Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Secret talks in Jordan try to win release of hostages
• Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT
• Too soon to say 'mission accomplished' in Kobani
• Nine killed as gunmen storm luxury hotel in Libyan capital
• Too soon to say 'mission accomplished' in Kobani: U.S. official
• Obama tackles IS fight, Iran with new Saudi king
• Obama to bolster crucial Saudi alliance amid Mideast unrest
• $1 Billion Paid for Loose Bolts and Damaged Aircraft
• Ang Lee to Direct 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' for Studio 8 and TriStar
• Scores of foreign fighters among Kobane dead
• IS hostage exchange demand a bid to sow dissent: analysts
• No champagne yet, says Aussie boss Postecoglou
• UN warns crisis looms for families in southern Iraq
• US sees Kobani as key win, but Mosul may require new tactics
• Kevin Spacey skips award shows to help aspiring Arab actors
• Probe after 11 die in NATO training jet crash in Spain
• Are falling oil prices pushing Iran to make risky economic choices?
• Iran says it sent warning to Israel via US officials
• US loans fueled insider deal, failed power plan in Liberia
• Kurds expand fight against IS after retaking Syria's Kobane
• Iran insists international footballer does military service
• AP Interview: EU anti-terror chief: rehab for jihadis
• Obama meets new Saudi king to shore up ties
• McCain: Get Ready for U.S. Troops on the Ground in Iraq and Syria
• Pravda on the Plains: Indiana's New Propaganda Machine
• Food crisis in southern Iraq worsening, U.N. agency says
• UN says no new polio cases reported in Syria for past year
• IS threatens to kill Japan hostage, Jordan pilot within 24 hours
• In battle against Islamic State, Iraqi tribal chiefs plead for more U.S. aid
• Baghdad flights disrupted after bullet hits flydubai jet
• Airlines halt flights to Baghdad after gunfire hits plane
• Gunmen storm luxury hotel in Tripoli, a day after Geneva talks
• Battles continue outside Syria's Kobani after Kurds claim victory
• Erdogan settles in as Turkey's strongman, constitutional change or not
• Turkish police fire tear gas to stop people entering Syrian Kurdish town
• Czech president calls for united action against Islamic State
• Asian Cup: Australia beat UAE 2-0 to reach final
• USAID suspends awards to Virginia-based contractor

Secret talks in Jordan try to win release of hostages Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:35 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Japanese officials were tightlipped Wednesday as secret talks in Jordan sought to secure the freedom of a Japanese journalist and a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State extremists and purportedly threatened with death within 24 hours.

Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:33 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Secret talks were underway Tuesday in Jordan in the presence of a Japanese envoy to secure the freedom of a Japanese journalist and a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State extremists and purportedly threatened with death within 24 hours. The global efforts to free Japanese freelance journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh gained greater urgency with the release of the apparent ultimatum from the Islamic State group.

Too soon to say 'mission accomplished' in Kobani Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:32 PM PST By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kurdish fighters' expulsion of Islamic State forces from the Syrian town of Kobani helped stop the momentum of the Islamist group but is not a significant turning point in the overall campaign, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. The setback for Islamic State in the war-ravaged town near the Turkish border did not mean "anyone is declaring mission accomplished" in the international campaign against the group, that has taken over parts of Syria and Iraq, the official said. U.S. air strikes in liaison with Kurdish ground troops and Iraqi Kurd reinforcements allowed in from Turkey tipped the battle the Kurds' way, and the Islamic State's appetite for the fight had been undermined by heavy death tolls. "The entire notion of this organization that is on the march and the inevitable expansion and inevitable momentum has been halted at Kobani," added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Nine killed as gunmen storm luxury hotel in Libyan capital Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:01 PM PST By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Heavily armed gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Tripoli favored by Libyan officials and visiting delegations on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, including foreigners, before blowing themselves up with a grenade. Officials said shooting erupted inside the five-star Corinthia Hotel and security forces evacuated guests, including Tripoli's prime minister and an American delegation, after at least two gunmen blasted through the building's reception. It was one of the worst assaults targeting foreigners since the 2011 civil war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi and fractured the oil-producing North African state into fiefdoms of rival armed groups with two national governments, both claiming legitimacy. "The attackers opened fire inside the hotel," Omar Khadrawi, head of Tripoli security, told Reuters.

