Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Syrian rebels capture military airport near Turkey
• Al-Qaida chief's message led to embassy closures
• INTUITION AND INTELLIGENCE COMBINE TO FACE TERRORIST THREAT
• Syrian rebels push into Assad's Alawite mountain stronghold
• Al Qaeda threat? US embassy closings signal it has changed, not disappeared
• Embassies still shut, US tries to pinpoint targets
• WikiLeaks case harms U.S. diplomacy, Manning sentencing told
• Iraqi forces kill 11 militants in security crackdown
• Bombing of bakery, other attacks in Iraq kill 9
• Witness: Manning leaks chilled US relationships
• US: Posts in 19 cities to stay closed this week
• Fort Hood survivors to face gunman at trial
• US embassies in 4 African countries also closed
• Audit of Syria refugees finds organized crime and child soldiers
• US shutters diplomatic posts amid al-Qaida threat
• Iran's Rouhani pulls off cabinet balancing act
• Cafes shut, sports fields empty as war returns to Iraq
• Officials: Attacks kill 6 people in Iraq
• New exhibit details NY state's role in Civil War
• State Dept: Posts in 19 cities to remain closed
• Tamerlan Tsarnaev 'subscribed to publications espousing white supremacy,' BBC reports
• State Dept: Posts in 19 countries to remain closed
• Terror threat: 19 US diplomatic sites to remain closed through next weekend
• Brent tops $110 first time since April on robust economic data
• What if John McCain had won the 2008 election?
• U.S. embassy closures: Is al Qaeda back?
• US extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious
• INTERVIEW: Robert Greenwald's war on drones
• U.S. extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious
• Former U.S. ambassador to Syria considered for Egypt: sources

Syrian rebels capture military airport near Turkey Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:54 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels captured a main military airport near the border with Turkey on Tuesday, consolidating their hold on a key supply route north of the city of Aleppo, opposition activists said. The reported capture of the Minnig Military Airport, situated on the road between Aleppo and the Turkish city of Gaziantep, after an eight-month siege, marks an important symbolic victory for the opposition, following a string of defeats to President Bashar al-Assad's forces in central Syria, the sources said. "The airport has been fully liberated. ...

Al-Qaida chief's message led to embassy closures Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:41 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — An intercepted secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and his deputy in Yemen about plans for a major terror attack was the trigger that set off the current shutdown of many U.S. embassies, two officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

INTUITION AND INTELLIGENCE COMBINE TO FACE TERRORIST THREAT Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:31 PM PDT WASHINGTON -- For foreign correspondents in the field, which means all the farthest corners of the world, there is an apt term for using your intuition and intelligence to know in your gut when something important, but hidden, is going to happen. It's called "reading the tea leaves."Whether you believe that those supposedly all-knowing gypsy women from east of Suez actually can see something in your tea leaves is irrelevant. The only important thing is whether the reading is true.In the 1980s, for instance, it was overwhelmingly common to believe that the Soviet Union would never change. ...

Syrian rebels push into Assad's Alawite mountain stronghold Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:03 PM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebel fighters armed with anti-tank missiles pushed toward President Bashar al-Assad's hometown of Qardaha on Monday, the second day of a surprise offensive in the heartland of his minority Alawite sect, opposition activists said. Forces comprising 10 mainly Islamist brigades, including two al Qaeda-linked groups, advanced south to the outskirts of the Alawite village of Aramo, 20 km (12 miles) from Qardaha, taking advantage of rugged terrain, the activists said. ...

Al Qaeda threat? US embassy closings signal it has changed, not disappeared Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:51 PM PDT The killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 and the absence of any Al Qaeda-hatched terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11 may have lulled Americans into dismissing Al Qaeda as a bygone threat.

Embassies still shut, US tries to pinpoint targets Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — American spies and intelligence analysts on Monday scoured email, phone calls and radio communications between al-Qaida operatives in Yemen and the organization's senior leaders to determine the timing and targets of a potentially spectacular attack that officials said they came across in monitoring militants' "chatter."

