Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• 20 mn kids to get polio vaccine after Syria outbreak
• Bombings, shootings in Iraq kill 19 people
• Bombings across Iraq kill at least 12
• Kerry meets Iran foreign minister to close gaps in nuclear talks
• Qaeda chief says Nusra Front alone runs Syria ops
• US, Israel lose UNESCO voting right in dispute
• Double bombing, other attacks kill 12 in Iraq
• Column: An optimist's view of the White House
• Column: Obama's apology (of sorts) for his 'keep your plan' promise
• Syria army retakes parts of base by Aleppo airport: NGO
• VVA to Pull Out All Stops to Enact New Toxic Exposure Legislation
• Double bombing, other attacks kill 9 in Iraq
• Photographers document war and its aftermath in new exhibit
• Hollywood and Hillary Are Falling in Love Again
• AG: Give vet tax break to active duty families
• Exclusive: Obama’s Secret Iran Détente
• New UCLA Center to Work with U.S. Military on Challenges of Healing Wounded Warriors
• Iraq attacks kill seven
• As Nigeria battles Islamist Boko Haram, an imam and pastor spread tolerance
• Double bombing, shooting kill 7 people in Iraq
• Double bombing kills 5 Sunni worshippers in Iraq
• Wounded warriors get rehab alongside pro athletes
• US loses its UNESCO voting right
• Is Pentagon response to sexual assault broken? Clash over new bill

20 mn kids to get polio vaccine after Syria outbreak Posted: 08 Nov 2013 12:57 PM PST Emergency plans are under way to vaccinate more than 20 million children in the Middle East after polio resurfaced in war-torn Syria, the United Nations said on Friday. Unveiling the region's largest-ever polio campaign, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) and World Health Organisation (WHO) said vaccinations would be carried out over six months in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Syria and Turkey. The initiative was announced 10 days after the WHO reported that polio had re-emerged in Syria for the first time in 14 years, leaving 10 children paralysed. Preliminary evidence suggests the virus in this outbreak -- and also polio samples found in sewage in Egypt, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- came from Pakistan, one of the disease's last bastions, the agencies added.

Bombings, shootings in Iraq kill 19 people Posted: 08 Nov 2013 11:38 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb exploded on a busy street filled with shoppers in northern Iraq, part of a series of attacks that killed at least 19 people Friday, officials said, the latest in a wave of violence roiling the country.

Bombings across Iraq kill at least 12 Posted: 08 Nov 2013 11:25 AM PST At least 12 people were killed on Friday in bombings across Iraq, where Sunni Islamist insurgents have been regrouping and gaining momentum in recent months. No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of Friday's attacks, but al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, which was forced underground in 2006-07, has reemerged this year, invigorated by civil war in Syria and Sunni resentment at home. In the deadliest attack, eight people were killed when a car bomb exploded in the center of the northern city of Mosul, where Sunni Islamist and other insurgents have a strong presence, witnesses said. Violence in Iraq began to ease from a peak in 2006-07, but is now rising again, with more than 7,000 civilians killed so far this year, according to monitoring group Iraq Body Count.

Kerry meets Iran foreign minister to close gaps in nuclear talks Posted: 08 Nov 2013 11:19 AM PST By Yeganeh Torbati and Lesley Wroughton GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday important gaps needed to be bridged in high-stakes talks with Iran on curbing its nuclear program and he began talks with Tehran's foreign minister to try to clinch an interim deal. "I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry said shortly after arriving in Geneva, tempering expectations of an imminent breakthrough that could reduce the risk of a Middle East war over Iran's nuclear aspirations. Iran spelled out a major difference soon afterwards, with a member of its negotiating team, Majid Takt-Ravanchi, telling Mehr news agency that oil and banking sanctions imposed on Tehran should be eased during the first phase of any deal. The powers have offered Iran access to up to $50 billion in Iranian funds frozen abroad for many years but ruled out any broad dilution of sanctions in the early going of an agreement.

Qaeda chief says Nusra Front alone runs Syria ops Posted: 08 Nov 2013 10:43 AM PST Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has ordered the Iraqi faction of his network to stop meddling in Syria and anointed Al-Nusra Front jihadists to carry the network's banner in the civil war. The demand for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to shut down in Syria was included in an audiotape broadcast by Al-Jazeera Friday that confirms a written order issued in June that has so far gone unheeded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops, backed fighters from Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah, recaptured parts of Base 80 in the north. Loyalists were also locked in fighting with rebels in central Syria around a key weapons depot.