Too soon to say 'mission accomplished' in Kobani: U.S. official Posted: 27 Jan 2015 03:29 PM PST By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kurdish fighters' expulsion of Islamic State forces from the Syrian town of Kobani helped stop the momentum of the Islamist group but is not a significant turning point in the overall campaign, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. The setback for Islamic State in the war-ravaged town near the Turkish border did not mean "anyone is declaring mission accomplished" in the international campaign against the group, that has taken over parts of Syria and Iraq, the official said. U.S. air strikes in liaison with Kurdish ground troops and Iraqi Kurd reinforcements allowed in from Turkey tipped the battle the Kurds' way, and the Islamic State's appetite for the fight had been undermined by heavy death tolls. "The entire notion of this organization that is on the march and the inevitable expansion and inevitable momentum has been halted at Kobani," added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Obama tackles IS fight, Iran with new Saudi king Posted: 27 Jan 2015 03:10 PM PST US President Barack Obama led a heavyweight delegation to Saudi Arabia Tuesday to meet new King Salman and discussed the two countries' ongoing fight against the Islamic State group. The leaders also tackled the issue of Iran's nuclear programme and human rights in the conservative kingdom, a senior US official said. Riyadh has been part of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against IS since last year and is a long-time regional ally of Washington. There has also been unease in the kingdom about Obama's pursuit of a nuclear deal with Shiite-dominated Iran, the regional rival of Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia.

Obama to bolster crucial Saudi alliance amid Mideast unrest Posted: 27 Jan 2015 02:47 PM PST By Roberta Rampton RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to pay his respects after the death of King Abdullah, a trip that underscores the importance of a U.S.-Saudi alliance that extends beyond oil interests to regional security. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters Obama wanted to discuss with the new Saudi King Salman the fight against Islamic State, the volatile situation in Yemen and talks on ending a long running dispute about Iran's nuclear ambitions. "We do believe that Saudi policy will remain quite similar to how it's been under King Abdullah," he said, adding Obama wanted to forge the same kind of "close relationship" with Salman as he had with his predecessor Obama's visit comes as Washington struggles with worsening strife in the Middle East and counts Saudi Arabia among its few steady partners in a campaign against Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.

$1 Billion Paid for Loose Bolts and Damaged Aircraft Posted: 27 Jan 2015 02:45 PM PST It's bad enough that federal contractors hired to perform routine maintenance work on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) airplanes dodged their work hours and shirked important safety requirements. A new management advisory from the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General takes the CBP to task for failing to sufficiently oversee a nearly $1 billion contract with Defense Support Services for year-round maintenance work on the agency's aircraft fleet. Although CBP ended up paying more than they had agreed to pay – they got significantly less for it. "Since 2009, the number of CBP aircraft maintained, annual flight hours and the average age of CBP's aircraft fleet decreased," the auditors said in the report.

Ang Lee to Direct 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' for Studio 8 and TriStar Posted: 27 Jan 2015 02:24 PM PST Studio 8, together with Chinese distribution company Bona Film Group, is partnering with Tom Rothman's TriStar and Film4 on the project

Scores of foreign fighters among Kobane dead Posted: 27 Jan 2015 02:23 PM PST Large numbers of foreign fighters are among the jihadists killed in the battle for the Syrian town of Kobane, a senior US official said Tuesday, saying the concerted campaign was halting the militants' march. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) announced the "liberation" of Kobane on Monday, depriving the Islamic State group (IS) of a strategic prize to add to its territory in Syria and Iraq. "ISIL is now, whether on order or whether they are breaking ranks, is beginning to withdraw from the town," a senior State Department official told reporters. IS had poured some of its best foreign fighters into Kobane, the State Department official said, but in the last six weeks the losses had begun to cause splits in the ranks.

