Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Security fears threaten US future in Afghanistan
• China bristling, Spain seeks to curb its judges' international rights clout
• Spain parliament moves to curb trials of foreign atrocities
• Obama, Hollande speak out on Iran sanctions
• Obama, Hollande tackle tenuous diplomatic efforts
• Barack and Francois take center stage at White House
• Warnings of failure as Syria talks deadlocked
• Walsh sworn in as Montana senator, replaces Baucus
• Obama: Britain and France like 'gorgeous' daughters
• Obama lauds under-fire Hollande as leader of resolve
• On revolution's anniversary, Iranians ask: Is this what we were promised?
• Obama, Hollande speaks out on Iran sanctions
• Sochi Olympics: Russia’s Real Game of War and Peace
• Obama speaks out on Iran, Syria struggles
• Analysis: In peace talks, Assad plays for time
• Obama hails close relationship between US, France
• Islamist threat at home forces Saudi rethink on Syria
• Ventura: 'American Sniper' suit not aimed at widow
• Tibetan monk decries China pressure on Spain in rights case
• Militants kill 16 Iraqi soldiers in overnight ambush
• Al-Qaeda Splinter Faction Shows How Not to Be a Terrorist
• China bristling, Spain seeks to limit its judges' international rights powers
• Factbox: Spanish judges spark controversy with international rights cases
• Obama, Hollande seek to show revamped relationship
• Two finalists return on International Arabic Fiction shortlist
• Gunmen attack army, kill 15 troops in north Iraq
• Yemen hands 29 Qaeda militants to Saudi Arabia: website
• Four Threats to U.S. Security That No One Talks About
• 15 Iraqi soldiers killed in pre-dawn attack
• Officials: Gunmen kill 15 troops in northern Iraq
• Obama, Hollande to cement 'forever' Franco-US friendship
• Spain seeks arrest of former Chinese president over Tibet
• Troop departure weighs on US aid in Afghanistan

Security fears threaten US future in Afghanistan Posted: 11 Feb 2014 02:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Warily watching to see how many U.S. troops might remain in Afghanistan next year, American diplomats and aid workers are facing a drawdown of their own as security threats and dwindling resources limit their 12-year push to develop the mostly primitive nation.

China bristling, Spain seeks to curb its judges' international rights clout Posted: 11 Feb 2014 02:07 PM PST By Inmaculada Sanz MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's parliament voted on Tuesday to fast-track a law limiting judges' ability to go after alleged human rights abusers around the world, a day after Spanish arrest orders were issued for former Chinese officials accused of genocide in Tibet. China protested against the orders, called on Spain to drop the issue and issued a veiled threat about bilateral ties. Spain has pioneered the use of universal jurisdiction, the concept that crimes against humanity can be prosecuted across borders, in a series of cases that have also caused diplomatic friction. Spanish judges have sought to question or detain officials from Chile, the United States and Israel in cases involving alleged genocide, torture or human rights abuses.

Spain parliament moves to curb trials of foreign atrocities Posted: 11 Feb 2014 02:02 PM PST Spain's parliament took the first steps Tuesday to reduce the courts' power to investigate cases of human rights abuses committed abroad, a practice that has irked some foreign capitals. Lawmakers agreed to debate and vote on a bill introduced last month by Spain's conservative Popular Party, which has a comfortable majority in the assembly. If passed, it would limit the use of "universal jurisdiction", which allows judges to try certain cases of human rights abuses committed in other countries. Since the doctrine passed into national law in 1985, crusading Spanish judges have used it to pursue US soldiers in Iraq, Israeli defence officials and Argentine military officers.

Obama, Hollande speak out on Iran sanctions Posted: 11 Feb 2014 02:01 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to come down like "a ton of bricks" on firms that violate sanctions against Iran, speaking at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande, who defended a trip by French businesses executives to Tehran.

Obama, Hollande tackle tenuous diplomatic efforts Posted: 11 Feb 2014 01:48 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Juggling a pair of tenuous diplomatic efforts, President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed to come down like "a ton of bricks" on businesses that violate Iranian sanctions while nuclear negotiations are underway. He also conceded "enormous frustration" with stalled Syrian peace talks and offered little hope of ending the conflict soon.

Barack and Francois take center stage at White House Posted: 11 Feb 2014 01:41 PM PST Instead, it was dry-aged beef and plenty of bonhomie as President Barack Obama gave a lavish welcome to French President Francois Hollande. Obama went out of his way to welcome Hollande at the White House on Tuesday, saying a few words in passable French, teasing the Frenchman for his formality and toying with the notion that U.S. ties with France are as close as they are with old ally Britain.

