2014年9月29日星期一

Yahoo! News: Iraq

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Iraq


Australian counter-terrorism police raid Melbourne properties

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:40 PM PDT

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police said they had raided a number of properties around the southern city of Melbourne on Tuesday, part of a security crackdown on radical Islamists authorities believe are planning attacks in the country. Australia, which is backing the United States and its escalating action against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, is on high alert for attacks by radicalised Muslims or by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East. ...

Secret Service director faces grilling over security breaches

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:34 PM PDT

U.S. President Obama shakes hands with U.S. Secret Service agent Pierson after she is sworn in as first woman Director of the Secret Service in the Oval Office of the White House in WashingtonBy David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Secret Service is expected to face blistering questions from lawmakers on Tuesday about the latest White House security breach and a string of scandals that have tarnished the image of the agency charged with protecting the president. Republicans and Democrats alike said they want Secret Service Director Julia Pierson to explain during her appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee how she plans to change the agency's culture and procedures. ...


Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:32 PM PDT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan swore in Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as its second elected president on Monday, embarking on a new era with a national unity government poised to confront a resilient Taliban insurgency by signing an agreement with the United States that would guarantee a continuing American military presence. As Hamid Karzai left the political stage, the new president was locked into an uneasy partnership with his defeated rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who became the country's first chief executive. With a hug for the cameras, both sides appeared determined to reach across factions and avoid a descent into an abyss similar to what has happened in Iraq, where the government's failure to mend lingering sectarian divisions following a full U.S. withdrawal helped give rise to the brutal Islamic State group.

Netanyahu: Hamas, Islamic State group share creed

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:29 PM PDT

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a blistering speech to the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Hamas and the Islamic State group are "branches of the same poisonous tree," both bent on world domination through terror, just as the Nazis were.


Obama hosts India's Modi for White House visit

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:27 PM PDT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of IndiaWASHINGTON (AP) — Once shunned by the United States, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode a wave of enthusiasm and popular support Monday to the White House, where he kicked off a two-day visit with President Barack Obama. The two leaders sought to put a brave face on the relationship despite widespread concerns that U.S.-Indian ties have frayed in recent years.


AP INTERVIEW: US should hit all militants in Syria

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:11 PM PDT

Syria's Deputy Prime Minister Walid Al-Moualem addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Syria's foreign minister said Monday that the U.S.-led bombing campaign should be expanded to target other militant groups besides the Islamic State group, noting that the fight against terrorism has aligned the Syrian regime with its Western and Arab opponents in a fight against a common enemy.


Suspect in Oklahoma beheading expected to be charged with murder

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:07 PM PDT

Alton Alexander Nolen is seen in a picture from the Oklahoma Department of CorrectionsBy Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma plans to file a murder charge as early as Tuesday against Alton Nolen, who is suspected of beheading a former co-worker at a food distribution center last week, prosecutors said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also looking into Nolen's background for any potential religious ties to the attack after former colleagues said he had attempted to convert them to Islam. Police said Nolen had recently become a Muslim. ...


In air war in Iraq and Syria, 4,100 US flights: official

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 04:03 PM PDT

A C-130 Hercules transport plane lands at Akrotiri British RAF airbase near Limassol, in the east Mediterranean on September 26, 2014Washington (AFP) - US aircraft have flown roughly 4,100 sorties in the air war against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria since August, including surveillance flights, refueling runs and bombing raids, a military officer said Monday.


Modi heads to White House

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 03:58 PM PDT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India speaks to supporters during an event on September 28, 2014 in New YorkWashington (AFP) - President Barack Obama gets his first chance to size up Narendra Modi Monday, as the new Indian Prime Minister, an intriguing novice on the world stage, brings a tour which wowed New York to the White House.


Israel's Netanyahu: Iran poses greater threat than Islamic State

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:56 PM PDT

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)A nuclear-armed Iran would pose a far greater threat to the world than Islamic State militants who have seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. "Make no mistake, ISIS (Islamic State) must be defeated," Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly. "But to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war."


