Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Obama, European leaders to discuss Ebola epidemic on Wednesday
• Obama, foreign military chiefs coordinate Islamic State plans
• Bomb wounds 12 in central Cairo
• Blast in downtown Cairo wounds 12
• Obama, allies plot anti-ISIS strategy
• Obama rallies coalition commanders against IS jihadists
• US worker killed by ex-colleague in Saudi Arabia
• U.S.-led air strikes intensify as Syria conflict destabilizes Turkey
• Turkish strikes on Kurds complicate anti-IS fight
• US, Russia vow intel-sharing on Islamic State
• U.S., Russia agree to share intelligence on common enemy: Islamic State militants
• What has life been like for the Islamic State 'poster girls'?
• U.S. national shot dead in Saudi capital Riyadh
• Car bomb kills 25, including lawmaker, in Shi'ite neighborhood of Baghdad
• Syrian Kurds feel abandoned as Kobani battle rages
• Islamic State hostage found his calling in Mideast
• Ex-colleague shoots dead American in Saudi capital
• 'No discrepancy' over Turkey's role in fight against Islamic State: Kerry
• Pentagon backlash: Why are top military leaders attacking Obama’s foreign policy?
• One Muslim state's peaceful power transfer
• IS jihadists close in on town west of Baghdad
• Democratic Strategist Robert Weiner: "The Silence Is Deafening" With No National Democratic Ads On Success On Unemployment, Jobs, Economy
• Obama says deeply concerned about Islamic State threat to Syria's Kobani
• Strikes pound jihadists as US-led coalition meets
• Six months after girls abducted, Nigerians protest near president's house
• Rights group: Iraq Shiite militias killing Sunnis
• The Islamic State, gardening metaphors, and misinformation
• US, Russia to step up intel sharing on IS militants: Kerry
• On Islamic State's western front, Lebanon girds for pre-winter attacks
• German government slashes growth forecast
• Anger as wounded Kurdish fighters die stranded at Turkish border
• The forgotten journalist executed by Islamic State
• Report sees flaws in case against vanishing Marine
• Iraqi MP killed in suicide bombing claimed by IS
• US Ramps Up Airstrikes on ISIS in Kobani
• Facing new oil glut, Saudis avoid 1980s mistakes to halt price slide
• Militias rule the day in strife-torn Middle East
• US-led coalition steps up strikes in Syria
• U.S.-led forces conduct 21 airstrikes near Kobani, Syria: U.S. military
• The US remains focused on IS in Syria and Iraq. Local 'allies?' Not so much.

Obama, European leaders to discuss Ebola epidemic on Wednesday Posted: 14 Oct 2014 04:52 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will hold a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German, and Italian leaders to discuss the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and other pressing international issues, the White House said. Also on the agenda will be the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, and efforts to encourage Russia to implement the Minsk ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, the White House said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Obama, foreign military chiefs coordinate Islamic State plans Posted: 14 Oct 2014 04:39 PM PDT By Steve Holland and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday told military leaders from more than 20 countries working with Washington to defeat Islamic State that he was deeply concerned about the radical group's advances at the north Syrian town of Kobani and in western Iraq. But Obama did not hint any changes to what he saw as long-term strategy that would see ups and downs in the months ahead, even as pressure builds for the coalition to stop the Islamic State from taking control of more territory. ...

Bomb wounds 12 in central Cairo Posted: 14 Oct 2014 04:34 PM PDT Cairo (AFP) - A bomb exploded in the centre of the Egyptian capital Cairo late Tuesday wounding 12 people, security and medical officials said.

Blast in downtown Cairo wounds 12 Posted: 14 Oct 2014 04:07 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - A homemade bomb exploded near the Supreme Court in downtown Cairo on Tuesday night, injuring 12 people while also destroying a car and damaging some shop fronts, the interior ministry and security sources said. It was not clear if a particular individual was targeted in the attack, the second in the Egyptian capital in less than a month. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Last month, a bomb blast near the Egyptian foreign ministry killed three policemen in the worst attack in central Cairo for months. Islamist militant group Ajnad Misr claimed that attack. ...

Obama, allies plot anti-ISIS strategy Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and military chiefs from more than 20 nations gathered Tuesday in a show of strength against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria. But the alliance faced a fresh test as Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurdish rebels inside its borders, defying pleas from the U.S. to instead focus on the IS.

