Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• VA shows progress on backlog
• Obama nominating Comey as FBI director Friday
• World Refugee Day: UN calls Syria 'worst humanitarian disaster' since cold war
• Suicide bomber kills 7 after close of Iraq polls
• Rivalries complicate arms pipeline to Syria rebels
• Iraq, Lebanon alarmed at spreading Syria war
• Bomber targets election center after Iraqis vote
• The James Gandolfini Effect
• Dean staff recalls campaign that changed politics
• World Refugee Day: U.N. Announces Worst Crisis in Nearly Two Decades
• Navistar idling Mississippi plant
• With Congress, the Safe Bet Is Failure
• Hassan Rohani: What it means to be a centrist in Iran
• Memories of James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, from Driveway to Final Scene
• The GOP's Immigration Dilemma Heads for the Border
• Actor James Gandolfini dies in Italy at age 51
• Iraqis vote in 2 Sunni-dominated provinces
• Syrian rebel general grapples with disarray in his ranks
• In northern Iraqi city, al-Qaida gathers strength
• Security tight as Iraqis vote in Sunni-dominated provinces
• Iraq says proxy war over Syria threatens its neutrality
• U.S. cites Russia, China among worst in human trafficking: report
• Germany's DEG to invest up to $188 mln in MENA firms next year
• James Gandolfini: He let his characters star
• James Gandolfini: A remembrance
• Special Report: How Syria's Islamists govern with guile and guns
• Fijian Peacekeepers To Deploy To UNDOF
• Slavery: US gives bad marks to China and Russia in its annual report
• Government Privatization Paves the Way for Crony Corruption

VA shows progress on backlog Posted: 20 Jun 2013 04:41 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Veterans Affairs Department is chipping away at a massive inventory of disability claims for veterans, reducing the number of claims considered backlogged by about 13 percent in recent weeks.

Obama nominating Comey as FBI director Friday Posted: 20 Jun 2013 04:30 PM PDT President Barack Obama on Friday plans to nominate President George W. Bush's former No. 2 at the Justice Department, James Comey, to lead the FBI as the agency grapples with privacy debates over a host ...

World Refugee Day: UN calls Syria 'worst humanitarian disaster' since cold war Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:38 PM PDT Syria's grinding civil war has so far produced 1.6 million refugees and millions more internally displaced children and adults – the reason the global refugee and internal displacement numbers are at their highest since the mid-1990s.

Suicide bomber kills 7 after close of Iraq polls Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:35 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed seven people at an Iraqi vote counting center on Thursday evening, police said, hours after polls closed in two Sunni Muslim-dominated provinces. Most Iraqis voted for provincial councils in April but the Shi'ite-led government postponed elections in Anbar and Nineveh, citing security concerns after months of protests by the country's Sunni minority. The decision to delay voting in those governorates was criticized by the United States, which said it would compound a sense of Sunni marginalization that has fuelled a wave of violent unrest. ...

Rivalries complicate arms pipeline to Syria rebels Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:26 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's rebels have received shipments of more powerful weapons from Gulf allies in recent weeks, particularly anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, that have already helped stall aggressive new advances by regime forces.

Iraq, Lebanon alarmed at spreading Syria war Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:54 PM PDT By Samia Nakhoul and Dominic Evans BAGHDAD/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Neighboring Iraq warned that Syria's civil war is tearing the Middle East apart and Lebanon's president urged his country's Hezbollah movement on Thursday to pull its fighters out of the conflict. After two years of fighting that has killed more than 93,000 people, Syria's turmoil is dragging its neighbors into a deadly confrontation between Shi'ite Iran supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Sunni Arab Gulf nations backing the Syrian rebels. ...

Bomber targets election center after Iraqis vote Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:52 PM PDT FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a ballot-counting center in western Iraq late Thursday, officials said, killing at least four people after the polls closed in elections in two of the country's most volatile provinces that had already been delayed once over security fears.

