Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Britain to introduce tough new foreign fighter laws
• U.S. internal review cites Secret Service failures in White House intrusion
• US bombs Al-Qaeda offshoot Khorasan for third time
• PM Cameron plans orders to bar jihadis from returning to UK: BBC
• US aids nations in legal fight against extremists
• Obama seeks human rights waiver on war funds
• Kurds say deal reached with Baghdad over oil, salaries
• US welcomes shake-up of Iraqi army
• Top U.S. general mulls sending advisers with Iraqi ground troops
• Islamic State leader urges attacks in Saudi Arabia: speech
• 5 years for officer who shot handcuffed suspect
• Baghdadi: jihadist 'caliph' terrorising two countries
• Pentagon says US troops' role in Iraq could expand
• Message from Islamic State group leader emerges
• AP sources: IS, al-Qaida reach accord in Syria
• Pentagon says more troops possible in long fight
• US says air strikes cutting militants oil revenues
• Price of oil takes another sharp drop
• IS releases audio of chief Baghdadi after death rumours
• Iraqi Kurds say oil deal reached with Baghdad
• Kurdistan region, Baghdad reach deal on oil exports and payments
• Facts about the USS Miami, which burned in 2012
• Turkey frees 12 radicals after 'ugly' attack on US sailors
• Iraq needs 80,000 good troops to retake lost territory: U.S. general
• Kurdistan regional government confirms deal with Baghdad over oil exports
• Obama and other leaders wrap up Asia summit
• Andrew White, ‘the Vicar of Baghdad,’ aids Iraqis of all faiths
• Iranian blues and jazz bands find fans in Tehran
• Dutch mayor urges action on returning jihadis after arrests
• Why Yemen, a shaky US ally against Al Qaeda, is cracking apart
• Turkey seeks to bolster global influence with G20 role
• Sinai militants kill five as Egypt probes sea attack
• Morocco arrests four French Islamists with suspected militant links
• At Iraq refinery, sniper trained in Syria awaits Islamic State
• The Veterans Who Pro-War Americans Ignore Every Year
• Bosnia detains 11 for involvement in Syrian and Iraqi conflicts
• Iraq Christians guard village taken from IS group
• Kurds again become focus of Western intervention in Middle East
• Informal patrols on Turkey's border with Syria
• France mulls military deployment in Jordan for Islamic State fight

Britain to introduce tough new foreign fighter laws Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:49 PM PST CANBERRA (Reuters) - British nationals who become foreign fighters abroad could be prevented from returning home under tough new laws to deal with jihadists fighting in conflicts like Iraq and Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday. A new counter-terrorism bill will also prevent airlines that do not comply with Britain's no-fly lists or security screening measures from landing on its territory, Cameron said in an address to Australia's parliament. ...

U.S. internal review cites Secret Service failures in White House intrusion Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:39 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An intruder was able to scale the White House fence and enter the executive mansion in September because of major Secret Service failures including an agent who was distracted by a personal cellphone call, according to an internal review released on Thursday. Iraq war veteran Omar Gonzalez, 42, is accused of breaking into the heavily guarded complex on Sept. 19 armed with a knife in one of the most significant security breaches since President Barack Obama took office in 2009. The suspect was not stopped until he entered the main floor of the White House. ...

US bombs Al-Qaeda offshoot Khorasan for third time Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:00 PM PST American aircraft bombed the Khorasan group in Syria on Thursday, in the third attack on the Al-Qaeda offshoot that is considered an immediate threat to the West, the US military's Central Command said. "We can confirm that US aircraft struck a target in Syria earlier today associated with a network of veteran Al-Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the 'Khorasan group,' who are plotting external attacks against the United States and our allies," spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder told AFP. He declined to provide further details of the air raid, the latest in a series against the group that US officials say is a collection of militants from Al-Qaeda and the Al-Nusra Front, which is Qaeda's Syrian branch. The group has been hit by US warplanes in two previous strikes -- once in September at the start of air raids in Syria against the Islamic State group, and last week, when a French bomb-maker was targeted by American aircraft.

