Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Biden: US needs a 'rational' immigration policy
• Military did not support fixing Afghan exit date: U.S. commander
• GLOBAL INSTABILITY HAUNTS A SUMMER IDYLL
• World should help 'generous' Kurdistan: UN refugee chief
• Iraqi Kurds start pumping from seized oilfield: official
• APNewsBreak: Manning to begin gender treatment
• Glance: Airliners that have been shot down
• Ex-Panamanian dictator Noriega sues over video game portrayal
• US military didn't seek Afghan pullout in 2017
• US commander in Afghanistan sees 'significant' risk of Al Qaeda returning
• Baghdad blast claimed by Islamic State, suicide car bomb kill nine
• Divided panel backs training, arming Syrian rebels
• Factors contributing to child migration to U.S.
• From the Monitor Archives: The shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655
• Iranian commanders on front line of Iraq's fight
• Statement Regarding Department Of Defense Epilepsy Funding Announcement
• CIA station chief leaves Germany after expulsion order
• German foreign ministry says U.S. top spy has left the country
• Militants kill 14 Tunisian soldiers in mountain ambush
• Janet Yellen's Choice: Market Bubbles or More Jobs?
• Syria Kurds impose military service amid civil war
• Bomb attacks kill at least 12 in Iraq
• Covert war against Iran's nuclear scientists: a widow remembers
• To trim or not to trim? For Syrian men, beards matter under militant rule
• Oil surges to near $103 as US stockpiles fall
• Jihadists seize Syria gas field near Palmyra
• Islamists take gas field from Syrian government
• At least 14 Tunisian troops killed in mountain attack
• New sanctions hit Russian assets, spook world shares
• Bomb attacks kill at least 11 in Iraq
• Clay Tokens Used As 'Contracts' Even After Invention of Writing
• Bomb at Baghdad market kills at least 4
• At least 14 Tunisian troops killed in mountain ambushes
• How Obama’s Last 3 Lame-Duck Years Will Play Out
• Oil price above $102 after US inventories fall
• Inside The Secret CIA Museum
• Should online accounts die when you die?
• Obama: keep calm amid global turmoil
• Assange fumes as Australia tells him to 'man up'
• US yet to make big move to seek Gaza peace

Biden: US needs a 'rational' immigration policy Posted: 17 Jul 2014 04:32 PM PDT DETROIT (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden told protesters Thursday he shared their concern about the deportations of immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally.

Military did not support fixing Afghan exit date: U.S. commander Posted: 17 Jul 2014 03:36 PM PDT U.S. military officials would have preferred the United States not announce a date for ending its troop presence in Afghanistan, as the White House did in May, the outgoing commander of U.S. forces there said on Thursday. General Joe Dunford, commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, was asked at a Senate committee hearing whether President Barack Obama's announcement that almost all U.S. troops would be gone by 2017 had damaged morale among Afghan soldiers.

GLOBAL INSTABILITY HAUNTS A SUMMER IDYLL Posted: 17 Jul 2014 03:30 PM PDT Every summer when I return to this beautiful state, I think of the smart-aleck old saying, "God made Wisconsin so Chicagoans could enjoy themselves." The Badger State is more agriculturally luxurious than ever.

World should help 'generous' Kurdistan: UN refugee chief Posted: 17 Jul 2014 03:11 PM PDT Al-Khazar camp (Iraq) (AFP) - The head of the UN's refugee agency praised Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan for welcoming hundreds of thousands of displaced people and urged the world to offer it "massive" support. Antonio Guterres told reporters during a visit to the Al-Khazar camp for displaced Iraqis that he was "humbled by the generosity and the solidarity of the government and of the people of Kurdistan in this very difficult moment." People forced from their homes in Iraq's Nineveh governorate since a jihadist-led offensive that started on June 9 have fled en masse to neighbouring Kurdistan, which has remained largely stable. Guterres stressed that the autonomous region had already borne a heavy burden with an earlier influx of refugees from war-torn Syria and he added that the strain was made worse by the fact that the government in Baghdad had stopped sending Arbil its share of federal oil revenue.

