Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Sudanese Salafi group endorses Islamic State's new caliphate
• Iraq jihadists blow up 'Jonah's tomb' in Mosul: official
• UN: 9 aid trucks enter Syria without government OK
• Foreign intelligence behind attack on army border post: Egypt
• Senate hopefuls risk 'oppo-research' revelations
• IMF cuts 2014 global growth forecast, sees rising risks
• Walsh campaign: Senator won't withdraw from race
• Jihadists launch broad assault on Syria army: monitor
• Senator: No arms to Iraq unless Congress gets info
• Russia delivering weapons to Iraq: report
• Iraq elects new president as attacks kill dozens
• First UN aid convoy enters Syria from Turkey
• Iraq's new president Masum: thinker and fighter
• Iraq gets new president, UN chief seeks more urgency
• Mont. gov: Sen. in plagiarism row deserves respect
• UN says Iraq jihadists order female genital mutilation, experts doubtful
• Why the GOP Can’t Count on a Midterm Wave Election
• UN says 9 trucks enter Syria from Turkey with aid
• State Dept: ISIS ‘Worse Than Al Qaeda’
• Iraqi Kurdish oil nears US port despite concern in Washington
• ‘I’ve never seen a week like this’ — aviation expert puts recent crashes in context
• First U.N. aid convoy enters Syria without government consent
• Real Warriors Campaign Profile: Marine 1st Sgt. Simon Sandoval Shares Story of Strength
• Twin car bombs kill at least 13 in central Baghdad: police
• As Iraq gets new president, car bomb kills 21
• Kurdish Fouad Massoum Elected New President of Iraq
• Exclusive: Allegations of GSK corruption spread to Syria
• Officials: Hours after Iraq gets new president, double car bombing in Baghdad kills 12
• Iraqis: Jihadis destroy ancient mosque in Mosul
• US congratulates Iraq on electing new president
• UN school in Gaza caught in cross-fire; 15 killed
• Norway on alert over feared terrorist attack
• US Marines probe corporal who vanished in Iraq
• UN chief condemns attack on UN school in Gaza
• Iraqis protest treatment of minority Christians
• Spanish judge requests EU help in Iraq death probe
• Purge of minorities re-draws Iraq map
• Marines investigate corporal who vanished in Iraq
• AP names Derl McCrudden head of int'l video news
• IMF says its board to meet on Ukraine in late August

Sudanese Salafi group endorses Islamic State's new caliphate Posted: 24 Jul 2014 03:49 PM PDT A Sudanese Salafi group in a statement on Thursday endorsed the Islamic State militant group that declared a caliphate after it swept through northern Iraq last month. "Our Brothers in the Islamic State ... announcing an inclusive caliphate is a good job," said Sudan's Al-Attasam belKetab wa al-Sunna, which broke from Sudan's Muslim Brotherhood in 1991 to establish a stricter Islamist movement.

Iraq jihadists blow up 'Jonah's tomb' in Mosul: official Posted: 24 Jul 2014 03:05 PM PDT The new jihadist rulers of Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Thursday completely levelled one its most well-known shrines, an official and witnesses told AFP. The Nabi Yunus shrine was built on the reputed burial site of a prophet known in the Koran as Yunus and in the Bible as Jonah. "Islamic State completely destroyed the shrine of Nabi Yunus after telling local families to stay away and closing the roads to a distance of 500 metres from the shrine," said the official at the Sunni endowment, which manages Sunni religious affairs in Iraq. The endowment official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and Mosul residents told AFP it took the Sunni extremists an hour to rig the shrine with explosives.

UN: 9 aid trucks enter Syria without government OK Posted: 24 Jul 2014 02:52 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nine trucks carrying food and other supplies crossed into Syria through a Turkish checkpoint Thursday — the first to do so under a U.N. resolution authorizing cross-border aid deliveries without Syrian government approval.

