2013年3月9日星期六

Yahoo! News: Iraq

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Iraq


Budget cuts end White House tours, but not finger-pointing

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 11:37 AM PST

A worker cleans a sidewalk outside the White HouseWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sixth-grade class at St. Paul's Lutheran School in Waverly, Iowa, sent a message this week that was heard in the White House briefing room. "The White House is our house," the class said in a video posted on Facebook. "Please let us visit." But their trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which had been set for March 16, is off. White House tours will be suspended starting on Saturday due to mandated across-the-board spending cuts known as "sequestration." The move will save the federal government an estimated $74,000 a week. ...


Businesses in military towns brace for budget hit

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 11:26 AM PST

Businesses in military towns brace for budget hitLike many who make their living in the commercial strip outside the gates of Fort Bragg, Mike Thomas is confident the $85 billion in automatic military spending cuts will hurt sales at his used car lot ...


Hagel's re-introduction to Afghan war begins with bombing

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 11:13 AM PST

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel poses for a picture with a member of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division during his visit to Jalalabad Airfield in eastern AfghanistanKABUL (Reuters) - Chuck Hagel's first full day in Afghanistan as U.S. defense secretary began with the sound of a suicide bombing about a kilometer away from one of his morning briefings. "I wasn't sure what it was," Hagel said, asked about his initial reaction to the blast that killed nine civilians outside the Afghan defense ministry. "But we're in a war zone. I've been in war ... So (we) shouldn't be surprised when a bomb goes off or there's an explosion. ...


Freed U.N. peacekeepers cross into Jordan from Syria

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 09:35 AM PST

United Nations peacekeepers put on protective gear before driving through the Kuneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, in the Israeli occupied Golan HeightsAMMAN (Reuters) - Twenty-one United Nations peacekeepers held by rebels for three days in southern Syria crossed into Jordan on Saturday, after an ordeal which highlighted how Syria's civil war is ratcheting up tensions on its volatile borders. The Filipino peacekeepers - part of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) that has been monitoring a ceasefire line between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights since 1974 - were seized by the Martyrs of Yarmouk rebel brigade on Wednesday. ...


For Biden chief of staff Bruce Reed, less is more

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 09:19 AM PST

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden's Chief of Staff Bruce Reed has lunch with President Barack Obama in Washington. Friends and colleagues of Reed call him understated, self-effacing, non-threatening, even refreshingly old-fashioned. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Understated. Self-effacing. Nonthreatening. Refreshingly old-fashioned.


Older, quieter than WikiLeaks, Cryptome perseveres

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 09:05 AM PST

This Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 photo shows Cryptome co-founder John Young in New York. "I'm a fierce opponent of government secrets of all kinds," says John Young. "The scale is tipped so far the other way that I'm willing to stick my neck out and say there should be none." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI came calling after maps of urban rail tunnels and gas lines were posted online. Microsoft aggressively complained following the website's publication of a confidential handbook on company policies for helping police. Other critics have gone further, warning that some of the postings could aid America's enemies.


Less is more for veep's chief of staff Bruce Reed

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 06:55 AM PST

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden's Chief of Staff Bruce Reed has lunch with President Barack Obama in Washington. Friends and colleagues of Reed call him understated, self-effacing, non-threatening, even refreshingly old-fashioned. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Understated. Self-effacing. Nonthreatening. Refreshingly old-fashioned.


Iraqi security forces surround protest site

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 03:57 AM PST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities deployed security forces around the main rallying point for Sunni protests in western Iraq overnight and warned on Saturday that the area had become a haven for terrorists.

Survey: Many conflicted on gov't spending cuts

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 01:21 AM PST

Charts show public opinion on government spending priorities sinceWASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama and lawmakers spar over huge federal deficits, they're confronted by a classic contradiction: Most Americans want government austerity, a survey shows, but they also want increased spending on a host of popular programs: education, crime fighting, health care, Social Security, the environment and more. Less for defense, space and foreign aid.


Less is more for Biden chief of staff

Posted: 09 Mar 2013 12:48 AM PST

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden's Chief of Staff Bruce Reed has lunch with President Barack Obama in Washington. Friends and colleagues of Reed call him understated, self-effacing, non-threatening, even refreshingly old-fashioned. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Understated. Self-effacing. Nonthreatening. Refreshingly old-fashioned.


Bin Laden Son-in-Law Could Yield Info on Al-Qaida

Posted: 08 Mar 2013 06:38 PM PST

Abu Ghaith more of an adviser than plotter but could yield new details about terror network
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