Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Malaysia flight's chosen route through dangerous hot zone not unusual
• Obama says Europe should see downed jet as 'wake-up call'
• Clinton papers: Iraq, bin Laden and Supreme Court
• CIA To Start Using Amazon Cloud System
• Jihadist ultimatum sparks Christian exodus from Iraq's Mosul
• Why Is There So Much Turmoil Right Now? Understanding the Outbreak of Conflicts
• Lebanon's Hariri calls for lawmakers to elect a president
• Iraq recalls envoy to Jordan after opposition meets in Amman
• Obama hits reset button on wobbly public response to Malaysia Airlines shootdown
• Malaysia jet tragedy: How do airlines traverse war zones?
• Why were commercial planes still flying over Ukraine?
• AP Analysis: Downed jet could alter Ukraine crisis
• Malaysia plane downed by Russia’s top export
• Downed plane could alter course of Ukraine fight
• VIX, gold, oil in retreat as investors assess Ukraine plane crash
• In Iraq, Syria, militants try to govern as a state
• Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians
• Executions rise worldwide in 2013
• U.N. accuses Islamic State of executions, rape, forced child recruitment in Iraq
• Congress Tees It Up For Wounded Warriors
• Reports: 115 killed in seizure of Syria gas field
• Why Putin Could Pay for the Downing of Flight MH17
• Militants storm Iraqi air base
• Iraq's president Talabani to return from medical exile amid crisis
• No rest for 'Valley of Peace' cemetery amid Iraq violence
• When does the 'stealth correction' become the real thing?
• Why airlines didn't avoid risky Ukraine airspace
• Hamas set to gain support, funding from Gaza battle
• Jihadists stone Syria woman to death for 'adultery': NGO
• Reports: 100 killed in seizure of Syria gas field
• Syrian army, Islamic State clash near army airport: monitor
• U.N. accuses Islamic State of executions, rape, child abuse in Iraq
• Top Shi'ite cleric urges help for Iraq's displaced
• UN: Some 5,500 civilians killed in Iraq this year
• 10 Things to Know for Today
• Secrets leaker Manning to begin gender treatments
• South Korea military chiefs endorse $8.2 billion development plan for home-built fighters
• The Brazil of North America
• Brent pushes above $108 after plane downed in Ukraine
• Militants kill 14 Tunisian soldiers in mountain ambush

Malaysia flight's chosen route through dangerous hot zone not unusual Posted: 18 Jul 2014 04:36 PM PDT Dangerous skies can be found from Israel to Iraq, and from Nigeria to North Korea and the East China Sea, and aviation experts say the path that took Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and its 298 passengers over a war zone in eastern Ukraine was not unusual.

Obama says Europe should see downed jet as 'wake-up call' Posted: 18 Jul 2014 04:12 PM PDT By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday the downing of a Malaysian jetliner in a Ukrainian region controlled by Russian-backed separatists should be a "wake-up call" for the West in its drive to hold Moscow accountable for a crisis that appears to be at a turning point. While stopping short of blaming Russia for Thursday's crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17, in which 298 people died, Obama accused Russia of failing to stop the violence that made it possible to shoot down the plane. The United States has said the jetliner was hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from rebel territory. Obama spoke by phone later with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Clinton papers: Iraq, bin Laden and Supreme Court Posted: 18 Jul 2014 03:50 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bill Clinton's advisers carefully considered how to explain the president's military action against Iraq in 1998 as the House was debating his impeachment, according to records from the Clinton White House that were released Friday. The documents also touch upon Osama bin Laden, consideration of military action in Haiti in 1994 and preparationsfor Supreme Court nomination hearings.

CIA To Start Using Amazon Cloud System Posted: 18 Jul 2014 02:20 PM PDT In 2013, the CIA and Amazon, Inc. made a deal – Amazon would build a special cloud system for the U.S. intelligence community, and the CIA would pay Amazon a whopping $600 million. After a long journey fraught with legal battles and money troubles, the CIA will finally start using the new cloud system this summer. The purpose of the cloud system is to allow the CIA's 17 intelligence agencies to share data. By using this cloud, the CIA hopes to avoid security breaches and keep better track of intelligence data so the U.S. doesn't experience another 9/11, according to The Atlantic.