PM Cameron plans orders to bar jihadis from returning to UK: BBC Posted: 13 Nov 2014 03:35 PM PST (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce exclusion orders aimed at barring citizens from re-entering the U.K. if they are suspected of being jihadi fighters from war-torn Iraq and Syria, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported. Under the orders, suspects would be banned entry into the country unless they agreed to be escorted by police before facing prosecution or close supervision under monitoring powers, the BBC said. (http://bbc. ...

US aids nations in legal fight against extremists Posted: 13 Nov 2014 03:24 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Justice Department lawyers are coordinating with foreign governments in North Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East to deal with the problems posed by foreign fighters flowing to the conflict in Syria, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday following meetings with European Union ministers.

Obama seeks human rights waiver on war funds Posted: 13 Nov 2014 03:19 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has asked Congress repeatedly to exempt its military effort against the Islamic State from a longstanding ban on U.S. assistance to torturers and war criminals, highlighting doubts about finding "clean" American allies in a region wracked by ethnic animosity and religious extremism.

Kurds say deal reached with Baghdad over oil, salaries Posted: 13 Nov 2014 02:49 PM PST Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan said Thursday it had reached a breakthrough deal with Baghdad in a long-standing dispute over oil sales and salary payments. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said Baghdad had agreed to a $500 million payment in exchange for the transfer of 150,000 barrels of Kurdish oil per day to the federal government. The deal was reached at a meeting in the Kurdish capital Arbil between Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, Kurdish Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani and his deputy, Qubad Talabani. "As a first step it was agreed that the federal government will transfer the amount of $500 million to the KRG," in return for which the northern region "will put 150,000 bpd at their disposal," the statement said.

US welcomes shake-up of Iraqi army Posted: 13 Nov 2014 02:14 PM PST Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel expressed cautious optimism Thursday that a shake-up of the Iraqi army would boost morale and attract Sunnis to the fight against Islamic State jihadists, amid a renewed US effort to train the security forces. Or what did you learn from the fact that we haven't gotten it right in Afghanistan and we haven't gotten it right in Iraq?" asked Representative Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat from California. Hagel said the circumstances were markedly different from the last US intervention in Iraq, including a Baghdad government that appeared ready to embrace Sunni and Kurdish communities and the threat posed by the IS group that had prompted an international response.

Top U.S. general mulls sending advisers with Iraqi ground troops Posted: 13 Nov 2014 01:56 PM PST By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. general told lawmakers on Thursday he would consider sending American military advisers to accompany Iraqi troops if they advance against Islamic State militants in the difficult terrain near Mosul and the Iraqi border with Syria. Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional hearing that he had not decided if such a recommendation would be necessary. ...

Islamic State leader urges attacks in Saudi Arabia: speech Posted: 13 Nov 2014 01:25 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called for attacks against the rulers of Saudi Arabia in a speech purported to be in his name on Thursday, saying his self-declared caliphate was expanding there and in four other Arab countries. Baghdadi also said a U.S.-led military campaign against his group in Syria and Iraq was failing and he called for "volcanoes of jihad" the world over. Reuters could not independently confirm the authenticity of the speech - an audio recording carried on Islamic State-run social media. ...

5 years for officer who shot handcuffed suspect Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:59 PM PST UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — A former Maryland police officer convicted in a shooting that paralyzed a handcuffed suspect from the waist down was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison, far less time than prosecutors had requested.

Baghdadi: jihadist 'caliph' terrorising two countries Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:58 PM PST Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed "caliph" terrorising Iraq and Syria, is a preacher who rose from obscurity to lead the world's most feared jihadist organisation. His Islamic State group on Thursday released an audio recording purporting to be of Baghdadi, days after rumours that air strikes may have killed or wounded him. Like much about Baghdadi, little is known about the strikes or their results, or even where they took place -- the US announced it had targeted IS leaders in north Iraq, but reports also emerged of a strike in the west. In the recording, the man said to be Baghdadi was defiant, vowing that IS's "march will not stop and it will continue to expand," and that his enemies would be drawn into a ground war.