The James Gandolfini Effect Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:33 PM PDT The news that actor James Gandolfini died yesterday, at a too-young 51 years old, was certainly sad and in many ways shocking. A gifted and seemingly kind and humble actor, Gandolfini represented everything we love about the idea of the workman actor, rather than the flashy celebrity who happens to show up in movies and TV shows once in a while. It's undeniably sad, in a faraway, "most of us didn't know him" sense, that he's so suddenly gone. ...

Dean staff recalls campaign that changed politics Posted: 20 Jun 2013 10:52 AM PDT MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Don't take this as the doctor's advice on what to eat, but what Howard Dean remembers best is the ham sandwich.

World Refugee Day: U.N. Announces Worst Crisis in Nearly Two Decades Posted: 20 Jun 2013 10:32 AM PDT A United Nations report released ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20 finds that we're experiencing the worst refugee crisis in nearly two decades. More than 45.2 million people have been displaced from their homes due to conflict or violence, up from 42.5 million a year earlier, making it the highest number since 1994, when millions of people fled ethnic violence in former Yugoslavia and genocide in Rwanda.

Navistar idling Mississippi plant Posted: 20 Jun 2013 10:01 AM PDT Navistar Defense is suspending production at its plant in West Point, Miss. Navistar spokeswoman Lauren McFarland said in a statement that the 80 workers at the plant were notified Thursday. Navistar Defense ...

With Congress, the Safe Bet Is Failure Posted: 20 Jun 2013 09:10 AM PDT IN THE NEWS: Deal struck in Senate on border security … Farm bill fails in House … Senators want cameras in SCOTUS … Howard Kurtz leaving CNN … Can fast food lead to a healthier U.S.? … House hopeful gets Wu-Tang Clan endorsementTHE TAKE

Hassan Rohani: What it means to be a centrist in Iran Posted: 20 Jun 2013 08:28 AM PDT Just days after scoring a stunning election victory in Iran, President-elect Hassan Rohani posted a photograph to Twitter of himself visiting an American field hospital that had been set up in Iran in 2003, part of an emergency global relief effort after the earthquake in Bam, Iran.

Memories of James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, from Driveway to Final Scene Posted: 20 Jun 2013 07:41 AM PDT James Gandolfini was a singular actor, known for a single role. And since news broke last night that he had died at 51, the remembrances have become intertwined: He was a critical hero for his critically beloved anti-hero Tony Soprano, and so the focus has blurred between the man himself, the man he played, and the mannerisms that changed the way we watch television now and forever. ...

The GOP's Immigration Dilemma Heads for the Border Posted: 20 Jun 2013 07:04 AM PDT Passing immigration reform depends on the Senate's Gang of Eight figuring out the right formula for border security measures that stand a good chance of being expensive, ineffective, and in the long run, embarrassing. After months of debate, the senators found an acceptable formula for the path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already here — about 13 years of bureaucratic torture. Now they have to do the same thing for the 1,969-mile border with Mexico.

Actor James Gandolfini dies in Italy at age 51 Posted: 20 Jun 2013 06:43 AM PDT James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate crime boss in HBO's "The Sopranos" was the brilliant center of one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype ...

Iraqis vote in 2 Sunni-dominated provinces Posted: 20 Jun 2013 06:04 AM PDT FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) — Iraqis in two Sunni-dominated provinces voted Thursday in provincial elections marked by tight security that left streets in former insurgent strongholds largely deserted for much of the day.

Syrian rebel general grapples with disarray in his ranks Posted: 20 Jun 2013 05:22 AM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - The commander of Syria's main rebel force is coming under increasing pressure to impose unity on his fighters as the United States and other powers move towards arming the opposition battling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. General Salim Idriss, a defector chosen six months ago as consensus figure to lead the rebel Supreme Military Council, is being promoted as a cool head to bring together fractious combat units and curb the influence of radical Islamists. ...

In northern Iraqi city, al-Qaida gathers strength Posted: 20 Jun 2013 04:51 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida's Iraq arm is gathering strength in the restive northern city of Mosul, ramping up its fundraising through gangland-style shakedowns and feeding off anti-government anger as it increasingly carries out attacks with impunity, according to residents and officials.

