Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Most Americans support Obama on Ukraine – tentatively
• Syria army advances in rebel town as war enters 4th year
• U.S. Navy Blue Angels flying high again after 2013 grounding
• Car bombs kill 19 people in Iraq's capital
• Baghdad car bombs kill nine
• A look at key events in Syria's uprising
• Car bombs kill 15 people in Iraq's capital
• Syrian opposition leader calls for 'means to fight' Assad
• Car bombs kill 8 people in Iraq's capital, Baghdad
• Syria conflict has 3rd anniversary amid offensive
• US goes high-tech to help oversee Afghan aid work
• Generation missing out on school in wartime Syria
• Syrian forces enter last rebel bastion near Lebanese border
• Good Reads: From Syria’s stable center, to Julian Assange’s bio, to tech management
• Putin’s Plan to Gut the Press
• France Convicts Rwanda Genocidaire

Most Americans support Obama on Ukraine – tentatively Posted: 15 Mar 2014 02:03 PM PDT Perhaps more than any other foreign affairs issue during his tenure, President Barack Obama is being tested by the crisis in Ukraine, where a Russia-designed referendum on the future of Crimea is to be held Sunday.

Syria army advances in rebel town as war enters 4th year Posted: 15 Mar 2014 01:44 PM PDT Syrian troops advanced Saturday in the key rebel bastion of Yabrud as the country's civil war entered its fourth year, with more than 146,000 dead, millions displaced and peace efforts stalled. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO said army forces were advancing with support from Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, a staunch regime ally. Yabrud is a key rebel supply route and their last stronghold in the Qalamun region along the border with Lebanon and on the highway between Damascus and third city Homs. Protests erupted in Syria's southern city of Daraa after teenagers were arrested over graffiti declaring: "The people want the fall of the regime."

U.S. Navy Blue Angels flying high again after 2013 grounding Posted: 15 Mar 2014 12:44 PM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels elite aviation team famed for its crowd-pleasing daredevil stunts at public air shows, returns to the skies on Saturday after being grounded by budget cuts for much of 2013, Navy officials said. The squadron's distinctive blue-and-gold fighter jets will perform precision aerobatics, rolling and diving through the air at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, California, their contrails painting the skies red, white and blue. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people are expected to attend, said Amber Lynn Daniel, a Blue Angels spokeswoman. "What it shows is that our leadership has sent a loud and clear message that the Blue Angels are both a valuable asset for recruiting and we're also valuable in showcasing the pride and professionalism of American sailors and Marines," she said.

Car bombs kill 19 people in Iraq's capital Posted: 15 Mar 2014 12:43 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of car bomb attacks targeting commercial areas and a restaurant killed at least 19 people Saturday in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, authorities said.

Baghdad car bombs kill nine Posted: 15 Mar 2014 12:23 PM PDT A series of evening car bombs targeting commercial neighbourhoods of Iraq's capital killed at least nine people on Saturday, security and medical officials said. The five blasts also wounded dozens, the latest in a months-long surge in bloodshed that has hit the country with less than two months left before national parliamentary elections. The attacks, all car bombs at markets or commercial shopping areas of the Sadr City, Amil, Amin, Shuala and Qahira neighbourhoods, killed nine people in all, said police and medical sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, but Sunni militants, including those linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group, are often blamed for carrying out coordinated mass-casualty bombings.

A look at key events in Syria's uprising Posted: 15 Mar 2014 12:10 PM PDT Here's a look at some of the key events in the Syrian uprising as the conflict marks its third anniversary:

Car bombs kill 15 people in Iraq's capital Posted: 15 Mar 2014 10:30 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of car bomb attacks targeting commercial areas and a restaurant killed at least 15 people Saturday in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, authorities said.

Syrian opposition leader calls for 'means to fight' Assad Posted: 15 Mar 2014 10:28 AM PDT Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Jarba called Saturday for backers of the rebellion to provide it with the "means to fight" the regime, as the conflict entered its fourth year. In a speech delivered in Istanbul and articles published in the French and US media, Jarba renewed a call for weapons as the rebels take on both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and jihadists. "They are also facing extremist gangs and are cleaning our house of terrorist mercenaries, particularly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and others, who sneak up behind the revolutionaries to stab them in the back in the service of the regime."

Car bombs kill 8 people in Iraq's capital, Baghdad Posted: 15 Mar 2014 09:46 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials in Iraq say a series of car bomb attacks targeting commercial areas and a restaurant have killed at least eight people in the country's capital, Baghdad.

Syria conflict has 3rd anniversary amid offensive Posted: 15 Mar 2014 09:37 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops advanced in a major rebel-held town near the Lebanese border amid heavy bombardment from warplanes, artillery and tanks as the country's bloody conflict marked its third anniversary Saturday, state media and activists said.

US goes high-tech to help oversee Afghan aid work Posted: 15 Mar 2014 09:34 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The main U.S. foreign assistance agency wants to step up use of smartphones, satellite imagery and GPS cameras to oversee tax-funded development projects in Afghanistan that aid workers no longer will be able to observe firsthand as American troops leave the country.

Generation missing out on school in wartime Syria Posted: 15 Mar 2014 09:22 AM PDT MAJDAL ANJAR, Lebanon (AP) — Along with some 20 other Syrian children, 13-year-old Anas braves rain, mud and cold to attend class in a tent pitched along Lebanon's border with Syria, the home of a Syrian refugee family that serves as a classroom for four hours each day.

Syrian forces enter last rebel bastion near Lebanese border Posted: 15 Mar 2014 08:57 AM PDT By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army entered eastern districts of the town of Yabroud, the last rebel bastion near the Lebanese border north of Damascus, on Saturday and tightened its grip on the remaining rebels there from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Soldiers advanced inside Yabroud and "eliminated terrorist strongholds", said a reporter on Syrian state television SANA who was broadcasting live from the town's outskirts. He said the army had taken control of hills and mountaintops southeast of Yabroud, gaining a strategically advantageous position. A military source confirmed to Reuters that the army had taken a series of peaks and said it had "fastened pincers around Yabroud." Capturing the town would help President Bashar al-Assad cut off a cross-border rebel supply line from Lebanon.

Good Reads: From Syria’s stable center, to Julian Assange’s bio, to tech management Posted: 15 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PDT In National Geographic, Anne Barnard writes that Syria's survival may depend on a sense of "Damascene identity" – a model of diversity and tolerance that has enabled the Syrian capital to survive for centuries. Damascus comes "as close as anything to embodying a shared national idea." The people in Damascus – whether they support the government or the rebels – are united in a desire to preserve the city's rich history and culture. Between 1941 and 2000, democracy spread from 11 countries to 120 – making it "the great victor of ideological clashes of the 20th century," writes The Economist. But in the early 21st century, setbacks in democratic movements in Egypt, Iraq, Venezuela, Cambodia, and Ukraine have "dispelled the once-popular notion that democracy will blossom rapidly and spontaneously once the seed is planted," the authors write.

Putin’s Plan to Gut the Press Posted: 14 Mar 2014 05:20 PM PDT Forget investigative reporting, even critical commentary is now out of bounds as the Kremlin clamps down on Web news sites.

France Convicts Rwanda Genocidaire Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:55 PM PDT A court in Paris sentenced Pascal Simbikangwa, who had been hiding out on the island of Mayotte, to 25 years behind bars for his role in the 1994 genocide.

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