IS hostage exchange demand a bid to sow dissent: analysts Posted: 27 Jan 2015 02:15 PM PST The Islamic State group's demand that a jihadi on Jordan's death row be exchanged for a Japanese hostage is an attempt to chip away at the US-led coalition against extremism in the Middle East, analysts say. The militants, whose brutal rule stretches across swathes of Iraq and Syria, is hoping to sow dissent among Jordan, Japan and the United States by offering to spare the life of journalist Kenji Goto. Their price, they say, is freedom for Sajida al-Rishawi, a woman sentenced to death for her role in the bombing of three hotels in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people, an event sometimes referred to as "Jordan's 9/11". For Tokyo, scarred by the apparent beheading last week of Goto's fellow captive, Haruna Yukawa, it appears to be an attractive offer.

No champagne yet, says Aussie boss Postecoglou Posted: 27 Jan 2015 01:58 PM PST Australia boss Ange Postecoglou said the Socceroos were not popping champagne corks yet after they sank United Arab Emirates 2-0 on Tuesday to set up an Asian Cup final against South Korea. The hosts took a lightning quick lead in Newcastle through Trent Sainsbury after only three minutes, with left-back Jason Davidson adding the second shortly before the 15-minute mark.

UN warns crisis looms for families in southern Iraq Posted: 27 Jan 2015 01:40 PM PST The United Nations' food agency warned on Tuesday of a looming humanitarian crisis in southern Iraq, where tens of thousands of destitute, displaced families have sought refuge from conflict. The World Food Programme (WFP) said the situation in the governorates of Najaf, Kerbala and Babel was reaching "critical levels" because of an influx of people who have fled violence in other parts of the country and no longer have any means of supporting themselves. The Rome-based WFP said it was assisting 50,000 displaced families in Basra, Thi Qar, Qadissiya, Missan, Wassit, Muthanna, Najaf, Kerbala, and Babel. "The people receiving the aid are entirely dependent on it and are becoming vulnerable," WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told AFP.

US sees Kobani as key win, but Mosul may require new tactics Posted: 27 Jan 2015 01:11 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kurdish recapture of Kobani in northern Syria appears to have provided a blueprint for defeating the Islamic State, bringing together U.S. air power with an effective ground force and protected routes for the movement of fighters and weaponry. Taking back the key Iraqi city of Mosul may be an entirely different matter.

Kevin Spacey skips award shows to help aspiring Arab actors Posted: 27 Jan 2015 12:27 PM PST SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kevin Spacey skipped the Screen Actors Guild awards, which handed him a win for his wildly popular role on "House of Cards", to watch 34 young actors from across the Arab world perform a play as part of his foundation's Home Grown initiative supporting local talent.

Probe after 11 die in NATO training jet crash in Spain Posted: 27 Jan 2015 12:18 PM PST Investigators were probing Tuesday how a fighter jet crashed during elite NATO training exercises at an air force base in Spain, killing 11 military personnel and leaving others with serious burns. Nine French and two Greek personnel died and about 20 people were injured after the two-seater F-16 crashed into parked aircraft at the Los Llanos base in southeastern Spain on Monday. The jet -- involved in an elite training programme -- crashed after losing power as it took off, the Spanish defence ministry said, damaging two Italian planes and three French jets. Two Greek pilots on board and eight French officers on the ground were confirmed killed on Monday, and the Spanish defence ministry said a ninth French victim died in a hospital burns unit in Madrid on Tuesday.

Are falling oil prices pushing Iran to make risky economic choices? Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:53 AM PST Iranian officials are adamant that the precipitous drop in global oil prices that has slashed domestic spending across the oil-producing world will not bring the country to its knees.

Iran says it sent warning to Israel via US officials Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:24 AM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Tehran said Tuesday it sent a warning to Israel through the United States over the recent killing of an Iranian general in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria, the official IRNA news agency reported.

US loans fueled insider deal, failed power plan in Liberia Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:13 AM PST A failed U.S. government-backed plan to produce environmentally friendly energy in one of Africa's poorest countries was marred by insider connections and questionable planning, an Associated Press investigation ...

Kurds expand fight against IS after retaking Syria's Kobane Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:05 AM PST Kurdish fighters battled the Islamic State group in villages around Kobane on Tuesday, a day after expelling the jihadists from the strategic Syrian town on the Turkish border. The news prompted celebrations among residents who fled across the frontier into Turkey, with thousands gathering at the border and hoping to return, more than four months after the fighting began. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) announced the "liberation" of Kobane on Monday, depriving IS of a strategic prize to add to its territory in Syria and Iraq. There was fighting in villages around the town on Tuesday, both to the southeast and the southwest, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor.

