Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• California man charged with aiding terror group
• Jonathan Schell, anti-war activist, dead at 70
• Iraq reports first suspected polio case since 2000
• Turkey vows 'any measures' against Syria threats
• In mirror-image speech, Obama rebuts Putin over Ukraine
• Obama Calls For Russians To Reject the Losing Philosophies of the Cold War
• Kuwait summit merely papers over Arab rifts
• Iraq to try Kurdish officer for reporter's murder
• When the president meets the pope
• Public rifts at Arab summit likely to satisfy Iran and Syria
• Iowa Senate Candidate Nails the Sarah Palin Sensibility
• Iraq PM warns of poll delay after election chiefs quit
• Arab states have little to show for tense Kuwait summit
• Islamists bomb Shi'ite shrine in eastern Syria: activists
• U.S. says U.N. report lays blame on Syria government for hindered aid
• As Assad advances, Syria launches commercial airline
• Brent oil rises above $107 on Nigerian supply cut
• South Korea drawn into Group A with host Australia
• Soccer-Hosts Australia draw South Korea in Asian Cup
• Police raid suspected militants in Istanbul, five wounded
• Spies Like Us: The NSA Is Intrusive and Incompetent
• The Medal of Honor Disgrace
• Report details killing of bombing suspect's friend
• Syrian Peace Talks Are Dead

California man charged with aiding terror group Posted: 26 Mar 2014 04:38 PM PDT SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted a California man on a single charge of attempting to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.

Jonathan Schell, anti-war activist, dead at 70 Posted: 26 Mar 2014 04:04 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Jonathan Schell, the crusading author, journalist and anti-war activist who condemned conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq and warned of a nuclear holocaust in terrifying detail in his galvanizing best seller, "The Fate of the Earth," has died at age 70.

Iraq reports first suspected polio case since 2000 Posted: 26 Mar 2014 02:03 PM PDT Iraq's health ministry said Wednesday it had found its first suspected polio case in 14 years, which could have originated in neighbouring Syria where confirmed cases have sparked a region-wide alert. The suspected case was found in a young boy in Bab al-Sham near Baghdad, ministry spokesman Ziad Tariq told AFP. If confirmed, it would be Iraq's first case of polio since 2000. "We suspect the case originated in Syria," Tariq said.

Turkey vows 'any measures' against Syria threats Posted: 26 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PDT Konya (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkey is ready to take any measures against threats to its national security from war-torn Syria, its foreign minister warned Wednesday. "The Turkish republic is a powerful state and never hesitates to take any measures to protect its national security if need be," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told AFP in an exclusive interview. "Any group in Syria, or the regime, should not test Turkey's determination," said the minister, speaking in his central home province of Konya. Turkey, which backs the three-year-old uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and hosts many refugees, on Sunday shot down a Syrian fighter jet that it said had breached its airspace.

In mirror-image speech, Obama rebuts Putin over Ukraine Posted: 26 Mar 2014 12:59 PM PDT Without mentioning Putin's name, Obama used a keynote speech in Brussels on U.S.-European relations to push back against many of the justifications, grievances and accusations used by the Russian leader for Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Obama offered advice for Americans skeptical about why they should care about what happens in a distant part of the world. And he told NATO allies it was time to bolster an alliance many of whose members have cut defense spending since the Cold War ended, in the face of what he called Russia's "brute force". To Republican critics who want him to be tougher, Obama said this: Now is not the time for bluster, this is not a Cold war rerun, and there are no easy answers nor a military solution.

Obama Calls For Russians To Reject the Losing Philosophies of the Cold War Posted: 26 Mar 2014 12:23 PM PDT Surrounded by the flags of his European allies, President Obama spoke from Brussels on Wednesday to make clear his (and their) position on Russia: no isolated nation, however big, can derail the ongoing push toward freedom. In some ways, the speech was a fuller articulation of the case that Obama made briefly during a news conference on Tuesday. In those comments, he criticized Russia's weakness, indicating that its violations of international law by annexing Crimea "indicate less influence, not more." That point became stronger when given from a stage in the capital of the European Union. "It was here in Europe," Obama said, "through centuries of struggle, through war and enlightenment, repression and revolution, that a particular set of ideals began to emerge." Among those ideals are "the belief that power is derived from the consent of the governed and that laws and institutions should be set up to protect that understanding." It was also Europe that was the inflection point for two significant challenges to those ideals, World War II and the Cold War.

Kuwait summit merely papers over Arab rifts Posted: 26 Mar 2014 11:46 AM PDT By Sylvia Westall and Amena Bakr KUWAIT (Reuters) - Arab leaders, at loggerheads over inter-Arab issues including Egypt and Syria, offered little evidence of progress after a two-day summit in Kuwait focused largely on avoiding further splits. Gulf opposition to Qatar's financial backing for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist rebels in Syria burst into the open last month when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain followed suit.

