Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Congress crams unfinished agenda into final days
• Bahrain's pro-government bloc dominates vote
• Pope, patriarch demand end to IS attacks
• US strikes target Islamic State forces in Syrian towns of Raqqa and Kobane
• Pope says it is wrong to equate Islam with violence
• Canada 'aware' of reports that citizen kidnapped in Syria
• A pulpit rebuke of Nigeria's terrorists
• Pope Francis fails to find common ground in Turkey
• Germany says 300 jihadists facing trial, anti-terrorism laws working
• Coalition airstrikes pound IS stronghold in Syria
• Egypt court declares Islamic State a terror group
• Bombings kill 7 in Baghdad
• Saudi Arabia probes attack on Canadian in mall
• Iraq's divisions will delay counter-offensive on Islamic State

Congress crams unfinished agenda into final days Posted: 30 Nov 2014 03:30 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Like a student who waited until the night before a deadline, lawmakers resuming work Monday will try to cram two years of leftover business into two weeks, while also seeking to avoid a government shutdown.

Bahrain's pro-government bloc dominates vote Posted: 30 Nov 2014 01:34 PM PST MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Pro-government candidates took the majority of contested seats in Bahrain's parliamentary election on Sunday, although 13 independent Shiite candidates won mandates despite a boycott by the main opposition group, official results showed.

Pope, patriarch demand end to IS attacks Posted: 30 Nov 2014 01:26 PM PST ISTANBUL (AP) — Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians demanded an end to the persecution of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and called for a "constructive dialogue" with Muslims, capping the pontiff's three-day visit to Turkey with a strong show of Christian unity in the face of suffering and violence.

US strikes target Islamic State forces in Syrian towns of Raqqa and Kobane Posted: 30 Nov 2014 01:18 PM PST US-led airstrikes pounded positions of the self-styled Islamic State in and around the Syrian city of Raqqa, which the group considers its capital, today.

Pope says it is wrong to equate Islam with violence Posted: 30 Nov 2014 01:12 PM PST By Philip Pullella ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday that equating Islam with violence was wrong and called on Muslim leaders to issue a global condemnation of terrorism to help dispel the stereotype. Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, told reporters aboard his plane returning from a visit to Turkey that he understood why Muslims were offended by many in the West who automatically equated their religion with terrorism. ...

Canada 'aware' of reports that citizen kidnapped in Syria Posted: 30 Nov 2014 12:43 PM PST Canada said Sunday it was "aware of reports" that one of its nationals may have been kidnapped in Syria, amid suggestions it could have been a woman fighting alongside Kurdish forces in Kobane. The US-based monitoring group SITE said Islamic State jihadists claimed a woman described as a "female Zionist soldier" had been captured in the embattled Syrian border town. Some jihadists said the woman might be Gill Rosenberg, a Canadian-Israeli dual national who had served in the Israel Defense Forces and had volunteered to fight with the Kurds, the monitoring group said. "The Government of Canada is aware of reports that a Canadian citizen was kidnapped in Syria," a foreign ministry statement said.

A pulpit rebuke of Nigeria's terrorists Posted: 30 Nov 2014 11:22 AM PST The world has seen a dramatic rise in militant attacks on civilians, according to the latest Global Terrorism Index. Most of the increase has been in five countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria. Yet this increase has also brought many more forcible rebukes of terrorism by Muslim clerics. One in particular, delivered Saturday, stands out as a model in how to speak truth to these evil acts.

Pope Francis fails to find common ground in Turkey Posted: 30 Nov 2014 09:47 AM PST The idea was to reach out to Muslims, but Pope Francis got a distinctly prickly reception from his hosts during his first trip to Turkey.

Germany says 300 jihadists facing trial, anti-terrorism laws working Posted: 30 Nov 2014 08:38 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly 300 people are facing prosecution in Germany for supporting Islamic State (IS), German Justice Minister Heiko Maas has said, adding that it was a sign that anti-terrorism laws were working and tougher legislation was not needed. "Whoever supports IS can already be prosecuted under existing laws," he told Sunday's weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag in an interview, after some politicians called for tighter laws. He added, however, that he would present a draft law by the end of the year to tackle the flow of money to IS. ...

Coalition airstrikes pound IS stronghold in Syria Posted: 30 Nov 2014 07:09 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-led coalition warplanes carried out as many as 30 airstrikes overnight against Islamic State militants in and around the group's de facto capital in northeastern Syria, activists said Sunday.

Egypt court declares Islamic State a terror group Posted: 30 Nov 2014 05:46 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court has designated the Islamic State group a terrorist organization and banned it in the country.

Bombings kill 7 in Baghdad Posted: 30 Nov 2014 04:04 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say two separate bombings have killed seven people in the capital Baghdad.

Saudi Arabia probes attack on Canadian in mall Posted: 30 Nov 2014 02:37 AM PST Investigators in Saudi Arabia were on Sunday probing the possible motives behind an attack on a Canadian citizen, which came one week after the shooting of a Dane. The official Saudi Press Agency, citing police in Eastern Province, said the attacker used "a sharp object" against the Canadian while he shopped at a mall in the Gulf coast community of Dhahran on Saturday. Reasons for the attack could include a workplace-related incident, political motives, or perhaps it was the work of a "crazy" person, the source told AFP. Riyadh police said the interior ministry was now handling enquiries about the Dane's case, but the department's spokesman said there was no new information available.

Iraq's divisions will delay counter-offensive on Islamic State Posted: 29 Nov 2014 10:11 PM PST By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. air support and pledges of weapons and training for Iraq's army have raised expectations of a counter-offensive soon against Islamic State, but sectarian rifts will hamper efforts to forge a military strategy and may delay a full-scale assault. The Sunni Islamists stormed through northern Iraq in a 48-hour offensive in June, charging virtually unopposed toward the outskirts of Baghdad, humiliating a U.S.-trained Iraqi army which surrendered both land and weapons as it retreated. ...

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