Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Possible sanctions breach as Iran Quds chief spotted in Iraq: U.N.
• 1st Army division in Afghanistan comes home
• The International Intrigue of French Toast Crunch
• World's children paying price for political rifts: TRFN
• U.S. allies to send about 1,500 troops to Iraq: commander
• Despite failed raid, US likely to stand by its no-ransom policy for hostages
• EU, Turkey need greater alignment to face Islamic State: Mogherini
• Afghanistan mired in war as US combat command ends
• Yemen al Qaeda leader criticizes IS beheadings as un-Islamic
• Items on the agenda of the lame-duck Congress
• ISIS and Ebola Concerns Dominate Mega-Spending Bill
• Clint Eastwood: "I Was Against Going Into the War in Iraq."
• General: Islamic State fighters on their heels
• UN: $16.4 billion needed to aid most vulnerable
• Clint Eastwood Tells Academy He Abhors Violence, Has Always Been Against Iraq War
• Libya peace talks may be doomed by meddling powers: U.S.
• The Failure of American Hostage Rescues
• Despite failures, U.S. likely to continue raids to free hostages
• Yemen's al-Qaida denounces beheadings
• Saudi Cabinet shakeup targets key ministries
• Hagel credits Iraqi security forces with progress
• EU chief, Turkey discuss foreign fighters in Syria
• AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East
• UK's Cameron to fly to Turkey to discuss IS foreign fighter problem
• U.N. declares 2014 a devastating year for millions of children
• Afghan students find inspiration in Islamic State's success
• Rivalries resurface in Iraqi town recaptured from Islamic State
• Rich countries urged to take 5 percent of Syrian refugees: TRFN
• Bradley Cooper on How He Brought 'American Sniper' to the Screen and 'The Elephant Man' to Broadway
• Canada joins UK in closing Cairo embassy to public over 'security'

Possible sanctions breach as Iran Quds chief spotted in Iraq: U.N. Posted: 08 Dec 2014 03:48 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations sanctions monitors have said photographs taken inside Iraq appear to confirm that the head of Iran's elite military Quds Force, one of Iran's most powerful people, has been in the country in violation of a U.N. travel ban. Qassem Soleimani, chief of the force which is an overseas arm of the Revolutionary Guards, has been subject to an international travel ban and asset freeze by the U.N. Security Council since 2007. ...

1st Army division in Afghanistan comes home Posted: 08 Dec 2014 03:28 PM PST FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) — The 10th Mountain Division — the Army's first to be deployed to Afghanistan and the last to return — was welcomed home Monday at a ceremony at its base in far northern New York.

The International Intrigue of French Toast Crunch Posted: 08 Dec 2014 02:49 PM PST On Monday, Americans got the long-awaited news that French Toast Crunch, a beloved and discontinued cereal, would once again line the shelves of supermarkets.

World's children paying price for political rifts: TRFN Posted: 08 Dec 2014 02:35 PM PST By Tom Miles GENEVA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Divisions among the veto-wielding powers of the U.N. Security Council are harming the world's children and sowing the seeds of future conflicts, the head of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday. This year, riven by conflicts, has been the worst in two generations for children around the world, but 2015 looks set to be even worse, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This reflects the indisputable fact that the world is more divided politically among and within nations than ever before," Lake told Reuters. ...

U.S. allies to send about 1,500 troops to Iraq: commander Posted: 08 Dec 2014 12:07 PM PST By Phil Stewart KUWAIT CITY (Reuters) - U.S. allies have committed to send about 1,500 forces to Iraq to help train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers battling the Islamic State, which increasingly appears on the defensive, the top U.S. commander guiding the coalition effort said on Monday. Lieutenant General James Terry, commander of Operation Inherent Resolve targeting the militants in Iraq and Syria, said the forces would come on top of the up to 3,100 troops U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized to deploy to Iraq. ...

Despite failed raid, US likely to stand by its no-ransom policy for hostages Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:58 AM PST Shortly after US Navy SEALS rescued two hostage aid workers – an American and a Dane – in a risky raid in Somalia in January 2012, President Obama issued an unambiguous warning to the growing number of militant groups using kidnapping for income or other deal-making.