Pentagon says US troops' role in Iraq could expand Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:38 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon warned Congress on Thursday that the long, drawn-out military campaign against Islamic State militants is just beginning and could expand to include modest numbers of U.S. forces fighting alongside Iraqi troops.

Message from Islamic State group leader emerges Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:26 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — In a recording released days after he was reported to be wounded in an airstrike, the leader of the Islamic State group said the U.S.-led coalition's campaign had failed and it would eventually have to send ground troops into battle.

AP sources: IS, al-Qaida reach accord in Syria Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:25 PM PST ISTANBUL (AP) — Militant leaders from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida gathered at a farm house in northern Syria last week and agreed on a plan to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents, a high-level Syrian opposition official and a rebel commander have told The Associated Press.

Pentagon says more troops possible in long fight Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:23 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon warned Congress on Thursday that the long, drawn-out military campaign against Islamic State militants is just beginning and could expand to include modest numbers of U.S. forces fighting alongside Iraqi troops.

US says air strikes cutting militants oil revenues Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:11 PM PST US air strikes are beginning to choke off the flow of oil revenues to Islamic militants, cutting their income by several million dollars a week, a top US official said Thursday. Last month, top US Treasury official David Cohen said the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL, was earning about $1 million a day from the black market sales of oil from fields it has seized in Syria and Iraq. "Because of the air strikes on the ISIL's mobile refineries as well as other military activity we have seen a decrease in... the revenue from the oil sales from about a million a day to several million dollars a week," Cohen told US lawmakers.

Price of oil takes another sharp drop Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:10 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil took another sharp tumble Thursday as it appeared increasingly unlikely that OPEC members will cut production to staunch a plunge in prices that is entering its fifth month.

IS releases audio of chief Baghdadi after death rumours Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:04 PM PST The Islamic State group released a defiant audio recording Thursday it said was of chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after air strikes on jihadist leaders in Iraq sparked rumours he had been wounded or killed. In the 17-minute message, the man purported to be Baghdadi vowed that IS, which has overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria, will continue to expand despite international air strikes, and that its opponents will be drawn into a ground war. Its march will not stop and it will continue to expand," said the man in the recording, whose voice sounded like Baghdadi's but whose identity could not be independently confirmed. US President Barack Obama has announced plans to double the number of US military personnel in Iraq to up to 3,100 to help advise and train Baghdad's forces -- a move the man in the audio recording said was the start of the ground war between the two sides.

Iraqi Kurds say oil deal reached with Baghdad Posted: 13 Nov 2014 12:04 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi federal government and the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq have reached an agreement Thursday over longstanding oil and budget disputes that for months have created a rift between the two sides.

Kurdistan region, Baghdad reach deal on oil exports and payments Posted: 13 Nov 2014 11:53 AM PST By Michael Georgy and Isabel Coles BAGHDAD/ARBIL (Reuters) - The government of Iraq and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan have reached a deal to ease tensions over Kurdish oil exports and civil service payments from Baghdad, Iraq's finance minister told Reuters on Thursday. Hoshiyar Zebari said the central government had agreed for the time being to resume payments from the federal budget for Kurdish civil servants' salaries. Zebari, who is a Kurd, described the step as a "major breakthrough" that would reduce friction between the KRG and Baghdad. ...

