Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Photos compare school lunches around the world
• Jurors hear dramatic hostage tale at U.S. trial of London imam
• Senate Republicans call for VA secretary to resign
• Maryam Rajavi: UN Security Council Must Investigate Ward 350 Evin Prison Attack and Group Executions in Iran
• Republican senators call on Veterans Affairs chief to resign
• World Cup security compared with Iraq, Afghanistan
• New Kurdish opposition group calls for Iran dialogue
• Saudi Arabia says uncovers al Qaeda cell plotting attacks
• Hagel warns Americans of the risks of isolationism
• How Saudi aid made a construction worker a top Syrian rebel commander
• Bombings kill 5 soldiers in Iraq
• Suspect in Ohio vets hospital shooting in court
• Saudi dismantles 'terror' group
• Jon Stewart Exposes Fox News' Hypocrisy over Benghazi
• House GOP budget spares weapons, military benefits
• Bomb in Syria's Idlib kills 30 government fighters: monitoring group
• Go For the Food: Rhode Island's taste of summer
• Libya Is Now Terrorist Woodstock
• Merkel Could Stub Her Toe Dancing with Two Partners
• Is Obama Wrong on Ukraine?
• Motive sought in shooting at Ohio vets hospital

Photos compare school lunches around the world Posted: 06 May 2014 04:23 PM PDT SEATTLE (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama is on a mission to make American school lunches healthier by replacing greasy pizza and french fries with whole grains, low fat protein, fresh fruit and vegetables.

Jurors hear dramatic hostage tale at U.S. trial of London imam Posted: 06 May 2014 04:06 PM PDT By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - As volleys of gunfire rang out across the desert, the kidnapper stared at his captives and said, "It's goodbye to you all." Margaret Thompson, an American tourist held at gunpoint, wasn't sure what would happen next. "I hoped it meant they were getting ready to release us," she testified on Tuesday at the U.S. terror trial of former London cleric Abu Hamza. "But I feared it meant we were all going to die." Her harrowing account of the kidnapping by Yemeni militants in 1998 transfixed a federal jury in New York, where Abu Hamza is charged with providing the kidnappers with advice and a satellite phone. Prosecutors plan to call their final witness on Wednesday: Mary Quin, another hostage, who interviewed Abu Hamza at his north London mosque nearly two years after the kidnapping about his alleged involvement.

Senate Republicans call for VA secretary to resign Posted: 06 May 2014 02:50 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Three Senate Republicans called Tuesday for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign, following allegations of corruption and avoidable deaths at a veterans' hospital in Phoenix.

Maryam Rajavi: UN Security Council Must Investigate Ward 350 Evin Prison Attack and Group Executions in Iran Posted: 06 May 2014 02:15 PM PDT PARIS, May 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a meeting at the French National Assembly on Tuesday, May 6, the Iranian opposition leader, Maryam Rajavi, detailed a litany of extensive and unabated human rights abuses in Iran. "The regime is exploiting visits by European parliamentary and trade delegations to Iran to tell the Iranian people and political prisoners that despite the killings and suppression inside Iran, the West is standing with the mullahs," Mrs. Rajavi said. The meeting at the French National Assembly was organized by the parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran," comprised of parliamentarians from various political groups who addressed the meeting.

Republican senators call on Veterans Affairs chief to resign Posted: 06 May 2014 02:13 PM PDT Two Republican senators on Tuesday joined veterans groups in calling for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign amid claims that up to 40 people died while waiting for treatment in the U.S. veterans' healthcare system. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, said the Veterans Affairs Department needed a "true transformation ... from top to bottom." "I ask the secretary to submit his resignation and I ask President (Barack) Obama to accept that resignation," Moran said on the Senate floor. Assistant Senate Republican leader John Cornyn said: "The president needs to find a new leader to lead this organization out of the wilderness, and back to providing the service our veterans deserve." But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid defended Shinseki, calling him "a fine man," and saying that allegations about the VA need to be investigated. Veterans Affairs is the U.S. biggest healthcare system, including 1,700 hospitals, clinics and other facilities with nearly 9 million people enrolled.

World Cup security compared with Iraq, Afghanistan Posted: 06 May 2014 11:47 AM PDT Brazilian Sports Aldo Rebelo admitted Tuesday the World Cup faced "serious" security problems -- but said the country would not be as dangerous as warzones like Iraq or Afghanistan. "We all have our tragedies and challenges, serious problems relating to security," said Rebelo as he embarked upon a hyperbolic offensive to defend Brazil, racing to be ready to host the Cup from June 12. "I think Brazil is far less exposed to this kind of religious and nationalistic violence," which has affected countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Rebelo said in a Rio address. "I don't think the English will confront greater threats in Manaus than in the Iraqi provinces or Afghanistan, where they recently lost hundreds of young soldiers" over the past decade, Rebelo added.

New Kurdish opposition group calls for Iran dialogue Posted: 06 May 2014 10:52 AM PDT Khoran (Iraq) (AFP) - Leaders from a Kurdish rebel group that has battled Iranian forces have announced the formation of a new organisation and called for dialogue with Tehran. The leaders from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) held a news conference in the village of Khoran in a mountainous area of northern Iraq, where it has bases, on Monday to announce their new group. They dubbed it the "Organisation of Free and Democratic Society for East Kurdistan," abbreviated to KODAR. "We will try to address the problems with Tehran on the path of dialogue," the new group's leader Rizan Javid told AFP.

