Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Kerry: US 'not intimidated' by Islamic militants
• Study: Terror attacks soar in 2013, kill 18,000
• Frenchman seen in Islamic State video of beheadings
• Islamic State beheading videos might now be backfiring
• Kerry broadside against IS: 'We are not intimidated'
• French, Dutch hostages held by Qaeda appeal in video
• Some Democrats Won't Let This Congress Member Do Her Job Because She's Too Pregnant to Travel
• In Keystone XL debate, Obama's warning on oil exports rings only half true
• UN targets oil trucks to cut off Islamist revenues
• Virginia woman charged with lying about terrorism
• Parents of US aid worker Kassig seek to 'forgive' after beheading
• Defense says Guantanamo detainee is soldier, exempt from war crimes
• Europeans have prominent role in beheading video
• Halliburton to acquire Baker Hughes for $34.6 bn
• Correction: Civil War 150th-Sherman's March story
• Parents of slain American aid worker ask for prayers, privacy
• Mitt Romney and GOP Want ‘Boots on the Ground’ to Fight ISIS
• Hagel credits US military with Ebola progress
• Peter Kassig's Parents Say They Need Time to 'Mourn, Cry -- and Yes, Forgive' Following Son's Murder
• IS claims Baghdad bomb attack on UN convoy
• Soldier wraps himself up as Christmas gift for son after tour in Iraq
• 'Possible' second Frenchman in IS execution video: prosecutor
• Search for Clues to American Peter Kassig's Death in ISIS Video
• Frenchman appears in Islamic State beheading video: official
• Iraqis show no sign of uniting in response to massacre of Sunni tribe
• Father of British student denies son in beheading video
• French citizen 'very likely' in Islamic State beheading video - minister
• Red Cross officials: Ebola flaring anew in Africa
• Iraqi army says Tikrit next target after Baiji
• Unusual nature of Kassig video suggests he fought his captors, former roommate says
• Islamic State killed 1,432 Syrians outside battle since June: monitor
• U.S. targets Islamic militants with more airstrikes in Syria, Iraq: Central Command
• Pakistan Taliban splinter group vows allegiance to Islamic State
• Islamic State video intensifies concerns about foreign jihadis
• Nearly 36 mln people are slaves, Qatar in focus: global index
• Frenchman thought among killers in IS beheadings
• IS executes nearly 1,500 people in Syria in 5 months: monitor
• Car bombings in Baghdad kill 14 people
• Confrontations await Obama after productive trip

Kerry: US 'not intimidated' by Islamic militants Posted: 17 Nov 2014 04:39 PM PST LONDON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a warning Monday to Islamic State militants that "we are not intimidated" after another American hostage was killed.

Study: Terror attacks soar in 2013, kill 18,000 Posted: 17 Nov 2014 04:02 PM PST LONDON (AP) — A new global study says there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, 44 percent more than the year before.

Frenchman seen in Islamic State video of beheadings Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:59 PM PST LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - A Frenchman is believed to have been among Islamic State jihadists appearing on a video showing the severed head of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, but a British man denied earlier reports his medical student son was there too. Sunday's announcement of Kassig's death, the fifth such killing of a Western captive by Islamic State, formed part of a video that also showed the beheadings of at least 14 men Islamic State said were Syrian military pilots and officers. ...

Islamic State beheading videos might now be backfiring Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:42 PM PST Beyond its barbarity, the latest beheading video from the Islamic State offers hints of an organization in transition and perhaps under duress.

Kerry broadside against IS: 'We are not intimidated' Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:33 PM PST Kerry's anti-IS broadside followed the jihadist group's claim that it had beheaded US aid worker Peter Kassig and 18 Syrian military personnel in a video that triggered worldwide revulsion. The top US diplomat called for global partners to intensify efforts to crush the group that has seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, with nothing less than the fate of one of the world's most volatile regions at stake.

French, Dutch hostages held by Qaeda appeal in video Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:29 PM PST PARIS (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's north African arm, AQIM, has issued a video of a French national and a Dutch national they are holding hostage in which the two men urge their respective governments to negotiate for their release. The video, posted on a popular jihadi forum by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's media branch, is divided into two scenes showing each hostage in a different location. ...