Facts about the USS Miami, which burned in 2012 Posted: 13 Nov 2014 11:50 AM PST A look at the USS Miami, the nuclear submarine that was badly damaged and ultimately scrapped after a fire in May 2012 caused $700 million in damage:

Turkey frees 12 radicals after 'ugly' attack on US sailors Posted: 13 Nov 2014 11:04 AM PST Turkey on Thursday freed without questioning or charges 12 radical nationalist protesters who attacked three US sailors in the centre of Istanbul in an assault that alarmed the American military. Several dozen members of Turkiye Genclik Birligi (Turkish Youth Union/TGB) attacked the visiting US sailors on Wednesday afternoon while their vessel the USS Ross was moored in the centre of Istanbul on its way back from exercises in the Black Sea. They threw red dye and sought to force white sacks as hoods on the sailors in the Eminonu district on the Istanbul waterfront, a popular tourist hub. The case of the 12 protesters arrested over the action was referred earlier Thursday to the court of justice in Istanbul, the Dogan news agency said.

Iraq needs 80,000 good troops to retake lost territory: U.S. general Posted: 13 Nov 2014 09:40 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq will need about 80,000 effective military troops to retake the terrain it lost to Islamic State militants and restore its border with Syria, the top U.S. general said on Thursday. "We're going to need about 80,000 competent Iraqi security forces to recapture territory lost, and eventually the city of Mosul, to restore the border," Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, told a congressional hearing. Dempsey said the request for more U.S. forces in Iraq would create centers to help train the additional troops needed. ...

Kurdistan regional government confirms deal with Baghdad over oil exports Posted: 13 Nov 2014 09:21 AM PST ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) confirmed on Thursday it has reached a deal to ease tensions with the central government over oil exports and Baghdad's payments to civil servants in the north. "What they have agreed is that Baghdad will release some funds - $500 million - and the KRG will give 150,000 barrels per day of oil to Baghdad," KRG spokesman Safeen Dizayee told Reuters. ...

Obama and other leaders wrap up Asia summit Posted: 13 Nov 2014 09:14 AM PST NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders who gathered in Myanmar to discuss issues ranging from rival claims over the South China Sea to threats posed by the Ebola virus offered tepid expressions of concern Thursday and no firm commitments.

Andrew White, ‘the Vicar of Baghdad,’ aids Iraqis of all faiths Posted: 13 Nov 2014 09:09 AM PST Outside the brick walls of St. George's Anglican Church the concrete barriers, soldiers, and police with bomb detectors are a reminder, if anyone needed one, that, in Iraq, violence is never far away.

Iranian blues and jazz bands find fans in Tehran Posted: 13 Nov 2014 08:58 AM PST By Michelle Moghtader DUBAI (Reuters) - Behzad Omrani grew up in Tehran, in a house ringing to the sounds of his father's record collection - mostly the twangs and twirls of American Country & Western. Years later he formed Bomrani, one of the Islamic Republic's first country-blues bands, and one of a handful of groups that has started disrupting the local music scene with performances a world away from Iran's traditional rhythms. "I really like Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, John Denver, B.B. ...

Dutch mayor urges action on returning jihadis after arrests Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:26 AM PST By Thomas Escritt AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch cities need more powers to tackle battle-hardened jihadis returning home from the Middle East, a mayor said on Thursday, a day after authorities announced the arrest of 12 people with suspected links to militant Islamists. Thousands of Western volunteers have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join militant groups such as Islamic State, triggering fears among European governments and security forces that returning fighters may carry out attacks on their home turf. ...

Why Yemen, a shaky US ally against Al Qaeda, is cracking apart Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:12 AM PST Nearly three years after Yemen ousted a decades-old dictatorship and began a political transition aimed at preventing civil war, the fragile nation is once again on the brink of disaster.

Turkey seeks to bolster global influence with G20 role Posted: 13 Nov 2014 07:00 AM PST By Nick Tattersall and Orhan Coskun ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey aims to use its approaching presidency of the G20 to promote its image as a global economic power and alleviate a sense of a country increasingly isolated on the world stage and buffeted by conflict on its southern frontiers. Ankara takes over the G20 presidency in December, its relations with Washington and Europe strained by its reluctance to take a frontline role against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. President Tayyip Erdogan's tightening grip on power has also raised concern in Europe and the United States. ...

