Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• US mulls 'all options' as militants move nearer Baghdad
• Iraq unrest: Insurgents could have big impact on oil prices
• U.S. contractors in Iraq relocated due to security concerns
• Brazil’s Sushi Samba
• Obama: US will send fresh help to beleaguered Iraq
• Minneapolis FBI probes Somali-Americans fighting Assad in Syria
• EMERGING CIVIL WAR IN MIDEAST HAS FRIGHTENING IMPLICATIONS
• US companies evacuating Iraqi air base, say officials
• Hundreds of Iraqis flee Islamic militant advance
• Fear, sectarianism behind Iraq army collapse
• New Mexico council votes to rename Kit Carson Park
• What It's Like to Watch the World Cup at the United Nations
• Obama hints at military action in Iraq. Are airstrikes the only option?
• Clinton defends initial resistance to gay marriage
• Wall St. slides on concerns about Iraq
• Hillary Takes on the World
• Oil prices jump on Iraq anxiety, stocks fall
• Stocks fall on so-so economic news, Iraq turmoil
• Obama warns of U.S. action as jihadists push on Baghdad
• Iraq violence threatens OPEC's precarious balance
• Russia submits draft Ukraine resolution at UN
• Resources help TSX overcome soft U.S. data
• George H.W. Bush birthday: five things about him you didn't know (or forgot)
• Twitter and Delta are big market movers
• Sunni militants vow to march on Iraqi capital
• Stocks fall on weak economic reports, Iraq turmoil
• What is going on in Iraq and why?
• Biden calls Iraqi leader, says US ready to help
• UN Security Council calls for urgent dialogue in Iraq
• US stocks drop as Iraq violence worsens
• Biden pledges accelerated U.S. support for Iraq
• Mercy Corps Assesses Urgent Humanitarian Need in Iraq as Hundreds of Thousands Flee Fighting

US mulls 'all options' as militants move nearer Baghdad Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:46 PM PDT Jihadists moved nearer to Baghdad Thursday after capturing a town just hours to the north, as President Barack Obama said Washington was exploring all options to save Iraq's security forces from collapse. With the militants closing in on the capital, forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region took control of Kirkuk, an ethnically divided northern city they have sought to rule for decades against the objections of successive governments in Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosyhar Zebari acknowledged the security forces which Washington invested billions in training and equipping before withdrawing its own troops in 2011, had simply melted away.

Iraq unrest: Insurgents could have big impact on oil prices Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:44 PM PDT The idea of volatility is returning to global energy markets, brought on by an Islamist insurgency that is threatening the political stability of oil-rich Iraq. Oil prices jumped Thursday on news of rapid advances by the Al Qaeda-inspired group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). At issue is how vulnerable are the oil supplies from Iraq, one of the world's important producers. But the Iraq news is also adding to pressures that have surfaced elsewhere in the world, from Libya to Venezuela.

U.S. contractors in Iraq relocated due to security concerns Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:40 PM PDT Top U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp on Thursday said it was evacuating about two dozen employees from northern Iraq due to security concerns, and the U.S. State Department said other companies were relocating their workers as well. "We can confirm that U.S. citizens, under contract to the Government of Iraq, in support of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program in Iraq, are being temporarily relocated by their companies due to security concerns in the area," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. "The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Iraq remain open and continue to operate on a normal status," Psaki said.

Brazil’s Sushi Samba Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:30 PM PDT The home team eked out a win in the World Cup opening match, with a little help from the Japanese ref.

Obama: US will send fresh help to beleaguered Iraq Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:20 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is weighing a range of short-term military options, including airstrikes, to quell an al-Qaida inspired insurgency that has captured two Iraqi cities and threatened to press toward Baghdad, less than three years after pulling American forces out of Iraq.

Minneapolis FBI probes Somali-Americans fighting Assad in Syria Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:15 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating men of Somali background who have traveled from the Minneapolis-St Paul area to Syria to fight with Islamist groups against President Bashar al-Assad, an FBI spokesman said on Thursday. Kyle Loven, a spokesman for the FBI's Minneapolis office, said in the last few months the Bureau had received information indicating that 10 to 15 men from the region's large Somali community had traveled to Syria.

EMERGING CIVIL WAR IN MIDEAST HAS FRIGHTENING IMPLICATIONS Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:01 PM PDT WASHINGTON -- If our government was surprised this week, when 12,000 troops of the Sunni extremist movement suddenly swept down from the north of Iraq and knocked over cities as big as Mosul as though they were bowling pins, it should certainly not have been. When you wake up Monday or Tuesday and see the newspaper headlines bannering "Insurgents March on Baghdad" or "Iraqi Army Take Off Uniforms and Fade Away," you wonder if there's an international 911. It seems like only yesterday that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were assuring us that "taking Baghdad" would need a mere six months. After we swept away the flowers the grateful Iraqis were pelting us with, their oil wealth would pay for a brief occupation and the "new democratic Iraq." Only then would we give Afghanistan our full attention.

