2014年11月11日星期二

Yahoo! News: Iraq

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Iraq


Springsteen among performers at free DC concert

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 04:59 PM PST

The Washington Monument is photographed through the stage on the National Mall in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, before the start of the Concert for Valor. The Veterans Day event is hosted by HBO, Starbucks and Chase and is free and open to the public. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON (AP) — Military veterans and active-duty service members packed Washington's National Mall on Tuesday for a free concert featuring Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna and Eminem, among other performers.


AP PHOTOS: A look at Veterans Day around the US

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 04:36 PM PST

Street performer John Casey, wearing silver paint as part of his act as "The Silver Cowboy of Nashville," watches the Veterans Day parade pass by Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)In small communities and large cities alike, people gathered Tuesday to honor those who have served in the U.S. armed forces.


Wounded Iraq War veteran, anti-war activist dies

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 04:19 PM PST

SEATTLE (AP) — Tomas Young, a wounded Iraq War veteran who was an outspoken critic of the conflict and the subject of the 2007 documentary "Body of War," has died. He was 34.

10 hurt in controlled blast of car bomb in Egypt's Sinai

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 03:38 PM PST

A member of the Egyptian security forces speaks on the phone while securing an area in El-Arish on the Sinai peninsula on August 19, 2011Ten people were hurt Tuesday when police in Egypt set off a controlled explosion of a bomb-rigged car in the town of El-Arish in the north of the restive Sinai peninsula, security officials said. "We blew up the car remotely. There was a half a tonne of explosives" inside, an interior ministry spokesman, Hani Abdel Latif, told AFP. Attacks targeting security forces in the peninsula have occurred frequently since the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.


Veterans Day's Other Name

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 03:32 PM PST

Veterans Day's Other NameToday is Veterans Day. You've probably seen this Kurt Vonnegut quote, from Breakfast of Champions, his celebrated 1973 novel, floating around social media.


This Iraq Veteran's Harrowing Survival Story Has a Heartwarming Happy Ending

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 03:17 PM PST

There's no doubt veteran Michael Schlitz saw the worst of war on Feb. 27, 2007, when his vehicle hit an explosive in Iraq. The blast claimed the lives of three of the soldiers in the now-retired army ranger's unit and severely maimed Schlitz—he lost both his hands and some of his vision, and more than 85 percent of his body was burned.

Turbulent path for Syrian Kurd fighters' 'first foreign female recruit'

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 03:07 PM PST

By Isabel Coles and Dan Williams ARBIL Iraq/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Canadian-born immigrant to Israel has become the first foreign woman to join Kurds battling Islamic State in Syria, a Kurdish source said on Tuesday, as details of the volunteer's turbulent past surfaced. Gill Rosenberg, 31, is a civil aviation pilot who enlisted in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrested in 2009, extradited to the United States and jailed over an international phone scam, one of her former lawyers said. ...

Iraqi president in talks with 'brother' Saudi king

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 02:08 PM PST

A picture released by the Saudi Press Agency on November 11, 2014 shows Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (R) meeting Iraqi President Fuad Masum (L) in RiyadhIraqi President Fuad Masum arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night for talks with his "brother" King Abdullah, confirming a thaw in relations after years of strain. The meeting at Abdullah's palace in Riyadh was the highest-level contact in years between Shiite-majority Iraq and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia. "The Iraqi president expressed his happiness to visit the kingdom and meet with his brother the king," who welcomed the visiting delegation, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Relations were strained under Iraq's former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was re-elected in 2010 after Tehran and Washington played key roles.


Massachusetts school deploys 'shooter detection system'

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 01:56 PM PST

By Daniel Lovering METHUEN Massachusetts (Reuters) - A Massachusetts school has introduced a security system designed to alert authorities and administrators when shots are fired in the building, the first of its kind in the United States, according to the manufacturer. The technology, adapted from a system in use by the U.S. military in war zones, is being marketed to schools and other public spaces across the country after a spate of deadly mass shootings. ...

AP PHOTOS: Vets remembered in US, Canada, Europe

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 01:24 PM PST

French President Francois Hollande walks in the crypt of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette basilica, Tuesday Nov. 11, 2014, as part of the inauguration of the International Memorial of Notre Dame de Lorette, where the names of the 580,000 soldiers who died in northern France during WW1 are listed alphabetically without nationality or rank. The WWI military cemetery of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is located in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, northern France. Francois Hollande hosted German and British officials for Armistice Day events in Paris and northern France, as Europe marks the centenary of WW1 with an emphasis on unity and cooperation. (AP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure/Pool)Americans marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with parades and speeches, while for Europeans the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I.


Bush father, son want Jeb Bush run for White House

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 01:14 PM PST

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Former President George W. Bush said he and his father believe Jeb Bush should run for president but ultimately the former Florida governor must make a decision regardless of any pressure from the family.

