Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Iraq lays claim to Kurdish crude cargo in Texas court
• Airlines to push for independent guidance on airspace safety after Ukraine crash
• UN condemns terrorist oil sales from Iraq, Syria
• U.S. judge tells jury to take one more shot at Ventura verdict
• Defense: US suppressed evidence in Blackwater
• White House: EU, US to impose new Russia sanctions
• US citizen accused of bribes extradited from Iraq
• France offers asylum to Christians of north Iraq
• Millions fled homes in 2013 due to religious conflict: US
• U.S. veterans deal to provide $17 billion to ease medical wait times
• In Iraq's Mosul, radicals unleash their vision
• UN takes aim at Islamist oil grab in Syria, Iraq
• Other crises muscle onto world stage just as Iraq is coming undone
• Deal to improve veterans' health care costs $17B
• France ready to facilitate asylum for Iraq's Christians
• France Offers Asylum to Iraqi Christians Fleeing ISIS
• Syrian casualties surge as jihadis consolidate
• Deal on veterans' health care costs at least $15B
• 'Please stop!', Pope Francis makes plea for peace
• U.N. warns of sanctions for oil trading with Syria, Iraq militants
• Syrian army casualties surge, raising death toll
• Passenger Group Calls on Airlines to Disclose Routes for International Flights Over Conflict Zones
• Iraq police find 17 bodies, some bound, in Baghdad
• Muslims mark end of Ramadan with Eid celebrations
• After 6 weeks, finally a deal on VA health care
• Five Best Monday Columns
• Islamic State jihadists open 'marriage bureau'
• IACA-MO: Senate Briefing Urges Policy Change on Iraq, Resettlement of Camp Liberty Residents to U.S
• Islamic State militants open office for potential wives: monitor
• Iraq army kills 17 in anti-jihadist raid
• Defense: Gov't suppressed Blackwaterevidence
• France offers asylum to Mosul's Christians
• Defense: US gov't suppressed Blackwater evidence
• Defense: Gov't suppressed evidence in Blackwater
• French al-Qaida recruiter arrested in Tangiers
• US gov't said to suppress evidence in Blackwater
• Government said to suppress evidence in Blackwater
• Syria's Assad prays as his troops suffer high toll
• Police find 15 corpses in Baghdad in bloody start to Muslim Eid holiday
• Iraqi officials: 14 bodies found in Baghdad

Iraq lays claim to Kurdish crude cargo in Texas court Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:26 PM PDT Iraq filed suit on Monday in a Texas court to gain control of a cargo of crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan that Baghdad says was sold without its permission. The United Kalavrvta tanker, carrying some 1 million barrels of crude worth about $100 million, arrived off the coast of Texas on Saturday but has yet to unload its disputed cargo. The ship, which is too large to enter the port of Galveston near Houston, was given clearance by the U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday to transfer its cargo offshore to smaller boats that would deliver it to the U.S. mainland. Iraq, in its filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, asked for an order allowing the cargo to be seized by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Airlines to push for independent guidance on airspace safety after Ukraine crash Posted: 28 Jul 2014 03:57 PM PDT By Allison Lampert and Allison Martell MONTREAL/TORONTO (Reuters) - Global airlines will push to get "neutral information" on whether to use or avoid airspace over conflict zones at Tuesday's meeting of the U.N. aviation agency and other airline bodies, a European-based airline industry source said. The U.N. agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), has invited the heads of the airline industry, airports and the world's air traffic control networks to the Montreal meeting to discuss what needs to be changed to ensure that airliners are flying in secure airspace after the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine on July 17 took 298 lives. The meeting is likely to hear calls for wider international powers to intervene when a country fails to monitor threats to its airspace.

UN condemns terrorist oil sales from Iraq, Syria Posted: 28 Jul 2014 03:41 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned any sale of oil from Syria or Iraq by terrorist groups and reminded all countries that buying the illegally obtained oil violates U.N. sanctions.

U.S. judge tells jury to take one more shot at Ventura verdict Posted: 28 Jul 2014 03:41 PM PDT By Todd Melby and Art Hughes ST. PAUL Minn. (Reuters) - A federal judge asked a jury on Monday to try one more time in a defamation case brought by former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura after the panel said it could not reach a verdict following about five days of deliberations. Ventura is suing the estate of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle for an undisclosed amount of money, saying the reputation of the pro wrestler-turned-politician was left in shambles by a passage in a book by Kyle about a bar fight between the two. "We the jury have not reached a decision," the 10-member panel said in a note to Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle. After asking the jury to continue deliberations, the judge informed lawyers a "mistrial is a possibility." The jury did not reach a verdict after being sent back and will reconvene on Tuesday.