Jihadist ultimatum sparks Christian exodus from Iraq's Mosul Posted: 18 Jul 2014 01:34 PM PDT Thousands of Christians abandoned their homes and belongings to flee the Iraqi city of Mosul Friday following an ultimatum by jihadists who overran the region last month and proclaimed a caliphate. As militants attempted to break government defences in strategic areas and edge closer to Baghdad, Christians joined hundreds of thousands of Shiite and other refugees into Kurdistan. Their flight to the safety of the neighbouring autonomous region coincided with the expected homecoming of Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, after 18 months of treatment in Germany. The Islamic State group running Mosul had already demanded that those Christians still in the city convert, pay a special tax or leave but messages blaring on mosques' loudspeakers appeared to spark an exodus.

Why Is There So Much Turmoil Right Now? Understanding the Outbreak of Conflicts Posted: 18 Jul 2014 01:30 PM PDT Why Israel, Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Russia Are All Engulfed in Turmoil

Lebanon's Hariri calls for lawmakers to elect a president Posted: 18 Jul 2014 01:19 PM PDT By Alexander Dziadosz BEIRUT (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Friday called on lawmakers to elect a president after nearly two months of a power vacuum in Lebanon. He also demanded that Shi'ite movement Hezbollah pull out of the war in neighboring Syria. Lebanon has not had a president since May because politicians have been unable to agree on a candidate that would satisfy the country's two main political blocs - Hariri's Sunni-led March 14 alliance and Hezbollah's March 8 coalition. Lebanon's sectarian tensions have been worsened by the three-year-old war in Syria, which pits overwhelmingly Sunni rebels against President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-derived Alawite minority, and allied Shi'ite groups including Hezbollah.

Iraq recalls envoy to Jordan after opposition meets in Amman Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:58 PM PDT Baghdad on Friday said it had recalled its ambassador to Jordan, two days after Sunni Iraqi leaders meeting in Amman described a jihadist-led insurgency sweeping parts of Iraq as a "popular revolt". "Iraq decides to withdraw its ambassador from the Jordanian capital Amman for consultations," the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website, without giving a reason for the move. Iraqi Sunni leaders in exile on Wednesday downplayed a Sunni Islamist uprising led by Islamic State (IS) militants, portraying the violence as a fightback against an oppressive Shiite-led government. Around 300 Sunni clerics, tribal leaders, insurgent commanders and businessmen attended the meeting, where the Islamic State's role in the onslaught was downplayed and calls made to endorse "legitimate revolt" against the government.

Obama hits reset button on wobbly public response to Malaysia Airlines shootdown Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:56 PM PDT President Obama on Friday called the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 an "outrage of unspeakable proportions," declared it a "wake-up call" for timid European leaders, and all but laid blame for the tragedy directly at Russia's doorstep.

Malaysia jet tragedy: How do airlines traverse war zones? Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:56 PM PDT Before Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was likely shot down over eastern Ukraine Thursday, apparently by a Russian-made missile, aviation officials from Europe and the United States had already been issuing a flurry of warnings to commercial airlines, as well as adjusting flight restrictions and no-fly zones as Russian separatists increasingly began to take their fight to the skies. On July 1, Ukraine told airline pilots not to fly below 26,000 feet over the region. Since then, EUROCONTROL, which regulates European air traffic, has rejected all flight plans crossing the area, and Ukraine has declared the entire space a no-fly zone.

Why were commercial planes still flying over Ukraine? Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:30 PM PDT The downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet over rebel-held eastern Ukraine has raised questions over why the company persisted in flying in conflict-zone airspace that many other Asian carriers had abandoned months ago. The air corridor over Ukraine has always been a crowded one for flights between Europe and Asia -- particularly Southeast Asia -- and re-routing around the airspace would mean an increase in flight time and fuel costs. Nevertheless, a number of major Asian airlines, including South Korea's Korean Air and Asiana, Australia's Qantas and Taiwan's China Airlines, said Friday that they had started avoiding the area as much as four months ago, when Russian troops moved into Crimea. "We stopped flying over Ukraine because of safety concerns," Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyo-Min said.

AP Analysis: Downed jet could alter Ukraine crisis Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:20 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — The downing of a passenger jet in Ukraine is likely to be a turning point in the country's conflict. But which way it turns depends mainly on who carried out the attack and how convincingly it can be proved to the world.