Unique memorial, ceramic poppies to mark end of devastating WWI

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 01:07 PM PST

A ceremony to mark the addition of the final poppy to the "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" installation by artist Paul Cummins and theatre stage designer Tom Piper is pictured on Armistice Day at the Tower of London on November 11, 2014Ablain-Saint-Nazaire (France) (AFP) - President Francois Hollande opened a huge, elliptical memorial Tuesday carrying the names of nearly 600,000 fallen soldiers of all nationalities in an emotional ceremony in northern France marking the end of the devastating First World War. Several hundred kilometres away across the Channel in London, a teenage army cadet planted the last of 888,246 ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, representing every British military fatality in the 1914-18 war that saw more than 16 million troops and civilians killed.


America marks Veterans Day with parades, freebies

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 01:04 PM PST

Al Willis, a Montford Point Marine, salutes during a ceremony on Veterans Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at the The All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors in Philadelphia. Americans marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with parades, speeches and military discounts, while in Europe the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)NEW YORK (AP) — Americans marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with parades, speeches and military discounts, while in Europe the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I.


Canada honors war dead weeks after soldiers die in domestic attacks

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 12:58 PM PST

Poppies, notes, and mementoes are placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in OttawaBy Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Thousands gathered for Remembrance Day ceremonies at Canada's war memorial on Tuesday, the same site where a soldier was shot dead three weeks ago in an attack on parliament. The annual Nov. 11 Remembrance Day honoring Canada's war dead took on increased significance this year after two soldiers were killed in separate attacks in October that police said were carried out by radical recent converts to Islam. The crowd, an estimated 50,000, was bigger than usual at Ottawa's cenotaph and security was tight at an event attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. ...


Cheating, Lying and Fraud—Will Restructuring Save the Scandal-Plagued VA?

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 12:45 PM PST

Cheating, Lying and Fraud—Will Restructuring Save the Scandal-Plagued VA?One of the more intriguing questions as the nation honors its veterans is whether Robert A. McDonald, the new Secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, will be able to revolutionize his beleaguered agency in the two years left of the Obama administration. In what he described as the "largest restructuring in the department's history," McDonald outlined his plan in a memo to his 300,000 employees throughout the country. Establish a new department-wide customer service organization to ensure the delivery of top-level service to veterans, headed by a chief customer service officer. "The mission of the new office will be to drive VA culture and practices to understand and respond to the expectations of our veteran customers," McDonald said.


U.N. Syria envoy says Damascus gave positive signals on local truce push

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 12:31 PM PST

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets United Nations Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura in DamascusBEIRUT (Reuters) - The United Nations peace envoy to Syria said on Tuesday that Syrian officials had given him positive signals on a U.N. proposal for a local truce in the northern city of Aleppo, a main battleground in Syria's three-year-old war. Speaking in a news conference in Damascus after meeting President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian foreign minister, Staffan de Mistura said the government's initial response to the proposal "was of interest, and constructive interest". Assad had also been quoted on Monday as saying the proposal was worth studying. ...


For Heat's Pat Riley, every day is Veterans Day

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 12:00 PM PST

FILE - In this June 19, 2014, file photo, Miami Heat president Pat Riley speaks during an end of season NBA basketball news conference in Miami. Riley never served in the military, but has spoken out for years about the need to help soldiers who served overseas. The Heat took their training camp to a pair of military bases in Florida's Panhandle in 2010. Riley said the team may look into doing something similar in the future. (AP Photo/The Miami Herald, Al Diaz, File) MAGS OUTMIAMI (AP) — Pat Riley celebrates Veterans Day more than once a year.


Canadian-Israeli woman said to join peshmerga

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:52 AM PST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli media reports a Canadian-born woman who served in the Israeli military has joined a Kurdish militia fighting the Islamic State group.

Iran, world powers fight to save nuclear deal

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:40 AM PST

Russia believes world powers can come to a deal on Iranian nuclear enrichment by the November 24 deadlineIran and world powers sought Tuesday to avoid a nuclear deal falling apart on November 24, with a top Russian official expressing optimism and urging key countries to "build bridges". After 24 hours in which the chances of a deal seemed to nosedive after senior officials from the United States and Iran failed to make progress, the other parties to the nuclear talks met in Oman. The one-day meeting between Iran's nuclear negotiating team and officials from the P5+1 -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, plus Germany -- was held behind closed doors. "We are not working on plan B, that's for sure," he told reporters in Muscat, though he did not rule out an extension to an interim deal that expires later this month.