Warnings of failure as Syria talks deadlocked Posted: 11 Feb 2014 01:23 PM PST Syria peace talks showed no signs of movement Tuesday, sparking warnings of failure, as the evacuation of civilians from besieged rebel-held areas of Syria's third city Homs was suspended. Little progress towards breaking the deadlock was apparent, despite appeals from UN-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi to end the "nightmare" of the Syrian people. The veteran peacemaker was downbeat after a three-hour session Tuesday marking the first face-to-face talks between Syria's rival camps this month. "I think Geneva under the current circumstances will end in failure," Ali Haidar, Syria's reconciliation minister, told AFP in Damascus.

Walsh sworn in as Montana senator, replaces Baucus Posted: 11 Feb 2014 12:36 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — John Walsh became the newest member of the Senate on Tuesday and faces the challenge of making his appointment more permanent.

Obama: Britain and France like 'gorgeous' daughters Posted: 11 Feb 2014 12:27 PM PST President Barack Obama Tuesday said France and Britain -- jealous rivals for US affection -- were like his beloved daughters, Malia and Sasha, who he could not choose between. Obama skillfully skipped through an Anglo-Gallic minefield when asked by a French reporter if America's oldest ally, and not Britain, was not now its best friend. "I have two daughters," Obama said, as he stood with French President Francois Hollande at a White House news conference. But he has also learned the political perils of failing to pay sufficient homage to the US "special relationship" with Britain.

Obama lauds under-fire Hollande as leader of resolve Posted: 11 Feb 2014 12:17 PM PST President Barack Obama praised France's beleaguered Francois Hollande as a courageous ally in the battle against extremism from Africa to Iran on Tuesday, as he laid on a lavish state visit. The French president, under fire at home over his country's still struggling economy, high unemployment and his own tumultuous love life, basked in a center stage role at the White House. Obama, who made exiting foreign wars a cornerstone of his presidency, hailed France as a model ally willing to bear the collective burden of keeping the world safe. Hollande said that common founding values of liberty meant France and the United States could "act on security throughout the world for freedom, democracy, the rule of law."

On revolution's anniversary, Iranians ask: Is this what we were promised? Posted: 11 Feb 2014 11:56 AM PST The Iranian children gathered on a small stage on Revolution Avenue, around waist-high columns of silver-painted plastic foam and pots of glue, wearing surgical masks and hairnets like technicians. It was a competition to build centrifuges to honor the anniversary of the 1979 revolution. The winner took home a portrait of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  "From the beginning of the revolution we have been sanctioned, but the people did not abandon the regime, they supported it.

Obama, Hollande speaks out on Iran sanctions Posted: 11 Feb 2014 11:10 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to come down like "a ton of bricks" on firms that violate sanctions against Iran, speaking at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande, who defended a trip by French businesses executives to Tehran.

Sochi Olympics: Russia’s Real Game of War and Peace Posted: 11 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST There have been two themes about the Sochi Olympics so far – the press accommodations and the security – and both are somewhat dispiriting.  More than that: even with Sage Kotsenburg and Bode Miller, they're a distraction. In terms of the accommodations, it's impossible not to feel that the national sporting press comes off as slightly whiny. But over a billion people globally live in mud huts and actual Russians live in Russia. Russia has deployed 40,000 security forces around the Olympics site, more than two-thirds the troops NATO still has in Afghanistan.

Obama speaks out on Iran, Syria struggles Posted: 11 Feb 2014 10:35 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama weighed into two international struggles Tuesday, vowing to come down like "a ton of bricks" on firms that violate sanctions against Iran and acknowledging that Syrian peace talks are far from reaching their goal.

Analysis: In peace talks, Assad plays for time Posted: 11 Feb 2014 10:26 AM PST GENEVA (AP) — Even as he fights to hold on to power, Syrian President Bashar Assad has agreed to destroy a significant part of his arsenal and to join negotiations whose stated aim is to remove him from his post.

Obama hails close relationship between US, France Posted: 11 Feb 2014 09:47 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Tuesday the United State and France have rebuilt a relationship that "would have been unimaginable even a decade ago," after President George W. Bush launched an unpopular war against Iraq.