Saudi Arabia says uncovers al Qaeda cell plotting attacks Posted: 06 May 2014 10:10 AM PDT By Rania El Gamal and Yara Bayoumy RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has detained 62 suspected al Qaeda militants with links to radicals in Syria and Yemen who were plotting attacks on government and foreign targets in the kingdom, its Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. The world's No. 1 oil exporter is increasingly concerned that Syria's civil war is radicalizing more of its own citizens and has announced tough new measures to counter militancy. The 62 represent the largest group of people said by authorities to have been detained on suspicion of Islamist militancy for at least two years in the conservative Islamic kingdom, which has imprisoned thousands over the past decade in its battle against al Qaeda. Some 35 of the detainees had previously been held by the Saudi authorities on security charges before being released, Major General Mansour Turki, the Interior Ministry's security spokesman, told a televised news conference.

Hagel warns Americans of the risks of isolationism Posted: 06 May 2014 09:39 AM PDT US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday warned Americans against isolationism, saying the United States could not afford to turn away from the world's crises. Hagel's appeal coincides with a growing fatigue at home with the country's international commitments, after 13 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon chief acknowledged Americans were wary of foreign commitments but said the costs of pulling back from the world would carry even bigger risks.

How Saudi aid made a construction worker a top Syrian rebel commander Posted: 06 May 2014 09:26 AM PDT As the US agonizes over which moderate Syrian rebel force it can comfortably support with its own money and weapons, the Saudis have already picked their man. In a mere three years, their deep pockets have propelled Jamal Maarouf, a former construction worker to become one of the most powerful rebel commanders in Syria's civil war. Mr. Maarouf emerged in 2011 as the leader of the Jabal al-Zawiyah Martyrs Brigade, a modest fighting force of some 40 men. By 2012 he had secured the patronage of Saudi Arabia – and the money, guns, foreign contacts, and allegiances from other rebels that the Saudi connection enabled. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have poured money, trainers, and volunteers into rebel hands.

Bombings kill 5 soldiers in Iraq Posted: 06 May 2014 08:24 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Two separate bombings have killed five soldiers around the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, authorities say.

Suspect in Ohio vets hospital shooting in court Posted: 06 May 2014 07:50 AM PDT DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A man suspected of shooting an Ohio veterans hospital housekeeping employee in the ankle was scheduled for a federal court hearing on Tuesday.

Saudi dismantles 'terror' group Posted: 06 May 2014 06:48 AM PDT Saudi Arabia has dismantled a "terrorist organisation" that was plotting attacks against government installations and foreign interests, the interior ministry announced Wednesday. Members of the organisation have "links with extremist elements in Syria and Yemen," it said, adding that authorities are still hunting down 44 others whose names have been submitted to Interpol. The statement said "suspicious activities on social networks" had facilitated the arrests, without providing further details. The interior ministry in March published a list of "terror" groups, including Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Nusra Front, which is Al-Qaeda's official Syrian affiliate, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, another jihadist group fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Jon Stewart Exposes Fox News' Hypocrisy over Benghazi Posted: 06 May 2014 05:47 AM PDT Last week, new documents from the White House revealed that the Obama administration did in fact seek to alter talking points on Benghazi when officials discussed the tragedy on television. As with any new Benghazi development, you can bet that Fox News was all over it.  On The Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart went through Fox News' "outrage" over the "smoking gun" that is these new emails from White House officials. Stewart explained what these documents mean: "The White House had politics and elections on their mind when they sent Susan Rice to the Sunday shows.

House GOP budget spares weapons, military benefits Posted: 06 May 2014 04:02 AM PDT House Republicans spare aircraft, bases and personnel benefits from defense budget cuts by chipping away at money the Pentagon spends in preparing the military for war. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, ...

Bomb in Syria's Idlib kills 30 government fighters: monitoring group Posted: 06 May 2014 03:18 AM PDT About 30 Syrian government fighters were killed when rebels set off a bomb in a tunnel beneath a checkpoint in a northwestern province, activists said on Tuesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said the blast took place outside the town of Ma'arat al-Nu'man in the northwestern Idlib province.

Go For the Food: Rhode Island's taste of summer Posted: 06 May 2014 03:03 AM PDT PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — If summer in Rhode Island has a taste, it's lemon — or, rather, Del's Frozen Lemonade.

Libya Is Now Terrorist Woodstock Posted: 06 May 2014 02:45 AM PDT Leaders from at least three of al Qaeda's most virulent affiliates are now in Libya. What are they planning there?

Merkel Could Stub Her Toe Dancing with Two Partners Posted: 06 May 2014 02:30 AM PDT On Sunday, just two days after meeting with President Obama in Washington, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone to stress the importance of "effective international action" to ease tensions in Ukraine.  The latter part of the call was likely more important to Merkel than anything happening in Ukraine. Russia supplies about one third of European natural gas, and European payments for Russian energy make up some 40 percent of Russia's state budget. Germany, as Europe's biggest economy, is the one country that could hold Putin's feet to the fire by calling for sanctions on Russia's energy sector.

Is Obama Wrong on Ukraine? Posted: 06 May 2014 12:00 AM PDT "What Would America Fight For?" While most agree that America would fight to defend her treaty allies and to protect vital interests if imperiled, the question is raised by President Obama's reticence in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria. Asked in Manila how he answers critics who say his foreign policy appears to be one of "weakness," the president, stung, replied: "Typically, criticism of our foreign policy has been directed at the failure to use military force.

Motive sought in shooting at Ohio vets hospital Posted: 05 May 2014 11:19 PM PDT DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine what led to a shooting at a Veterans Affairs hospital in which a housekeeping employee suffered an ankle wound and a retired worker was taken into custody.

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