Malaysia plane downed by Russia’s top export Posted: 18 Jul 2014 11:41 AM PDT The downing of a Malaysian Boeing 777 over Ukraine by suspected separatists using a Russian-made "Buk" surface-to-air missile, or SAM, is a grim reminder of a Cold War truism: Russian SAMs are some of ...

Downed plane could alter course of Ukraine fight Posted: 18 Jul 2014 11:26 AM PDT PARIS (AP) — The downing of a passenger jet in Ukraine is likely to be a turning point in the country's conflict. But which way it turns depends mainly on who carried out the attack and how convincingly it can be proved to the world.

VIX, gold, oil in retreat as investors assess Ukraine plane crash Posted: 18 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT The after-effects of Thursday's downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet in Ukraine on financial markets appear to be short-lived.

In Iraq, Syria, militants try to govern as a state Posted: 18 Jul 2014 11:20 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Across the broad swath of territory they control bridging Syria and Iraq, extremist militants from the group known as the Islamic State have proven to be highly organized administrators. Flush with cash, they fix roads, police traffic, administer courts, and have even set up an export system of smuggled crude from oil fields they have seized.

Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians Posted: 18 Jul 2014 11:14 AM PDT Islamist insurgents have issued an ultimatum to northern Iraq's dwindling Christian population to either convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death, according to a statement distributed in the militant-controlled city of Mosul. The statement issued by the Islamic State, the al Qaeda offshoot which led last month's lightning assault to capture swathes of north Iraq, and seen by Reuters, said the ruling would come into effect on Saturday. It said Christians who wanted to remain in the "caliphate" that the Islamic State declared this month in parts of Iraq and Syria must agree to abide by terms of a "dhimma" contract - a historic practice under which non-Muslims were protected in Muslim lands in return for a special levy known as "jizya". A resident of Mosul said the statement, issued in the name of the Islamic State in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, had been distributed on Thursday and read out in mosques.

Executions rise worldwide in 2013 Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:48 AM PDT MILAN (AP) — The number of executions worldwide rose last year despite a general global trend toward capital punishment abolition, according to a report released Friday by an Italian anti-death penalty group.

U.N. accuses Islamic State of executions, rape, forced child recruitment in Iraq Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:40 AM PDT By Dominic Evans and Maggie Fick BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations accused Islamic State fighters in Iraq of executions, rape and forced recruitment of children during a campaign to seize much of northern Iraq, part of a conflict it said has killed almost 5,600 civilians this year. In a report, the U.N. focused on a range of violations committed against civilians, particularly by the Islamic State, though it also said Iraqi forces and allied fighters had not taken precautions to protect civilians from violence. "(This)...may also amount to war crimes," it said in its report into months of unrest which culminated in advances by Sunni militants led by the al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State, formerly known as ISIL, across the north of the country.

Congress Tees It Up For Wounded Warriors Posted: 18 Jul 2014 09:38 AM PDT WASHINGTON, July 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Golf helped Bronze Star recipient and Army Staff Sergeant Charles Eggleston (Ret.) literally get back on his feet. Initially reported as killed in action after suffering devastating injuries following multiple IED blasts in Iraq in 2005, he spent more than three years recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. As an avid golfer before the blast, Eggleston resumed playing golf and credits the sport as a key element of his recovery. ...

Reports: 115 killed in seizure of Syria gas field Posted: 18 Jul 2014 09:34 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic extremists killed at least 115 Syrian troops, guards and workers as they captured a gas field in central Syria following daylong clashes, activists said Friday.

Why Putin Could Pay for the Downing of Flight MH17 Posted: 18 Jul 2014 09:30 AM PDT A century after the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, there are eerie parallels between that event, which precipitated World War I, and the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine yesterday. Then, as now, an overriding concern was whether Russia would intervene if decisive action were taken against the perpetrators. Kaiser Wilhelm wanted them to use the international shock at the killing to finally settle up with Serbia, which had become the primary instigator of anti-Austrian violence in the Balkans. Wilhelm saw that in the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Serbia would be momentarily isolated, perhaps even from Russia, its closest ally.