US companies evacuating Iraqi air base, say officials Posted: 12 Jun 2014 03:58 PM PDT US companies were Thursday evacuating hundreds of Americans working with the Iraqi government from a major air base, US officials said, as Islamic militants swept towards Baghdad. A US defense official confirmed that "a few hundred" American contractors from Balad air base, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the capital, were being moved to Baghdad for security reasons. "We can confirm that US citizens under contract to the government of Iraq in support of the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program in Iraq are being temporarily relocated by their companies due to security concerns in the area," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Militants are closing fast on the capital Baghdad after sweeping up a huge swath of predominantly Sunni Arab territory in northern and north-central Iraq since launching their offensive in the second city of Mosul late on Monday.

Hundreds of Iraqis flee Islamic militant advance Posted: 12 Jun 2014 03:48 PM PDT KALAK, Iraq (AP) — Hundreds of Iraqi men, women and children crammed into vehicles fled their homes Thursday, fearing clashes, kidnapping and rape after Islamic militants seized large swathes of northern Iraq.

Fear, sectarianism behind Iraq army collapse Posted: 12 Jun 2014 03:27 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — The video, set to sweetly lilting religious hymns, is chilling. Islamic militants are shown knocking on the door of a Sunni police major in the dead of night in an Iraqi city. When he answers, they blindfold and cuff him. Then they carve off his head with a knife in his own bedroom.

New Mexico council votes to rename Kit Carson Park Posted: 12 Jun 2014 03:18 PM PDT TAOS, N.M. (AP) — A northern New Mexico town council has voted to change the name of Kit Carson Park over concerns by critics that the famed scout and explorer was cruel to American Indians.

What It's Like to Watch the World Cup at the United Nations Posted: 12 Jun 2014 03:15 PM PDT Sure, you can go to any bar in New York City to catch the World Cup, but what better place to watch the first beautiful game of the 2014 tournament than the place where the world comes to settle its other differences? The overwhelming majority were Brazil fans, and the vast majority of those were wearing their bright yellow jerseys over work shirts or underneath blazers. He was actually in Brazil for this very game.  RELATED: Two More Women Found Hanging From Trees in India These are mainly Brazil supporters.

Obama hints at military action in Iraq. Are airstrikes the only option? Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:46 PM PDT The stunning advance of Sunni militants who threaten to plunge Iraq into a Syria-style civil war is ringing Washington's alarm bells over the region and posing the strongest challenge yet to President Obama's assertion that under his presidency the US has responsibly ended its Middle East wars. The White House has said little since Mosul, a major northern Iraqi city, was seized Tuesday by forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). On Thursday Mr. Obama suggested the deterioration in Iraq in recent days would prompt military assistance to the Iraqi government, though he did not spell out what form the aid would take. "I do not rule out anything, because we do have a stake in making sure these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria," Mr. Obama said after an Oval Office meeting with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Clinton defends initial resistance to gay marriage Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:41 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton tersely defended her initial opposition to gay marriage, denying in a radio interview that political reasons were behind her shift last year to supporting same-sex marriage. She accused the host of the show of "playing with my words."

Wall St. slides on concerns about Iraq Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:29 PM PDT By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as concerns escalated about Iraq and after disappointing economic data on retail sales and jobless claims. The three major U.S. stock indexes ended off their session lows. With the day's decline, though, the S&P 500 was down for three straight sessions for the first time since early April. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 100 points for the second day in a row. ...

Hillary Takes on the World Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:25 PM PDT Putin, Syria, the disintegration of Iraq… Hillary Clinton candidly discussed all the major policy areas she oversaw as the 67th Secretary of State at a packed-to-capacity event at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Oil prices jump on Iraq anxiety, stocks fall Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:22 PM PDT By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices hit a nine-month high on Thursday on supply concerns and equities sold off as violence threatened stability in Iraq. Crude jumped after Iraqi Kurdish forces took control of the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, in the face of a triumphant Sunni Islamist rebel march towards Baghdad that threatens Iraq's future as a unified state. President Barack Obama did not rule out U.S. action against the militants. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB index rose 1.1 percent, the most in two months.

Stocks fall on so-so economic news, Iraq turmoil Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:16 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — A combination of so-so economic news and violence in Iraq helped push the stock market sharply lower Thursday.

Obama warns of U.S. action as jihadists push on Baghdad Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:59 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed and Isabel Coles BAGHDAD/ARBIL (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday threatened U.S. military strikes in Iraq against Sunni Islamist militants who have surged out of the north to menace Baghdad and want to establish their own state in Iraq and Syria. Iraqi Kurdish forces took advantage of the chaos to take control of the oil hub of Kirkuk as the troops of the Shi'ite-led government abandoned posts, alarming Baghdad's allies both in the West and in neighboring Shi'ite regional power Iran. "I don't rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria," Obama said at the White House when asked whether he was contemplating air strikes.

Iraq violence threatens OPEC's precarious balance Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:10 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — The upheaval in Iraq could throw the world's remarkably stable oil market out of balance, threatening a delicate equilibrium that has kept prices steady for much of the last four years.

