Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Kurds declare an interim administration in Syria
• Biometrics researchers see world without passwords
• Families grieve in Damascus after attack on school
• Man indicted in North Carolina for trying to aid Syria rebel group
• Syria Kurds announce transitional autonomous authority
• Briton hurt in Iraq oilfield row over 'Shiite insult'
• Boosted by foreign Shi'ite militia, Assad's forces advance on Aleppo
• Gag Me with This Richard Cohen Column
• Syrian troops, rebels clash south of Damascus
• Polls Three Years Ahead of Election Day Are Dumb
• Pakistan's release of Taliban prisoners – an empty deal
• Free Syrian Army sets terms for Geneva peace talks
• Jordan dreaming of one more upset against Uruguay
• A Deal With Iran -- or War With Iran?
• Today in History

Kurds declare an interim administration in Syria Posted: 12 Nov 2013 01:56 PM PST Ethnic Kurds declared an interim administration in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, further solidifying their geographic and political presence after driving out Islamist rebels. Long oppressed under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, Kurds view the civil war as an opportunity to gain more autonomy - like their ethnic kin in neighboring Iraq. Control over Syria's northeast, where Kurds predominate, had in recent months swung back and forth between them and mainly Arab Islamist rebels, who strongly oppose what they suspect are Kurdish plans to seccede. "In light of the current circumstances which Syria is going through, and in order to fill an administrative vacuum ... we see is as utmost necessity to reach a transitional, pluralistic, democratic administration," said a statement sent to Reuters.

Biometrics researchers see world without passwords Posted: 12 Nov 2013 01:26 PM PST WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Some Purdue University researchers are working on technology that could see all those passwords that computer users must punch in replaced with steps such as iris and fingerprint scans.

Families grieve in Damascus after attack on school Posted: 12 Nov 2013 12:16 PM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Families in a central neighborhood of the Syrian capital wept quietly Tuesday as they retrieved the bodies of four children and their bus driver killed in a mortar attack on their school in a predominantly Christian area a day earlier.

Man indicted in North Carolina for trying to aid Syria rebel group Posted: 12 Nov 2013 11:32 AM PST WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - A Pakistani native accused of trying to aid a group deemed a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government has been indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday. Basit Javed Sheikh, a legal permanent resident of the United States who lived in Cary, North Carolina, told an undercover FBI agent that he wanted to travel to Syria to support a rebel Islamist group that had carried out violent attacks during that country's ongoing civil war, justice officials said. When asked how he hoped to help Jabhat al-Nusra, which the U.S. secretary of state has identified as an alias for al Qaeda in Iraq, Sheikh said: "Logistics, media, (and) fight too, God willing." Sheikh, 29, told the agent he was ready to be a martyr, justice officials said. Jabhat al-Nusra has claimed responsibility for nearly 600 attacks in Syria that have killed numerous innocent civilians, the justice department said.

Syria Kurds announce transitional autonomous authority Posted: 12 Nov 2013 10:18 AM PST Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - Syrian Kurds in the country's northeast announced the formation of a transitional autonomous administration on Tuesday after making key territorial gains against jihadists in recent weeks. But several major Kurdish groups have not signed on to the declaration, which had originally been mooted in July. The latest announcement comes amid a general strengthening of Kurdish rights in neighbouring Turkey, and increasing moves towards independence by Iraq's own autonomous Kurdish region. "Today is an important day in the history of the Kurdish people," said Shirzad Izidi, a spokesman for the People's Council of Western Kurdistan, a Syrian Kurdish group.

Briton hurt in Iraq oilfield row over 'Shiite insult' Posted: 12 Nov 2013 10:14 AM PST Basra (Iraq) (AFP) - Residents angry over alleged religious insults beat up a Briton working at an energy company camp in southern Iraq, days after another firm suspended operations over secular unrest, officials said Tuesday. The incidents come as Baghdad relies on foreign oil firms from the United States, Britain, China and elsewhere to help it ramp up crude output dramatically in the coming years in order to fund much-needed reconstruction. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waded into the disputes, which involved American oilfield services companies Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, calling for the deportation of the Briton, whose identity was not disclosed. Officials said a British employee of security firm G4S working at a Schlumberger camp near the giant Rumaila oilfield had removed on Monday flags and pamphlets commemorating Imam Hussein, a venerated figure in Shiite Islam, just days before annual rituals commemorating his death.