Defense: US suppressed evidence in Blackwater Posted: 28 Jul 2014 03:23 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards said Monday that the U.S. government has suppressed evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Nisoor Square in Baghdad.

White House: EU, US to impose new Russia sanctions Posted: 28 Jul 2014 03:12 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and European Union plan to impose new sanctions against Russia this week, including penalties targeting key sectors of the Russian economy, the White House said Monday.

US citizen accused of bribes extradited from Iraq Posted: 28 Jul 2014 02:54 PM PDT CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal fugitive accused of bribing U.S. military contracting officials in Iraq has been returned to the U.S. in what prosecutors say was the first extradition under a 1936 treaty between the two countries.

France offers asylum to Christians of north Iraq Posted: 28 Jul 2014 02:38 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — France is ready to open its door to Christians from northern Iraq who were hounded out of their homes by extremist Islamic militants.

Millions fled homes in 2013 due to religious conflict: US Posted: 28 Jul 2014 01:25 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - Conflicts and repression around the world last year triggered the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory, the United States said Monday, revealing millions had fled their homes.

U.S. veterans deal to provide $17 billion to ease medical wait times Posted: 28 Jul 2014 12:08 PM PDT By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the Veterans Affairs committees in the U.S. Congress said on Monday they had struck a rare compromise deal on legislation that provides about $17 billion in funding to ease long waiting times for VA medical centers. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, and Representative Jeff Miller, a Republican, said the figure marks about the halfway point between the competing proposals they announced last week. The compromise measure aims to clear months-long waiting lists at VA hospitals and clinics across the country. The agency has been rocked by scandal over cover-ups of these waiting times, prompting the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki in late May. In Phoenix, doctors have alleged that some 40 veterans died as their names languished on secret waiting lists while officials misrepresented wait-time data to meet targets for bonus compensation.

In Iraq's Mosul, radicals unleash their vision Posted: 28 Jul 2014 11:52 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Residents of Mosul have watched helplessly as extremists ruling the northern Iraqi city blew up some of their most beloved landmarks and shrines to impose a stark vision of Islam. Next up for destruction, they feared: the Crooked Minaret, a more than 840-year-old tower that leans like Italy's Tower of Pisa.

UN takes aim at Islamist oil grab in Syria, Iraq Posted: 28 Jul 2014 11:24 AM PDT The UN Security Council on Monday backed a Russian initiative to bar trade in oil with Islamists in Iraq and Syria. The 15-nation Council warned in a joint statement that buying oil from groups such as the Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra fighting in Iraq and Syria could lead to sanctions. Moscow's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he was pleased with the stance, saying it was a "reminder" from the top world body that "this amounts to a very serious transgression" of UN resolutions.

Other crises muscle onto world stage just as Iraq is coming undone Posted: 28 Jul 2014 11:18 AM PDT While the Obama administration and much of the global media focused on crises in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, the centrifugal forces of a sectarian civil war continued to pull Iraq apart.

Deal to improve veterans' health care costs $17B Posted: 28 Jul 2014 11:18 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan deal to improve veterans' health care would authorize at least $17 billion to fix the health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays, the bill's chief supporters said Monday.

France ready to facilitate asylum for Iraq's Christians Posted: 28 Jul 2014 10:26 AM PDT France said Monday it was ready to help facilitate asylum for Christians in Iraq displaced by a jihadist onslaught, saying it was "outraged" by their persecution. "We are ready, if they so desire, to help facilitate asylum on our territory," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a joint statement. Thousands of Christians and other minorities have fled the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and other areas after Islamic State insurgents led a sweep across Iraq's north and west last month. Those who failed to comply were threatened with execution, and the property of those who left was forfeited to the Islamic State, a statement from the group seen by AFP said.

France Offers Asylum to Iraqi Christians Fleeing ISIS Posted: 28 Jul 2014 10:04 AM PDT France announced Monday the country would welcome Iraqi Christians forced to leave their homes as ISIS continues to take much of northern Iraq. In a joint statement, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve denounced ISIS and extended help to Iraqi Christians.  "France is outraged by these abuses that it condemns with the utmost firmness," they said. The announcement followed a rally on Sunday in support of Iraq's persecuted Christians, during which about 5,000 people gathered outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Geneviève Jacques, president of France's refugee N.G.O. La Cimade, told France 24 that the country had to offer help as Iraq's neighboring countries like Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon have already been flooded by refugees.