Foreign intelligence behind attack on army border post: Egypt Posted: 24 Jul 2014 02:50 PM PDT Egypt said Thursday that foreign intelligence services were prime suspects in an attack last week that killed 22 soldiers near its border with restive Libya. Unidentified militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns attacked a checkpoint in Egypt's western desert last Saturday. "Foreign intelligence services are likely to be behind the terrorist elements which carried out" the attack, interior ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif said, quoted by state news agency MENA, without naming any countries. "The terrorist operations (in Egypt) are carried out by terrorist elements, mercenaries, trained in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, and recruited by foreign intelligence services," Abdel Latif said.

Senate hopefuls risk 'oppo-research' revelations Posted: 24 Jul 2014 02:29 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — It's one thing to be Montana's lieutenant governor. It's another to be a U.S. Senate candidate in one of the states that will determine which party controls that 100-member chamber.

IMF cuts 2014 global growth forecast, sees rising risks Posted: 24 Jul 2014 02:18 PM PDT The International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that geopolitical risks in Ukraine and the Middle East are looming over a global economy already hit by slowdowns in the US and China. After "negative surprises" from the United States and China, the global economy is now expected to grow only 3.4 percent this year, the IMF said, lowering its April estimate of 3.7 percent. In 2013, the world economy grew 3.2 percent. The downgraded 2014 growth outlook reflects a "weak first quarter, particularly in the United States, and a less optimistic outlook for several emerging markets," the IMF said in an update of its semiannual World Economic Outlook (WEO).

Walsh campaign: Senator won't withdraw from race Posted: 24 Jul 2014 02:08 PM PDT HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Sen. John Walsh remained steadfast Thursday amid allegations he plagiarized a research project required for a master's degree, winning fresh backing from fellow Democrats in Montana and the governor who appointed him to the Senate earlier this year.

Jihadists launch broad assault on Syria army: monitor Posted: 24 Jul 2014 01:52 PM PDT The jihadist Islamic State group launched multiple attacks on government-held territory across northern and northeastern Syria on Thursday, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was the first time that IS, accused by rival rebel groups of focusing its formidable firepower more on them than on the Damascus regime, had launched such coordinated assaults on army positions. The jihadists went on the offensive near the main northern city of Aleppo, in Hasakeh province in the northeast and in Raqa province around their Euphrates valley stronghold, the Observatory said. In Hasakeh province, the jihadists killed 11 soldiers in an attack on an army base, the Observatory said.

Senator: No arms to Iraq unless Congress gets info Posted: 24 Jul 2014 01:48 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — An influential Democratic senator threatened Thursday to block U.S. arms sales to Iraq if Congress doesn't get an assessment of Iraqi forces and assurances the weapons won't fall into the hands of extremist militants.

Russia delivering weapons to Iraq: report Posted: 24 Jul 2014 01:44 PM PDT Russia has begun supplying military helicopters and fighters jets to Iraq, a report said Thursday, as Iraq's defence minister visited Moscow to press for equipment to thwart a jihadist offensive. "A number of contracts with Iraq have entered into force and are being fulfilled," the Interfax news agency quoted a source in Russia's defence export establishment as saying. Iraq also has contracts for Mi-28 attack helicopters and mobile Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Russia's ambassador to Baghdad, Ilya Mogunov, had previously said he believed up to 10 Sukhoi fighter jets would be delivered by the end of the summer.

Iraq elects new president as attacks kill dozens Posted: 24 Jul 2014 01:31 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi lawmakers elected a veteran Kurdish politician on Thursday to replace long-serving Jalal Talabani as the country's new president in the latest step toward forming a new government. But a series of attacks killed dozens of people and Islamic militants destroyed a Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah, underscoring the overwhelming challenges facing the divided nation.

First UN aid convoy enters Syria from Turkey Posted: 24 Jul 2014 01:04 PM PDT A first convoy of humanitarian aid crossed into Syria from Turkey on Thursday under a new UN-authorized plan to send relief without Damascus' approval. "Nine trucks crossed at Bab Al-Salam into Syria this morning," said Amanda Pitt of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The UN Security Council last week adopted a resolution authorizing the cross-border aid deliveries without the consent of the Damascus regime, to help more than one million civilians.