EU, Turkey need greater alignment to face Islamic State: Mogherini Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:56 AM PST By Jonny Hogg and Tulay Karadeniz ANKARA (Reuters) - The European Union and Turkey have drifted apart on foreign policy and need greater "alignment" to tackle threats including Islamic State, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Monday. Speaking during one of the highest-ranking EU visits to Turkey in years, Federica Mogherini said the EU candidate nation had signed up to less than a third of the bloc's recent foreign policy positions, compared to some 80 percent in the past. ...

Afghanistan mired in war as US combat command ends Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:53 AM PST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — American and NATO troops closed their operational command in Afghanistan on Monday, lowering flags in a ceremony to mark the formal end of their combat mission in a country still mired in war 13 years after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime for harboring those responsible for 9/11.

Yemen al Qaeda leader criticizes IS beheadings as un-Islamic Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:44 AM PST SANAA (Reuters) - A senior leader of al Qaeda in Yemen has criticized beheadings by Islamic State (IS) fighters as un-Islamic, and said his own group had banned such acts. IS, an offshoot of the al Qaeda network, has carved out territory in Syria and Iraq with military victories over government troops and former Islamist allies and violence against civilians. Its fighters sometimes film their beheadings of prisoners and post the footage online. ...

Items on the agenda of the lame-duck Congress Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:41 AM PST The lame-duck Congress has a stacked agenda and little time to accomplish it. Top items include:

ISIS and Ebola Concerns Dominate Mega-Spending Bill Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:30 AM PST The broad contours of the new $1.1 trillion mega spending bill for the rest of the fiscal year are emerging, underscoring Congress's preoccupation with the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the campaign ...

Clint Eastwood: "I Was Against Going Into the War in Iraq." Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:24 AM PST The director of 'American Sniper' says he also had "a big question" about America going into Afghanistan

General: Islamic State fighters on their heels Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:17 AM PST KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Islamic State fighters have lost the initiative in Iraq and are now "on defense" with far less ability to generate the kind of ground maneuvers that enabled the extremists to capture large chunks of Iraq earlier this year, a senior U.S. general said Monday.

UN: $16.4 billion needed to aid most vulnerable Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:03 AM PST GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations appealed Monday for $16.4 billion to pay for global humanitarian needs in 2015, saying the number of people affected by conflicts and natural disasters around the world has reached record levels.

Clint Eastwood Tells Academy He Abhors Violence, Has Always Been Against Iraq War Posted: 08 Dec 2014 10:34 AM PST The 84-year-old commented during a Q&A following the official Academy screening of his latest film, 'American Sniper,' much of which is set in Iraq

Libya peace talks may be doomed by meddling powers: U.S. Posted: 08 Dec 2014 09:56 AM PST By David Rohde WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has little faith in U.N.-backed peace talks in Libya because Middle Eastern countries are defying requests to end their war by proxy in the oil-rich North African nation, senior U.S. officials said. U.N. special Libya envoy Bernardino Leon last week called on the main factions to meet this Tuesday to initiate a dialog in a spirit of "objectivity and conciliation," but a time and place have still not been made public. Despite months of American requests, the U.S. officials said Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, all of which are U. ...

The Failure of American Hostage Rescues Posted: 08 Dec 2014 09:35 AM PST The Monday morning discourse on this weekend's failed operation to rescue American photojournalist Luke Somers started with some eerie news.

Despite failures, U.S. likely to continue raids to free hostages Posted: 08 Dec 2014 08:15 AM PST By Warren Strobel and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON/KUWAIT CITY (Reuters) - Despite three failed raids to free U.S. hostages held by militants, the United States will continue to conduct such operations, officials indicated on Sunday, as President Barack Obama grappled with a spate of kidnappings and killings of American citizens. The latest setback came in a remote area of Yemen early on Saturday, when al Qaeda militants shot American photo journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie during a rescue attempt led by U.S. Special Forces. ...