Militants storm Iraqi air base Posted: 18 Jul 2014 09:25 AM PDT Fighters from the jihadist-led coalition that controls large parts of Iraq launched a brazen raid on an Iraqi air base near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, military sources said Friday. The army and an Islamic State statement differed on the outcome of the battle and the death toll, but a military intelligence officer admitted the air field known as Speicher was stormed late Thursday. IS fighters and their allies control the nearby city of Tikrit but Iraqi federal forces had managed to hold on to Speicher -- named by US troops after a navy pilot whose plane was shot down by Saddam's forces in 1991 -- despite repeated attacks in recent weeks. He said a unit of special forces soon arrived, sparking a bloody battle.

Iraq's president Talabani to return from medical exile amid crisis Posted: 18 Jul 2014 08:54 AM PDT Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was to return from months of treatment abroad, with his crisis-hit country on the brink of breakup but his native Kurdistan buoyant with statehood hopes. "President Talabani is coming home on Saturday July 19 after receiving successful health treatment in brotherly Germany," his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said on Friday. The PUK said Talabani, due to fly into his Kurdish fiefdom of Sulaimaniyah, would resume his duties as head of state, in a statement also confirmed to AFP by his son Qubad. While most of Iraq's political power lies with the prime minister's office, the 80-year-old Talabani was long seen as a key mediator between Iraq's feuding factions.

No rest for 'Valley of Peace' cemetery amid Iraq violence Posted: 18 Jul 2014 08:08 AM PDT Early in the morning in Iraq's holy Shiite city of Najaf, the liveliest place is its cemetery, one of the world's biggest. Sad convoys of families accompany the bodies of young men in makeshift coffins strapped to the roof of cars or carried in pick-up trucks, the latest generation to fall victim to Iraq's seemingly never-ending cycle of violence. This time the bodies are from Jurf al-Sakhr, south of the capital, where security forces had days earlier been battling Sunni Islamist insurgents. Federal police are more heavily armed than regular police and are sent to the front line, though the distinction between Iraq's different security forces has become blurred.

When does the 'stealth correction' become the real thing? Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:59 AM PDT The second "stealth correction" of the year had been underway below the surface for a few weeks, with a broadening list of B-list stocks tiring and investor risk appetites ebbing, and is now threatening to break into the open.

Why airlines didn't avoid risky Ukraine airspace Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:33 AM PDT The possibility that the civilian jetliner downed over war-torn eastern Ukraine with nearly 300 people onboard was hit by a missile could have profound consequences for the world's airlines.

Hamas set to gain support, funding from Gaza battle Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:25 AM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - For years, lack of cash has hobbled Hamas's Gaza government yet the military capabilities of the Islamist group's armed wing have expanded and it may rake in donations now that it is meeting Israel on the battlefield. For seven years, Hamas has struggled to run the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip. "It was clear this financial crisis did not affect very much the military wing of Hamas and the group may regain some of its financial power because of the current war," said Adnan Abu Amer, who teaches at Gaza's Ummah University. "The strong fight Hamas's armed wing is putting up against Israel may pump fresh blood into some of the relations between Hamas and regional powers, especially Iran," he added.

Jihadists stone Syria woman to death for 'adultery': NGO Posted: 18 Jul 2014 07:21 AM PDT Jihadists in the northern Syrian province of Raqa have accused a woman of adultery and stoned her to death, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. It was the first "execution" of its kind by the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, which has proclaimed the establishment of an Islamic "caliphate" straddling Syria and Iraq. "The Islamic State carried out its first sentence of death by stoning against a woman in Tabaqa, accusing her of adultery," said the Britain-based Observatory, referring to a town in Raqa province, most of which is under IS control.

Reports: 100 killed in seizure of Syria gas field Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:54 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic militants killed about 100 Syrian troops, guards and workers as they captures a gas field in central Syria following daylong clashes, activists said Friday.

Syrian army, Islamic State clash near army airport: monitor Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:35 AM PDT Syrian soldiers clashed with Islamic State militants outside a government-controlled army airport on Friday, a British-based monitoring group said, part of a major escalation of fighting between the al Qaeda offshoot and the military. The hardline Sunni militants have gained ground in Syria over the past five weeks, bolstered by equipment seized in a lightning offensive last month in neighbouring Iraq. On Thursday, the group seized the Sha'ar oilfield, east of the central city of Homs, in what the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said was one of its bloodiest clashes with President Bashar al-Assad's forces. On Friday, the death toll from the raid rose to 115, the Observatory said.

