Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Prospects for budget legislation solid in Senate
• As moderate Syria rebels slip, US forced to consider aiding Islamist groups
• North Korea purge mirrors those in 20th century
• Debriefing: What happened to CIA's man who went missing in Iran?
• Gunmen kill Iranian gas workers in Iraq: witnesses
• Syrian rebels say Islamic fighters seize weapons
• Jerusalem buried in snow as rare storm pounds Mideast
• Gunmen kill 15 Iranian pipeline workers in Iraq
• Levinson, Iran, the CIA, and lies
• Syria army vows to crush rebels on Damascus outskirts
• Iraq violence kills 37 as 'terrorism' suspects escape
• Britain's Prince Harry reaches South Pole
• Qaeda rebels seize 120 Syrian Kurds near Turkish border: watchdog
• Rare storm leaves Jerusalem snowed in
• Syrian rebels: Islamists welcome at peace talks
• Two Soldiers, Scarred by the Same Battle, Reunite 10 Years Later
• UN confirms Syria chemical use, US rues rebel setbacks
• Wintry storm grips Middle East, worsens misery of Syrians
• Obama's NSA Reform Panel Might Actually Offer Real Recommendations for Reform
• Baghdad prison break leaves Iraqi guard dead
• Storm delays Iraq-Syria aid airlift for second day: UN
• 'Terrorism' suspects escape in Baghdad
• 22 suspects kill guard, escape from Baghdad jail
• Marian Wright Edelman Statement on the Anniversary of the Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School
• Suspects on run after breakout from Baghdad police cell
• Iraqi officials: 22 escape from Baghdad jail
• Girls on Film: A gift guide for film fans
• Today in History
• Soccer-Iranians upbeat ahead of World Cup return
• Assad win may be Syria's 'best option'

Prospects for budget legislation solid in Senate Posted: 13 Dec 2013 04:16 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — One day after winning lopsided House approval, bipartisan legislation to ease across-the-board spending cuts and reduce economy-rattling budget brinkmanship appears likely to command the 60 votes necessary to clear the Senate, officials in both parties said Friday.

As moderate Syria rebels slip, US forced to consider aiding Islamist groups Posted: 13 Dec 2013 03:20 PM PST The gradual collapse of Syria's moderate rebel forces is forcing the United States to consider extending its support to the Islamist groups it has long rejected but which are steadily rising to become the Assad regime's principal opponents. The irony, as some of Syria's forlorn moderate rebels are noting, is that the US may have unwittingly aided in the demise of moderate forces because it for so long held off extending lethal and nonlethal aid to them – out of fear that some of that aid might fall into the hands of Islamists. Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Friday that the US "continue[s] to have confidence in ... the [moderate] opposition, and we will continue to support them." But the chief US diplomat's assertion – nearly three years into Syria's civil war – was hardly a fist-pounding endorsement. And it was offered even as senior US officials have been meeting with representatives of some of Syria's Islamist groups that are more moderate.

North Korea purge mirrors those in 20th century Posted: 13 Dec 2013 03:17 PM PST PARIS (AP) — For people familiar with the way that dictators such as Stalin, Hitler and Mao methodically ousted their opponents, the purging and execution of the No. 2 official in North Korea is nothing new.

Debriefing: What happened to CIA's man who went missing in Iran? Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:52 PM PST Initially, the US said Mr. Levinson had made the trip to Iran on personal business, but about eight months after his initial disappearance, suspicions arose in Washington that this story was false. Three different times the AP nearly reported the news of Levinson's CIA connection – and the web of events leading up to his trip to Iran – but held back at the government's request.

Gunmen kill Iranian gas workers in Iraq: witnesses Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST Masked gunmen killed 18 people, most of them Iranians, working on a gas pipeline outside the northeastern Iraqi town of Muqdadiya on Friday, witnesses and officials said. "Three of them got out of a car and started firing on the workers inside and outside the trench," said Ibrahem Aziz by phone from hospital. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the workers, 15 of them from Shi'ite Muslim power Iran. Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds have yet to find a stable power-sharing deal and violence is again on the upswing.