Iraq's new president Masum: thinker and fighter Posted: 24 Jul 2014 01:02 PM PDT Quiet and bookish, Iraq's president-elect Fuad Masum is different from jocular incumbent Jalal Talabani, but sharp political skills forged in the long battle for Kurdish self-determination are common to both. Masum, an ethnic Kurd, fought a rebel war alongside childhood friend Talabani for a separate Kurdish homeland, and in 1992 became the first prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. Something of a political pioneer, Masum was also the speaker of the first Iraqi parliament to be formed after the US-led invasion of 2003. Yet diminutive and bespectacled Masum is not an obvious fighter or risk-taker.

Iraq gets new president, UN chief seeks more urgency Posted: 24 Jul 2014 12:44 PM PDT Kurdish politician Fuad Masum became Iraq's new president Thursday, in a step towards forming a government that visiting UN chief Ban Ki-moon said must be inclusive for the country to survive. A June onslaught on Sunni Arab areas north and west of Baghdad led by the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group has brought Iraq to the brink of breakup, with the government struggling to assert any authority beyond its Shiite power base. Parliament elected Masum, who served as the first prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region more than two decades ago, by an overwhelming majority of 211 votes to 17. Under an unofficial power-sharing deal, Iraq's Kurds traditionally get the post of president.

Mont. gov: Sen. in plagiarism row deserves respect Posted: 24 Jul 2014 12:05 PM PDT HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said Thursday he had no knowledge that Sen. John Walsh had plagiarized his master's thesis when he appointed the former lieutenant governor to the Senate in February, and that he continues to support the Democrat's candidacy in 2014.

UN says Iraq jihadists order female genital mutilation, experts doubtful Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT The United Nations said on Thursday that jihadists in Iraq have ordered all women between the ages of 11 and 46 to undergo female genital mutilation, but experts quickly cast doubt on the claim. The UN's second most senior official in Iraq, Jacqueline Badcock, told reporters in Geneva via videoconference: "It is a fatwa (or religious edict) from ISIS, we learnt about it this morning. The Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), took over large swathes of the country last month and has begun imposing its extreme Salafist interpretation of Islam.

Why the GOP Can’t Count on a Midterm Wave Election Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:45 AM PDT These are glum times for Democrats in their struggle to retain control of the Senate.  The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa has gone from "leaning Democratic" to a "toss-up," as Republican State Senator Joni Ernst continues to surge in popularity.   Meanwhile, recently appointed Democratic Sen. John Walsh of Montana has been hit with plagiarism charges that may cost his party a seat that had been held by Democrat Max Baucus for more than three decades.

UN says 9 trucks enter Syria from Turkey with aid Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:44 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. official says nine trucks carrying humanitarian supplies have entered Syria from Turkey, using one of four border crossings recently authorized by the U.N. Security Council to speed delivery of aid to millions in need.

State Dept: ISIS ‘Worse Than Al Qaeda’ Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:30 AM PDT Leaders from Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon warn Congress that the group is not just terrorists but a burgeoning state that threatens U.S. Interests.

Iraqi Kurdish oil nears US port despite concern in Washington Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:29 AM PDT By David Sheppard, Ahmed Rasheed and Timothy Gardner LONDON/BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan is just two days away from arriving at a U.S. port, according to ship tracking satellites, despite Washington's long-standing concern over independent oil sales from the autonomous region.     The United Kalavrvta tanker, which left the Turkish port of Ceyhan in June carrying oil delivered via a new Kurdish pipeline, is due to dock in Galveston, Texas on Saturday, Reuters AIS Live ship tracking shows.      A sale of Kurdish crude oil to a U.S. ...

‘I’ve never seen a week like this’ — aviation expert puts recent crashes in context Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT An aviation experts explains whether plane crashes are really on the rise and why issues like weather and pilot error should raise more concerns than terrorism.

First U.N. aid convoy enters Syria without government consent Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:07 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations sent its first humanitarian aid convoy into rebel-held areas of Syria without government consent on Thursday as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon accused warring parties of denying assistance to millions of people in need as a tactic of war. The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution 10 days ago that authorized aid access at four border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, even though Syria has warned it deems such deliveries incursions into its territory. "A convoy of nine trucks crossed into Syria today from the Turkish crossing at Bab al-Salam, carrying U.N. food, shelter, water purification and sanitation supplies," said Amanda Pitt, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In a report to the Security Council, obtained by Reuters on Thursday, Ban said that an estimated 10.8 million people need help, of which 4.7 million are in hard to reach areas of Syria.

