Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Assad's forces battle to tighten control of central Syria
• In Africa, Obama steps into frontpage moment that's not his own
• July 4th fireworks scrapped at a number of bases
• Despite cuts, Fort Knox's iconic status endures
• EU confronts U.S. over reports it spies on European allies
• Bomb kills 12 soccer players, fans in Iraq
• Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish security forces
• Iraq's Kurdish parliament extends leader's term
• U.S. says oil market can cope with more Iran export cuts
• Iraqi Kurdish President set to rule for two more years
• U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month: report
• Syria activists say 6 killed in Homs, Idlib
• Syria activists say 3 killed in central city
• Today in History

Assad's forces battle to tighten control of central Syria Posted: 30 Jun 2013 04:19 PM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's forces pounded Sunni Muslim rebels in the city of Homs with artillery and from the air on Sunday, the second day of their offensive in central Syria, activists said. They said rebels defending the old center of Homs and five adjacent Sunni districts had largely repelled a ground attack on Saturday by Assad's forces, backed by guerrillas from the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, but reported clashes and deaths within the city on Sunday. ...

In Africa, Obama steps into frontpage moment that's not his own Posted: 30 Jun 2013 01:58 PM PDT As he stood in Nelson Mandela's former prison cell on South Africa's Robben Island yesterday, President Barack Obama could be forgiven for feeling his message was being drowned out by echoes of the past.

July 4th fireworks scrapped at a number of bases Posted: 30 Jun 2013 01:58 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Fourth of July won't have a patriotic boom in the sky over some military bases because budget cuts and furloughed workers also mean furloughed fireworks.

Despite cuts, Fort Knox's iconic status endures Posted: 30 Jun 2013 01:47 PM PDT FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) — Few military posts have a place in pop culture as rock solid as Kentucky's Fort Knox, thanks to its mysterious gold vault.

EU confronts U.S. over reports it spies on European allies Posted: 30 Jun 2013 01:07 PM PDT By Ben Deighton and Annika Breidthardt BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union has demanded that the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington is spying on the group, using strong language to confront its closest trading partner over its alleged surveillance activities. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said on Sunday the U.S. authorities was immediately contacted about a report in Der Spiegel magazine that the U.S. spy agency had tapped EU offices in Washington, Brussels and at the United Nations. ...

Bomb kills 12 soccer players, fans in Iraq Posted: 30 Jun 2013 12:24 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb planted near a yard where people were playing soccer in Iraq killed 12 people on Sunday, police and medics said. A further 24 people were wounded in the blast in the town of Nahrawan, south of the capital Baghdad. The violence is part of a trend of increasing militant attacks since the start of the year, which claimed more than 1,000 lives in May alone, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006-7. ...

Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish security forces Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:24 AM PDT By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Police fired teargas and water cannon on Sunday to disperse thousands of protesters in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, during demonstrations across the country to pressure the government to carry out reforms. Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, the BDP, had called for marches in at least three major cities, to launch a summer of protests against what it sees as a lack of commitment by Ankara to a peace process with Kurdish militants. ...

Iraq's Kurdish parliament extends leader's term Posted: 30 Jun 2013 11:11 AM PDT IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The parliament of Iraq's Kurdish region voted Sunday to extend the term of its leader by two years, a sign of internal conflicts in the oil-rich, semi-autonomous Iraqi area.

U.S. says oil market can cope with more Iran export cuts Posted: 30 Jun 2013 10:04 AM PDT By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The top U.S. energy official said he believed the oil market could cope with any further reduction of Iran's oil exports from the tightening of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz also said on Sunday he expected a "fair amount of action" by his department in 2013 in evaluating applications by U.S. firms to export natural gas. Companies hoping to ship gas abroad have been frustrated by lengthy delays and rule changes as they await Department of Energy approval of their applications. ...

Iraqi Kurdish President set to rule for two more years Posted: 30 Jun 2013 09:45 AM PDT ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The president of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani is set to stay in office for another two years, after lawmakers voted on Sunday to extend his tenure amid scuffles in parliament and an outcry from opposition parties. Barzani's presidency had been due to end this summer, when his second term of four years ends, but in recent months members of his party said legal ambiguities might allow him to remain longer or run again. The region's presidential law places a limit of two four-year terms on the position. "We are against the extension. ...

U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month: report Posted: 30 Jun 2013 02:39 AM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month and has classed its biggest European ally as a target similar to China, according to secret U.S. documents quoted by a German newsmagazine. The revelations of alleged U.S. surveillance programs based on documents taken by fugitive former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have raised a political furor in the United States and abroad over the balance between privacy rights and national security. ...

Syria activists say 6 killed in Homs, Idlib Posted: 30 Jun 2013 02:16 AM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Government attacks on central and northern cities in Syria killed six people on Sunday, activists said, as the government announced that two years of conflict has cost the public sector $15 billion.

Syria activists say 3 killed in central city Posted: 30 Jun 2013 01:16 AM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syrian activists say three people have been killed in government airstrikes on the central city of Homs.

Today in History Posted: 29 Jun 2013 09:01 PM PDT Today is Sunday, June 30, the 181st day of 2013. There are 184 days left in the year.

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