Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• German accused of fighting for Islamic State to be sentenced
• Emirates police make arrest in American's stabbing
• Yemen's al-Qaida threatens US hostage in new video
• Briton denies plot to attack soldiers
• Hagel dismisses reports he resigned over differences with Obama
• What Is AQAP, the Terror Group Holding Luke Somers?
• US House passes $584 bn defense bill, Senate vote due
• Ex-Iowa gasoline regulator files suit over firing
• McCain blocks Obama's pick as No.2 diplomat over Iraq policy
• Yemeni Qaeda threatens to kill US hostage after failed rescue
• Senators seek, then drop, new war authorization
• Islamic militants attack Chechen capital; 20 dead
• House OKs military campaign against extremists
• US military tried to rescue American hostage in Yemen
• AP Interview: US troops have immunity in Iraq
• House passes $585 billion defense bill
• US Senate panel to debate authority for IS fight
• U.S. lawmakers set last-ditch push for Islamic State war authorization
• Obama to nominate Pentagon chief Friday
• Car bomb attacks kill 37 people in Iraq
• Warily, U.S. learns to live with more muscular Iran role in Iraq
• US diplomat back in Bahrain after expulsion
• Obama to announce Defense secretary pick Friday
• Armed robbery sparked terrorism charge against Canada teen
• Car bombs in Kirkuk, Baghdad kill 33
• Bombs in Shi'ite, Kurdish districts kill 35 in Iraq
• U.N. food aid halt pushing more Syrian refugee girls to early marriage
• McGuireWoods Welcomes 33 New Associates; 13 Were Federal Clerks
• Did Egypt’s Sinai militants err in joining Islamic State?
• House nears passage of $585B defense bill
• McCain blocks Obama's pick for diplomatic post
• Turkish nationalists charged in assault on U.S. sailors, face long jail sentence
• INSIDE KOBANI: Kurds doggedly defend town from IS
• Islamic State launches attack on Syrian army air base: activists
• Syria's Assad sees long war as Islamic State attacks base
• Trial postponed for Marine who vanished in Iraq
• UAE arrests woman over murder of U.S. teacher, says planted bomb
• British police arrest seven in latest anti-jihadi sweep
• IS attacks government airbase in eastern Syria
• ITSolutions, an Acentia Company, Awarded 3-Year Contract from the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury

German accused of fighting for Islamic State to be sentenced Posted: 04 Dec 2014 04:03 PM PST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Judges will give their verdict on Friday and sentence a 20-year-old German accused of fighting for Islamic State in Syria in the first case of its kind in Germany, where dozens of suspected home-grown jihadis are awaiting trial. Prosecutors are asking for a jail term of four years and three months for the man, known only as Kreshnik B., who was born in Germany to Kosovan parents. They say he spent six months in Syria last year fighting and being trained by the insurgents. ...

Emirates police make arrest in American's stabbing Posted: 04 Dec 2014 03:55 PM PST ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Police in the United Arab Emirates have arrested a woman they say is behind the stabbing death of an American teacher and a separate plot to bomb another American's house, a top official said Thursday as authorities moved swiftly to calm fears of instability in the normally peaceful Gulf nation.

Yemen's al-Qaida threatens US hostage in new video Posted: 04 Dec 2014 03:54 PM PST SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen threatened an American hostage who was the target of a rescue attempt by U.S. special forces last month, warning Washington in a video released Thursday not to try again, and giving it three days to meet unspecified demands.

Briton denies plot to attack soldiers Posted: 04 Dec 2014 03:18 PM PST London (AFP) - A man accused of plotting an extremist attack on British soldiers using a knife and a hammer pleaded not guilty on Thursday, while seven others were arrested in unconnected raids by anti-terrorism police.

Hagel dismisses reports he resigned over differences with Obama Posted: 04 Dec 2014 03:12 PM PST By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday his resignation last week was not prompted by "major differences" with President Barack Obama, pushing back against statements that he had been fired or quit due to White House micromanagement. Hagel, speaking publicly for the first time about his Nov. 24 resignation, said he decided to step down after several conversations with the president led him to conclude that now was the best timing for a Pentagon leadership change. ...

What Is AQAP, the Terror Group Holding Luke Somers? Posted: 04 Dec 2014 02:42 PM PST Late Wednesday an affiliate of al Qaeda released a harrowing video showing a British-born American hostage who they say will be killed in three days if President Obama doesn't meet the terror group's demands.Americans have sadly become familiar with their countrymen appearing in hostage videos halfway around the world – the terror group ISIS separately filmed three American civilians they held in Syria before executing them in recent months – but this time it was the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), not ISIS, forcing U.S. citizen Luke Somers to plead for his life. ...