WikiLeaks case harms U.S. diplomacy, Manning sentencing told Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:33 PM PDT By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. soldier Bradley Manning's leaks of classified government files had a "chilling effect" on foreign relations, impeding U.S. diplomats' ability to gather information, a senior State Department official testified on Monday. The unauthorized releases made foreign diplomats, business leaders and other information sources "reticent to provide their full and frank opinions and share them with us," Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy said. ...

Iraqi forces kill 11 militants in security crackdown Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:28 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces killed 11 suspected militants and arrested dozens in a large military-led operation north of Baghdad on Monday in response to a deadly attack on a checkpoint last month, military sources said. The security sweep in Sulaman Pek, a town 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, turned fatal when some militants opened fire on officers inspecting homes, the sources said, adding that a number of the militants had been wearing suicide vests. ...

Bombing of bakery, other attacks in Iraq kill 9 Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:19 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks in Iraq on Monday, including a bombing of a bakery in the capital, Baghdad, killed 9 people.

Witness: Manning leaks chilled US relationships Posted: 05 Aug 2013 12:52 PM PDT FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — The more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables Army Pfc. Bradley Manning disclosed through WikiLeaks have had a chilling effect on American foreign relations, a high-ranking State Department official testified Monday.

US: Posts in 19 cities to stay closed this week Posted: 05 Aug 2013 11:59 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Mideast and Africa will remain closed for the rest of the week amid intercepted "chatter" about terror threats, which lawmakers briefed on the information likened to intelligence picked up before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Fort Hood survivors to face gunman at trial Posted: 05 Aug 2013 11:37 AM PDT LILLINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Alonzo Lunsford has trouble getting out of chairs and warns his family to wake him gently. Kathy Platoni can't shake the image of the man who died in a pool of blood at her knees. Shawn Manning still has two bullets in his body and gets easily unnerved by crowds.

US embassies in 4 African countries also closed Posted: 05 Aug 2013 11:30 AM PDT NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The U.S. State Department closed its embassies in four sub-Saharan African nations as part of a heightened security alert, days before the 15th anniversary of al-Qaida's bombings of American diplomatic missions in Kenya and Tanzania.

Audit of Syria refugees finds organized crime and child soldiers Posted: 05 Aug 2013 11:27 AM PDT By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Many Syrians who have escaped their country are now desperate to escape from U.N.-run refugee camps, where women are not safe and teenage boys are recruited as soldiers to fight in the conflict, according to an internal U.N. report. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR is trying to cope with a massive humanitarian crisis, as 1.9 million Syrians have sought refuge abroad, mainly in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. ...

US shutters diplomatic posts amid al-Qaida threat Posted: 05 Aug 2013 11:10 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Mideast and Africa will remain closed for the rest of the week amid intercepted "chatter" about terror threats, which lawmakers briefed on the information likened to intelligence picked up before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Iran's Rouhani pulls off cabinet balancing act Posted: 05 Aug 2013 10:37 AM PDT By Yeganeh Torbati and Jon Hemming DUBAI (Reuters) - By choosing ministers known more for their experience than their political views, President Hassan Rouhani has proposed a cabinet that achieves a rare feat in Iranian politics - it satisfies both reformist and conservative factions. Rouhani's presidency has raised hopes in diplomatic circles that the moderate cleric with links to all of Iran's often-feuding factions can be someone the West can talk to and at least defuse tensions over the nuclear dispute. ...

Cafes shut, sports fields empty as war returns to Iraq Posted: 05 Aug 2013 09:52 AM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - In an evening in late June, Yasir al-Nuaimi draped an Iraqi flag over his shoulder and headed out to watch a soccer match being shown on television at a cafe in western Baghdad. The 20-year-old told his mother to pray for his team to win. Later that night a bomb hidden inside a grocery bag tore through the cafe where he and other football fans had gathered to watch the Iraqi national youth team play against Egypt. One minute the men were cheering for their team and the next screaming in terror and pain, witnesses said. ...