Five reasons Indian Prime Minister Modi's dinner with Obama matters

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:53 PM PDT

When President Obama welcomes new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for a private dinner Monday might, it will be more than US amends for having denied Mr. Modi a visa (and maintaining the ban for nearly a decade) over his handling of sectarian riots in India's Gujarat state in 2002 when he was chief minister.

US and Afghanistan poised to sign security pact

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:48 PM PDT

Afghan president-elect Ashraf Ghani (C) arrives for his swearing in ceremony as the country's new president at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on September 29, 2014Kabul (AFP) - Afghanistan will on Tuesday sign a long-delayed security deal to allow some US troops to stay in the country next year, signalling that newly-inaugurated President Ashraf Ghani intends to repair frayed ties with Washington.


Turkey deploys tanks to border as lawmakers to consider anti-IS action

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:43 PM PDT

Turkish army tanks take position near the Syrian borderMursitpinar (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkey on Monday deployed tanks and armoured vehicles to reinforce its border with Syria amid escalating violence by the Islamic State group, as parliament was set to consider whether to authorise military action against the jihadists.


Top Asian News at 9:30 p.m. GMT

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:32 PM PDT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan swore in Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as its second elected president on Monday, embarking on a new era with a national unity government poised to confront a resilient Taliban insurgency by signing an agreement with the United States that would guarantee a continuing American military presence. As Hamid Karzai left the political stage, the new president was locked into an uneasy partnership with his defeated rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who became the country's first chief executive. With a hug for the cameras, both sides appeared determined to reach across factions and avoid a descent into an abyss similar to what has happened in Iraq, where the government's failure to mend lingering sectarian divisions following a full U.S. withdrawal helped give rise to the brutal Islamic State group.

Fence-jumper ran through much of main floor of White House: report

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:24 PM PDT

New River Regional Jail booking photo of Omar GonzalezThe man who breached security at the White House this month overpowered a U.S. Secret Service officer and ran through much of the main floor, penetrating farther into the building than previously disclosed, the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing three people familiar with the incident. A Secret Service official who spoke on condition of anonymity said an alarm box near the front entrance of the White House had been muted, the Post said. ...


White House Fence Jumper Got Farther Than Previously Thought, Sources Say

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:10 PM PDT

White House Fence Jumper Got Farther Than Previously Thought, Sources SayIntruder Tackled Near East Room


Obama efforts to oust Assad pushed to back burner

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:05 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2014 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. By President Barack Obama's own admission, the U.S. bombing campaign against militants in Syria could help President Bashar Assad cling to power. Critics say Obama's strategy does little to address the conditions that have allowed the Islamic State group to thrive and could leave Syria a hotbed for extremism. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — By President Barack Obama's own admission, U.S. efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad have been pushed to the back burner by a bombing campaign against Islamic State militants that could ultimately help him stay in power.


The Secret Service Can't Catch a Break (or an Intruder)

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:01 PM PDT

The Secret Service Can't Catch a Break (or an Intruder)The news about the Secret Service just keeps getting worse.


LEARNING FROM HISTORY

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 02:00 PM PDT

It is something of a cliche to quote George Santayana one more time, saying, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." But for folks of my age, ignorant repetition has been a constant in our lives. And, of course, it is happening again right now. When I first was in Vietnam, the most important thing I saw was just outside Tan Son Nhut airport. Turning on the road into Saigon, my taxi was stopped by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Vietnamese on bicycles, dressed alike, waiting patiently for a traffic sign to change. They all looked the same to my naive American eyes. ...

IS pillaging Iraqi artefacts, UNESCO warns

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:58 PM PDT

Kurdish Peshmerga forces look at a checkpoint held by militants of the Islamic State group on June 16, 2014 in Iraq's second city of MosulParis (AFP) - Islamic State jihadists occupying parts of Iraq are destroying age-old heritage sites and looting others to sell valued artefacts on the black market, experts gathered at UNESCO's Paris headquarters warned Monday.


Congress vote on campaign against Islamic State could lag to 2015

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:58 PM PDT

A pair of U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles fly over northern IraqBy Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress might not vote until next year on an authorization for President Barack Obama's air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, congressional aides said on Monday, despite some lawmakers' insistence that approval is already overdue. The U.S. military began a campaign in Iraq weeks ago to halt advances by the Sunni group known as Islamic State, which has killed thousands of people while seizing swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. ...