Syrian rebels say Islamic fighters seize weapons Posted: 13 Dec 2013 12:15 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Warehouses captured by Islamic militants in Syria last weekend contained a cache of machine guns and ammunition intended for Syria's Western-backed rebels, a senior opposition official said Friday, demanding the gear be returned.

Jerusalem buried in snow as rare storm pounds Mideast Posted: 13 Dec 2013 12:15 PM PST A fierce winter storm shut down much of the Middle East Friday, burying Jerusalem in snow, flooding parts of Gaza and bringing frigid, wet weather to war-ravaged Syria. The hilltop city of Jerusalem was paralysed by its fiercest snowstorm in years, with its mayor calling out the army to help stranded motorists and authorities urging residents to stay indoors. "We are battling a storm of rare ferocity," Mayor Nir Barkat said as snow in the Holy City piled up to around 37 centimetres (15 inches) and thousands of homes lost power. He said about 1,000 stranded travellers were given shelter at the Jerusalem International Conference Centre while hundreds more were taken to a nearby military base.

Gunmen kill 15 Iranian pipeline workers in Iraq Posted: 13 Dec 2013 12:12 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen in Iraq killed 15 Iranian pipeline workers and two Iraqi guards northeast of Baghdad on Friday, officials said. Separate attacks across the country killed 23 other people.

Levinson, Iran, the CIA, and lies Posted: 13 Dec 2013 12:01 PM PST There's always been something a little strange about the story of Robert Levinson, the retired FBI agent who disappeared on Kish Island – a sort of smugglers' paradise controlled by Iran in the Persian Gulf, but with much looser rules imposed on entry and exit – in March 2007. The US government said it had nothing to do with Mr. Levinson and didn't know why he'd gone to Kish. Dawhud Salahuddin (born David Belfield), a US citizen who murdered an Iranian diplomat in Washington D.C. in 1980 at the behest of the new government of Ayatollah Khomeini and has lived in exile in Iran ever since, says he spent Levinson's last night of freedom with him, and in interviews over the years has suggested a government faction had detained him. Press TV, a government propaganda outlet with which Mr. Salahuddin has worked off and on for years, said shortly after his disappearance that Levinson was in Iranian custody.

Syria army vows to crush rebels on Damascus outskirts Posted: 13 Dec 2013 11:31 AM PST Syria vowed Friday to crush rebels on an eastern approach to Damascus after a string of regime advances that have galvanised Islamist fighters and largely sidelined the Western-backed opposition. The advance on the town of Adra came as a new UN report concluded that chemical weapons had been used at least five times before Damascus agreed to give up its arsenal, and as Washington expressed concern about recent rebel setbacks. In Adra, an industrial town located on the main road into the east of the capital, fighting raged for a third consecutive day as the army warned in a televised statement that "the operation will continue until the terrorists are crushed completely." At least 18 pro-regime fighters and 15 civilians were killed between Wednesday and Thursday in Adra.

Iraq violence kills 37 as 'terrorism' suspects escape Posted: 13 Dec 2013 11:21 AM PST Baquba (Iraq) (AFP) - Violence in Iraq including an attack by gunmen on workers on a gas pipeline from Iran killed 37 people Friday, while "terrorism" suspects escaped a Baghdad detention facility, officials said. Unrest has reached a level this year not seen since 2008, when Iraq was just emerging from a period of brutal sectarian killings, and the surge has raised fears the country is falling back into all-out conflict. Gunmen in three vehicles attacked the gas pipeline workers near Baladruz, northeast of Baghdad, killing 15 Iranians and three Iraqis, police officers said. South of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded in Madain, killing at least six people and wounding at least 13, while another car bomb near a fish market in Nahrawan killed four people and wounded at least 12.

Britain's Prince Harry reaches South Pole Posted: 13 Dec 2013 10:41 AM PST Prince Harry on Friday became the first British royal to reach the South Pole after a three-week charity trek with injured military veterans from Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia. Harry and the 12 servicemen and women reached the globe's most southerly point at 1200 GMT following a 200-mile (320-kilometre) journey across Antarctica, organisers Walking With The Wounded said.