Iraqi Kurds start pumping from seized oilfield: official Posted: 17 Jul 2014 03:01 PM PDT Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan on Thursday pumped an experimental 20,000 barrels of light crude from an oilfield recently seized from the federal authorities, an official said. It was the first time the Kurds pumped oil from Bai Hassan field -- 55 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the city Kirkuk and used to average 190,000 barrels per day -- since they claimed control of it on July 11, a senior source in the Iraqi North Oil company told AFP. The Kurdistan regional government encountered some difficulties connecting Bai Hassan to the Kurdish-run Kharmala Dome oil field, but will make another attempt on Friday, the official said.

APNewsBreak: Manning to begin gender treatment Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:46 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bureau of Prisons has rejected the Army's request to accept the transfer of national security leaker Pvt. Chelsea Manning from the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to a civilian facility where she could get better treatment for her gender-identify condition. The military will instead begin the initial treatment for her.

Glance: Airliners that have been shot down Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:46 PM PDT As unthinkable as shooting down an airliner with hundreds of passengers is, it has happened before. Among the most notable cases in recent decades were an Iranian plane shot down by the U.S. Navy and a South Korean airliner destroyed by a Russian fighter jet.

Ex-Panamanian dictator Noriega sues over video game portrayal Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:19 PM PDT Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is joining the league of world leaders and governments upset over their portrayals in movies and video games: He's suing the company behind the game "Call of Duty: Black Ops II." Mr. Noriega is suing Activision Blizzard Inc. for using his name and depiction without permission. Lampooning dictators and particularly colorful world leaders is regular fare for movies and video games.

US military didn't seek Afghan pullout in 2017 Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Military commanders did not recommend that the White House announce the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2017 as the president ordered, the top U.S. commander there told senators Thursday.

US commander in Afghanistan sees 'significant' risk of Al Qaeda returning Posted: 17 Jul 2014 01:41 PM PDT The current pace of withdrawal of US troops from the country "could result in Afghanistan forces being sustainable," Gen. Joseph Dunford told lawmakers, a phrase that fell short even of faint praise. There is an equally good chance, too, that even after 13 years of war, Afghanistan could revert back to being a safe haven for terrorists, he said. When asked to rate the possibility that Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters could migrate back to Afghanistan after US forces draw down and resume training operations in pre-9/11 mode, Dunford called that risk "significant."   He told senators, too, that he did not necessarily support President Obama's decision to announce a withdrawal date for US forces in Afghanistan.

Baghdad blast claimed by Islamic State, suicide car bomb kill nine Posted: 17 Jul 2014 12:36 PM PDT A suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State militant group killed three people on Thursday in the centre of Baghdad and a second bomb outside the Iraqi capital killed six people, police and medics said. The bomb in central Baghdad, claimed by the al Qaeda offshoot, exploded near the Shi'ite mosque of Abdullah bin Rawah in the main wholesale market of Shorja, the sources said. The Islamic State said on an affiliated Twitter feed that a man it called Abu Bakr al-Australi (the Australian) had detonated explosives in a vest he was wearing near the mosque. The other suicide bomber detonated an explosive-rigged car at a checkpoint on the northern exit from Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 18, most of them policemen, sources said.

Divided panel backs training, arming Syrian rebels Posted: 17 Jul 2014 12:17 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' deep reservations about President Barack Obama's push to train and arm vetted Syrian rebels were on full display Thursday as Democrats and Republicans on a Senate panel grudgingly backed the administration's plan.

Factors contributing to child migration to U.S. Posted: 17 Jul 2014 12:16 PM PDT Why are tens of thousands of children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras fleeing their homes to go on a dangerous journey to the United States, often without their parents or other relatives? The complex backdrop for the surge of children has embroiled President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress as they struggle to discourage the arrival of "unaccompanied minors" who are creating a humanitarian crisis on Texas' border with Mexico. The Obama administration estimates that around 90,000 children will arrive by the end of September and rise to 150,000 next year unless steps are taken to reverse the migration. Here are reasons cited by immigration experts and politicians for the rush of people under the age of 18 arriving in the United States illegally.

From the Monitor Archives: The shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 Posted: 17 Jul 2014 11:47 AM PDT The apparent shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines flight near the Russia-Ukraine border today, being blamed on Russian-backed separatists by Kiev, is a rare occurrence of civil aviation coming up against modern missiles. The Iranian commercial jetliner shot down Sunday over the Strait of Hormuz followed the same flight profile established by Iranian F-14 jets in recent days, according to a reliable source in the Gulf who asks not to be named. The source says the F-14s had a routine of approaching the US cruiser Vincennes, provoking a radioed warning, and then flying off in the week before the shootdown, the source says. The Iranian Airbus's transponder was either out of order or switched off, according to US officials.