U.N. accuses Islamic State of executions, rape, child abuse in Iraq Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:08 AM PDT By Maggie Fick BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations accused Islamic State fighters in Iraq of executing religious and other leaders as well as teachers and health workers, forcibly recruiting children and raping women among acts that amounted to war crimes. A UN report focused on a range of violations committed against civilians, particularly by the Islamic State, though it also said Iraqi forces and allied fighters had not taken precautions to protect civilians from violence. At least 5,576 Iraqi civilians have been killed this year in violence, the U.N. said in the most detailed account yet of the impact of months of unrest culminating in advances by Sunni militants led by the al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State, formerly known as ISIL, across the north. "ISIL and associated armed groups have also continued to... perpetrate targeted assassinations (community, political, and religious leaders, government employees, education professionals, health workers, etc.), sexual assault, rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls, forced recruitment of children, kidnappings, executions, robberies." The report also accused them of wanton destruction and plundering of places of worship and of cultural or historical significance.

Top Shi'ite cleric urges help for Iraq's displaced Posted: 18 Jul 2014 04:09 AM PDT Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric criticized the government and international agencies on Friday for failing to do enough to help hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by fighting between government forces and Sunni Islamist insurgents. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the majority sect's most influential cleric, said in a sermon delivered by an aide that the uprooted people were living under "cruel and difficult economic and humanitarian conditions". "The institutions concerned with this are still not meeting the scale of the hardships and suffering, despite the promises that we heard of help," his aide Ahmed al-Safi said in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala. The United Nations say more than 2 million people have been displaced within Iraq, most of them forced from their homes by conflict in the western province of Anbar and last month's offensive led by the al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State.

UN: Some 5,500 civilians killed in Iraq this year Posted: 18 Jul 2014 03:52 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Violence in Iraq has killed more than 5,500 civilians over the first six months of the year, the U.N. said Friday in a new report that documents the massive humanitarian toll of an ongoing Sunni militant offensive in the country.

10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 18 Jul 2014 02:58 AM PDT Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

Secrets leaker Manning to begin gender treatments Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:05 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — National security leaker Chelsea Manning can get initial treatment for a gender-identity condition from the military after the Bureau of Prisons rejected the Army's request to accept her transfer from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to a civilian facility.

South Korea military chiefs endorse $8.2 billion development plan for home-built fighters Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:00 AM PDT South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff endorsed a plan on Friday for the country to design its own mid-level fighter jet, which a state think tank estimated will cost up to 8.5 trillion won ($8.24 billion) to develop. Dubbed the KF-X program, the fighter jet is expected to be built by the country's sole jet builder, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd (KAI), after being co-developed with Lockheed Martin Corp, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The Joint Chiefs said in a statement that they had endorsed a twin-engine fighter jet to be developed for delivery starting in 2025. KAI makes the T-50 family of jets, South Korea's first home-built light trainer and fighter, which was co-developed by Lockheed Martin.

The Brazil of North America Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:00 AM PDT To observe the decades-long paralysis of America's political elite in controlling her borders calls to mind the insight of James Burnham in 1964 — "Liberalism is the ideology of Western suicide." Several were not.

Brent pushes above $108 after plane downed in Ukraine Posted: 17 Jul 2014 11:59 PM PDT By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent futures climbed above $108 a barrel on Friday, extending sharp overnight gains amid heightened geopolitical concerns after a Malaysian jetliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic surged about 2 percent on Thursday, recovering from a weeks-long decline, on news of the crash that came a day after the United States slapped sanctions on Russia's biggest firms for the first time after Moscow's failure to curb violence in Ukraine. Brent climbed 36 cents to $108.25 a barrel by 0533 GMT after rising 72 cents in the previous session. "The news last night is the catalyst to push oil higher," said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of Sydney commodity research firm Barratt Bulletin, referring to the downing of the Malaysian passenger plane that killed all 298 people on board.

Militants kill 14 Tunisian soldiers in mountain ambush Posted: 17 Jul 2014 11:34 PM 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.

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