Iran insists international footballer does military service Posted: 27 Jan 2015 11:04 AM PST The Iranian army has told ill-fated international footballer Merhdad Pooladi, sent off in last week's Asia Cup quarterfinal with Iraq, that he must do his military service or be dropped from the squad. Pooladi almost missed the trip to Australia in December for the competition because he had been found in possession of a false military card. General Moussa Kamali, the general staff officer responsible for manpower, said "we will use every legal means to bring Pooladi back to Iran so that he does his military service," the Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

AP Interview: EU anti-terror chief: rehab for jihadis Posted: 27 Jan 2015 10:03 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's anti-terror chief called Tuesday for countries to rehabilitate rather than punish returning jihadis with no blood on their hands, saying that some prisons have become "incubators of radicalization."

Obama meets new Saudi king to shore up ties Posted: 27 Jan 2015 09:58 AM PST US President Barack Obama led a heavyweight delegation to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to meet new King Salman and shore up ties that have suffered in recent years. Since last year Saudi Arabia has been part of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group. There has also been unease in the kingdom about Obama's pursuit of a nuclear deal with Shiite-dominated Iran, the regional rival of Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia.

McCain: Get Ready for U.S. Troops on the Ground in Iraq and Syria Posted: 27 Jan 2015 09:52 AM PST McConnell seconded Boehner's contention that the U.S. and its allies will ultimately fail unless they break out of the current Obama approach – which amounts to strategic air strikes against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria and efforts to recruit and train friendly "moderate" rebels in Syria to take the fight directly to ISIS forces on the ground. Obama has vowed repeatedly that he will not send in more U.S. ground troops to engage ISIS on the battlefield.

Pravda on the Plains: Indiana's New Propaganda Machine Posted: 27 Jan 2015 09:11 AM PST Gov. Mike Pence is starting a state-run taxpayer-funded news outlet that will make pre-written news stories available to Indiana media, as well as sometimes break news about his administration, according to documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star.

Food crisis in southern Iraq worsening, U.N. agency says Posted: 27 Jan 2015 09:01 AM PST By Chris Arsenault ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A food crisis is unfolding in southern Iraq, where thousands of internally displaced refugees who have moved there from other parts of the country do not have enough to eat, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday. "Violence continues to cause ongoing displacement in central, western and northern areas of Iraq," WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Kurdish forces are battling the Sunni Islamist group ISIS in part of northern Iraq.

UN says no new polio cases reported in Syria for past year Posted: 27 Jan 2015 08:58 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — In a rare success amid Syria's civil war, the United Nation's World Health Organization says there hasn't been a new polio case reported in the war-torn country for the past year.

IS threatens to kill Japan hostage, Jordan pilot within 24 hours Posted: 27 Jan 2015 08:58 AM PST The Islamic State jihadist group threatened Tuesday to kill a Japanese journalist and a Jordanian pilot within 24 hours unless Amman frees a jailed female militant. A voiceover, purportedly by Goto, warns that Jordan is blocking the Japanese journalist's release by failing to free Sajida al-Rishawi, a would-be suicide bomber on death row since 2006. It follows a video released last week in which the group claimed to have beheaded another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, and said Goto would be killed next if Rishawi was not freed. Japan said following the new threat that it was seeking help from Jordan.

In battle against Islamic State, Iraqi tribal chiefs plead for more U.S. aid Posted: 27 Jan 2015 07:59 AM PST In meetings with U.S. officials over the past week and in exclusive interviews with Yahoo News, a visiting group of Iraqi Sunni leaders delivered a bleak message about the state of the conflict with the Islamic State.

Baghdad flights disrupted after bullet hits flydubai jet Posted: 27 Jan 2015 06:55 AM PST A bullet hit the fuselage of a flydubai airliner on its descent into Baghdad Tuesday, lightly wounding a young girl and prompting many carriers to suspend their flights, officials said. The pilot landed and he was not aware of what had happened," Transport Minister Baqr Jabr al-Zubaidi told reporters at the airport. The no-frills carrier, a sister firm of Emirates, said it was working with Iraqi authorities to investigate the incident, adding that it would continue to fly to other destinations in Iraq. Other UAE carriers, including Emirates, Etihad and Air Arabia, suspended their flights to Baghdad, as did Turkish Airlines and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA).

