Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Egypt holds Jazeera crew on 'terror' accusations
• Leader of group linked to al Qaeda held in Lebanon: sources
• Iraq army to quit tense cities after protest cleared
• Bombs across Baghdad kill at least 15, clashes continue in Anbar: sources
• Outgoing top Muslim envoy seeks accord with Christians
• 4 New Career-Related Predictions for 2014 and Beyond, Part I
• Miscues of 2013 Loom Over 2014 for Obama
• 5 Things That Did (and Didn't) Happen in Afghanistan in 2013
• More than 130,000 dead since start of Syria conflict: NGO
• $0.60 for cake: Al-Qaida records every expense
• Hope for 2014 in Energy, Medicine
• Increase in Iraq executions draws international ire
• Four more killed in clashes after Iraq protest camp shut
• Exclusive: China may raise Iran oil imports with new contract: sources
• Australia's WikiLeaks Party under fire for Assad talks
• Brent to end 2013 flat as supply fears offset weak demand
• Today in History

Egypt holds Jazeera crew on 'terror' accusations Posted: 31 Dec 2013 12:14 PM PST Egypt has accused detained journalists from the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera television network of belonging to a "terrorist" group, saying they had ties with the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, the prosecution said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if all three journalists face the same accusation, the first prosecutors have brought against journalists since the government designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist" group last week. Prosecutors had earlier ordered the detention of three journalists with Al-Jazeera's English channel, including Australian Peter Greste, after their arrest on Sunday in a Cairo hotel. The move comes six months into a crackdown by the military-installed government on the movement of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, which has extended to media viewed as biased for the Islamists.

Leader of group linked to al Qaeda held in Lebanon: sources Posted: 31 Dec 2013 10:45 AM PST (Reuters) - A Saudi militant who allegedly leads a group linked to al Qaeda which operates throughout the Middle East has been arrested by military authorities in Lebanon, according to U.S. national security sources. Two U.S. sources said that media reports from Lebanon that Lebanese Armed Forces had recently captured Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades were credible. Lebanese media reported on Tuesday that Majid had been arrested two days ago. The Long War Journal said that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, named after a founder of al Qaeda and associate of the late Osama bin Laden, were formed some time after 2005 as a spinoff of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Iraq army to quit tense cities after protest cleared Posted: 31 Dec 2013 10:03 AM PST Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Tuesday announced the army would leave cities in Anbar province, apparently seeking to defuse simmering tension after security forces cleared a major anti-government protest camp. Deadly clashes erupted Monday as security forces tore down the sprawling Sunni protest camp near Ramadi city, west of Baghdad, and sporadic fighting continued for a second day, leaving a total of at least 14 people dead. In a move seemingly aimed at calming tensions, Maliki announced Tuesday the army would leave cities in Anbar, a demand made by MPs who submitted their resignations the previous day. He called on "the armed forces to devote themselves to... pursuing Al-Qaeda hideouts in the desert of Anbar" and for the army to turn over "the administration of the cities to the hands of the local and federal police," his office said.

Bombs across Baghdad kill at least 15, clashes continue in Anbar: sources Posted: 31 Dec 2013 09:40 AM PST Bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people, police and medical sources said, a day after police broke up a Sunni Muslim protest camp in a western province. No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of Tuesday'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 in Baghdad, seven people were killed when two car bombs hit the Shi'ite neighborhood of Zafaraniya. In southeastern Baghdad, three mortar rounds landed near a housing complex, killing four people, medics and police sources said.

Outgoing top Muslim envoy seeks accord with Christians Posted: 31 Dec 2013 09:32 AM PST By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor PARIS (Reuters) - The outgoing head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Tuesday some Muslim states should broaden rights for religious minorities. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who stepped down on Monday after nine years as secretary general of the 57-country group representing the Islamic world, also said Western countries should do more to combat an increase of prejudice against Muslims there. Concern among churches worldwide for fellow Christians in the Middle East has risen in recent years as wars and Islamist rebels have killed or driven many from their homes there. The fate of Christian minorities in Muslim countries rarely figured in its declarations.

4 New Career-Related Predictions for 2014 and Beyond, Part I Posted: 31 Dec 2013 08:18 AM PST But before asking you to seriously consider this year's set of predictions, you're entitled to see last year's results. 1. Burgeoning innovation in health care: Computer-aided diagnosis and electronic medical records are revolutionizing health care just in time, as the Affordable Care Act will cover 40 million more United States citizens plus 11.7 million more after the promised legalization of illegal immigrants. But John Williams' Shadow Government Statistics' Alternate Unemployment Rate, which counts discouraged workers and people whose unemployment benefits have run out, is at 23.2 percent, the highest in the 20 years that data has been collected. The Center on Budget and Policy Priority reports that about 47 million Americans participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the food stamp program), the most in history.

Miscues of 2013 Loom Over 2014 for Obama Posted: 31 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST As he prepares for the political battles of 2014, President Obama is taking a more populist approach and combining it with a more combative attitude toward his adversaries. He is advocating policies that have long been popular on the political left, such as scaling back the economic and social advantages enjoyed by the rich and big corporations, and he has served notice that he will address the problems of income inequality and lack of social mobility in a more aggressive way - all to the consternation of conservatives. Obama is expected to describe his 2014 agenda in his State of the Union address on Jan. 28.

