2013年11月6日星期三

Yahoo! News: Iraq

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Iraq


Tough road ahead for change in U.S. military sex assault rules

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 04:24 PM PST

Sen. Gillibrand speaks at Center for American Progress 10th Anniversary policy forum in WashingtonBy Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers announced a renewed push on Wednesday to make sweeping changes in the way the military handles complaints of sexual assault, but they face a tough fight attracting the 60 votes they will likely need to get their plan through the Senate. Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said 46 senators - 38 Democrats and eight Republicans - support her proposal to remove the power to decide whether to try sexual assault cases from the military chain of command and put it in the hands of an independent military prosecutor. "It is a pro-military piece of reform that will enhance our military readiness," Gillibrand said at a news conference with seven other senators, a victim of assault, advocates and retired military officers to announce the effort to pass the proposal this month. But she has only about two weeks to win over at least 14 more senators before the measure comes before the full Senate as an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.


ABC says Elizabeth Vargas is in alcohol rehab

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 02:50 PM PST

FILE - This Oct. 8, 2013 file photo shows ABC News anchor Elizabeth Vargas at the New York Film Festival premiere of "All Is Lost" in New York. Vargas and the network on Wednesday confirmed a New York Daily News story about her treatment for alcohol dependency. Vargas, who is 51 and married to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, is anchor of the newsmagazine NEW YORK (AP) — Veteran ABC News reporter and "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas is in treatment for alcohol dependency, the network said Wednesday.


Starbucks wants to recruit 10,000 vets, spouses

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 02:08 PM PST

The Starbucks logo hangs on a window inside a newly designed Starbucks coffee shop in Fountain Valley, CaliforniStarbucks Corp is looking for thousands of good men - and women. The world's biggest coffee chain said on Wednesday it would commit to hiring at least 10,000 veterans and spouses of active military in five years. It also said five new and existing U.S. Starbucks cafes on or near military bases will share a portion of each sale with non-profit organizations that help veterans re-enter the workforce. Many U.S. companies have committed to hiring thousands of military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.


St. Thomas University Counseling Programs And Therapy Group, And School Of Theology And Ministry In Support Of Our Vets

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 01:15 PM PST

MIAMI, Nov. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On November 8, US veterans (VFW post 8195) will be at the African American Research Library supporting and showing tribute to our Vietnam Veterans and OIF/OEF Veterans with a book written by the Vietnam vets. The authors will be present for the signing, along with counseling graduate students and faculty from St. Thomas University (www.stu.edu). For years, counseling graduate programs at St. Thomas University's Biscayne College have being reinforcing the University's mission of developing leaders from all walks of life and creeds. This includes US veterans, and the University counseling programs have constantly shown tribute to the war veterans.

Roger Waters returns to benefit for wounded

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 12:57 PM PST

Musician Roger Waters and his band hold rehearsals with members of the Wounded Warriors Project for the "Stand Up For Heroes" benefit concert presented by the New York Comedy Festival & the Bob Woodruff Foundation at S.I.R. Studios on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)NEW YORK (AP) — Their faces are young and strong, but their bodies sit in wheelchairs or stand on artificial limbs.


Iraq vows to work with BP on controversial oil field

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 12:14 PM PST

Kirkuk province's Kurdish governor Najim al-Din Omar Karim (R) and Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi (2ndR) welcome BP chief executive Bob Dudley on November 6, 2013 in KirkukKirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraq said Wednesday it would proceed with work alongside British energy giant BP on a controversial northern oilfield, in a move likely to spark anger in the country's Kurdish region. The development of the Kirkuk oilfield, which lies amid a swathe of disputed territory in north Iraq, is at the heart of a row over land, oil revenues and the powers of the central government that has been raging for years between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi, Kirkuk provincial Governor Najm al-Din Omar Karim and BP chief executive Bob Dudley visited the field after holding talks in the province's eponymous capital. "The contract with the British company will be executed by treating the decline in oil production at Kirkuk oilfield, which has reached 230,000 barrels (per day), and the company will work on surveying the fields and sites of Kirkuk oilfield throughout the contract period," Luaybi told AFP.


US trashes, sells its unwanted gear in Afghanistan

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 11:28 AM PST

This Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013 photo shows Afghan scrap collectors transport a load of destroyed U.S. equipment from the departing military in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. As the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops approaches at the end of 2014, the U.S. military is getting rid of equipment that is either too expensive to ship back to the United States or if it is sold as working equipment could be used by insurgents. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — The withdrawing U.S. military is destroying most of the equipment it is leaving behind in Afghanistan after 13 years of war, selling the scrap for millions of dollars to those willing to buy it.


Suicide bomber kills six in assault on Iraqi police station

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 08:02 AM PST

A suicide bomber ploughed an oil tanker packed with explosives into an Iraqi police station in a village north of Baquba on Wednesday, killing at least six policemen, police said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but members of the security forces are a prime target for resurgent Sunni Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda. "I was sitting in the tower when I saw a speeding tanker rushing toward the gate of our station," 23-year-old policeman Thamer Hatim told Reuters. "The guards fired on it and I did the same, but it didn't stop, and exploded there." Violence in Iraq, which had eased after reaching a climax in 2006-07, is now rising again, with more than 7,000 civilians killed this year, according to monitoring group Iraq Body Count.

Swedish cinemas launch feminist movie rating

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 07:31 AM PST

Swedish cinemas launch feminist movie ratingYou expect movie ratings to tell you whether a film contains nudity, sex, profanity or violence. Now movie theaters in equality-minded Sweden are introducing a new rating to highlight gender bias, or rather ...


