Without a much more massive support to the countries in the region, Jordan, Lebanon and others, the international community cannot take for granted that these countries will be able to go on, accepting more and more hundreds of thousands or millions of Syrians refugees," Guterres told reporters in the Jordanian capital Amman. "This is the moment for the international community to fully understand that the support provided to the countries of the region needs to be strongly enhanced, needs to be really massive because there is a risk..." he said. Guterres said the United Nations estimates that more than three million people have fled Syria, mostly to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, since the conflict erupted after a crackdown on protests that began in March 2011 against President Bashar al-Assad,

Syrian troops capture town near Lebanon border Posted: 28 Nov 2013 08:40 AM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian troops captured a western town near the border with Lebanon on Thursday, after days of heavy fighting that killed dozens including nine doctors and nurses and the nephew of a Hezbollah cabinet minister, anti-government activists and state media said.

Iran's Arab neighbors want assurances nuclear deal not against them Posted: 28 Nov 2013 06:53 AM PST Iran's Arab neighbors, deeply worried about Iran's nuclear program, want assurances that Tehran's deal with world powers will indeed enhance regional security, Bahrain's interior minister said on Thursday. U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states, led by top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, have cautiously welcomed the November 24 interim accord as a step towards curbing what they fear is a secret Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Iran's Arab neighbours want assurances nuclear deal not against them Posted: 28 Nov 2013 06:46 AM PST Iran's Arab neighbours, deeply worried about Iran's nuclear programme, want assurances that Tehran's deal with world powers will indeed enhance regional security, Bahrain's interior minister said on Thursday. U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states, led by top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, have cautiously welcomed the November 24 interim accord as a step towards curbing what they fear is a secret Iranian programme to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Exxon sells Iraq oil stake to PetroChina Posted: 28 Nov 2013 06:46 AM PST American energy giant Exxon Mobil on Thursday sold part of its controversial stake in a massive Iraqi oilfield to PetroChina and Indonesia's Pertamina amid a long-running row with Baghdad. The sale of the stake in the West Qurna-1 field in south Iraq, one of the country's largest, marks a key step towards resolving the dispute with the central government over Exxon's contracts with the autonomous Kurdish region. "The agreement was signed for Exxon Mobil to sell part of its 60 percent stake," oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP. "Representatives of all the companies signed the deal today with the Iraqi government in the ministry."

Market bombings, attacks across Iraq kill 22 Posted: 28 Nov 2013 06:22 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Three car bombs exploded at outdoor markets and on a street full of shops near Iraq's capital, the deadliest of a series of attacks Thursday across the country that killed at least 22 people Thursday, officials said.

Series of bombings across Iraq kill 13 Posted: 28 Nov 2013 05:50 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of bombings across Iraq targeting shoppers, security forces and a militia group killed at least 13 people Thursday, officials said.

Video shows execution of Syrian rebels by Al Qaeda-linked group Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:25 AM PST Al Qaeda-linked militants have executed the commander of a rival rebel faction and six of his men, an amateur video of the public execution showed, part of their campaign to marginalize other groups. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, have taken advantage of a power vacuum in rebel-held areas to assert its authority over more moderate elements of the armed opposition. The video, posted online by the anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group on Wednesday, shows armed men in black standing below an ISIL banner. The Observatory said the video was taken in the northern Syrian town of Atarib in Idlib province.

Iraq officials say separate bombings kill 5 Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:06 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials say two separate bomb attacks in central Iraq have killed at least five people and wounded 15.

PetroChina buys stake in Iraq project from Exxon Posted: 28 Nov 2013 03:05 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — State-owned PetroChina says it has acquired a share in a development project of one of Iraq's most promising oil fields from U.S. major Exxon Mobil.

Giving thanks to U.S. soldiers — and celebrating their homecoming Posted: 28 Nov 2013 01:00 AM PST Nov. 24, 2010: Children spot their dad as he and his battalion prepare to enter a National Guard armory on Thanksgiving Eve after being stationed in Iraq for a year. | (CC BY: William Franklin)

Afghanistan's Karzai stands alone in high-stakes game with U.S. Posted: 28 Nov 2013 12:13 AM PST By Maria Golovnina and John Chalmers KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai's stubborn refusal to sign a pact that would keep thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 is a high-risk gamble that Washington will give in to his demands, one that has left him isolated as the clock runs down on his presidency. Diplomats said he may have over-played his hand, raising the risk of a complete U.S. withdrawal from the insurgency-plagued country where Western troops have fought Taliban militants for the past 12 years. There was much dismay in Kabul this week after Karzai over-rode the near-unanimous decision of an assembly of nearly 3,000 Afghan tribal elders to back the agreement and introduced new conditions. Even Qayum Karzai, who is running in next April's election to succeed his younger brother - while being careful not to criticize the president - told Reuters this week that it was in Afghanistan's "vital interest" to get the pact signed.

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