Russia submits draft Ukraine resolution at UN Posted: 12 Jun 2014 02:05 PM PDT United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russia submitted a draft resolution on Ukraine at the Security Council Thursday demanding that the United Nations play a greater role in resolving the crisis, and accused Kiev of using white phosphorus. Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he introduced the draft at closed-door consultations that focused on Iraq, adding that it had been met with "some support" and "some suggestions." Currently chaired by Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been at the forefront of attempts to try to resolve the crisis. In May, the OSCE drew up a plan to help bring the pro-Western Kiev authorities and pro-Moscow militants in the southeast to the negotiating table but no progress has been made in several rounds of dialogue that excluded the armed separatists.

Resources help TSX overcome soft U.S. data Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:52 PM PDT By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged higher on Thursday as a jump in shares of energy and gold-mining companies helped offset broader market weakness fueled by sluggish U.S. economic data. U.S. retail sales growth missed expectations in May and first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week, data showed. Increasing violence in Iraq heightened worries of a broader conflict, but those same concerns helped boost oil prices to a three-month high. On the Toronto market, shares of energy producers climbed 1.7 percent, with Suncor Energy Inc jumping 2.8 percent to C$45.44 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd adding 1.8 percent to C$47.06.

George H.W. Bush birthday: five things about him you didn't know (or forgot) Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:40 PM PDT President George H.W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday on Thursday by jumping out of a helicopter near his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Fulfilling a vow he made five years ago, Bush 41 made a tandem parachute jump from 6,000 feet with a retired member of the Army's Golden Knights parachute team, Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott. Mr. Bush, who now has little use of his legs, pitched forward upon hitting the ground.

Twitter and Delta are big market movers Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:36 PM PDT Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc., up $9.05 to $80.40 There's some momentum ...

Sunni militants vow to march on Iraqi capital Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:35 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic militants who seized cities and towns vowed Thursday to march on Baghdad to settle old scores, joined by Saddam Hussein-era loyalists and other disaffected Sunnis capitalizing on the government's political paralysis over the biggest threat to Iraq's stability since the U.S. withdrawal.

Stocks fall on weak economic reports, Iraq turmoil Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:27 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — A combination of so-so economic news and violence in Iraq helped push the stock market sharply lower Thursday.

What is going on in Iraq and why? Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:15 PM PDT An al-Qaida breakaway group, apparently backed by other Sunni groups and fighters, has seized a large section of northern Iraq after previously taking much of northeastern Syria with an eye toward establishing an Islamic state straddling the two countries. The situation on the ground is changing rapidly, but some patterns and explanations are now emerging:

Biden calls Iraqi leader, says US ready to help Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:14 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says Vice President Joe Biden told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the United States is prepared to intensify and accelerate support for Iraq's security in the face of advances by Islamic insurgents.

UN Security Council calls for urgent dialogue in Iraq Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:10 PM PDT United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Thursday demanded urgent inclusive dialogue in Iraq and condemned "terrorist" activities, but stopped short of mulling action against militants advancing on Baghdad. The Council met for two hours behind closed doors as Kurds captured the contested oil city of Kirkuk and the United States contemplated air strikes to bolster Iraq's collapsing army. The 15 members expressed unanimous support for the government and people of Iraq in their fight against terrorism and called for broad-based dialogue, said rotating president Russia. "This is a great opportunity for a fresh start in having an all-inclusive political dialogue and also in resolving the multitude of issues," Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

US stocks drop as Iraq violence worsens Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:07 PM PDT Wall Street stocks Thursday fell decisively on escalating violence in Iraq that pushed US oil prices to their highest level in nearly nine months. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 110.43 points (0.66 percent) to 16,733.45. With the militants approaching the capital, forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region took control of disputed northern oil hub of Kirkuk to protect it from jihadist attack, officials said. "It's all about the Iraq situation," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said of the drop in US equities.

Biden pledges accelerated U.S. support for Iraq Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday that the United States is prepared to intensify and accelerate security support and cooperation with Iraq, the White House said. Biden, in a phone call to Maliki, expressed U.S. solidarity with Iraq in its fight against insurgents who have made gains against Iraqi forces in northern Iraq. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Mercy Corps Assesses Urgent Humanitarian Need in Iraq as Hundreds of Thousands Flee Fighting Posted: 12 Jun 2014 12:59 PM PDT PORTLAND, Ore., June 12, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The global humanitarian agency Mercy Corps has mobilized a team to assess the humanitarian situation in Iraq near the cities of Mosul and Tikrit. According to the United Nations, over the last few days some 500,000 civilians have fled intense fighting in the area.  The agency is calling on the international community to immediately allocate funds as Mercy Corps and other non-governmental organizations mount a humanitarian response. As new refugee camps fill, we expect there will also be a need to rapidly ramp up psychosocial programming for children and adolescents," says Steve Claborne, Iraq country director for Mercy Corps. "But we must act quickly before humanitarian conditions deteriorate completely. Not only are people trapped in bottlenecks as they flee to safety, but also they are contending with harsh weather as temperatures soar well over 100 degrees." "We applaud the Kurdistan Regional Government for allowing civilians forced to abandon their homes to seek safety within the region and for facilitating humanitarian access to those who need our help," says Claborne. "Iraq is already hosting some 200,000 refugees from Syria, and meeting the needs of thousands of internally displaced civilians will stretch already scarce resources even further."

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