Syrian casualties surge as jihadis consolidate Posted: 28 Jul 2014 10:02 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — More than 2,000 Syrians — almost half of them pro-government forces — have been killed in just over two weeks of fighting in Syria, marking one of the worst death tolls in the country's three-year civil war, opposition activists said Monday.

Deal on veterans' health care costs at least $15B Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:50 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan deal to improve veterans health care would authorize at least $15 billion in emergency spending to fix a veterans health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays.

'Please stop!', Pope Francis makes plea for peace Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:50 AM PDT Pope Francis made an emotional plea for peace on Sunday in an impromptu addition to comments delivered at his weekly Angelus address in Saint Peter's Square. As the Argentinian-born pontiff wrapped up his regular address to the faithful, he spoke of the upcoming centenary of the outbreak of World War One and said his thoughts were on the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine in particular.

U.N. warns of sanctions for oil trading with Syria, Iraq militants Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:28 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council expressed grave concern on Monday over reports that radical militants have seized oilfields and pipelines in Syria and Iraq and warned that anyone caught trading in oil from the "terrorist groups" could face sanctions. The 15-member council said in a statement that any trade in oil with Islamic State - previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - or al Qaeda's Nusra Front, would violate United Nations sanctions as both groups have been blacklisted.

Syrian army casualties surge, raising death toll Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:03 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — More than 2,000 Syrians — almost half of them pro-government forces — have been killed in just over two weeks of fighting in Syria, making it one of the worst death tolls in the country's civil war, opposition activists said Monday.

Passenger Group Calls on Airlines to Disclose Routes for International Flights Over Conflict Zones Posted: 28 Jul 2014 09:01 AM PDT WASHINGTON, July 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FlyersRights.org, the largest US based airline passenger organization, in light of the shoot down of the MH 17 flight over eastern Ukraine, has called on all airlines to provide passengers on international flights with detailed route maps on their web sites, so passengers can decide whether to take such flights for themselves. "Airlines should no longer be able hide behind weak and ambiguous international regulation and confidential warnings that are not shared with passengers.  After the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, it came to light that governments and airlines had received specific warnings of a likely bombing, but chose to hide this knowledge from passengers and flight crews, those actually at risk. Now it has been revealed that some airlines were flying over eastern Ukraine despite danger warnings that were not shared with passengers." "Today despite known dangers and the MH 17 shoot down, passengers are not being informed of dangerous flights over or near numerous conflict zones with missile systems capable of shooting down commercial airliners at over 30,000 feet.  Such areas in addition to Ukraine and Russia, include Syria, Iraq, Egypt-Sinai, Israel-Gaza, the China Sea, North Korea, Pakistan-Afghanistan.  Other conflict areas are known to have anti aircraft weapons capable of downing low flying aircraft including Libya, Yemen, and Mali."

Iraq police find 17 bodies, some bound, in Baghdad Posted: 28 Jul 2014 08:56 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi police found 17 bullet-riddled bodies in different areas of Baghdad, officials said Monday, raising fears of more sectarian bloodletting at a time of soaring tensions as other attacks around the capital killed 10 people.

Muslims mark end of Ramadan with Eid celebrations Posted: 28 Jul 2014 08:49 AM PDT DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Millions of Muslims across the world celebrated the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday Monday, which marks the end of the monthlong fast of Ramadan.

After 6 weeks, finally a deal on VA health care Posted: 28 Jul 2014 08:41 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan deal to improve veterans health care would authorize at least $15 billion in emergency spending to fix a veterans health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays.

Five Best Monday Columns Posted: 28 Jul 2014 08:38 AM PDT Today, they cooperate with ISIS (which now calls itself the Islamic State) — not as fanatics, but because they see it as the lesser of two evils, compared with Mr. Maliki." The solution in Iraq is to embolden Sunnis by restructuring the government.

Islamic State jihadists open 'marriage bureau' Posted: 28 Jul 2014 08:34 AM PDT The Islamic State, which advocates public stoning for adultery, has opened a "marriage bureau" for women who want to wed its fighters in territory they control in Syria and Iraq. The jihadist group's office is operating from Al-Bab, a town in Aleppo province of northern Syria, for "single women and widows who would like to marry IS fighters", said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Running twice-weekly tours from Syria's Raqa to Iraq's Anbar, IS buses fly the group's black flag and play jihadist songs throughout the journey. IS has its roots in Iraq, but spread into Syria in late spring 2013.