US troops in Iraq's Anbar as anti-IS campaign expands

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:35 AM PST

Iraqi Shiite militiamen after a conference on fighting the Islamic State group, at the Al-Asad air base in Iraq's mainly Sunni Anbar province, on November 11, 2014Al-Asad Air Base (Iraq) (AFP) - A team of US troops was on the ground in Iraq's Anbar province on Tuesday as Washington steps up efforts to help Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State jihadist group. The Pentagon confirmed about 50 military personnel were at Al-Asad air base to assess it for the possible deployment of a larger contingent of advisers and trainers to assist Iraqi security forces. President Barack Obama has announced plans to double the number of American troops in Iraq to up to 3,100 as US-led efforts against the jihadists enter what he called a "new phase". Parts of mainly Sunni Anbar province have become a stronghold for IS, which has seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria, and some of Baghdad's forces who were hard-pressed by the jihadists fell back to Al-Asad air base.


U.N. says 13.6 million displaced by wars in Iraq and Syria

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:30 AM PST

Kurdish refugees from the Syrian town of Kobani sit in front of their tents in a camp in the southeastern town of SurucGENEVA (Reuters) - About 13.6 million people, equivalent to the population of London, have been displaced by conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and many are without food or shelter as winter starts, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. Amin Awad, UNHCR's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the world was becoming numb to the refugees' needs. "Now when we talk about a million people displaced over two months, or 500,000 overnight, the world is just not responding," he told reporters in Geneva. The 13.6 million include 7. ...


ISLAMIC STATE

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:28 AM PST

Map shows the spread of the Islamic State across Iraq and Syria with ethnic borders on the map; 3c x 4 inches; 146 mm x 101 mm;

Suicide bomber kills eight in northern Iraqi city Baiji

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:20 AM PST

Iraqi Prime Minister al-Abadi speaks to reporters after a meeting with the top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, in the Shiite holy city of NajafBy Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed eight people including six soldiers on Tuesday in the northern Iraqi city of Baiji where government forces are trying to reassert control to break an Islamic State siege of the country's largest refinery nearby. The bomber targeted a crowd gathering around soldiers who had retaken parts of the city center, Baiji Mayor Mohammed Mahmoud told Reuters. Security officials said two civilians and six soldiers were killed. ...


Qatar to World Cup critics: We're no vampires

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:02 AM PST

Qatar to World Cup critics: We're no vampiresQatar's sports minister says the 2022 World Cup will set a benchmark of excellence that will be "almost impossible to beat" and promised in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that ...


West Africa's expat community dwindles amid Ebola

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 10:17 AM PST

In this picture taken Monday Nov. 10, 2014, Beth Casey, center, and her husband Tim Casey, left, engage with pupils at the American International School he runs in Conakry, Guinea. Students and teachers pass through a temperature screening point when they enter the campus and wash their hands several times a day. Two years ago, the school that has remained opened through coups and now Ebola scare, had about 75 students. Today enrollment is in the low 30s, and anti-Ebola practices like hand washing have led to a drop in other illnesses. "The big thing that has done for us is we don't have kids coming down with colds, so our attendance has improved percentage wise," Casey said.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)Though he lives in Sierra Leone, American Michael Ropiecki tries not to waste a lot of energy worrying about his health. But last month he came down with a fever, was throwing up and had diarrhea — all symptoms of Ebola.


Iraqi forces retake most of strategic oil town

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 10:14 AM PST

In this Thursday, July 31, 2014 file photo, a column of smoke rises from an oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, after an attack by Islamic militants. Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State group recaptured the heart of the town of Beiji, home to the country's largest oil refinery, state television and a military official said Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Retaking Beiji, could allow Iraqi forces a base to attack neighboring Tikrit, taken by the extremists after their lightning advance this summer. (AP Photo, File)BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State group recaptured most of the town of Beiji, home to the country's largest oil refinery, state television and a provincial governor said Tuesday.


5 More Mideast Jihadist Groups Join ISIS

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 09:30 AM PST

As ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's fate is still unclear after a U.S. The first group to sign up was the Egyptian "Anssar Bait al-Maqdis" (the supporters of Jerusalem), the main insurgent group in Egypt and in the Sinai peninsula since the Egyptian revolution in 2011. This group has launched many attacks on the Egyptian army, police, tourists, and Israel including the Israel gas pipeline in Sinai and in other parts of Egypt.

Biden: Military veterans are 'spine of the nation'

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 09:22 AM PST

Vice President Joe Biden lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. in honor of Veterans Day. Americans marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with parades, speeches and military discounts, while in Europe the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is saluting military veterans, calling them not only the heart and soul, but the spine of the nation.


Why Veterans Day 2014 has an extra note of solemnity

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 08:40 AM PST

It's Veterans Day again, but with some extra depth to the solemnity: America is again on war footing, albeit with an emphasis on air strikes rather than "boots on the ground."