5 Things That Did (and Didn't) Happen in Afghanistan in 2013 Posted: 31 Dec 2013 07:53 AM PST Textbooks documenting the U.S. war on terrorism will no doubt look to 2013 as a harbinger of Afghanistan's future. Yet debates raged over whether Afghanistan would be ready to secure itself. Politics was rife in the region, as the Afghan equivalent of a parliament agreed to U.S. drawdown terms, and regional powers - particularly Pakistan - exerted increased influence over the war-weary American presence. 2013 was a year of wins and losses in Afghanistan.

More than 130,000 dead since start of Syria conflict: NGO Posted: 31 Dec 2013 07:22 AM PST More than 130,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in Syria nearly three years ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. The group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, said 52,290 pro-government fighters had been killed, among them more than 32,000 regular troops and 262 reinforcements from the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. The Observatory said it had also recorded the deaths of 2,794 unidentified individuals. Syria's bloody conflict began in March 2011, with peaceful anti-government demonstrations.

$0.60 for cake: Al-Qaida records every expense Posted: 31 Dec 2013 04:40 AM PST The convoy of cars bearing the black al-Qaida flag came at high speed, and the manager of the modest grocery store thought he was about to get robbed. Mohamed Djitteye rushed to lock his till and cowered ...

Hope for 2014 in Energy, Medicine Posted: 31 Dec 2013 02:45 AM PST Don't expect the partisan divide or the fighting over Obamacare to vanish in the next year. Instead let's set our sights on U.S. energy independence and a possible cure for Alzheimer's.

Increase in Iraq executions draws international ire Posted: 31 Dec 2013 02:28 AM PST Iraq's use of the death penalty has increased despite international condemnation, with some fearing execution rates could rise further as officials seek to appear tough on security ahead of elections. Iraqi officials insist capital punishment is both sanctioned by Islam and an effective way to curb violence, despite the fact that this year's executions have had no visible impact on the worst protracted surge in bloodshed since 2008. Diplomats and human rights groups calling for a moratorium meanwhile point to major problems with Iraq's security forces and within the criminal justice system. "What is more disturbing than the fact of the use of the death penalty itself ... is the fact that the utter dysfunction of the criminal justice system means that there is a very high likelihood that the people who are being executed are innocent," said Erin Evers, Iraq researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Four more killed in clashes after Iraq protest camp shut Posted: 31 Dec 2013 02:22 AM PST Ramadi (Iraq) (AFP) - Clashes between security forces and gunmen killed four more people in Ramadi on Tuesday, a day after the closure of a sprawling anti-government protest site, police and a doctor said. The violence came after Iraqi security forces dismantled the protest camp located near the city of Ramadi, where Sunni Arab demonstrators had gathered for more than a year. As the camp was demolished, heavy clashes broke out in the Ramadi area, with 10 gunmen killed as some mosques exhorted followers to "go to jihad," or holy war. The closure of the camp, which came just days after a deadly raid on a Sunni lawmaker's home in Ramadi, will almost certainly inflame already-widespread anger among Iraq's minority Sunni Arab community.

Exclusive: China may raise Iran oil imports with new contract: sources Posted: 31 Dec 2013 01:26 AM PST By Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - China may buy more Iranian oil next year as a state trader is negotiating a new light crude contract that could raise imports from Tehran to levels not seen since tough Western sanctions were imposed in 2012, running the risk of upsetting Washington. An increase would go against the spirit of November's breakthrough agreement relaxing some of the stringent measures slapped on Iran two years ago over its nuclear program. The November deal between Tehran and the group known as P5+1 -- made up of the United States and five other global powers -- paused efforts to reduce Iran's crude sales but required buyers to hold to "current average amounts" of Iranian oil imports. That agreement was seen as a reward for a softer diplomatic tone from Tehran that was forced, some U.S. officials and lawmakers say, by U.S. and EU sanctions that slashed Iran's oil exports by more than half to about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and cost it as much as $80 billion in lost revenue.

Australia's WikiLeaks Party under fire for Assad talks Posted: 31 Dec 2013 12:15 AM PST Whistleblowing group WikiLeaks said Tuesday it had no knowledge of and did not approve a delegation to Syria which met President Bashar al-Assad and included members of Australia's WikiLeaks Party. The delegation, aimed at showing solidarity with the Syrian people and opposing Western military intervention, reportedly included WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's father John Shipton, CEO of the political party. The group met with Assad on December 23, according to a post on the Syrian president's Twitter feed. The visit triggered a furore when revealed in Australia on Tuesday, with the centre-left Labor opposition describing it as "extraordinary" and "irresponsible".

Brent to end 2013 flat as supply fears offset weak demand Posted: 30 Dec 2013 10:58 PM PST By Manash Goswami SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent futures held above $111 a barrel on Tuesday on worries about a prolonged outage from OPEC member Libya, positioning the benchmark to end 2013 virtually unchanged. Brent crude rose 9 cents to $111.30 a barrel by 0629 GMT, after settling 97 cents lower in the previous session.

Today in History Posted: 30 Dec 2013 09:01 PM PST Today is Tuesday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2013.

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