US House passes $584 bn defense bill, Senate vote due Posted: 04 Dec 2014 02:18 PM PST The House of Representatives adopted an annual US defense spending bill Thursday which includes emergency funding for military operations against Islamic jihadists in Iraq and Syria, as requested by President Barack Obama. The Senate still must pass the legislation -- outlining $584.2 billion in federal military spending for fiscal year 2015, which began on October 1 -- before Congress adjourns at the end of next week. It also includes Obama's $5 billion request for funds to battle the Islamic State extremist group, including $3.4 billion for deployment of US forces as part of operation "Inherent Resolve," and $1.6 billion for a program to equip and train Iraqi Kurdish forces for two years. "The security threats our nation faces are as grave as they are prolific, and it is imperative that we provide our military men and women the tools they need to keep America safe," House Speaker John Boehner said after the bill's passage.

Ex-Iowa gasoline regulator files suit over firing Posted: 04 Dec 2014 02:05 PM PST A former Iowa gas pump regulator is suing the state for wrongful termination, claiming he was fired after questioning a company's marketing practices and industry officials complained to his bosses about ...

McCain blocks Obama's pick as No.2 diplomat over Iraq policy Posted: 04 Dec 2014 01:32 PM PST By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain said on Thursday he is blocking President Barack Obama's nomination of Anthony Blinken as the country's number two diplomat, citing sharp disagreement with the nominee's past statements on Iraq. "He's totally unqualified," the Republican senator told Reuters, when asked why he was holding up Blinken's nomination to be deputy Secretary of State. "He's the guy who said we're leaving behind the richest, safest Iraq in history. ...

Yemeni Qaeda threatens to kill US hostage after failed rescue Posted: 04 Dec 2014 12:58 PM PST Al-Qaeda on Thursday threatened the imminent execution of an American journalist it kidnapped in Yemen, mocking as "foolish" a failed bid by US forces to free him. Al-Qaeda in Yemen released a video dated December 2014 naming the hostage as Luke Somers, 33, saying the photojournalist was kidnapped more than a year ago in Sanaa. US-based monitoring agency SITE Intelligence Group said Somers was seized in the Yemeni capital in September 2013. Nasser bin Ali Al-Ansi, of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), threatened in the video to kill Somers in three days if Washington fails to meet unspecified demands.

Senators seek, then drop, new war authorization Posted: 04 Dec 2014 12:45 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators raised but then postponed an effort Thursday to advance a new legal justification for U.S. military operations against the Islamic State, highlighting the difficulty of carrying out what lawmakers say is their constitutional duty to declare war.

Islamic militants attack Chechen capital; 20 dead Posted: 04 Dec 2014 12:22 PM PST GROZNY, Russia (AP) — Police waged hours-long gunbattles with Islamic militants who attacked Chechnya's capital Thursday, leaving at least 20 people dead and underscoring Russia's vulnerability just as President Vladimir Putin used patriotic and religious imagery in his state-of-the-nation address to defend his standoff with the West.

House OKs military campaign against extremists Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:55 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House approved a $585 billion defense policy bill that grants President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military campaign against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria despite misgivings about a new American combat role after more than a decade of war.

US military tried to rescue American hostage in Yemen Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:47 AM PST US and Yemeni forces recently tried unsuccessfully to rescue an American journalist held by Al-Qaeda, which has now threatened to execute him, officials said Thursday. President Barack Obama last month approved the rescue operation to free a number of hostages, including US national Luke Somers, held by Al-Qaeda in Yemen, the White House and the Pentagon said.

AP Interview: US troops have immunity in Iraq Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:44 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Washington has an agreement with Baghdad on privileges and immunities for the growing number of troops based in Iraq who are helping in the fight against the Islamic State group, the new U.S. ambassador said Thursday.

House passes $585 billion defense bill Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:42 AM PST The House has voted for a $585 billion defense bill that grants President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military mission against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. The vote on Thursday ...

US Senate panel to debate authority for IS fight Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:40 AM PST US senators will debate the war against jihadists in Iraq and Syria next week, as several congressional lawmakers demand a formal vote on the military campaign launched by President Barack Obama. A public hearing featuring administration officials, possibly including Secretary of State John Kerry, will be held Monday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chairman Robert Menendez said Thursday during a heated meeting on the subject. The panel will debate ongoing operations and a possible new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State group. A committee vote set for Wednesday would put several senators on record demanding a new AUMF for the anti-jihadist campaign, but the measure has no chance of being adopted by the chamber before the end of the year.