AJC Applauds Israeli Prime Minister's Eloquent UN Speech

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:47 PM PDT

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC hailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address today to the UN General Assembly."Prime Minister Netanyahu powerfully spoke truth to power to the other 192 members of the United Nations," said AJC Executive Director David Harris.Netanyahu warned that Iran is proceeding on track to build a nuclear weapon. Moreover, he asserted that its revolutionary Islamist ideology is not dissimilar to ISIS and other militant jihadist groups that have violently emerged across the region. ...

U.S., Kurds strike at Islamic State in Syria

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:44 PM PDT

By Mariam Karouny and Jonny Hogg BEIRUT/MURSITPINAR Turkey (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes attacked Islamic State targets in Syria overnight, in raids that a group monitoring the war said killed civilians as well as jihadist fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit mills and grain storage areas in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, in an area controlled by Islamic State, killing at least two civilian workers. ...

Muslims who counter IS atrocities on women

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:42 PM PDT

Afghanistan passed a big milestone Sept. 29 with its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power. But just as remarkable to many Afghans was the inauguration event for the new president, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

Syria backs global fight against Islamic State, minister tells U.N.

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:27 PM PDT

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria stands with a worldwide effort to combat Islamic State, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in a statement to the United Nations that appeared to give tacit approval of U.S. and Arab air strikes in Syria targeting the militants. Moualem told the United Nations General Assembly that military action to tackle Islamic State, al Qaeda's Syrian wing Nusra Front, and other extremist groups should coincide with cutting off their flow of funds, weapons, fighters and training. ...

Islamic State closes in on Kurdish area of Syria

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:23 PM PDT

Turkish tanks roll to take positions along the Turkey-Syria border near Suruc, Turkey, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. U.S.-led coalition air raids targeted towns and villages in northern and eastern Syria controlled by the Islamic State group, including one strike that hit a grain silo and reportedly killed civilians, activists said Monday.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — Militants of the Islamic State group were closing in Monday on a Kurdish area of Syria on the border with Turkey — an advance unhindered so far by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, including one that struck a grain silo, killing two civilians, according to activists.


Battle against Islamic State creates new alliances

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:20 PM PDT

In this Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 photo, radical al-Qaida-linked preacher Abu Qatada, first left, receives a friend, on the day he was released from Jordanian prison after an acquittal on security charges, in Amman, Jordan. Abu Qatada and Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi, two of Jordan's top pro-al-Qaida ideologues held court on the rooftop of a villa whispering to each other and rising occasionally from plastic chairs to greet supporters. The two have denounced some of the Islamic State group's practices as un-Islamic - comments some analysts say have turned the preachers into assets in Jordan's campaign to contain the Islamic State, which is believed to have attracted thousands of followers in Jordan. (AP photo/Mohammad Hannon)AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — On a recent evening, two of Jordan's top pro-al-Qaida ideologues held court on the rooftop of a villa decorated with strings of lights. Sporting shaggy beards and robes, the Muslim preachers whispered to each other and rose occasionally from plastic chairs to greet supporters.


Israel PM warns Iran greater threat than IS jihadists

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:19 PM PDT

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a photo of an alleged Hamas rocket near children as he addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly September 29, 2014United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday at the United Nations that a nuclear-capable Iran would pose the gravest threat to the world, far outstripping the jihadist terror from Iraq and Syria.


Afghan president sworn in, paving way for US pact

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 01:07 PM PDT

Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai shakes hands with Afghanistan's Chief Justice Abdul Salam AzimiKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan swore in Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as its second elected president on Monday, embarking on a new era with a national unity government poised to confront a resilient Taliban insurgency by signing an agreement with the United States that would guarantee a continuing American military presence.


Modi warns US to avoid Iraq 'mistake' in Afghanistan

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:45 PM PDT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India speaks to supporters during an event on September 28, 2014 at Madison Square Garden in New YorkNew York (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the United States Monday not to repeat its "mistake" in Iraq by pulling out of Afghanistan too quickly.