US, Israel lose UNESCO voting right in dispute Posted: 08 Nov 2013 10:39 AM PST PARIS (AP) — American influence in culture, science and education around the world took a high-profile blow Friday when the U.S. automatically lost voting rights at UNESCO by missing a deadline to repay its debt to the world's cultural agency.

Double bombing, other attacks kill 12 in Iraq Posted: 08 Nov 2013 10:37 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A double bombing targeting a Sunni mosque in Baghdad and other attacks around Iraq killed 12 people Friday, officials said, the latest attacks in a wave of violence roiling the country.

Column: An optimist's view of the White House Posted: 08 Nov 2013 10:19 AM PST By Ian Bremmer What will the White House screw up next? Democrats have watched as one calamity after another has befallen what was once the most promising Democratic administration since John F. Kennedy's. Obamacare, the NSA, Syria, heck, even the administration's campaign foibles are back in the news with the publication of the new tell-all book Double Down. The Obama administration has not exactly bungled its way through five years of power. Until this year, in fact, Republicans were complaining that the press had been too kind towards Obama.

Column: Obama's apology (of sorts) for his 'keep your plan' promise Posted: 08 Nov 2013 10:10 AM PST By Reihan Salam This week, President Barack Obama offered an apology (of sorts) to Americans who believed him when he repeatedly assured the public that anyone who liked their current health insurance plan could keep it under the Affordable Care Act. In an interview with Chuck Todd of NBC News, the president said, "I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me." Up until now, the president and his allies have insisted that the "keep your plan" promise had been misinterpreted, and that the plans that were being canceled were "junk plans" that belonged on the scrap heap, a claim that many insurance beneficiaries found objectionable. Keith Hennessey, a veteran of the Bush White House, constructed a flowchart of the "keep your plan" defenses made by the president and his allies, the complexity of which spoke to the president's political dilemma. One of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, Ezekiel Emanuel, struggled to defend the veracity of the "keep your plan" promise in a recent episode of Fox News Sunday.

Syria army retakes parts of base by Aleppo airport: NGO Posted: 08 Nov 2013 10:02 AM PST Syrian troops have recaptured parts of a military base seized by rebels early this year in fierce fighting near the international airport of second city Aleppo, a monitoring group said Friday. Heavy fighting erupted at 4:00 am (0200 GMT) around Base 80 outside the northern city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The troops were backed by pro-regime militia and fighters from Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah in their assault on rebel groups, including the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. "Regime troops have advanced inside the base and now control large parts of it, and rebel groups and the Islamic State are bringing in reinforcements," said the Observatory.

VVA to Pull Out All Stops to Enact New Toxic Exposure Legislation Posted: 08 Nov 2013 09:29 AM PST WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Among the so-called invisible wounds of war are those brought home by troops that may not manifest for a decade or more," said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). "Tragically, these wounds may be passed on genetically to the progeny of our nation's warriors, as we are well acquainted with having been exposed to Agent Orange." "Therefore we welcome the introduction of S.1602, the Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2013, which has just been introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).  This legislation would establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a national center for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of the health conditions of the progeny of veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service in the Armed Forces, and to provide diagnostic treatment and care to them," Rowan said.

Double bombing, other attacks kill 9 in Iraq Posted: 08 Nov 2013 09:27 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A double bombing targeting a Sunni mosque in Baghdad and other attacks around the Iraqi capital killed nine people Friday, officials said, the latest attacks in a wave of violence roiling the country.

Photographers document war and its aftermath in new exhibit Posted: 08 Nov 2013 09:01 AM PST An expansive new photography exhibit looks at war through images from the battlefield and beyond.

Hollywood and Hillary Are Falling in Love Again Posted: 08 Nov 2013 08:12 AM PST Back in 2008, many Hollywood producers and celebrities broke up with Hillary Clinton for then-Sen. Barack Obama. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of Dreamworks Animation, has switched his loyalty to the former Secretary of State. (He was a huge supporter of Obama in 2008 — he, David Geffen, and Steven Spielberg hosted the first big Hollywood fundraiser for Obama in February 2007, which some saw as a snub to Hillary). Katzenberg told The New York Times on Friday:

AG: Give vet tax break to active duty families Posted: 08 Nov 2013 06:51 AM PST A lucrative property tax break for veterans could be extended to New York families with a member on active duty. The Tax Relief for Active Military Service bill would allow active duty service members ...