Iranian commanders on front line of Iraq's fight Posted: 17 Jul 2014 11:19 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A powerful Iranian general has emerged as the chief tactician in Iraq's fight against Sunni militants, working on the front lines alongside 120 advisers from his country's Revolutionary Guard to direct Shiite militiamen and government forces in the smallest details of battle, militia commanders and government officials say.

Statement Regarding Department Of Defense Epilepsy Funding Announcement Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:55 AM PDT CHICAGO, July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "CURE applauds the announcement today from the U.S. Department of Defense – allocating $7.5 million dedicated to epilepsy research – and thanks Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) for his leadership on this issue. The incidence of epilepsy increased by an alarming 52 percent from 2006 to 2010, with approximately 8 percent of those afflicted having been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI)[1]. Twenty-four percent of military related epilepsy is associated with prior TBI. ...

CIA station chief leaves Germany after expulsion order Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:36 AM PDT The CIA station chief in Germany left the country on Thursday after Berlin's shock decision last week to demand his expulsion, the US and German governments said. "We are confirming that the individual who was asked to leave the country last week is no longer in Germany," a US embassy spokesman said. A German foreign ministry spokesman also confirmed the news that the US spy chief had left. The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung cited German and US government sources as saying that the man took a commercial flight from the western city of Frankfurt bound for the United States.

German foreign ministry says U.S. top spy has left the country Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:34 AM PDT BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA station chief in Berlin who was told to leave by Germany due to new allegations of U.S. spying has now left the country, a spokesman for Germany's foreign ministry said on Thursday. A U.S. official had previously told Reuters the spy would leave Germany by the end of the week. Last week, Berlin said it had discovered a suspected U.S. spy in the defense ministry - just days after a German foreign intelligence worker was arrested on suspicion of being a CIA informant and admitted passing documents to a U.S. contact. The scandal has cooled relations between Berlin and Washington to levels not seen since Merkel's predecessor opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Militants kill 14 Tunisian soldiers in mountain ambush Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:22 AM PDT Since April, thousands of Tunisian soldiers have been deployed the Chaambi region bordering Algeria in an operation to flush out al Qaeda-linked militants. Five more were shot." Colonel Major Souhail Chmangi, chief of army land forces, said. Tunisia has struggled with the rise of radical Islamist militants since the 2011 popular revolt ended the rule of autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and began its fragile steps towards democracy. Militants calling themselves Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade claimed responsibility on a social media site they often use.

Janet Yellen's Choice: Market Bubbles or More Jobs? Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:15 AM PDT All that seems to matter to the financial markets and the economy right now is what the Federal Reserve and its chair, Janet Yellen, has planned. This singular focus was on display this week during Yellen's semi-annual testimony to Congress, with the market following every side comment, intonation change and body language shift. Emotions are high, as evidenced by this well-publicized exchange on CNBC that summarizes the ongoing holy war between Fed apologists and easy-money skeptics. Those skeptics believe the Fed is inflating an asset price bubble, much larger than anything seen before, sowing the seeds of runaway inflation and the higher interest rates that will be needed to contain it, as well as the bank bailouts that will inevitably follow.

Syria Kurds impose military service amid civil war Posted: 17 Jul 2014 09:48 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's Kurds imposed compulsory military service for their men to ward off a push by Islamic extremists in the predominantly Kurdish areas in northern Syria, Kurdish officials said Thursday.

Bomb attacks kill at least 12 in Iraq Posted: 17 Jul 2014 09:19 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Two bomb attacks, one of which ripped through a sprawling Baghdad market, killed at least 12 people in Iraq on Thursday, officials said.

Covert war against Iran's nuclear scientists: a widow remembers Posted: 17 Jul 2014 09:06 AM PDT Iranian scientist Masoud Alimohammadi and his wife woke before dawn and prayed together. "He was a very precise person and always wanted everything to go smoothly," Mansoureh Karami recalls about her husband.  A remote-control bomb attached to a motorcycle nearby killed the particle physicist with a lethal spray of metal pellets, giving Iran its first "nuclear martyr" and sending shockwaves through Iran's scientific and nuclear community. By the time the fifth nuclear scientist was killed, it was less of a surprise. Those working on Iran's nuclear program had been watching their backs for years.