Some Democrats Won't Let This Congress Member Do Her Job Because She's Too Pregnant to Travel Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:21 PM PST Tammy Duckworth is known for her long list of unique "firsts." The Democratic Representative from Illinois was a helicopter pilot during the Iraq War. In 2004 her helicopter was shot down and she became the first woman serving in the Iraq War to be a double amputee. She also happens to be the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress, the first Congress member born in Thailand, and the first disabled woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

In Keystone XL debate, Obama's warning on oil exports rings only half true Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:08 PM PST By Nia Williams and Timothy Gardner (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's sharpest criticism yet of Keystone XL this weekend included a controversial contention that the huge pipeline would be used to pump Canadian oil sands crude to global markets, not to U.S. refiners. TransCanada Corp., the pipeline giant that has been waiting six years for U.S. approval to build the $8 billion line, strongly denies it and says it is constructing the 1,179-mile (1,900-km) conduit only to serve import-dependant Gulf Coast refiners, weaning them away from supplies of heavy crude from Saudi Arabia and ...

UN targets oil trucks to cut off Islamist revenues Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:05 PM PST A UN report is recommending the seizure of all oil tanker trucks leaving Islamist-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria to cut off millions of dollars from crude sales now bankrolling the jihadists. The UN's Al-Qaeda Monitoring Team is also proposing an embargo on flights taking off or landing in territory seized by the Islamic State (IS) group and its allies to prevent them from moving assets and possibly weapons. The report obtained by AFP on Monday will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the Security Council called to follow up on a resolution aimed at choking off financing to IS fighters and the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front in Syria. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be chairing the special meeting on Wednesday to ramp up international efforts to confront the Islamist threat from Iraq and Syria.

Virginia woman charged with lying about terrorism Posted: 17 Nov 2014 02:49 PM PST RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia woman faces a federal charge after being accused of promoting the Islamic State in social media and offering to help an undercover agent get a friend into Syria to join the extremist group.

Parents of US aid worker Kassig seek to 'forgive' after beheading Posted: 17 Nov 2014 02:23 PM PST The parents of slain US aid worker Peter Kassig said Monday they would try to "forgive" Islamic State jihadists who beheaded their son, calling for healing and prayer as they mourned their loss. A video released Sunday by IS militants showed the beheading of 26-year-old Kassig, who took the name Abdul-Rahman after converting to Islam. "Please allow our small family the time and privacy to mourn, cry and -- yes -- forgive and begin to heal," Peter's father Ed said in an emotional address outside his church. "Please pray for Abdul-Rahman, or Pete if that's how you knew him, at sunset this evening.

Defense says Guantanamo detainee is soldier, exempt from war crimes Posted: 17 Nov 2014 02:17 PM PST By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE Md. (Reuters) - A U.S. military lawyer for a Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainee described as an al-Qaeda commander said on Monday he may be classified as a soldier under international war rules - and therefore exempt from prosecution - so charges against him should be dropped. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Tom Jasper asked a judge to dismiss multiple charges against Abd al Hadi al-Iraqi, accused of commanding attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, killing civilians and conspiring to assassinate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. ...

Europeans have prominent role in beheading video Posted: 17 Nov 2014 02:02 PM PST PARIS (AP) — The cold-eyed militants lined up behind their victims in the latest Islamic State video appear to come from outside the Middle East, including one from France and possibly two from Britain, as the extremist group tries to show a global reach.

Halliburton to acquire Baker Hughes for $34.6 bn Posted: 17 Nov 2014 01:57 PM PST Baker Hughes agreed Monday to be bought by oil services rival Halliburton in a $34.6 billion deal that comes as the sharp oil price fall spells a possible downturn in business for both. Halliburton, the industry's number two firm after giant Schlumberger, sealed the deal after briefly threatening a hostile bid over the weekend when Baker Hughes would not bend to its terms. It was the first sign of what some analysts expect will be a consolidation trend in the oil patch, as lower crude prices force big companies to cut back on exploration and production spending. It could also propel the two past crosstown Houston rival Schlumberger.

Correction: Civil War 150th-Sherman's March story Posted: 17 Nov 2014 01:31 PM PST MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — In a story Nov. 15 about Gen. William T. Sherman's March to the Sea during the U.S. Civil War, The Associated Press erroneously reported the location of the military school that Sherman headed before the war, which became Louisiana State University. The Seminary of Learning and Military Academy was in Pineville, Louisiana, not Baton Rouge; it later relocated to Baton Rouge, the current location of LSU.

Parents of slain American aid worker ask for prayers, privacy Posted: 17 Nov 2014 01:18 PM PST By Brent Smith INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The parents of an American aid worker beheaded by Islamic State militants after his abduction in Syria asked for prayers for other captives in Syria and Iraq in a brief public statement at their Indianapolis church on Monday. Abdul-Rahman Kassig, whose name was Peter before his conversion to Islam, was the fifth European or American captive killed by the militants. His severed head was seen in a video that was released on Sunday and also showed the beheadings of at least 14 men. ...