U.S. lawmakers set last-ditch push for Islamic State war authorization Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:32 AM PST By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee made a last-ditch push on Thursday to vote on an authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State before they hand full control of Congress over to Republicans next month. As debate intensified in the House of Representatives and Senate over the campaign against the militant Islamist group in Iraq and Syria, Democrats launched a plan to attach a formal authorization for the use of military force as an amendment to a water bill the panel considered - and passed - on Thursday. ...

Obama to nominate Pentagon chief Friday Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:11 AM PST President Barack Obama on Friday will announce his choice to replace Chuck Hagel as Pentagon chief, the White House said. Favored for the post is Ashton Carter, a former deputy defense secretary under Leon Panetta from October 2011 to December 2013. While stopping short of confirming the pick, the White House has hailed Carter's "detailed understanding" of the Pentagon's inner workings, and recalled that the Senate had unanimously confirmed his nomination as the Defense Department's number two in 2011.

Car bomb attacks kill 37 people in Iraq Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:08 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A string of car bomb attacks across Iraq killed at least 37 people on Thursday, Iraqi officials said. Three of the attacks targeted Shiite districts in the capital, Baghdad, while the fourth targeted a Kurdish neighborhood in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk.

Warily, U.S. learns to live with more muscular Iran role in Iraq Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:05 AM PST By Phil Stewart and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Iran, which dueled viciously over Iraq during the years of U.S. occupation, suddenly seem to be working in tandem as they confront what both see as a common, even mortal enemy: Islamic State. Air strikes by Iran inside Iraq in recent days are only the latest manifestation of an increasingly muscular role by Tehran in Baghdad's war against Sunni militants. During the administration of George W. Bush, such actions would be denounced as meddling. Not now. ...

US diplomat back in Bahrain after expulsion Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:05 AM PST A top American diplomat was back in Bahrain on Thursday five months after being declared "unwelcome" by the Sunni-ruled US ally after he met with the Shiite opposition. The official BNA news agency said Tom Malinowski, US assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, was received in Manama by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah al-Khalifa. Sheikh Rashid spoke of the "special relationship" between Bahrain and the United States, and called for reinforcing their security cooperation. The Gulf Arab monarchy is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and a member of the US-led coalition against the jihadist Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Obama to announce Defense secretary pick Friday Posted: 04 Dec 2014 11:04 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama plans to announce his pick Friday to lead the Pentagon amid the threat from Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, the White House said.

Armed robbery sparked terrorism charge against Canada teen Posted: 04 Dec 2014 10:57 AM PST MONTREAL (Reuters) - A 15-year-old charged with terrorism-related offences in Canada was initially arrested for armed robbery in October before authorities realized he had planned to travel abroad to join jihadist fighters, police said on Thursday. The teenager, who has not been named, is the youngest person and the first minor to face such charges in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told Reuters. His arrest follows October attacks by suspected jihadist sympathizers in Montreal and Ottawa that killed two Canadian soldiers. ...

Car bombs in Kirkuk, Baghdad kill 33 Posted: 04 Dec 2014 10:55 AM PST The first major attack in the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk in months killed 18 people Thursday, while two car bombs in a frequently targeted Shiite district of Baghdad left 15 dead. "It's a busy street with restaurants and shops, there is great destruction," a Kirkuk police colonel said, adding that a suicide car bomb was used. Both he and the head of the health directorate for Kirkuk province, Sabah Mohammed Amin, said the blast killed at least 18 people and wounded 22. In the capital Baghdad, two car bombs went off at around 6:30 pm (1530 GMT) near markets in different parts of the sprawling northern district of Sadr City that are usually bustling with people on Thursday evenings.

Bombs in Shi'ite, Kurdish districts kill 35 in Iraq Posted: 04 Dec 2014 10:48 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombs in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk killed 35 people on Thursday, mostly in Shi'ite Muslim and Kurdish neighborhoods, police and medical sources said. The five separate attacks come as Shi'ite militia and Kurdish peshmerga fighters battle Sunni militants from the Islamic State who have taken over large parts of north and west Iraq. Islamic State frequently sends bombers into Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital, but attacks in the Kurdish controlled Kirkuk to the north have been less frequent. ...

U.N. food aid halt pushing more Syrian refugee girls to early marriage Posted: 04 Dec 2014 10:07 AM PST By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The halt in U.N. food supplies to 1.7 million Syrian refugees makes it more likely that refugee children will be forced to go to work or marry early to help their families survive, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Thursday. The World Food Programme (WFP) suspended food vouchers for Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt on Monday due to a lack of funds and said it needed $64 million (41 million pounds) to feed the refugees for the rest of December. ...