Islamist threat at home forces Saudi rethink on Syria Posted: 11 Feb 2014 09:01 AM PST By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - After serving for years as the main conduit for weapons and cash to rebels battling Syria's Bashar al-Assad, Saudi Arabia is shifting its policy to contain the spread of Islamist militancy at home, diplomats and figures close to the government say. Riyadh is concerned that radicalism among rebels in Syria will boost al Qaeda at home in Saudi Arabia, which suffered a blowback last decade when fighters from the network of Osama bin Laden - himself a Saudi - returned from jihad in Afghanistan. Saudi leaders are still determined to help rebels bring down Assad, an ally of their main rival Iran, but their heightened focus on security at home suggests they may temper some of the effort. The change has also come at a moment when Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan - the architect of a Syria policy that has included training camps in Jordan and shipments of weapons and money - has lowered his public profile, diplomatic sources in the Gulf say.

Ventura: 'American Sniper' suit not aimed at widow Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:11 AM PST Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura contends he isn't going after the widow of slain "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle by continuing his defamation lawsuit, but rather the publisher's insurance ...

Tibetan monk decries China pressure on Spain in rights case Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST By Inmaculada Sanz MADRID (Reuters) - The Tibetan monk who caused friction between China and Spain by pushing a human rights complaint through Spanish courts, said on Tuesday he was disappointed Spain might water down a pioneering human rights laws that made his case possible. But he said even if his case - which drew a sharp rebuke from China this week - is thrown out, it has helped to draw international attention to the Tibetan cause. "The Chinese government is putting a lot of pressure on the Spanish government to change laws, and the Spanish government is saying 'yes, yes sir,' but the Chinese don't own the world," Thubten Wangchen told Reuters in an interview in Spanish in Madrid.

Militants kill 16 Iraqi soldiers in overnight ambush Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:31 AM PST By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Militants in pick-up trucks ambushed Iraqi army outposts protecting a major oil export pipeline in the north of the country overnight, killing at least 16 soldiers by shooting them and slitting their throats, security and medical sources said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Islamist and other insurgents have been regaining momentum in a campaign to destabilize Iraq's Shi'ite-led government. The attack took place near the Ain al-Jahash area, 30 km (20 miles) south of the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, through which a long section of pipeline stretches from Iraq's Kirkuk oilfield to neighboring Turkey.

Al-Qaeda Splinter Faction Shows How Not to Be a Terrorist Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:18 AM PST Twenty-one suicide bombers and bomb-makers recruited by the Islamic State of Iraq and greater Syria [ISIS], an al-Qaeda breakaway group, were killed in the explosion. While that probably means 44 less bombers haunting the streets of Syria and Iraq, it also means that ISIS has become so strong that not only can it recruit platoons of volunteers ready to kill themselves for the terrorist cause, but that it was able to train them unmolested in a camp just 60 miles north of Baghdad. The revelation shows that "the terrorist groups have made a strong comeback in Iraq and that the security problems are far from over, and things are heading from bad to worse," Hamid al-Mutlaq, a member of the Iraqi parliament's security and defines committee told the Associated Press. For nearly a year now ISIS, which used to be called al-Qaeda in Iraq until it expanded into Syria last April, has controlled vast swathes of Iraq's Anbar province, where it has been able to reclaim an operational strength lost when U.S.-funded Sunni tribesmen turned against the organization at the height of the Iraq war.

China bristling, Spain seeks to limit its judges' international rights powers Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:57 AM PST By Inmaculada Sanz MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's parliament will debate a bill on Tuesday to limit the power of judges to pursue international human rights cases, a day after Spanish arrest orders were issued for former Chinese officials accused of genocide in Tibet. China protested against the orders, called on Spain to drop the issue and issued a veiled threat about ties between the two countries. Spanish judges have caused diplomatic friction in the past as they have sought to question or detain officials from Chile, the United States, China and Israel in cases involving alleged genocide, torture or rights abuses. The bill, submitted to parliament by the ruling center-right People's party last month as the Tibet case was gathering force in the courts, would restrict judges from acting on such cases unless the alleged wrongdoers were Spaniards or resident in Spain.

Factbox: Spanish judges spark controversy with international rights cases Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:57 AM PST Spain's parliament is considering changes to its law of universal jurisdiction, under which Spanish judges and prosecutors have pursued people around the world accused of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. Over the past two decades Spanish judicial authorities have sought to question or detain officials from the United States, Chile, China and Israel in cases that have caused diplomatic friction between those countries and Spain. China rebuked Spain this week after a judge issued arrest orders for five top Chinese former officials over allegations of human rights abuses in Tibet decades ago. The following are some well-known cases involving universal jurisdiction: PINOCHET Spanish former judge Baltasar Garzon was a pioneering figure in universal jurisdiction when he issued an arrest warrant for Chile's former strongman Augusto Pinochet, who was detained in 1998 in London where he was receiving medical treatment.