Mitt Romney and GOP Want ‘Boots on the Ground’ to Fight ISIS Posted: 17 Nov 2014 01:00 PM PST Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said over the weekend that he favored sending U.S. He's the latest in a long line of Republicans taking exception to Obama's "no boots on the ground" mantra. Romney spoke the same day that the jihadist terrorist group released a video showing the gruesome beheading of another American hostage, aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig. The Republican presidential nominee who lost to Obama in the 2012 said during an appearance on the CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that the president was badly mistaken by saying repeatedly he wouldn't consider sending U.S.

Hagel credits US military with Ebola progress Posted: 17 Nov 2014 12:49 PM PST FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday there are encouraging signs of progress against the Ebola virus in West Africa, and he said the U.S. military can take some credit for containing it.

Peter Kassig's Parents Say They Need Time to 'Mourn, Cry -- and Yes, Forgive' Following Son's Murder Posted: 17 Nov 2014 12:33 PM PST Kassig, the fifth Western hostage ISIS has claimed to have killed since August

IS claims Baghdad bomb attack on UN convoy Posted: 17 Nov 2014 10:56 AM PST The Islamic State jihadist group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack against a UN convoy near Baghdad airport. "Our brother Abu Muawiya al-Falluji rammed a convoy for the 'United Nations waging war against Muslims' surrounded by heavy US protection," the group said in a statement. "The convoy was strictly a UN convoy, there was nobody who isn't UN staff," a press officer for the UN mission in Iraq said.

Soldier wraps himself up as Christmas gift for son after tour in Iraq Posted: 17 Nov 2014 10:31 AM PST A U.S. soldier surprised his son by wrapping himself up as an early Christmas present this year.

'Possible' second Frenchman in IS execution video: prosecutor Posted: 17 Nov 2014 10:22 AM PST French prosecutors said Monday they were investigating two Frenchmen suspected of taking part in the beheading of Syrian prisoners shown in an Islamic State video. The prosecutor's office confirmed the first was 22-year-old Maxime Hauchard from Normandy in northern France. The identity of the possible second Frenchman was not given, but state prosecutor Francois Molins said an arrest warrant was released for him in October 2013. "Considering some elements of resemblance, it could be a young convert born in 1992 who left to join the Islamic State ranks in August 2013," Molins said.

Search for Clues to American Peter Kassig's Death in ISIS Video Posted: 17 Nov 2014 10:07 AM PST Aid Worker Peter Kassig Is Fifth Westerner to Be Beheaded, But New Video Prompts Questions

Frenchman appears in Islamic State beheading video: official Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:58 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - French security services have identified an Islamic State militant who appears in a beheading video released by the group at the weekend as one of its nationals and are analyzing the footage to determine if a second fighter is also French. The 15-minute video posted online shows the decapitations of 18 men who Islamic State said were pilots and officers loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as the severed head of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig. ...

Iraqis show no sign of uniting in response to massacre of Sunni tribe Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:40 AM PST By Raheem Salman BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State's systematic massacre of hundreds of Iraq's Albu Nimr tribe should have been an unmistakable wake up call for a country that may not be able to stabilize without long-term support from Sunni tribesmen. But nearly a month after members of the tribe were hunted down in groups and executed, the Baghdad government appears to be doing little to assimilate Sunnis in any much-needed move towards unity. The Albu Nimr were one of the Sunni tribes that helped the U.S. ...

Father of British student denies son in beheading video Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:11 AM PST By Rebecca Naden and Ahmed Aboulenein CARDIFF Wales (Reuters) - The father of a British man who was reported to be among a squad of Islamic State jihadists filmed beheading Syrian soldiers denied on Monday that the man shown in the video posted online was his son. Ahmed Muthana was quoted by the Daily Mail newspaper on Monday as saying his 20-year-old son Nasser Muthana appeared to be among a group of 16 jihadists who were seen on the video, which also showed the killing of American hostage Peter Kassig. ...

French citizen 'very likely' in Islamic State beheading video - minister Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:11 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Monday there was a very strong likelihood that an Islamic State militant who appears on a beheading video released by the group at the weekend was a 22-year-old French citizen. The 15-minute video posted online shows the decapitations of at least 14 men who Islamic State said were pilots and officers loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The video also shows the severed head of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig. ...

Red Cross officials: Ebola flaring anew in Africa Posted: 17 Nov 2014 09:03 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — Red Cross officials helping to lead the fight against Ebola in West Africa said Monday the virus is still spreading, and they're having trouble recruiting health care workers to combat it.