Officials: Attacks kill 6 people in Iraq Posted: 05 Aug 2013 09:13 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say new attacks have killed six people in and near Baghdad.

New exhibit details NY state's role in Civil War Posted: 05 Aug 2013 08:50 AM PDT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — In 1863, the first items from Civil War battlefields where New Yorkers were fighting and dying started to arrive at the newly created Bureau of Military Statistics in Albany. Among them were a uniform button and the bullet that struck it at the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Virginia.

State Dept: Posts in 19 cities to remain closed Posted: 05 Aug 2013 08:09 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Mideast and Africa will remain closed for the rest of the week amid intercepted "chatter" about terror threats, which lawmakers briefed on the information likened to intelligence picked up before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev 'subscribed to publications espousing white supremacy,' BBC reports Posted: 05 Aug 2013 07:37 AM PDT Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings, was "in possession of right-wing American literature" leading up to the attack, a new BBC documentary says.

State Dept: Posts in 19 countries to remain closed Posted: 05 Aug 2013 05:48 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid online "chatter" about terror threats, U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Muslim world will be closed at least through the end of this week, the State Department said.

Terror threat: 19 US diplomatic sites to remain closed through next weekend Posted: 05 Aug 2013 05:17 AM PDT The US has extended the closure of some of its embassies across the Middle East and Africa through the end of this week, amid fears of an imminent attack by Al Qaeda against Western targets within the region.

Brent tops $110 first time since April on robust economic data Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:58 AM PDT By Jessica Jaganathan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude futures climbed above $110 a barrel for the first time since early April on Friday, as upbeat economic data raised the prospects for better global oil demand amid supply disruptions in Africa and Iraq. U.S. manufacturing grew in July at its fastest pace in two years, while a China industrial index beat expectations this week. European factories also snapped two years of output declines, suggesting a euro zone recession may be near its end. ...

What if John McCain had won the 2008 election? Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:45 PM PDT It's tempting to imagine "what could have been." But the maverick would have faced many of the same challenges Obama has struggled with.

U.S. embassy closures: Is al Qaeda back? Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:30 PM PDT The U.S. is keeping 19 embassies and consulates closed this week due to intercepted terrorist chatter

US extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:11 PM PDT By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States extended embassy closures by a week in the Middle East and Africa as a precaution on Sunday after an al Qaeda threat that U.S. lawmakers said was the most serious in years. The State Department said 19 U.S. embassies and consulates would be closed through Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" and that a number of them would have been closed anyway for most of the week due to the Eid celebration at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The United States initially closed 21 U.S. diplomatic posts for the day on Sunday. ...

INTERVIEW: Robert Greenwald's war on drones Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:05 PM PDT In Pakistan, "people are angry, upset, hurting, grieving. This is not something that makes sense either morally or from a national security point of view."Earlier this year, Robert Greenwald, acclaimed director of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, turned his lens on the Obama administration's unprecedented war on whistleblowers.Now his latest documentary is in post-production, and in it he examines America's shadowy and shortsighted drone war. ...

U.S. extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious Posted: 04 Aug 2013 09:28 PM PDT By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States extended embassy closures by a week in the Middle East and Africa as a precaution on Sunday after an al Qaeda threat that U.S. lawmakers said was the most serious in years. The State Department said 19 U.S. embassies and consulates would be closed through Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" and that a number of them would have been closed anyway for most of the week due to the Eid celebration at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The United States initially closed 21 U.S. diplomatic posts for the day on Sunday. ...

Former U.S. ambassador to Syria considered for Egypt: sources Posted: 04 Aug 2013 07:31 PM PDT By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. envoy to Syria Robert Ford is being considered as Washington's next ambassador to Cairo, sources familiar with internal discussions said on Sunday as U.S. and European mediators sought a peaceful resolution to Egypt's crisis. Ford was described as a leading candidate for the post, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The State Department declined to comment and Ford did not respond to emails. ...

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610