Obama rallies coalition commanders against IS jihadists Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:49 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama attempted to rally allied commanders around his emerging strategy to defeat Islamic State jihadists on Tuesday, as the US-led air armada stepped up its raids in Syria.

US worker killed by ex-colleague in Saudi Arabia Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:49 PM PDT RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A Saudi-American dual national who was recently fired from a U.S. defense contractor shot two American ex-colleagues in Saudi Arabia's capital, killing one and wounding the other in what appeared to be a settling of scores, security and diplomatic officials said.

U.S.-led air strikes intensify as Syria conflict destabilizes Turkey Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:42 PM PDT By Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler MURSITPINAR Turkey/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - American-led forces have sharply intensified air strikes in the past two days against Islamic State fighters threatening Kurds on Syria's Turkish border after the jihadists' advance began to destabilize Turkey. The coalition had conducted 21 attacks on the militants near the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani over Monday and Tuesday and appeared to have slowed Islamic State advances there, the U.S. military said, but cautioned the situation remained fluid. U.S. ...

Turkish strikes on Kurds complicate anti-IS fight Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — In a fresh test for U.S. coalition-building efforts, Turkey is launching airstrikes against Kurdish rebels inside its borders this week despite pleas from the Obama administration to instead focus on an international campaign to destroy Islamic State militants wreaking havoc in the region.

US, Russia vow intel-sharing on Islamic State Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:36 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — The United States and Russia vowed Tuesday to renew cooperation on a broad array of global security matters, including intelligence sharing on Islamic State militants, even as the two powers remained deeply at odds over the crisis in Ukraine.

U.S., Russia agree to share intelligence on common enemy: Islamic State militants Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:23 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed on Tuesday to increase intelligence sharing between Moscow and Washington on Islamic State militants, focusing on a common enemy even as deep divisions remained over the crisis in Ukraine. ...

What has life been like for the Islamic State 'poster girls'? Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:18 PM PDT Two teenage girls who fled their Austrian homes to join the Islamic State, described as 'poster girls' for the caliphate, are now desperate to return after apparently becoming disillusioned with their jihadi lifestyle.

U.S. national shot dead in Saudi capital Riyadh Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:04 PM PDT By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - A gunman killed a U.S. national and wounded another in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday, officials said, heightening Western concerns over security in the world's top oil exporter as regional unrest rises. Police later shot and wounded an assailant and then arrested him, said a statement from the police, carried by state media. The apprehended man worked at the same company as the two victims and had recently been dismissed from his job, Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington said in a statement. ...

Car bomb kills 25, including lawmaker, in Shi'ite neighborhood of Baghdad Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:03 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide car bombing on Tuesday killed a parliament member and 24 others in a Shi'ite neighborhood in Baghdad, according to police and medical officials, as Islamic State attacked towns in western Anbar province. The third straight day of bombings in Shi'ite parts of Baghdad and an offensive in Anbar province that saw strategic towns threatened by Islamic State pointed to the dire security situation in Iraq. ...

Syrian Kurds feel abandoned as Kobani battle rages Posted: 14 Oct 2014 02:52 PM PDT SURUC, Turkey (AP) — Kneeling over his brother's fresh grave, Ali Mehmud gathered clumps of dirt in his hands, raised them to his lips to kiss them, then softly placed them back on the small mound.

Islamic State hostage found his calling in Mideast Posted: 14 Oct 2014 02:48 PM PDT INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A U.S. aid worker being held by the Islamic State group told family and teachers that he'd found his calling in 2012 when he decided to stay in the Middle East instead of returning to college, according to an email released Tuesday by his family.

Ex-colleague shoots dead American in Saudi capital Posted: 14 Oct 2014 02:19 PM PDT Riyadh (AFP) - A former employee of a US defence contractor shot dead one American colleague and wounded another in the Saudi capital Tuesday, officials said, in a rare attack on Westerners in the kingdom.

'No discrepancy' over Turkey's role in fight against Islamic State: Kerry Posted: 14 Oct 2014 02:13 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday there was no discrepancy between the United States and Turkey with regard to what Ankara "will or won't do" in the fight against Islamic State insurgents. Speaking at a news conference in Paris after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kerry insisted that Turkey was a "valued member" of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, which has taken over swathes of Iraq and Syria, and said Ankara would define its role "on its own timetable. ...