Real Warriors Campaign Profile: Marine 1st Sgt. Simon Sandoval Shares Story of Strength Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:07 AM PDT WASHINGTON, July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Experiencing psychological stress as a result of life transitions, deployment or other long-term separations can be common in military life. This stress can impact a service member's personal relationships, physical fitness routines and overall psychological health. The newest Real Warriors Campaign profile, 1st Sgt. Simon Sandoval (http://realwarriors.net/multimedia/profiles/sandoval.php), knows firsthand that it is difficult to cope with these stressors alone. Sandoval learned about the importance of asking for help while leading an Operational Stress Control and Readiness (OSCAR) training session for other Marines.

Twin car bombs kill at least 13 in central Baghdad: police Posted: 24 Jul 2014 11:00 AM PDT Two suicide car bombs exploded seconds and a few hundred metres (yards) apart in a busy area of central Baghdad Thursday, killing at least 13 people, police and medical sources said. The blasts went off in Karrada, a district packed with shops and restaurants, shortly after the time when people gather for the iftar meal breaking the dawn-to-dusk fast many Iraqi Muslims observe during the holy month of Ramadan. We were at the kitchen table for iftar," said Mohamed Ali al-Hakim, a 43-year-old electronics shop owner, who lives near the site of the blasts. The group took control of swathes of Iraq in a blistering onslaught that began last month.

As Iraq gets new president, car bomb kills 21 Posted: 24 Jul 2014 10:31 AM PDT Iraqi officials say a double car bombing in central Baghdad has killed 21 people and wounded 33, hours after lawmakers elected the country's new president.

Kurdish Fouad Massoum Elected New President of Iraq Posted: 24 Jul 2014 10:28 AM PDT Congratulations to Kurdish candidate and veteran politician Fuad Massoum who has just been voted in as Iraq's president. "Everyone likes him," Abbas al-Bayati, a Shiite lawmaker, told The New York Times.  "He is a moderate man and was agreed to by everyone," adding that the 76-year-old is "a man who refuses divisions, and this is what we look for in the Iraqi president." The British Ambassador to Iraq Simon Collis and Kurdistan's High Representative to the United Kingdom Bayan Sami Rahman both praised the decision on Twitter Thursday.  Massoum was born in the Kurdish capital of Irbil in 1938 and, along with current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, founded the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in 1975.

Exclusive: Allegations of GSK corruption spread to Syria Posted: 24 Jul 2014 10:26 AM PDT By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline faces new allegations of corruption, this time in Syria, where the drugmaker and its distributor have been accused of paying bribes to secure business, according to a whistleblower's email reviewed by Reuters. The allegations relate to its former consumer healthcare operations in Syria, which were closed down in 2012 due to the worsening civil war in the country. GSK has been rocked by corruption allegations since last July, when Chinese authorities accused it of funneling up to 3 billion yuan ($480 million) to doctors and officials to encourage them to use its medicines. Syria is the sixth country to be added to the list.

Officials: Hours after Iraq gets new president, double car bombing in Baghdad kills 12 Posted: 24 Jul 2014 10:09 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials: Hours after Iraq gets new president, double car bombing in Baghdad kills 12.

Iraqis: Jihadis destroy ancient mosque in Mosul Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:59 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic extremist militants blew up a revered Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah in Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, on Thursday, residents of the city said.

US congratulates Iraq on electing new president Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:59 AM PDT The United States on Thursday threw its weight behind the newly elected president of Iraq, Fuad Masum, and urged him to form a "cohesive government" to help fight Islamic militants. "By taking this crucial step, the Council of Representatives has demonstrated its commitment to uniting the country according to the constitution," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, offering Washington's congratulations on Masum's election. "Iraq's leaders now must take the next step in their democratic process by choosing a prime minister and forming a government," she said in a statement as Iraq seeks to quell an offensive by militants who have seized a swathe of territory in the north of the country.

UN school in Gaza caught in cross-fire; 15 killed Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:59 AM PDT GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli tank shells hit a compound housing a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens who were seeking shelter from fierce clashes on the streets outside, Palestinian officials said, as Israel pressed forward with its 17-day war against the territory's Hamas rulers.