Rep. Lamborn decried for urging generals to quit

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:35 PM PDT

FILE - In this June 16, 2014 file photo, incumbent U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, (R-Colo.), speaks during the GOP congressional debate at Centennial Hall in Colorado Springs, Colo. A Lamborn spokesman said Monday Sept. 29, 2014, that the Republican congressman from Colorado was not trying to undermine President Barack Obama's military actions in the Middle East by recently urging generals who disagreed with the president to resign "in a blaze of glory." (AP Photo/Julia Moss, The Colorado Springs Gazette, file) MAGS OUTDENVER (AP) — A Republican congressman from Colorado was not trying to undermine President Barack Obama's military actions in the Middle East by urging generals who disagreed with the president to resign "in a blaze of glory," a spokesman said Monday.


IS jihadists close in on key Syria border town

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:21 PM PDT

Syrian Kurds stand on a hill looking down on clashes between Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish fighters, near the Turkey-Syria border, on September 28, 2014Damascus (AFP) - Islamic State group fighters closed in Monday to within only a few kilometres of a key Kurdish town on Syria's border with Turkey, despite new air strikes by the US-led coalition.


3 Times Obama Administration Was Warned About ISIS Threat

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:21 PM PDT

3 Times Obama Administration Was Warned About ISIS Threat"We Face A Real Problem," One Official Said in 2013


Investors bet the Hong Kong protesters will blink

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:18 PM PDT

Parallels to the 1989 Tiananmen massacres are overblown - for now.

Islamic State fight seen costing U.S. $2.4B or more annually

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:13 PM PDT

US Officials: New Round Of Airstrikes Near IrbilBy David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military efforts against Islamic State have cost nearly $1 billion so far and are likely to run between $2.4 billion and $3.8 billion per year if air and ground operations continue at the current pace, according to a think tank analysis. But a ramp-up, including more air strikes and a significant boost in ground forces, could send costs soaring to between $13 billion and $22 billion annually, said the analysis released on Monday by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. ...


Is Khorasan a real threat – or a way to avoid a vote on US military action?

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:08 PM PDT

Just how big a threat exactly is the Khorasan group, the previously unknown terrorist organization that intelligence officials unveiled – conveniently enough, many critics note – on the eve of the US military bombings in Syria?

World leaders address UN's annual gathering

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 12:04 PM PDT

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, speaks during the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)UNITED NATIONS (AP) — World leaders gathered Monday for the fifth day of the annual ministerial meeting of the U.N. General Assembly to address the state of their countries and the world. Here are highlights from some of the newsworthy speakers:


James Foley photo removed from anti-Islamic bus ads in New York

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 11:52 AM PDT

A man holds up a sign supporting American journalist James Foley during a protest against the Assad regime in Syria in Times Square in New YorkBy Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - A photo of American journalist James Foley shortly before his beheading by the Islamic state militant group is being removed from anti-Islam advertisements appearing on Monday on 100 New York City buses and two subway stations. In response to a complaint from the Foley family, the advertisement is being altered to include an unidentifiable severed head held by the masked militant seen wielding a knife in the video of Foley's beheading, said David Yerushalmi, lawyer for Pamela Geller, whose group is sponsoring the ads. "The use of Mr. ...


The War Against ISIS Will Explode Our Nation’s Debt

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 11:45 AM PDT

While Americans and Congress are rallying behind President Obama's campaign to eradicate ISIS, a senior House Democratic leader said on Monday that lawmakers must shed their "rose-colored glasses" and take a hard look at the fiscal implications of  an almost-certain long-term military engagement in Iraq and Syria. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) urged the Armed Services and Appropriations Committees to schedule hearings as soon as possible to provide taxpayers with a realistic assessment of what it may cost in the coming decade to battle ISIS -- and gauge the likely impact on the deficit and other spending priorities. Noting that the administration of Republican President George W. Bush vastly underestimated the cost of invading Iraq and Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks against the U.S., Hoyer said during a speech at the National Press Club, "I think any hearings .

In unexpected twist, Iowa's Joni Ernst could save GOP's Senate dream

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 11:44 AM PDT

Democratic Senate incumbents have proven surprisingly resilient ahead of November's midterms. But even if vulnerable Democrats manage to hang onto their seats in other states, Iowa may be the Achilles' heel in the party's quest to keep the chamber blue. 
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