Pentagon backlash: Why are top military leaders attacking Obama’s foreign policy? Posted: 14 Oct 2014 01:58 PM PDT On Tuesday, Gen. Ray Odierno, the US Army Chief of Staff, publicly questioned President Obama's plan to reduce the size of America's ground-combat forces, joining a growing chorus of current and former administration officials speaking out against Obama's foreign policy.

One Muslim state's peaceful power transfer Posted: 14 Oct 2014 01:45 PM PDT With four Muslim countries now splintered in armed conflict (Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen), the world can be grateful that the largest Muslim country will achieve a peaceful milestone Oct. 20. For the first time in its history, Indonesia will see a transfer of power from one popularly elected president to another: A humble former furniture maker, Joko Widodo, will take over from a former Army general, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

IS jihadists close in on town west of Baghdad Posted: 14 Oct 2014 01:22 PM PDT Baghdad (AFP) - Islamic State fighters closed in Tuesday on the Iraqi town of Amriyat al-Fallujah, one of the last still controlled by the government in the troubled western province of Anbar, its police chief said.

Democratic Strategist Robert Weiner: "The Silence Is Deafening" With No National Democratic Ads On Success On Unemployment, Jobs, Economy Posted: 14 Oct 2014 01:21 PM PDT WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Democratic strategist Robert Weiner, who was a Clinton White House spokesman and senior staff for Congressmen Conyers, Rangel, Pepper, and Koch, has been on a mission this week asking, "Where are national Democratic ads on successes including unemployment, jobs, and the economy? In radio interviews on WGUF Florida (The Dave Elliott Show), Labor Radio Pennsylvania (The Rick Smith Show), and an address to Democrats Abroad France, the world's largest Democrats Abroad group, Weiner asserted, "The silence is deafening. ...

Obama says deeply concerned about Islamic State threat to Syria's Kobani Posted: 14 Oct 2014 01:16 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama told defense chiefs from some 20 countries on Tuesday that he is deeply concerned about the Islamic State assault on the Syrian town of Kobani and that the United States would keep launching air strikes in the area. Obama, addressing the defense chiefs in a conference room at the Joint Base Andrews military air base outside Washington also said he is concerned about the Islamic State push in Iraq's Anbar province. He predicted a "long-term campaign" against the militant group and declared the U.S. ...

Strikes pound jihadists as US-led coalition meets Posted: 14 Oct 2014 01:05 PM PDT Mursitpinar (Turkey) (AFP) - American-led warplanes hammered Islamic State militants on Monday and Tuesday with 21 raids near Kobane, a strategic Syrian town on the border with Turkey, the US military said, as top brass from 22 countries met to discuss a strategy for combatting them at an air force base outside Washington.

Six months after girls abducted, Nigerians protest near president's house Posted: 14 Oct 2014 12:43 PM PDT By Tim Cocks ABUJA (Reuters) - Protesters demanding the release of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped six months ago by Islamist militants, demonstrated infront of the president's home on Tuesday, urging the government to do more to free them. Around 60 people in red T-shirts that read "Bring Back Our Girls" marched to the residence of President Goodluck Jonathan in a leafy part of the Nigerian capital, which was guarded by more than 150 armed police. Scores of other protesters were prevented from joining the rally by other police lines at the top of the street. ...

Rights group: Iraq Shiite militias killing Sunnis Posted: 14 Oct 2014 12:38 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Shiite militias have abducted and killed scores of Sunni civilians with the tacit support of the government in retaliation for Islamic State group attacks, Amnesty International said Tuesday, as a suicide car bombing claimed by the Sunni extremists killed 23 people, including a Shiite lawmaker.

The Islamic State, gardening metaphors, and misinformation Posted: 14 Oct 2014 12:27 PM PDT Thomas Friedman yesterday likened the so-called Islamic State to an "invasive species" ("IS," get it?). Comparing the ideology of Islamic State to an invasive, noxious weed that needs tearing up by the roots is attractive for the purposes of writing a column. But Mr. Friedman, a New York Times columnist, is on shaky ground here, and his representation of IS is both wrong and analytically useless.

US, Russia to step up intel sharing on IS militants: Kerry Posted: 14 Oct 2014 12:26 PM PDT Paris (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have agreed to step up intelligence sharing over the Islamic State (IS) group.