Iraqi army says Tikrit next target after Baiji Posted: 17 Nov 2014 08:51 AM PST The Iraqi army's next target is to isolate militants holding the city of Tikrit, after having broken the Islamic State group's hold on Baiji and its refinery, a senior officer said Monday. "Over the next three days, we will work on reinforcing our capacity because we are planning to clear areas on three sides of Tikrit," an army brigadier general said. Tikrit, the hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein, is the second largest Iraqi city under IS control. The town of Baiji lies north of Tikrit along the Tigris River and the brigadier general said Iraqi forces would also close in on the key city from Samarra to the south and from eastern regions.

Unusual nature of Kassig video suggests he fought his captors, former roommate says Posted: 17 Nov 2014 07:56 AM PST A friend of former U.S. Army Ranger and American aid worker Peter Kassig says the unusual nature of the video released by the terror group announcing his killing suggests the 26-year-old fought his execution.

Islamic State killed 1,432 Syrians outside battle since June: monitor Posted: 17 Nov 2014 07:36 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - The militant Islamic State group has killed 1,432 Syrians off the battlefield since the end of June when it declared a caliphate in the territory under its control, a group monitoring the war said on Monday. The killings included deaths by beheading and stoning as well as times when the group has slit victims' throats or shot them in non-combat situations. Islamic State, which has seized parts of northern and eastern Syria as well northern and western Iraq, has often displayed bodies in public after the killings. ...

U.S. targets Islamic militants with more airstrikes in Syria, Iraq: Central Command Posted: 17 Nov 2014 07:30 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military forces conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic militants in Syria and 20 in Iraq since Friday, Central Command said on Monday. Nine of the Syria strikes were near the Turkish border city of Kobani and destroyed seven Islamic State positions and four staging areas and struck one unit, the command said in a statement. Two near Dayr Az Zawr hit an Islamic State crude oil collection facility and destroyed a tank, it said The U.S. ...

Pakistan Taliban splinter group vows allegiance to Islamic State Posted: 17 Nov 2014 07:15 AM PST By Saud Mehsud and Mubasher Bukhari DERA ISMAIL KHAN Pakistan (Reuters) - A splinter group of Pakistan's Taliban has pledged support to Islamic State (IS), a spokesman said on Monday, in another indication of the appeal of the Iraq- and Syria-based jihadist group in a region traditionally dominated by al Qaeda and local insurgencies. Jundullah announced its backing after meeting a three-man delegation representing IS led by al Zubair al Kuwaiti, the group's spokesman Fahad Marwat told Reuters. ...

Islamic State video intensifies concerns about foreign jihadis Posted: 17 Nov 2014 06:03 AM PST Several of the jihadis appearing in a new Islamic State video of the beheadings of a dozen captives, including American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, appear to be French and British. The European residence of the jihadis is likely to add further pressure on European governments to crack down on their citizens fighting in the Middle East – and further tension with between Europe's governments and their Muslim populations.

Nearly 36 mln people are slaves, Qatar in focus: global index Posted: 17 Nov 2014 05:42 AM PST By Katie Nguyen LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Almost 36 million people are living as slaves across the globe with an index on Monday listing Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Qatar and India as the nations where modern-day slavery is most prevalent. The Walk Free Foundation, an Australian-based human rights group, estimated in its inaugural slavery index last year that 29.8 million people were born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, trapped in debt bondage or exploited for forced labour. ...

Frenchman thought among killers in IS beheadings Posted: 17 Nov 2014 05:05 AM PST PARIS (AP) — A young Frenchman is believed to be among the killers on an Islamic State propaganda video showing a beheaded American aid worker and the deaths of more than a dozen Syrian soldiers, France's top security official said Monday.

IS executes nearly 1,500 people in Syria in 5 months: monitor Posted: 17 Nov 2014 05:03 AM PST The jihadist Islamic State group (IS) has executed nearly 1,500 people in Syria in the five months since it declared the establishment of a "caliphate", a monitoring group said Monday. "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the execution of 1,429 people since the IS announced its 'caliphate' in June," the group's director, Rami Abdel Rahman, said. The majority of IS's victims in Syria have been civilians, he said. Another 63 of the dead were members of other rebel groups or the rival jihadist Al-Nusra Front, which has fought IS in the north and east, Abdel Rahman said.

Car bombings in Baghdad kill 14 people Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:55 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A pair of car bombs targeted busy commercial areas in the Iraqi capital on Monday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 31, officials said.

Confrontations await Obama after productive trip Posted: 17 Nov 2014 03:49 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — After a productive trip abroad, President Barack Obama is back in Washington, where he faces confrontations with Republicans on immigration and an oil pipeline project.

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