Qatar emir: Airstrikes against IS group not enough

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 08:18 AM PST

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 25, 2014 file photo, Emir of Qatar Sheik Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, listens during the opening session of the Arab League Summit in Bayan Palace, Kuwait City. Qatar's ruling emir said Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014 that U.S.-led coalition airstrikes are not enough to defeat DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar's ruling emir said Tuesday that U.S.-led coalition airstrikes are not enough to defeat "terrorism and extremism" in Iraq and Syria as he urged the world to take action against factors fueling radicalism there — a suggestion that also took aim at the Syrian regime.


How Kids in Military Families Can Cope

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:24 AM PST

The United States has an all-volunteer military, but one group is "drafted" into the lifestyle from birth: military kids. They may face multiple moves, nationwide and overseas, and deal with fear and uncertainty as parents are deployed to faraway war zones. Meanwhile, it's up to the spouses staying behind to look out for kids' physical and mental health, and keep their families on an even keel.

UN slashes winter aid in Iraq, Syria amid funding gap

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:18 AM PST

Displaced Iraqi children play at the Bahrka camp 10 km west of Arbil on August 27, 2014The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it had been forced to slash the number of people it can help prepare for winter in conflict-ravaged Syria and Iraq for lack of funds. People are becoming numb," said Amin Awad, who heads UNHCR's Middle East and North Africa bureau, lamenting that his agency was having to make "tough choices". The agency said it was facing a shortfall of $58 million (47 million euros) for its efforts to prepare millions of displaced people in Syria and Iraq for winter. He noted that around 13.6 million people had been displaced from their homes in Syria and Iraq, including 3.3 million Syrians and 190,000 Iraqis who had fled their countries to become refugees.


Jury fails to reach verdict in 'secret' UK terrorism trial

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:17 AM PST

LONDON (Reuters) - The jury in a mostly secret terrorism trial in which the defendant had been accused of possibly targeting former Prime Minister Tony Blair has been discharged after failing to agree on a verdict, prosecutors said on Tuesday. A retrial is due to take place next year. Erol Incedal, 26, was arrested in October last year with another man, Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadja, who last month admitted possessing a bomb-making document on a memory card. ...

In honor of Veterans Day NEF Offers Professional Development Scholarships for Veterans

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:14 AM PST

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In honor of our Veterans and the sacrifices they make for our country, the National Education Foundation is offering professional development scholarships. As many of our veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are finding it difficult to get jobs due to lack of job skills training, which can be expensive and unaffordable. ...

Veterans Day News: 18,000+ Clean Energy Jobs Announced In Third Quarter; Web Site To Track Major Clean Energy Projects At U.S. Military Installations

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:03 AM PST

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new report from the nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) shows that more than 18,000 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in more than 20 states in the third quarter of 2014, a significant uptick from both the previous quarter and a year ago.The Top 10 states were: Nevada, New York, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan, Connecticut, Louisiana, Texas, and Illinois and Maryland (tie). ...

Selective Liberal Arts Schools Begin to Recruit Veterans

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:00 AM PST

Eduardo De La Torre has seen a lot in the years since he graduated from high school in 1999.

What would you die for?

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 06:45 AM PST

In this commentary, journalist Todd Brewster looks at how the concept of military service has changed over the past few generations and how the great bulk of our youth miss out on something important by not contemplating it.

Manage Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in College

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 06:45 AM PST

Mike Rials needed to sit in the back, on a row near the exit, in a college class with more than 50 people. Heart pounding, palms sweaty and overcome with anxiety, he would leave 10 minutes in if he couldn't get a back seat.

Kurds gain ground but not control in struggle for Syrian border town

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 06:22 AM PST

Smoke rises during fighting between the Islamic State and Kurdish forces in an eastern Kobani neighbourhoodBy Rasha Elass and Hamdi Istanbullu BEIRUT/MURSITPINAR Turkey (Reuters) - Syrian Kurds backed by fighters from northern Iraq have gained ground towards breaking the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobani but are drawing heavy fire from Islamic State insurgents and have yet to win back control. Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga, or "those who face death", arrived with armoured vehicles and artillery more than a week ago to try to repulse a more than month-old siege that has tested a U.S.-led coalition's ability to halt the Islamist insurgents. ...


Qatar emir issues summit invite amid strains over Islamists

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 06:08 AM PST

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani smiles as he is welcomed upon arriving at Khartoum Airport for an official visitBy Amena Bakr DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar's emir on Tuesday publicly invited fellow Gulf rulers to a Doha summit, apparently seeking to forestall what diplomats say is an attempt by some peers to move it elsewhere in protest at what they see as an Islamist tilt in his foreign policy. Diplomats say preparations for the annual gathering of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have become indicative of an unprecedented rift between Gulf Arab states over Doha's backing of Islamists during Arab Spring revolts. ...


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