On Islamic State's western front, Lebanon girds for pre-winter attacks Posted: 14 Oct 2014 12:04 PM PDT As the first rains of the approaching winter lash the rugged mountains along Lebanon's eastern border with Syria, Lebanese officials fret that militants belonging to the self-described Islamic State and allied factions could be preparing to break out of their isolated mountain strongholds, threatening populated areas.

German government slashes growth forecast Posted: 14 Oct 2014 11:55 AM PDT FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe got more bad news about its dominant economy Tuesday when the German government slashed its growth estimate for this year to 1.2 percent from 1.8 percent.

Anger as wounded Kurdish fighters die stranded at Turkish border Posted: 14 Oct 2014 11:55 AM PDT By Ayla Jean Yackley SURUC Turkey (Reuters) - With medical supplies depleted in the war-ravaged north Syrian town of Kobani, Kurdish activist Blesa Omar rushed three comrades wounded in battle against Islamic State fighters straight to the border to dispatch them to a Turkish hospital. He said he spent the next four hours watching them die, one by one, from what he thinks were treatable shrapnel wounds as Turkish border guards refused to let them through the frontier. "To me it is clear they died because they waited so long. ...

The forgotten journalist executed by Islamic State Posted: 14 Oct 2014 11:37 AM PDT Of these three, which is the odd man out: Steven Sotloff, James Foley, Muhanad Akidi?

Report sees flaws in case against vanishing Marine Posted: 14 Oct 2014 11:26 AM PDT RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) — Prosecutors could have a difficult time proving the desertion case against a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine who vanished from his unit in Iraq a decade ago, according to a military report.

Iraqi MP killed in suicide bombing claimed by IS Posted: 14 Oct 2014 11:23 AM PDT Baghdad (AFP) - An Iraqi MP and prominent militia leader was one of at least 21 people killed on Tuesday in a suicide bombing immediately claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

US Ramps Up Airstrikes on ISIS in Kobani Posted: 14 Oct 2014 11:17 AM PDT U.S. warplanes have ramped up the number of airstrikes against ISIS fighters in the besieged city of Kobani launching 21 airstrikes since Monday.  It is the highest number of strikes since the start of the air campaign in Syria and is an indicator of how...

Facing new oil glut, Saudis avoid 1980s mistakes to halt price slide Posted: 14 Oct 2014 10:40 AM PDT By Rania El Gamal DUBAI (Reuters) - Still haunted by its failed attempt to prevent a steep drop in oil prices by slashing production by almost three quarters in the 1980s, the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is determined not to make the same mistake again. The oil glut of the 1980s, the early days of the modern crude market and a distant memory for most traders, has resurfaced recently in conversations with Saudi officials and veteran analysts who see it as the defining moment behind the kingdom's new strategy to protect medium-term market share. ...

Militias rule the day in strife-torn Middle East Posted: 14 Oct 2014 10:35 AM PDT Embattled governments in Iraq and Syria have come to rely on Shiite militias as their armies have crumbled in the face of mostly Sunni insurgents and rebels. In Libya, various armed groups loosely allied with two rival governments have fought over bullet-riddled airports. Shiite rebels in Yemen have swept down from the north, capturing the capital and, on Tuesday, a key port city.

US-led coalition steps up strikes in Syria Posted: 14 Oct 2014 10:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says 21 airstrikes against Islamic State targets near the Syrian city of Kobani overnight Monday marked the largest number there in a 24-hour period since the air campaign in Syria began last month.

U.S.-led forces conduct 21 airstrikes near Kobani, Syria: U.S. military Posted: 14 Oct 2014 10:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American-led forces conducted 21 airstrikes focused on halting Islamic State advances at Kobani, Syria, in the last two days, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, warning the situation on the ground is fluid as militants try to gain territory. The strikes Monday and Tuesday, which also included Saudi Arabian fighter planes, destroyed two militant staging areas, destroyed or damaged three Islamic State buildings and damaged three other compounds, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. It was an unusually large number of airstrikes reported since U.S. ...

The US remains focused on IS in Syria and Iraq. Local 'allies?' Not so much. Posted: 14 Oct 2014 10:31 AM PDT An American acquaintance of mine who lives and works in Kabul calls Afghanistan "the graveyard of common sense." But the welter of priorities, contradictions, and claims emanating from the anti-Islamic State coalition the US is trying to lead is already giving the Hindu Khush conflict a run for its money when it comes to head-scratchers.

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610