Qaeda rebels seize 120 Syrian Kurds near Turkish border: watchdog Posted: 13 Dec 2013 09:56 AM PST Islamist rebels linked to al Qaeda kidnapped at least 120 Kurdish civilians on Friday from a village near the Turkish border in Aleppo province, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters entered Ihras, 20 km (12 miles) south of the border town of Azaz, and took the captives, including at least six women, to an unknown location. The British-based Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria, cited Arab and Kurdish sources in and around Ihras. Control over Syria's northeast, where Kurds predominate, has swung back and forth between them and Islamists, who strongly oppose what they suspect are Kurdish plans to secede.

Rare storm leaves Jerusalem snowed in Posted: 13 Dec 2013 09:26 AM PST JERUSALEM (AP) — A powerful winter storm left Jerusalem covered in snow on Friday, forcing police to block access to and from the city as a cold snap drove some Israelis to seek treatment from emergency medics.

Syrian rebels: Islamists welcome at peace talks Posted: 13 Dec 2013 09:10 AM PST LONDON (AP) — Syrian rebels say they are ready to include Islamist fighters as part of their delegation to the Geneva peace talks aimed at putting an end to Syria's civil war.

Two Soldiers, Scarred by the Same Battle, Reunite 10 Years Later Posted: 13 Dec 2013 08:52 AM PST Robert Miltenberger Helped Keep Tomas Young Calm After He Was Shot in Iraq

UN confirms Syria chemical use, US rues rebel setbacks Posted: 13 Dec 2013 08:41 AM PST A UN report has concluded chemical weapons were used at least five times before Syria agreed to dismantle its arsenal, as Washington called setbacks for moderate rebels a "big problem." A major winter storm has meanwhile brought severe weather to the war-ravaged country, delaying a UN aid airlift and compounding the misery of Syrians holed up in besieged towns and refugees sheltering in tents across the border in Lebanon. The UN report released late Thursday cites "credible evidence" and "evidence consistent with the probable use of chemical weapons" at Ghouta, Khan al-Asal, Jubar, Saraqeb and Ashrafieh Sahnaya. The mission "concludes that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict," said the report, prepared by a team led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom.

Wintry storm grips Middle East, worsens misery of Syrians Posted: 13 Dec 2013 08:25 AM PST By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - A powerful winter storm sweeping the eastern Mediterranean this week is causing mayhem across the region and inflicting extra hardships on Syrians convulsed in civil war and on refugees who have fled the fighting. The storm, named Alexa, is expected to last until Saturday, bringing more snow, rain and cold to swathes of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Egypt. The bad weather, which began on Wednesday, is taking a disproportionate toll on the 2.3 million refugees living outside Syria and the 6.5 million people displaced within the country. Biting cold and heavy rain beset Zaatari camp, which houses 80,000 of Jordan's more than half a million Syrian refugees.

Obama's NSA Reform Panel Might Actually Offer Real Recommendations for Reform Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:53 AM PST When made public on Sunday, the recommendations from the semi-independent panel created by President Obama to review the NSA's surveillance programs will apparently include real, substantive reforms — which doesn't mean they'll be embraced or implemented by Obama or the NSA. In August, Obama announced the creation of the panel, comprised primarily of veterans of the security infrastructure. This is a response to the ongoing, daily transmission of information about the calls you make — what phone numbers are involved, how long the call lasts — to the NSA. The NSA claims the right to do so under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and the secret court that authorizes its spying (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or FISC) has OK'd it.

Baghdad prison break leaves Iraqi guard dead Posted: 13 Dec 2013 05:18 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Twenty-two Iraqi suspects facing terrorism charges escaped Friday from a prison in northern Baghdad after killing a security guard, but most were rearrested later in the day, officials said.

Storm delays Iraq-Syria aid airlift for second day: UN Posted: 13 Dec 2013 05:14 AM PST Baghdad (AFP) - Severe weather has delayed the start of the first United Nations airlift of aid items from Iraq to Syria for a second day, a spokesman said on Friday.