Yemen's al-Qaida denounces beheadings Posted: 08 Dec 2014 08:12 AM PST SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A senior military commander of al-Qaida in Yemen denounced on Monday beheadings carried out by the group's Islamic State rivals, calling the act and its filming for propaganda purposes barbarous and asserting that U.S. drone strikes are expanding al-Qaida's popularity in the country.

Saudi Cabinet shakeup targets key ministries Posted: 08 Dec 2014 07:52 AM PST RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi King Abdullah announced on Monday a Cabinet shakeup, naming new ministers to key portfolios overseeing the kingdom's universities and mosques where ultraconservative clerics and their supporters hold sway.

Hagel credits Iraqi security forces with progress Posted: 08 Dec 2014 07:43 AM PST CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (AP) — With U.S. help, Iraqi security forces have achieved a "new momentum" in their battle to regain territory lost this year to the Islamic State group, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday.

EU chief, Turkey discuss foreign fighters in Syria Posted: 08 Dec 2014 07:27 AM PST ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The European Union's new foreign affairs chief on Monday called for "good coordination and strategy" with Turkey to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq.

AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East Posted: 08 Dec 2014 05:25 AM PST Across the Middle East this week, the battle against Islamic extremists raged as a U.S.-led rescue attempt in Yemen saw two hostages killed.

UK's Cameron to fly to Turkey to discuss IS foreign fighter problem Posted: 08 Dec 2014 04:57 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron will travel to Turkey on Tuesday to meet President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss how to stop Britons crossing into Syria and Iraq to join up with Islamic State (IS) fighters via the Turkish border, his spokesman said. The visit comes after Britain said last month it was facing its greatest ever national security threat, in part because of the risk that Britons who return from fighting with IS could launch attacks on home soil. ...

U.N. declares 2014 a devastating year for millions of children Posted: 08 Dec 2014 04:52 AM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations children's agency UNICEF declared 2014 a devastating year for children on Monday with as many as 15 million caught in conflicts in Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and the Palestinian territories. UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said the high number of crises meant many of them were quickly forgotten or failed to capture global headlines, such as in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. ...

Afghan students find inspiration in Islamic State's success Posted: 08 Dec 2014 04:18 AM PST By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - A quiet student at Kabul University, 25-year-old Abdul Rahim has a dream: to join Islamic State in Syria and fight for the establishment of a global caliphate - a new, alarming form of radicalism in war-weary Afghanistan. "When hundreds of foreigners, both men and women, leave their comfortable lives and embrace Daish, then why not us?" he asked, using a word for Islamic State (IS) common in the region. ...

Rivalries resurface in Iraqi town recaptured from Islamic State Posted: 08 Dec 2014 03:30 AM PST By Isabel Coles JALAWLA, Iraq (Reuters) - The blood of two militants killed during Islamic State's rout in the Iraqi town of Jalawla has yet to be washed away, but a turf war is already brewing between Kurdish and Shi'ite forces that jointly drove the insurgents out. The recapture of disputed territory and towns such as Jalawla is reopening rivalries over the boundary between areas of Kurdish control and those administered by the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government. Local Sunni Arabs displaced in the fighting have little choice but to align themselves with one side or the other. ...

Rich countries urged to take 5 percent of Syrian refugees: TRFN Posted: 08 Dec 2014 01:34 AM PST LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Rich countries should agree to take at least 5 percent of all Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, aid agencies said as pressure mounts ahead of a major conference on the crisis. At least 3.2 million people have fled Syria since the civil conflict erupted in 2011, putting neighboring countries under colossal strain. Syrian refugees across the Middle East, some in exile for a fourth winter, face freezing temperatures, hunger and increasing hostility from locals as governments struggle to cope. ...

Bradley Cooper on How He Brought 'American Sniper' to the Screen and 'The Elephant Man' to Broadway Posted: 07 Dec 2014 09:00 PM PST The actor goes through dramatic physical transformations in his latest roles

Canada joins UK in closing Cairo embassy to public over 'security' Posted: 07 Dec 2014 04:54 PM PST Cairo (AFP) - Canada on Monday joined Britain in closing its embassy in Cairo to the public for security reasons, with neither country providing details about any specific threat.

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