In Boston, helping amputees is this family's biz

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 07:28 AM PST

In Boston, helping amputees is this family's bizWhen amputees take their first steps on artificial legs, that moment of triumph can be tinged with a sudden sense of disappointment that things will never be the way they were before. Paul Martino, president ...


Downtown Damascus bomb kills 8

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 06:43 AM PST

People at the entrance to the Hijaz railroad company in Hijaz Square where eight people are said to have died in a bomb blast on November 6, 2013The blast came as rebels seized parts of a key arms depot in the central province of Homs and regime forces recaptured most of the Kurdish town of Tal-Aran in the northern province of Aleppo, a monitor said. Also in Aleppo, fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized a major power plant, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The blast in central Damascus hit Al-Hijaz Square, killing eight people including two women. In Homs province, the Observatory said rebel forces had taken over parts of an arms depot, though a security official in Damascus denied the insurgents had advanced or seized weapons, saying the fighting was ongoing.


Iraq attacks kill 15, mostly police

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 05:15 AM PST

A fuel tanker burns in the southern city of Basra on May 21, 2007Baquba (Iraq) (AFP) - A suicide bomber detonated an oil tanker rigged with explosives at a police station north of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing seven policemen, while attacks elsewhere left eight dead, officials said. Iraq is mired in its worst violence since 2008, with more than 5,500 people killed this year despite major military operations targeting insurgents and tightened security measures. In Wednesday's deadliest attack, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-rigged tanker in front of police station in Muqdadiyah, in restive Diyala province, and detonated it at the entrance, police and a doctor said. Elsewhere in Iraq, attacks on police killed three others.


Iraq suicide bomber kills 7 police outside Baghdad

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 05:15 AM PST

BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide bomber tried to ram an explosives-laden truck into a police headquarters outside Baghdad Wednesday morning, killing at least seven policemen and wounding 14, officials said.

Exclusive: Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan clinch major energy pipeline deals

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 03:58 AM PST

By Humeyra Pamuk and Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan has finalized a comprehensive package of deals with Turkey to build multi-billion dollar oil and gas pipelines to ship the autonomous region's rich hydrocarbon reserves to world markets, sources involved in talks said on Wednesday. The deals, which could have important geo-political consequences for the Middle East, could see Kurdistan export some 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil to world markets and at least 10 billion cubic meters per year of gas to Turkey. Such a relationship would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, when Ankara enjoyed strong ties with Iraq's central Baghdad government and was deep in a decades-long fight with Kurdish militants on its own soil. But Turkey imports almost all of its energy needs and growing demand means it faces a ballooning deficit, making the resources over its southeastern border hard to ignore.

Syria rebels said to have seized arms cache in Homs

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 03:33 AM PST

People in Thabitiyeh, east of Homs, on November 4, 2013 gather around a crater said to have been caused by a car bomb explosionSyrian rebels in the central Homs province have taken over parts of an important arms depot, seizing a large quantity of weapons, a monitoring group said Wednesday. A Syrian security official in Damascus, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, denied rebels had advanced or seized weapons, but said the fighting was still under way. The conflicting reports come just over two weeks after jihadists and other rebels launched a major offensive aimed at capturing one of Syria's largest weapons depots, near Mahin in the Homs countryside. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights -- a Britain-based group which relies on activists and other sources inside Syria -- said more than 50 rebel fighters and 20 loyalists were killed in Tuesday's battle.


Suicide attack in eastern Iraq kills 7 policemen

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 02:54 AM PST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say a suicide attack targeting the police in the country's east has killed at least seven policemen and wounded 14.

Starbucks wants to recruit 10,000 vets, spouses to its ranks

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 02:29 AM PST

Customers enjoy their drinks outside a newly designed Starbucks coffee shop in Fountain ValleyThe world's biggest coffee chain said on Wednesday it would commit to hiring at least 10,000 veterans and spouses of active military in five years. It also said five new and existing U.S. Starbucks cafes on or near military bases will share a portion of each sale with non-profit organizations that help veterans re-enter the workforce. Many U.S. companies have committed to hiring thousands of military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seattle-based Starbucks said it will have specialized recruiters to match the unique skills of veterans and their spouses with company jobs.


Analysis: Cracks start to show in frontier markets

Posted: 06 Nov 2013 01:40 AM PST

By Carolyn Cohn LONDON (Reuters) - Three years ago, a trip to the Southern Kenya production facilities of Canadian company Africa Oil attracted only seven potential investors. The investor trip, described by sales staff at Citi following a recent client conference, is just one illustration of the swelling interest in the most esoteric frontier markets. In a world of low yields and paltry growth, the attraction of frontier markets - the lesser developed emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America - is pretty clear. "Everyone and his dog seems to know something about (frontier markets) now," Citi wrote.

Gaza jihadists take their fight to Syria

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 04:00 PM PST

Palestinian militants attend Friday noon prayers at a street in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on September 6, 2013Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - When Mohammed al-Zaanin blew himself up in a suicide attack in Syria, the 23-year-old Palestinian joined the ranks of a growing band of Gazans who have died fighting the Damascus regime. Zaanin was a member of a Salafist Islamist group in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and his flight to war-torn Syria represents the mix of frustration and zeal that have seen more than two dozen young men leave in search of jihad, local militants say. Salafists in Gaza marked his death by putting up a large placard hailing him as "a martyr of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) -- a jihadist group affiliated to Al-Qaeda fighting in Syria. Zaanin left Gaza in June, apparently on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, but only in September did his family realise he was in Syria.


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