Iraq to try Kurdish officer for reporter's murder Posted: 26 Mar 2014 10:50 AM PDT A member of the Kurdish peshmerga force will be tried for the murder over the weekend of a prominent Iraqi journalist at a Baghdad checkpoint, a judicial spokesman said Wednesday. Mohammed Bidaiwi, Baghdad bureau chief for the US-funded Radio Free Iraq, was on his way to work Saturday near the presidential complex when he was shot dead during a heated argument with the officer. "It was decided to send the defendant to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, based on article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code," judicial spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said in a statement. The killing has sparked an uproar in Iraq, as it saw a member of the security forces of the autonomous Kurdish region fire on an Arab journalist.

When the president meets the pope Posted: 26 Mar 2014 10:30 AM PDT When President Barack Obama meets on Thursday at the Vatican with Pope Francis, it will be the 28th time that a sitting American president has met with the man who leads the Catholic Church and its estimated 1.2 billion faithful worldwide.

Public rifts at Arab summit likely to satisfy Iran and Syria Posted: 26 Mar 2014 09:34 AM PDT By Sylvia Westall and Amena Bakr KUWAIT (Reuters) - Arab leaders at odds over supporting Islamists in upheavals across the Middle East have proved in no mood to reconcile at a summit this week, an outcome likely to satisfy Syria and Iran in their rivalry with regional heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Heads of state assembled in Kuwait publicly acknowledged they needed to end quarrels that are exacerbating an already catastrophic war in Syria as well as turmoil in Egypt and Iraq. Behind the scenes tempers appeared too frayed for any possibility of joint Arab action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, or a common line on Tehran as it seeks detente with some Gulf neighbours and a thaw with the United States.

Iowa Senate Candidate Nails the Sarah Palin Sensibility Posted: 26 Mar 2014 09:12 AM PDT I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm," says the U.S. Senate candidate from Iowa in her first campaign ad, released on Tuesday. Today, Sarah Palin endorsed Ernst on her Facebook page, praising her "pork cutting" skills.  Ernst has Palin's backwoods, Mama Grizzly sensibility nailed in her first ad — Ernst notes she's a mother first. And she's not afraid to cut pork barrel spending in Washington.

Iraq PM warns of poll delay after election chiefs quit Posted: 26 Mar 2014 08:56 AM PDT Iraq's premier warned Wednesday that April legislative polls may be delayed as he pushed for a controversial election law to be amended after electoral chiefs suddenly quit complaining of political interference. The electoral officials are pressing for the same reform to the law ahead of the April 30 vote, amid doubts the polls can in any case be held countrywide as anti-government fighters still control a city on Baghdad's doorstep. Much is at stake as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki bids for a third term with his security credentials dented by a surge in violence to levels not seen since 2008, and as the country battles to rebuild its conflict-battered economy and boost oil production. Diplomats have said that even though the Independent High Electoral Commission's nine-member board resigned en masse on Tuesday, the vote was unlikely to be delayed as all major political parties had agreed it had to take place on time.

Arab states have little to show for tense Kuwait summit Posted: 26 Mar 2014 08:39 AM PDT By Sylvia Westall and Amena Bakr KUWAIT (Reuters) - Arab leaders, at loggerheads over inter-Arab issues including Egypt and Syria, offered little evidence of progress after a two-day summit in Kuwait on Wednesday. Gulf opposition to Qatar's financial backing for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islamist rebels in Syria burst into the open last month when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain followed suit.

Islamists bomb Shi'ite shrine in eastern Syria: activists Posted: 26 Mar 2014 08:26 AM PDT Islamist fighters from an al Qaeda splinter group bombed a large Shi'ite Muslim shrine in the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa on Wednesday, activists said. The mosque of Ammar bin Yassir and Oweis al-Qarni was once a destination for Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq before it was taken over a year ago by Sunni rebels battling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Another picture showed concrete and twisted metal strewn on the street outside the mosque - built under Assad's rule with support from Shi'ite Iran - while another showed an interior wall that had collapsed inward. Many fighters from ISIL and other radical Sunni Islamist groups in Syria deem Shi'ites as infidels and consider their shrines idolatrous, and therefore legitimate targets.

U.S. says U.N. report lays blame on Syria government for hindered aid Posted: 26 Mar 2014 08:26 AM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. report on how Syria's neediest civilians are often not accessible to humanitarian relief workers makes it clear that the government of President Bashar al-Assad shoulders most of the blame, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. A month after the 15-member U.N. Security Council achieved rare consensus to approve a resolution demanding rapid, safe and unhindered aid access in Syria, including across borders, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said in a new report that the situation "remains extremely challenging. His report, which was delivered to council members on Sunday but has not been officially released, criticized both the government and rebels for hindering access to civilians caught in the crossfire of the three-year civil war. But in Washington's view, Ban's report was especially damning for the government.