IACA-MO: Senate Briefing Urges Policy Change on Iraq, Resettlement of Camp Liberty Residents to U.S Posted: 28 Jul 2014 08:30 AM PDT WASHINGTON, July 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Several senior former officials and a U.S. senator strongly condemned the Iranian regime's destructive role in Iraq at a senate briefing at Capitol Hill, entitled "Tumult in Iraq: Maliki's Role and Iran's Nefarious Influence." Speakers said Tehran and its ally in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, are not part of the solution for Iraq. They also called for the urgent transfer of exiled Iranian opposition members at Camp Liberty, whose lives are in serious danger as Iraq drifts further into conflict.

Islamic State militants open office for potential wives: monitor Posted: 28 Jul 2014 07:50 AM PDT Islamic State insurgents have opened an office in northern Syria where single women and widows can register to marry fighters from the radical al Qaeda offshoot, a monitoring group said on Monday. The office in al-Bab, a town northeast of Aleppo city, records the names and addresses of the women so that Islamic State militants can go to their families and make a formal offer of marriage, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Observatory, which cited sources in al-Bab and Aleppo, is based in Britain and relies on a network of people on the ground in Syria to report information. The Observatory's director, Rami Abdurrahman, said it was the first time he had heard of the group setting up a formal office to register potential spouses.

Iraq army kills 17 in anti-jihadist raid Posted: 28 Jul 2014 07:12 AM PDT An Iraqi government raid on jihadist targets in a flashpoint town southwest of Baghdad killed 17 people on Monday, including at least three civilians, medical and tribal sources said. "Bombardment targeted the Fadhiyya district at 1:00 am," Sheikh Mohammad al-Janabi, a tribal chief from Jurf al-Sakhr, a town 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Baghdad, told AFP. Both said that 12 people were also wounded and that some of them were transferred to the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah in the neighbouring province of Anbar. A lieutenant in the Iraqi army said: "The Iraqi forces used a variety of weapons to target insurgent bases in Jurf al-Sakhr overnight."

Defense: Gov't suppressed Blackwaterevidence Posted: 28 Jul 2014 07:05 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards argued Monday that the government has suppressed evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Baghdad's Nisoor Square.

France offers asylum to Mosul's Christians Posted: 28 Jul 2014 06:35 AM PDT France said on Monday it was ready to welcome Christians from northern Iraq who have been told by the al Qaeda offshoot group now ruling the region to either covert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death. Islamic State insurgents seized large swathes of northern Iraq last month, prompting hundreds of Christian families in Mosul to flee a city which has hosted the faith since its earliest years. "We are providing aid to displaced people fleeing from the threats of Islamic Sate and who have sought refuge in Kurdistan. We are ready, if they wish, to facilitate their asylum on our soil," France's foreign and interior ministers said in a joint statement.

Defense: US gov't suppressed Blackwater evidence Posted: 28 Jul 2014 05:36 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards accused the government on Monday of suppressing evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Nisoor Square in Baghdad.

Defense: Gov't suppressed evidence in Blackwater Posted: 28 Jul 2014 05:21 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards accused the government on Monday of suppressing evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Nisoor Square in Baghdad.

French al-Qaida recruiter arrested in Tangiers Posted: 28 Jul 2014 05:10 AM PDT RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan police have arrested a French citizen of Algerian origin near Tangiers on suspicion of recruiting men to travel to Syria and Iraq to fight for al-Qaida, authorities said.

US gov't said to suppress evidence in Blackwater Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:56 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards accused the government on Monday of suppressing evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Nisoor Square in Baghdad.

Government said to suppress evidence in Blackwater Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:44 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards accused the government on Monday of suppressing evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Nisoor Square in Baghdad.

Syria's Assad prays as his troops suffer high toll Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:30 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad prayed at a Damascus mosque at the start of a major Muslim holiday on Monday amid reports of an unprecedented high death toll among his troops battling Islamic extremists.

Police find 15 corpses in Baghdad in bloody start to Muslim Eid holiday Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:29 AM PDT By Michael Georgy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi police on Monday found the corpses of 15 people, including three women shot in the head in militia-style killings, a bloody start to the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, security sources said. Fears have been growing of a relapse to the dark days of sectarian civil war which peaked in 2006-2007 since Sunni militants seized large swathes of the north last month, building on gains by comrades made in the west of Iraq. Iraq's U.S.-trained and funded army unraveled in the face of the lighting advance, and Shi'ite militias now rival government forces in their ability to confront the group formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Baghdad's morgues are filling up once again with victims of sectarian slayings, kidnappings are on the rise and the bloodshed is forcing families to flee abroad or move to neighbourhoods where they feel less threatened.

Iraqi officials: 14 bodies found in Baghdad Posted: 28 Jul 2014 04:29 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say that 14 bullet-riddled bodies have been found in different areas of the capital, Baghdad.

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