Sinai militants kill five as Egypt probes sea attack Posted: 13 Nov 2014 06:30 AM PST Militants shot dead five Egyptian conscripts in the Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, as the army searched for eight servicemen missing after an attack on a navy boat in the Mediterranean. The military carried out air strikes in Sinai, killing three members of the Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, security officials said. Egypt has been hit by a wave of attacks since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year, infuriating his supporters. The attacks in Sinai, in which two police conscripts and three soldiers were taken out of their vehicles and shot dead, bore the hallmarks of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which often sets up impromptu checkpoints in the lawless peninsula.

Morocco arrests four French Islamists with suspected militant links Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:58 AM PST RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's interior ministry said on Thursday police have arrested four French nationals in the city of Marrakesh and Western Sahara's Laayoune, who it said were linked to terrorist groups. Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, often says it has broken up radical cells accused of plotting attacks inside and outside the kingdom "Based on intelligence information ... ...

At Iraq refinery, sniper trained in Syria awaits Islamic State Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:18 AM PST By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - After Iraqi sniper Ali al-Tulaibawi returned from his training on the battlefields of Syria his commander sent him on a months-long mission to shoot Islamic State militants from the towers of Iraq's biggest oil refinery. Tulaibawi says he is one of the 150 Shi'ite militiamen who, along with Iraqi government forces and security officials were trapped in the Baiji complex after militants surrounded it during a sweep through northern Iraq in June. ...

The Veterans Who Pro-War Americans Ignore Every Year Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:15 AM PST Ethan Epstein of The Weekly Standard has given voice to the many conservatives upset by a song played during a Veterans Day event in Washington, D.C.

Bosnia detains 11 for involvement in Syrian and Iraqi conflicts Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:05 AM PST SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Police in Bosnia on Thursday arrested 11 people on suspicion of fighting alongside Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq or recruiting and raising money for such groups. More than 100 officers took part in the operation - codenamed "Damascus" - in five central Bosnian towns including the capital Sarajevo. In April, the country introduced jail terms of up to 10 years for Bosnians who fight or recruit for groups abroad such as Islamic State. Hundreds are thought to have joined the wars in Syria and Iraq, along with other Muslims from across the Balkans. ...

Iraq Christians guard village taken from IS group Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:02 AM PST BAKUFA, Iraq (AP) — The flag of an Iraqi Christian minority party is hoisted high over the village of Bakufa in northern Iraq, less than a month after Islamic State militants were pushed out and the extremists' black banner was taken down.

Kurds again become focus of Western intervention in Middle East Posted: 13 Nov 2014 05:01 AM PST (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s was cited by Western powers as one of the justifications for the 2003 invasion that toppled him. Once again, the perilous situation of the Kurds -- this time attacked by Islamic State fighters -- has spurred the United States and its allies in Europe and the Gulf to use military force in Iraq and Syria. And once again the Kurds -- who number up to 30 million people spread through Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, but with no state of their own -- are on the move. ...

Informal patrols on Turkey's border with Syria Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:48 AM PST CAYKARA, Turkey (AP) — Their collars pulled up against the evening cold, a group of men and women peer through binoculars, scanning the fields along a barbed wire fence. A few kilometers (miles) away across the Turkish border, black smoke rises from the besieged Kurdish Syrian town of Kobani, the dull thud of mortars carrying across on the breeze.

France mulls military deployment in Jordan for Islamic State fight Posted: 13 Nov 2014 04:41 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France will decide in the coming weeks whether to send fighter jets to Jordan to strike Islamic State militants in Iraq in an effort to increase the number of missions and reduce the cost, the army spokesman and officials said on Thursday. France was the first country to join the U.S.-led coalition in air strikes on IS insurgents in Iraq, who have also taken control of large parts of neighboring Syria during the course of the three-year-old civil war there. ...

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