'Terrorism' suspects escape in Baghdad Posted: 13 Dec 2013 05:09 AM PST At least 22 "terrorism" suspects escaped a Baghdad detention facility on Friday after killing two guards, though most were later recaptured, security officials said. One of the escaped detainees was killed by security forces, while other attacks in Iraq killed another nine people. The escapes were the latest in a long line of jailbreaks in Iraq, including coordinated assaults claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group on two prisons in July, in which more than 500 inmates broke out and dozens of people were killed. Accounts varied of the number of detainees who escaped from the facility in the north Baghdad area of Kadhimiyah on Friday.

22 suspects kill guard, escape from Baghdad jail Posted: 13 Dec 2013 03:42 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Twenty-two Iraqi suspects facing terrorism charges escaped Friday from a jail in northern Baghdad after killing a security guard and making their way through a backdoor, but most were rearrested later in the day. Officials said attacks across the country, meanwhile, killed eight people.

Marian Wright Edelman Statement on the Anniversary of the Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Posted: 13 Dec 2013 03:00 AM PST WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman released the statement below on the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. "The only thing more morally and politically obscene than the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that took place one year ago is our complicity in the nation's destructive culture of gun violence that kills or injures a child or teen every 30 minutes. The Newtown families are standing up and turning their pain into a mission for common-sense gun safety laws and improvements in mental health services to keep preventable tragic events like Sandy Hook and the daily toll of child gun deaths from happening again. Sandy Hook was no fluke.

Suspects on run after breakout from Baghdad police cell Posted: 13 Dec 2013 02:23 AM PST More than 20 Iraqi suspects escaped from a Baghdad detention center after murdering a guard on Friday in the latest of a series of jailbreaks, but some were later recaptured and at least one was killed, officials and police sources said. Interior Ministry spokesman Sa'ad Ma'an said 22 people escaped, some of whom had links to al Qaeda, but all except three were later recaptured. But three police sources told Reuters at least 14 prisoners were on the run from the facility in Kadhimiya, northwest Baghdad. They said 11 people were recaptured but a prisoner and a police officer were killed.

Iraqi officials: 22 escape from Baghdad jail Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:23 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say 22 suspects facing terrorism charges have escaped from a jail in northern Baghdad after killing a security guard.

Girls on Film: A gift guide for film fans Posted: 12 Dec 2013 10:03 PM PST Last year was packed with excellent films helmed by women, from Dee Rees' Pariah to Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin. Julie Dash has barely entered the mainstream, but her contribution to film has been significant.

Today in History Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:01 PM PST Today is Friday, Dec. 13, the 347th day of 2013. There are 18 days left in the year.

Soccer-Iranians upbeat ahead of World Cup return Posted: 12 Dec 2013 07:00 PM PST By Matt Smith DUBAI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Iranians greeted the country's qualification for the World Cup and a landslide presidential vote earlier this year with equal fervour, their joy at the exit of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad matched by the thrill of a fourth trip to soccer's showpiece. Six months on from June's street parties and the mood in Iran remains upbeat following the election of moderate Hassan Rouhani and a breakthrough agreement that could resolve a decade-long nuclear dispute and ultimately lead to the lifting of crippling sanctions. In a country where soccer is the number one sport and crowds at international matches regularly top 90,000, a relatively kind World Cup draw also has fans optimistic that Team Melli - coached by former Real Madrid trainer Carlos Queiroz - can claim their first win at the finals since 1998. Then, Iran beat long-standing political foe the United States 2-1.

Assad win may be Syria's 'best option' Posted: 12 Dec 2013 06:44 PM PST The sectarian bloodbath in Syria is such a threat to regional security that a victory for Bashar al-Assad's regime could be the best outcome to hope for, a former CIA chief said. Washington condemned Assad's conduct of the conflict, threatened air strikes after he was accused of targeting civilians with chemical weapons and has demanded he step down. The United States is also supplying millions of dollars in "non-lethal" aid to some of the rebel groups fighting Assad's rule. But Michael Hayden, the retired US Air Force general who until 2009 was head of the Central Intelligence Agency, said a rebel win was not one of the three possible outcomes he foresees for the conflict.

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