Exclusive: Obama’s Secret Iran Détente Posted: 08 Nov 2013 06:33 AM PST Long before a nuclear deal was in reach, the U.S. was quietly lifting some of the financial pressure on Iran, according to a Daily Beast investigation. How the sanctions were softened.

New UCLA Center to Work with U.S. Military on Challenges of Healing Wounded Warriors Posted: 08 Nov 2013 06:17 AM PST LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UCLA has launched the first university-based military medicine center on the West Coast, thanks to a generous donation from two sons in honor their father, the inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Ronald A. Katz. The Ronald A. Katz Center for Collaborative Military Medicine at UCLA, established by an initial $2 million gift from Todd and Randy Katz and their families, will work with the U.S. military to address the unique challenges of healing and caring for the nation's most critically wounded warriors. By serving as a nexus for UCLA's many research projects and services designed to help America's servicemen and servicewomen, the center will help foster collaborations and partnerships both within the university and between UCLA and the military to increase our nation's ability to care for wounded veterans.

Iraq attacks kill seven Posted: 08 Nov 2013 06:15 AM PST A series of attacks in Baghdad and central Iraq killed seven people Friday, the latest in a months-long surge in bloodshed that comes in the lead-up to major Shiite Muslim commemorations. In the deadliest incident, two roadside bombs went off as worshippers were exiting midday prayers at the Imam Ali mosque, a Sunni place of worship, in the west Baghdad neighbourhood of Amriyah. Violence north of Baghdad in Diyala and Salaheddin provinces, both majority Sunni Arab provinces that are among Iraq's most violent, killed three. Although no group has claimed all of the violence, much of it has been attributed to Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda who oppose Iraq's Shiite-led government.

As Nigeria battles Islamist Boko Haram, an imam and pastor spread tolerance Posted: 08 Nov 2013 05:54 AM PST Here in Africa's most populous country, where an insurgency by the brutal Islamist group Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in recent months, it is easy to despair over sectarian strife between Muslims and Christians – and between Muslims. They have been spreading the practice of tolerance and reconciliation for nearly two decades since forming the Interfaith Mediation Center here in Kaduna, in northern Nigeria, where I train staff in dialogue techniques that bridge divides of ethnicity and religion. Each year, it seems, the two men's message gains in global significance as Islamists and Coptic Christians clash in Egypt, Islamic sects fight in Syria and Iraq, and moderate Muslims and Christians are killed for allegedly blaspheming the name of the prophet Muhammad in Pakistan. In Nigeria, where hundreds of ethnic groups take their religions very seriously, sectarian violence has killed more than 20,000 people in the past decade.

Double bombing, shooting kill 7 people in Iraq Posted: 08 Nov 2013 04:45 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A double bombing of a Sunni mosque in Baghdad and a shooting west of the Iraqi capital killed seven people on Friday, officials said, the latest attacks in a wave of violence roiling the country.

Double bombing kills 5 Sunni worshippers in Iraq Posted: 08 Nov 2013 03:04 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say two bomb explosions near a Sunni mosque in Baghdad have killed five worshippers and wounded 15.

Wounded warriors get rehab alongside pro athletes Posted: 08 Nov 2013 02:15 AM PST GULF BREEZE, Fla. (AP) — Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Josh Sitton is a tough competitor in a tough sport, blocking big defenders and taking heavy hits week after week. But the men and women Sitton considers tough are the wounded warriors he trained with throughout the summer at a Florida Panhandle rehabilitation center.

US loses its UNESCO voting right Posted: 08 Nov 2013 01:16 AM PST PARIS (AP) — The United States has lost its voting rights at UNESCO after an official said it missed a crucial deadline, two years after halting its dues payments to protest the decision to make Palestine a member.

Is Pentagon response to sexual assault broken? Clash over new bill Posted: 07 Nov 2013 04:06 PM PST The Pentagon disclosed Thursday that there has been a surge in reports of sexual assault this year – an increase of nearly 50 percent compared with the same time period last year. This could be either good news or very bad news for the Pentagon, depending on how US lawmakers interpret the upswing. Military officials who have long been grappling with the problem of sexual assault within the ranks – and promising Congress they will do better – no doubt hope that lawmakers see it as a sign of victims' increased confidence in a system that is encouraging them to come forward. A number of Pentagon officials have cautioned that such a spike in reports is just what they expect to see as they take steps to protect US troops who say they've been raped from what such troops often describe as a brutal military justice process.

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