Security tight as Iraqis vote in Sunni-dominated provinces Posted: 20 Jun 2013 04:35 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi electoral official was killed in a roadside bombing on Thursday, police said, as two Sunni Muslim-dominated provinces went to the polls under tight security. Most Iraqis voted for provincial councils in April but the Shi'ite Muslim-led government postponed elections in Anbar and Nineveh, citing security concerns after months of protests by the country's Sunni minority. The decision to delay voting in those governorates was criticized by the United States, which said this would compound a sense of Sunni marginalization that has fuelled a wave of violent unrest. ...

Iraq says proxy war over Syria threatens its neutrality Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:59 AM PDT By Samia Nakhoul and Patrick Markey BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is being buffeted by both sides in the civil war raging across its border in Syria and Baghdad's official policy of neutrality is at risk as the conflict spirals into a region-wide proxy war, its foreign minister said. After two years of fighting that has killed more than 93,000 people, Syria's turmoil is dragging its neighbors into a deadly confrontation between Shi'ite Iran supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Sunni Arab Gulf nations backing Syrian rebels. ...

U.S. cites Russia, China among worst in human trafficking: report Posted: 20 Jun 2013 02:21 AM PDT By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An annual U.S. State Department report on Wednesday cited Russia and China among the world's worst offenders in fighting forced labor and sex trafficking, which could lead to U.S. sanctions, prompting angry rebuttals from Moscow and Beijing. The report said Russia had failed to provide systematic safeguards for victims of trafficking. China, it said, had done too little to outlaw all forms of trafficking and punish perpetrators. The U.S. ...

Germany's DEG to invest up to $188 mln in MENA firms next year Posted: 20 Jun 2013 01:13 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - DEG, a unit of German state development bank KfW, plans to invest up to 140 million euros in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) private firms next year despite concerns over the region's short-term political instability. DEG, which finances investments of private companies in developing and transition countries, has a current portfolio of 160 million euros in the MENA region excluding Turkey, Peter Thimme, DEG Director Europe, Middle East and Central Asia told Reuters in an interview. "It is DEG's target to commit 70-140 million euros in the MENA in 2014," he said. ...

James Gandolfini: He let his characters star Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:28 AM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — James Gandolfini would have hated all this fuss.

James Gandolfini: A remembrance Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:50 PM PDT The actor, who died at age 51 on Wednesday, leaves behind a life and career that extends beyond The Sopranos

Special Report: How Syria's Islamists govern with guile and guns Posted: 19 Jun 2013 11:37 PM PDT By Oliver Holmes and Alexander Dziadosz RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian boys looked edgy and awkward. Three months ago their town, the eastern desert city of Raqqa, had fallen to rebel fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's government. Now the four boys - clad in tight jeans and bright T-shirts - were whitewashing a wall to prepare it for revolutionary graffiti. "We'll make this painting about the role of children in the revolution," one of the boys told two journalists. ...

Fijian Peacekeepers To Deploy To UNDOF Posted: 19 Jun 2013 06:14 PM PDT SUVA, Fiji, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Fijian Government has agreed to a request by the United Nations to deploy "blue helmet" service personnel to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Syrian Golan Heights. The deployment comes at a time of heightened importance of UNDOF's mandate to bring stability to the Middle East region.In expressing the UN's gratefulness for Fiji's agreement to deploy to UNDOF, Lt. Gen. ...

Slavery: US gives bad marks to China and Russia in its annual report Posted: 19 Jun 2013 04:46 PM PDT The US is giving world powers China and Russia a black eye for their failure to make progress against the global scourge of people trafficking – also known as slavery.

Government Privatization Paves the Way for Crony Corruption Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:26 PM PDT Booz Allen Hamilton, Edward Snowden's former employer, is a cash cow earning billions from its intelligence work for the U.S. government. Snowden is among thousands of people who used to work for the government who went on to earn far more doing the same things for legions of private contractors. Almost 500,000 private employees held top-secret clearances in 2012, giving them access to the most sensitive secrets of the United States, with much of the clearance process itself done by … the self-same private contractors.

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