To trim or not to trim? For Syrian men, beards matter under militant rule Posted: 17 Jul 2014 08:02 AM PDT Scores of Syrian rebels are pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), a force that many once fought, underscoring the extremist group's rapid consolidation of territorial gains in Syria and Iraq.   The shift in military power means more business for Abdel Qader Mahzoud, a barber in the southeastern Turkish border town of Akcakale. His clientele are former fighters from other rebel groups, who now fear the wrath of IS, which has imposed harsh rules in areas under its control.

Oil surges to near $103 as US stockpiles fall Posted: 17 Jul 2014 07:14 AM PDT The price of oil surged to near $103 a barrel Thursday after a U.S. inventories report showed a larger-than-expected drop in crude oil supplies.

Jihadists seize Syria gas field near Palmyra Posted: 17 Jul 2014 07:08 AM PDT Jihadists on Thursday seized a gas field in the desert region of Palmyra, in central Syria, a monitoring group and the governor of Homs said. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Islamic State (IS) fighters on Thursday morning attacked the Shaar gas field, east of the ancient site of Palmyra, killing 23 guards. "The fate of 340 National Defence Force (paramilitary) members, guards, engineers and employees who were in the field, is unknown, as they were either taken prisoner, wounded or captured during the operation," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. The operation, he added, was the Islamic State's "most important so far against the government" of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

Islamists take gas field from Syrian government Posted: 17 Jul 2014 07:01 AM PDT Militant group the Islamic state seized a Syrian gas field and killed at least 23 people on Thursday in one of the bloodiest clashes between the al Qaeda offshoot and President Bashar al-Assad's forces, a monitoring group said. The Islamic State has been making rapid gains in Syria in recent weeks, mostly by seizing territory from rival rebel groups using weaponry brought in from Iraq, where last month it managed to take large areas from government forces. Activists say the Syrian air force has in recent weeks stepped up attacks on positions held by the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

At least 14 Tunisian troops killed in mountain attack Posted: 17 Jul 2014 06:44 AM PDT Since April, thousands of Tunisian soldiers have been deployed to the Chaambi range bordering Algeria in an operation to flush out al Qaeda-linked militants seeking refuge there, some since fleeing French intervention in Mali last year. Militants ambushed the checkpoints on Wednesday night, killing the soldiers as they were breaking their fast for the evening during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Defence Ministry said. Five more were shot." said Col. Major Souhail Chmangi, chief of army land forces. Tunisia's stock market dropped 0.33 percent after the news of the deaths.

New sanctions hit Russian assets, spook world shares Posted: 17 Jul 2014 05:28 AM PDT By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - A tightening of Western sanctions on Russia rattled world markets on Thursday, sending Moscow stocks and the rouble tumbling and lifting traditional safe-haven currencies and bonds. The new U.S. sanctions announced late on Wednesday effectively shut off longer-term dollar funding for companies close to President Vladimir Putin. European Union leaders agreed to target Russian firms that help destabilize Ukraine, and to block new loans to Russia through two development banks. Such measures had been threatened for weeks, but the decision to push ahead unsettled investors who had questioned the appetite to do so, especially in Europe.

Bomb attacks kill at least 11 in Iraq Posted: 17 Jul 2014 05:27 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Two bomb attacks, one of which ripped through a sprawling Baghdad market, killed at least 11 people in Iraq on Thursday, officials said.

Clay Tokens Used As 'Contracts' Even After Invention of Writing Posted: 17 Jul 2014 05:16 AM PDT Archaeologists in Turkey recently unearthed what they say is proof that, thousands of years after the invention of a formal writing system, the ancient people of the Middle East continued to use a more primitive way of recording information: clay tokens. Researchers at Ziyaret Tepe — the site of the ancient provincial capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire — recently discovered nearly 500 of these tokens, which they think were once used by administrators as part of an ancient "bookkeeping" system. It has long been believed that clay tokens, which were often used to represent units of commodities such as livestock or grain, were only circulated in the period leading up to around 3,000 B.C., when they were replaced by a more elaborate writing system, called cuneiform script. The Neo-Assyrian Empire lasted from about 900 B.C. to 600 B.C., and at its height, grew to become a vast and powerful state.