Obama, Hollande seek to show revamped relationship Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:04 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande will showcase a revamped relationship between two old allies that is now a cornerstone of diplomatic efforts in Iran and Syria during a glitzy state visit Tuesday, though the rendezvous has been overshadowed by the intrigue of a European love triangle.

Two finalists return on International Arabic Fiction shortlist Posted: 11 Feb 2014 03:48 AM PST The International Prize for Arabic Fiction has announced its six-strong shortlist ahead of an awards ceremony in April, with 2008's Syrian finalist Khaled Khalifa and 2009's Inaam Kachachi of Iraq both having made the cut.

Gunmen attack army, kill 15 troops in north Iraq Posted: 11 Feb 2014 03:46 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants in Iraq attacked military barracks in a remote area in the country's north and killed 15 troops overnight, officials said Tuesday, the latest blow to the government's efforts to achieve stability.

Yemen hands 29 Qaeda militants to Saudi Arabia: website Posted: 11 Feb 2014 03:30 AM PST Yemen has handed to Saudi Arabia 29 al Qaeda militants who were wanted by the Saudi authorities, the Yemeni defense ministry website said on Tuesday, citing informed sources. The website quoted the sources as saying the militants had Saudi nationality and that they had been handed over to the Saudi security apparatus in the past few days. Saudi interior ministry spokesman Major General Mansour Turki said he had no information on the matter, but was seeking to verify the report. Yemen, which neighbors top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is home to one of al Qaeda's most active branches, known as 'al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula', who have plotted unsuccessfully to attack Western targets, including international airliners.

Four Threats to U.S. Security That No One Talks About Posted: 11 Feb 2014 02:45 AM PST Last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper laid out a laundry list of threats to the United States, including China's growing military ambition, the growing risks from cyber-attacks, and Russia's continued rise -- all very serious, but all very well known. Buried deep in Clapper's Worldwide Threat Assessment were other, less known threats to American interests that could be just as dangerous as China's military expansion or Russia's ambition.

15 Iraqi soldiers killed in pre-dawn attack Posted: 11 Feb 2014 02:19 AM PST Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - A pre-dawn attack on an army encampment guarding an oil pipeline in northern Iraq left 15 soldiers dead on Tuesday, as authorities grapple with near-daily attacks and running battles with militants. The latest bloodshed comes with unrest at its worst in Iraq in nearly six years, and has fuelled fears that, with elections due in April, the country is on the brink of slipping back into the sectarian violence that plagued it in the years following the 2003 US-led invasion. Foreign leaders have urged the Shiite-led government to do more to reach out to the disaffected Sunni Arab minority but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line and trumpeted wide-ranging operations against militants.

Officials: Gunmen kill 15 troops in northern Iraq Posted: 11 Feb 2014 01:59 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say militants have killed 15 troops in an attack overnight on military barracks in a remote area in the country's north.

Obama, Hollande to cement 'forever' Franco-US friendship Posted: 11 Feb 2014 01:19 AM PST President Barack Obama will Tuesday highlight a new national security dimension to America's oldest alliance as he deploys the full pageantry of a state visit for France's President Francois Hollande. A 21-gun salute and full military honors await Hollande on the chilly South Lawn of the White House, before a day of talks on issues ranging from Iran to climate change, trade to combating Islamist threats. Later, Obama and Hollande will toast what the French leader described as a forever friendship forged during a time of revolution more than 200 years ago. But Hollande will be flying solo at the state dinner in a huge marquee sumptuously decorated with French accents, amid turmoil in his love life which made global headlines.

Spain seeks arrest of former Chinese president over Tibet Posted: 11 Feb 2014 01:12 AM PST MADRID/BEIJING (Reuters) - A Spanish judge on Monday sought the arrest of China's former president and premier over accusations of genocide in Tibet in an eight-year-old case that prompted a sharp rebuke from Beijing. High Court Judge Ismael Moreno asked Interpol to issue orders for the detention of former President Jiang Zemin, ex-premier Li Peng and three other officials for questioning on charges brought by Tibetan rights groups in Spain. However, the case may not progress as Spain's ruling People's Party is pushing through rules to limit judges' ability to pursue cases under universal jurisdiction, the principle that crimes against humanity can be prosecuted across borders.

Troop departure weighs on US aid in Afghanistan Posted: 11 Feb 2014 12:29 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Uncertainty over how many U.S. troops might remain in Afghanistan beyond this year has trickled down to American diplomats and aid workers, whose efforts to develop the still mostly primitive country face a drawdown of their own because of security fears.

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