As Assad advances, Syria launches commercial airline Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:17 AM PDT By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) - A new Syrian airline plans to start flights from the war-torn country in May, a company manager told Reuters on Wednesday, following months of gains on the battlefield by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The launch of Kinda Airlines, a private company, illustrates how Assad has been able - in part - to weather the three-year conflict, securing the capital and areas of the Mediterranean coast even as rebels advance in the north and east. Esmail Sharaf, Vice Commercial Manager, told Reuters that Kinda Airlines will operate out of Damascus International airport and the coastal city of Latakia. It aims to fly to more than 10 destinations within a year, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, and "hopefully Lebanon and Jordan".

Brent oil rises above $107 on Nigerian supply cut Posted: 26 Mar 2014 05:12 AM PDT By David Sheppard LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil rose above $107 per barrel on Wednesday as a disruption in supply from Nigeria and Libya supported prices, while promising data from top consumer the United States also boosted investor sentiment. U.S. crude, known as West Texas Intermediate or WTI, climbed 33 cents to $99.52 a barrel, following Tuesday's loss of 41 cents. "Brent is supported by lower supplies from Nigeria and the sharp drop in Libyan output, but remains in a relatively narrow range," said Abhishek Deshpande, commodities analyst at Natixis in London. Royal Dutch Shell declared force majeure on Nigeria's Forcados crude exports on Tuesday due to a pipeline leak caused by oil theft, while Libyan output fell by about 80,000 barrels per day to around 150,000 bpd after the closure of a large oilfield.

South Korea drawn into Group A with host Australia Posted: 26 Mar 2014 04:44 AM PDT SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's prospects of winning the Asian Cup on home soil in 2015 became significantly more difficult when the Socceroos were grouped with 2002 World Cup semifinalist South Korea during Wednesday's draw at the Sydney Opera House.

Soccer-Hosts Australia draw South Korea in Asian Cup Posted: 26 Mar 2014 04:16 AM PDT (writes through with quotes, detail) * Hosts Australia grouped with South Korea * Champions Japan get Jordan and Iraq By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, March 26 (Reuters) - Hosts Australia were handed a tricky opening round at the 2015 Asian Cup finals when they were grouped with twice former champions South Korea, Oman and Kuwait in the draw at Sydney Opera House on Wednesday. The Socceroos open the tournament against Kuwait in Melbourne on Jan. 9 and will hope to be still in the reckoning when the final takes place 23 days later at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

Police raid suspected militants in Istanbul, five wounded Posted: 26 Mar 2014 03:38 AM PDT Turkish special forces raided buildings in Istanbul used by suspected members of an Islamist militant group active in neighboring Syria and Iraq late on Tuesday, leaving three policemen and two suspects wounded, police said. The five - including a man and a woman thought to belong to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - were hit after people in the buildings opened fire on security forces, police added. ISIL is among fragmented Islamist groups fighting against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in a three-year conflict. Ankara has repeatedly denied it is arming rebels inside Syria, but its highly publicised opposition to Assad has raised fears that Turkey may become a safe haven for Islamist militants battling against Damascus.

Spies Like Us: The NSA Is Intrusive and Incompetent Posted: 26 Mar 2014 02:45 AM PDT Public opinion has turned against the NSA. Even those who, like myself, have given the NSA the benefit of the doubt – assuming that government spooks are only doing what they must to protect us from terrorism – are starting to wonder. My biggest concern is not that spies are eavesdropping on what I'm planning for dinner – in this Internet age, I've relinquished any expectation of privacy – but rather that our intelligence efforts are misdirected or just plain incompetent. According to The Wall Street Journal, though satellites showed troops massing at the Ukraine border, intelligence analysts intercepted no communications from those planning to attack.

The Medal of Honor Disgrace Posted: 26 Mar 2014 02:45 AM PDT The system for military awards is broken. The Medal of Honor has been awarded only 13 times in more than a decade of conflict while deserving recipients are passed over.

Report details killing of bombing suspect's friend Posted: 26 Mar 2014 01:36 AM PDT ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Chechen mixed-martial-arts fighter grew increasingly agitated as he wrote a confession about his role in a 2011 triple slaying that got renewed attention after the Boston Marathon bombing, flipping a coffee table at an FBI agent and charging a Massachusetts State Police trooper with a pole before the agent shot him dead, according to an investigative report.

Syrian Peace Talks Are Dead Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:30 PM PDT The top negotiator for the Syrian Opposition Coalition tells The Daily Beast there will be no more peace talks in Geneva unless the regime drastically changes its tune.

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