Bomb at Baghdad market kills at least 4 Posted: 17 Jul 2014 04:20 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb hidden in a wooden cart exploded near a Shiite mosque in one of Baghdad's largest markets Thursday, killing at least four people, officials said.

At least 14 Tunisian troops killed in mountain ambushes Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:46 AM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - At least 14 Tunisian troops were killed when gunmen attacked checkpoints in the remote Chaambi mountains, the deadliest militant strike on the North African country's armed forces. Since April, thousands of Tunisian soldiers have been deployed to the Chaambi range bordering Algeria in an operation to flush out al Qaeda-linked militants seeking refuge there, some since fleeing French intervention in Mali last year. The gunmen attacked as the soldiers were breaking their fast for the evening during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Defence Ministry said. Tunisia has struggled with the rise of radical Islamist militants since the 2011 popular revolt ended the rule of autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and began its fragile steps towards democracy.

How Obama’s Last 3 Lame-Duck Years Will Play Out Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:30 AM PDT Normally, midterm elections provide voters a scorecard for their assessment of an administration's performance. Barack Obama's recent attempts to shift blame shows that the White House grasps his declining popularity and credibility, but Obama has made himself rather than voter priorities the centerpiece of the White House message in the midterms – and that bodes ill for the next two years.  To some extent, Obama has followed this strategy since losing the House in 2010, and even before that. When his big economic stimulus didn't turn the economy around, Obama blamed the George W. Bush administration's policies and claimed that he and his team didn't understand the depth of the hole from which they had to start.

Oil price above $102 after US inventories fall Posted: 17 Jul 2014 02:17 AM PDT The price of oil rose above $102 per barrel Thursday after a U.S. inventories report showed a larger-than-expected drop in crude oil supplies.

Inside The Secret CIA Museum Posted: 17 Jul 2014 01:50 AM PDT Osama bin Laden's assault rifle. A singed al-Qaeda training manual. A desiccated rat corpse designed to pass secret messages. A letter from an American operative on a sheet of Adolf Hitler's personal stationery. A painting of the real story behind "Argo." And a remote-controlled robotic dragonfly that may be the ancestor of today's drones.

Should online accounts die when you die? Posted: 17 Jul 2014 12:29 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Should your emails, web albums and other online accounts die when you do? Or should you be able to pass them down to a family member much as you would a house or a box of letters?

Obama: keep calm amid global turmoil Posted: 16 Jul 2014 11:42 PM PDT President Barack Obama has a simple message for critics who charge that cascading global crises have left his foreign policy flatfooted and US power enfeebled. Obama, who won re-election posing as a war-ending, Osama bin Laden-dispatching statesman, is facing increasingly caustic reviews of his leadership as the Middle East unravels in fire and blood and rising powers challenge US resolve across the globe. We live in a complex world and at a challenging time," Obama said, after appearing in the White House Briefing Room on Wednesday to discuss Iran, Ukraine, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Assange fumes as Australia tells him to 'man up' Posted: 16 Jul 2014 10:21 PM PDT WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Thursday reacted angrily after Australia's attorney-general said he should be "man enough" to face Swedish sexual assault allegations. The Australian, who has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London for more than two years, lost a court bid on Wednesday to get a Swedish arrest warrant against him scrapped. Australian Attorney-General George Brandis told ABC radio the 43-year-old should deal with the claims against him. "I think Mr Assange should be man enough to face the allegations against him of being a sexual predator," he said.

US yet to make big move to seek Gaza peace Posted: 16 Jul 2014 08:56 PM PDT The United States stuck to arm's length diplomacy Wednesday even as the battle of Gaza saw Palestinian children cut down on the seashore and fresh volleys of Hamas rockets streak toward Israel. Whether it is fatigue with Middle East peace making, a paucity of partners to pressure Hamas into concessions or the fact that its focus is elsewhere, the Obama administration has yet to throw itself wholeheartedly into an effort to end the violence. Washington, a key player in the 2012 ceasefire deal that ended a previous similar showdown, has shown no sign of pressuring Israel to back off, even as the Palestinian death toll has topped 220.

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