McGuireWoods Welcomes 33 New Associates; 13 Were Federal Clerks Posted: 04 Dec 2014 09:54 AM PST RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three of McGuireWoods' newest associates already belong to one of the most exclusive groups in American law – former clerks to justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.Katherine Mims Crocker, Rebecca Gantt and Brian Schmalzbach will join the firm's appellate practice after serving as law clerks to Supreme Court justices. They are among 33 new McGuireWoods associates, including 10 others who served as clerks for federal district or appeals court judges as well as a Virginia Supreme Court justice. The group represents 23 law schools. ...

Did Egypt’s Sinai militants err in joining Islamic State? Posted: 04 Dec 2014 09:50 AM PST The announcement this week by Egypt's deadliest militant group that it was behind the recent death of an American oil worker, coupled with claims it had assassinated several Egyptian security officials, seemed to confirm fears it was preparing to expand its operations after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.

House nears passage of $585B defense bill Posted: 04 Dec 2014 08:38 AM PST The House on Thursday headed toward passage of a $585 billion defense policy bill that gives President Barack Obama the authority to expand U.S. military operations against Islamic extremists in Iraq and ...

McCain blocks Obama's pick for diplomatic post Posted: 04 Dec 2014 08:30 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain is blocking the confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominee to be America's second-highest ranked diplomat.

Turkish nationalists charged in assault on U.S. sailors, face long jail sentence Posted: 04 Dec 2014 08:14 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Thirteen Turkish nationalists accused of assaulting two U.S. sailors in Istanbul could face a decade in prison after being charged with causing insult and injury and violating protest laws, according to an indictment published on Thursday. Members of the Turkish Youth Union attacked the sailors on a crowded street last month, shouting "Yankee go home", throwing paint at them and trying to pull hoods over their heads. Video footage was later posted on the nationalist group's website. ...

INSIDE KOBANI: Kurds doggedly defend town from IS Posted: 04 Dec 2014 07:25 AM PST KOBANI, Syria (AP) — The men and women of Kobani call one another "heval" — Kurdish for 'comrade' — and fight with revolutionary conviction, vowing to liberate what they regard as Kurdish land from Islamic State group militants.

Islamic State launches attack on Syrian army air base: activists Posted: 04 Dec 2014 07:15 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 19 Syrian soldiers and militiamen were killed when Islamic State attacked one of the government's last remaining strongholds in the country's east, a monitoring group and a media activist said on Thursday. The al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State has been gradually consolidating control of Syria's oil-producing Deir al-Zor province this year, but President Bashar al-Assad's forces have held on to several areas including the local military air base. ...

Syria's Assad sees long war as Islamic State attacks base Posted: 04 Dec 2014 07:15 AM PST By Sylvia Westall BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Thursday he expected his country's conflict to be long and difficult but vowed to defeat the insurgents battling to oust him and said he would not be driven from power. Assad told the French magazine Paris Match nobody could predict when the war with Islamic State militants and other foes would end but said they had failed to win over the Syrian people, allowing his army to make advances. ...

Trial postponed for Marine who vanished in Iraq Posted: 04 Dec 2014 06:57 AM PST CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AP) — A judge has delayed the trial of a U.S. Marine accused of deserting his unit a decade ago in Iraq and later winding up in Lebanon.

UAE arrests woman over murder of U.S. teacher, says planted bomb Posted: 04 Dec 2014 06:42 AM PST By Matt Smith ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Police in the United Arab Emirates have arrested a local woman on suspicion of stabbing to death an American teacher in a toilet at an Abu Dhabi shopping mall. Colonel Rashid Borshid of the Abu Dhabi police told a news conference on Thursday that the suspect also placed a makeshift bomb outside the front door of an apartment of an American doctor living in the UAE less than two hours after Monday's killing. The bomb was dismantled and no one was hurt. The victim of Monday's killing was identified by ABC News and other U.S. ...

British police arrest seven in latest anti-jihadi sweep Posted: 04 Dec 2014 06:08 AM PST Seven men were arrested in early dawn raids today in Britain, the latest in a rising number of roundups there amid fears of fallout from the Islamic State wars in Iraq and Syria.

IS attacks government airbase in eastern Syria Posted: 04 Dec 2014 05:37 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants launched an attack overnight on a major military air base in eastern Syria in what looked to be a push to eliminate the last significant government outpost in the extremist-dominated region, activists said Thursday.

ITSolutions, an Acentia Company, Awarded 3-Year Contract from the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Posted: 04 Dec 2014 05:00 AM PST FALLS CHURCH, Va., Dec. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IT Solutions, an Acentia company ("Acentia"), today announced that it has been awarded a 3-year, $4.8-million contract from the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (PH/TBI), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).Under this award, Acentia will establish a nationwide outreach and awareness campaign to educate and inform U.S. military service members, veterans, and their families about traumatic brain injury (TBI). ...

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