Norway on alert over feared terrorist attack Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:51 AM PDT Norway is stepping up security amid intelligence reports of a possible imminent "terrorist attack" by militants who have fought in Syria, the country's security officials said Thursday. The move comes as concerns mount in Europe about the growing threat posed by jihadists returning from war-torn Syria. "We recently received information that a group of extremists from Syria may be planning a terrorist attack in Norway," said Benedicte Bjoernland, the chief of PST, the country's domestic intelligence service.

US Marines probe corporal who vanished in Iraq Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:45 AM PDT CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AP) — U.S. Marine Corps officers have launched a formal investigation into whether a Lebanese-American Marine deserted his unit in Iraq or months later after returning to the United States, a military spokesman said Thursday.

UN chief condemns attack on UN school in Gaza Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:41 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is condemning a deadly attack on a U.N. school for Palestinian refugees in northern Gaza that killed many Palestinians who sought refuge there from Israeli shelling as well as U.N. staff.

Iraqis protest treatment of minority Christians Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:34 AM PDT Hundreds of people demonstrated Thursday in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, to condemn the forced displacement of Iraqi Christians and call for their protection. Muslims, Christians, displaced people and political parties took part in the protest outside UN offices in Arbil, some 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Baghdad. "We condemn the targeting of Christians in Mosul," read one banner. Thousands of Christians and other minorities have fled the northern city of Mosul and other areas after a jihadist onslaught led by Islamic State insurgents swept swathes of Iraq's north and west last month.

Spanish judge requests EU help in Iraq death probe Posted: 24 Jul 2014 09:20 AM PDT A Spanish High Court judge has asked for assistance from the European Union in his investigation into the killing of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso by a U.S. tank shell in Iraq in 2003, court documents showed on Thursday. Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk, a Ukrainian, was also killed by the shell that crashed into a Baghdad hotel. Judge Santiago Pedraz said in a court statement on Thursday it had been impossible to bring the soldiers to Spain to get them to declare in a Spanish court. Pedraz said he had therefore turned over details of the case to Genocide Network, a division of the EU's judicial co-operation unit Eurojust based in the Netherlands.

Purge of minorities re-draws Iraq map Posted: 24 Jul 2014 08:56 AM PDT By Isabel Coles KABERLI Iraq (Reuters) - A new map is being drawn across the plains of northern Iraq as Sunni militants of the Islamic State purge the rural landscape of religious and ethnic minorities that have co-existed for hundreds of years. More than half a million people have been displaced across Iraq since June, when the north's biggest city, Mosul, fell to Sunni insurgents who have harried Shi'ite Turkmen and Shabaks, Yezidis and Christians. Now the Islamic State's cleansing campaign has rid farmland and villages in the surrounding Nineveh province and beyond of longtime minority inhabitants, leaving the country's north segregated along clear sectarian and ethnic lines.

Marines investigate corporal who vanished in Iraq Posted: 24 Jul 2014 08:39 AM PDT CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Marine Corps officers have launched a formal investigation into whether a Lebanese-American Marine deserted his unit in Iraq or months later after returning to the United States, a military spokesman said Thursday.

AP names Derl McCrudden head of int'l video news Posted: 24 Jul 2014 08:23 AM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Derl McCrudden, head of video newsgathering for The Associated Press, has been promoted to head of international video news.

IMF says its board to meet on Ukraine in late August Posted: 24 Jul 2014 08:19 AM PDT The board of the International Monetary Fund is expected to meet about Ukraine's loan program in late August, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday, which would likely allow the embattled country to receive its next aid disbursement of an expected $1.4 billion. IMF staff will then prepare a report for the Fund's board, which is likely to sign off on the review after its August recess, since Ukraine has met most of the program's conditions so far. Ukraine, which is fighting a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in the east, received $3.2 billion in May as the first tranche of the two-year IMF aid package intended to shore up depleted foreign currency reserves and support the state budget. IMF deputy spokesman William Murray declined to comment on whether Ukraine's program may have to be redesigned or bolstered with more funds due to the country's ongoing conflict.

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