Boosted by foreign Shi'ite militia, Assad's forces advance on Aleppo Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:57 AM PST By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government forces backed by foreign Shi'ite Muslim militia advanced on rebels in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, bent on recapturing districts from opposition brigades weakened by infighting, activists said. They said that rebels saw the threat of President Bashar al-Assad wresting back Aleppo, Syria's former commercial hub and once most populous city, as so grave that Islamist brigades, including an al Qaeda affiliate, had declared an emergency and summoned all fighters to head to the fronts. After 2-1/2 years of conflict, which started when Assad's forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators and escalated into a full-blown civil war, the fighting has settled into a rough stalemate in which scores of people are killed every day. Aleppo has been divided roughly in half by the warring parties for much of the conflict but the government is determined to reassert total control to solidify a foothold in the north where rebel supplies stream in from Turkey.

Gag Me with This Richard Cohen Column Posted: 12 Nov 2013 08:26 AM PST On November 12, 2013, The Washington Post, one of the largest and most respected newspapers in America, published an opinion column suggesting that interracial marriage is outside of the cultural norm. Richard Cohen has been frequently criticized for trading in racist stereotypes in his columns for The Post, and he has responded to this criticism not by dialing down the racism, but by kicking it up a notch. People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?) This family represents the cultural changes that have enveloped parts — but not all — of America.

Syrian troops, rebels clash south of Damascus Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:47 AM PST DAMASCUS (AP) — Syrian troops clashed with rebels on the southern outskirts of Damascus on Tuesday, activists said, part of a weekslong government advance to retake opposition-held areas around the capital and in the northern province of Aleppo.

Polls Three Years Ahead of Election Day Are Dumb Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:55 AM PST It's late fall, three years out from an up-for-grabs presidential election. And the big news is that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York is edging out Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a 2008 presidential matchup. Clinton is even crushing her Democratic opposition, with 41 percent support compared with 17 percent for Sen. John Kerry and 14 percent for former Sen. John Edwards. Which is great news for Hillary! Except that, according to the Marist poll, the former first lady is still down by 7 percentage points to the Republican front-runner, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Pakistan's release of Taliban prisoners – an empty deal Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:32 AM PST Last month, the Pakistani government quietly let seven captured Taliban combatants walk out of prison, ostensibly to breathe new life into peace talks. This was the second such release of Taliban prisoners in two months and one of many that has occurred over the past year. In total, Islamabad has reportedly released almost 40 Taliban combatants at the request of Afghan officials – including a senior Taliban commander, Mansoor Dadullah, and one of the Taliban's founding members, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. While these prisoner releases have gone largely unnoticed in the United States, they are important reminders of broader problems with ongoing attempts to negotiate with the Taliban.

Free Syrian Army sets terms for Geneva peace talks Posted: 12 Nov 2013 03:22 AM PST The mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army has laid out the conditions for its participation in Geneva peace talks, including the demand that a transitional authority be given full powers. The international community has been seeking for months to convene a Syria peace conference in Geneva, but proposed dates have come and gone with no progress towards talks. In a statement issued on Monday night, the FSA's military command high council welcomed "any political solution (to the conflict) based on clear objectives". The so-called Geneva II conference, it said, should "announce precisely that its objective is the formation of a transitional national government with full powers".

Jordan dreaming of one more upset against Uruguay Posted: 12 Nov 2013 12:35 AM PST Injuries and suspensions have toughened the already daunting task for underdogs Jordan ahead of their World Cup playoff against Uruguay but they are daring to dream of another shock and a first appearance in the finals. The two meet in the first leg of the intercontinental playoff at the Amman International Stadium on Wednesday (1500GMT) with the South Americans expected to sweep aside the Jordanians, who have exceeded all expectations in making it this far. Jordan bounced back from a 6-0 mauling by Japan and a 4-0 hammering by Australia in Asian qualifying to shock the Blue Samurai and the Socceroos at home and sneak into a playoff with Uzbekistan, which they edged 9-8 on penalties in September to set up the Uruguay tie. Plucky and organised on their home turf, Jordan have enjoyed great success from set pieces with the pace and trickery of Ahmad Ibrahim, who scored a brilliant solo effort in the 2-1 win over Japan.

A Deal With Iran -- or War With Iran? Posted: 12 Nov 2013 12:00 AM PST For what terrifies Tel Aviv, and rattles Riyadh, is not a U.S. war with Iran, but the awful specter of American rapprochement with Iran, a detente. Thus, when France's foreign minister torpedoed the deal John Kerry flew to Geneva to sign, France soared in neocon esteem. "Vive La France" blared the Wall Street Journal editorial declaiming, "Francois Hollande's Socialist Government has saved the West from a deal that would all but guarantee that Iran becomes a nuclear power." If the Netanyahu cabal succeeds in sabotaging U.S. negotiations with Iran, it is hard to see how we avoid another war that could set the Persian Gulf region ablaze and sink the global economy.

Today in History Posted: 11 Nov 2013 09:01 PM PST Today is Tuesday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2013. There are 49 days left in the year.

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