Airlines halt flights to Baghdad after gunfire hits plane Posted: 27 Jan 2015 06:43 AM PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Several airlines suspended flights to Baghdad on Tuesday after a passenger plane arriving from the Mideast's busiest airport in Dubai came under fire as it landed in the Iraqi capital.

Gunmen storm luxury hotel in Tripoli, a day after Geneva talks Posted: 27 Jan 2015 06:21 AM PST Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the Libyan capital of Tripoli Tuesday, reportedly killing five foreign guests and at least three guards in the latest testament to the country's enduring instability. Essam Al-Naas, a spokesman for a Tripoli security agency, told reporters that security forces had arrested one gunman and surrounded the Corinthia Hotel. The seaside hotel has been a popular location with foreigners and Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi, but he was not there Tuesday. The Associated Press reports that Mahmoud Hamza, commander of the so-called Special Deterrent Force, told the Tripoli-based al-Nabaa television station that the situation was "under control." He said there were no more hostages in the hotel, and did not know where the attackers were.

Battles continue outside Syria's Kobani after Kurds claim victory Posted: 27 Jan 2015 06:16 AM PST By Sylvia Westall BEIRUT (Reuters) - Kurdish forces battled Islamic State fighters outside Kobani on Tuesday, a monitoring group said, a day after Kurds said they had taken full control of the northern Syrian town following a four-month battle. Known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, the mainly Kurdish town close to the Turkish border has become a focal point in the international fight against Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that has spread across Syria and Iraq. There were clashes to the southeast and southwest of Kobani, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, although it added the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) had managed to recapture a village outside the town. The YPG said on Monday Kobani had been "completely liberated" from Islamic State, which it referred to using the pejorative Arabic acronym "Daesh".

Erdogan settles in as Turkey's strongman, constitutional change or not Posted: 27 Jan 2015 05:55 AM PST Erdogan, accused by critics of suppressing checks to his power in the judiciary and media, said this week the question of constitutional change to cement the presidency should be a central issue in polls to be held by early June. With pollsters suggesting the ruling AK Party will struggle to achieve the majority he needs, Erdogan appears to be falling back on "Plan B" - a de facto presidential system analysts say is inherently unstable.

Turkish police fire tear gas to stop people entering Syrian Kurdish town Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:57 AM PST Turkish police fired tear gas on Tuesday to stop people trying to cross into the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, after Kurdish forces drove out Islamic State militants who besieged the city for four months, a Kurdish politician and a journalist said. Groups from Suruc, a border town overlooking Kobani, and nearby villages gathered to cross the border and celebrate alongside Kurdish fighters earlier in the day, but police stopped them, a journalist in Suruc said. "The people are coming out and are happy," Adham Basho, a Syrian Kurdish politician said. "Police are using tear gas... they've closed the roads." Kurdish forces took control of the Syrian town of Kobani on Monday after pushing out Islamic State fighters who launched an assault on the predominantly Kurdish town last year, using heavy weapons seized in Iraq and forcing tens of thousands of locals into exile.

Czech president calls for united action against Islamic State Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:29 AM PST The international community should unite to take military action against the Islamic State group to defend itself against a "super-Holocaust", Czech President Milos Zeman said on Tuesday. Speaking at a Holocaust commemoration forum held by the European Jewish Congress in Prague, he drew a parallel between the growth of jihadist groups and Nazi Germany that could be easily contained in the 1930s before it grew too strong. The United States and its coalition partners have launched dozens of air strikes each week against Islamic State militants in Iraq since August and Syria since September. The militants have captured swathes of territory in the two countries and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate.

Asian Cup: Australia beat UAE 2-0 to reach final Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:21 AM PST NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Australia remained on course for its maiden Asian Cup title after defeating United Arab Emirates 2-0 in a semifinal at Newcastle Stadium on a wet Tuesday.

USAID suspends awards to Virginia-based contractor Posted: 27 Jan 2015 04:02 AM PST The main U.S. foreign assistance agency on Monday suspended awards to a non-governmental organization that has received more than $1 billion for its work in Afghanistan and Iraq the past nine years. The ...

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States