Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• 'Focus' snatches US box office gold
• How can we prevent the next 'Jihadi John'?
• Kerry Insists U.S. Is Winning Against ISIS
• US targeting 'Jihadi John,' senator says
• Iraq says launches offensive on Islamic State north of Baghdad
• Iraq PM urges forces to spare civilians in Tikrit battle
• Killer of US teacher in Abu Dhabi referred to court
• AP Essay: 'Jihadi John' won't have the same impact unmasked
• Iraqi premier gives ultimatum ahead of hinted Tikrit attack
• CCTV shows British schoolgirls in Istanbul on way to Syria - media
• Bomb blast in Egypt tourist town Aswan kills two: police
• Iraq predicts oil will rise to $64-65 per barrel
• Pentagon push for women's equality gets murky at academies' doorsteps
• Activists say Islamic State releases 19 Syrian Christians
• Pope denounces 'intolerable brutality' in Iraq, Syria
• U.S.-led coalition launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria
• Egypt army: 172 Sinai militants killed in February
• Iraq minister sees oil at $64 to $65 per barrel
• Egypt's president in Saudi Arabia for talks with new king
• Turkey's Kurdish rebels hail 'historic' disarmament call
• CCTV shows Syria-bound UK girls at Istanbul bus station: reports
• Kurdish rebels call disarmament move historic, want Turkey to step up reforms
• Pope prays with thousands for kidnap victims in Syria, Iraq
• Obama, Netanyahu on collision course 6 years in the making

'Focus' snatches US box office gold Posted: 01 Mar 2015 02:36 PM PST Sexy con-artist flick "Focus" stole the top spot at North American box offices this weekend, vaulting over hit bondage film "Fifty Shades of Grey," industry estimates showed Sunday.

How can we prevent the next 'Jihadi John'? Posted: 01 Mar 2015 02:14 PM PST The Islamic State fighter who first appeared in the video of the beheading of journalist James Foley last August was formerly known only as 'Jihadi John', but Thursday he was revealed to be Mohammed Emwazi, a British citizen. Then, years of conflict and frustration with the British security services pushed him to act on his radicalism and leave Britain to join IS. Emwazi was born in Kuwait but when he was 6 years old his family moved to Queens Park, a middle-class area of London. It is unknown how, exactly, Emwazi's developed his sympathies for radical Islam, but The Times also suggests that he was drawn in by a group of extremists who supported the Somalia-based group Al-Shabaab.

Kerry Insists U.S. Is Winning Against ISIS Posted: 01 Mar 2015 01:47 PM PST Secretary of State John Kerry insists the U.S. is on its way to success in the effort to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. "Somebody's boots have to be on the ground," he said.

US targeting 'Jihadi John,' senator says Posted: 01 Mar 2015 01:42 PM PST US forces are targeting the London man believed to be "Jihadi John," an Islamic State executioner, a senior Democratic senator said Sunday. London graduate Mohammed Emwazi was unmasked by media this week as allegedly the English-speaking executioner responsible for the beheading of at least five Western hostages held by the IS group in Syria and Iraq.

Iraq says launches offensive on Islamic State north of Baghdad Posted: 01 Mar 2015 01:12 PM PST By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's army and Shi'ite militia have launched a long-awaited offensive against Islamic State in Salahuddin province, a stronghold of the radical Islamist fighters north of Baghdad, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday. The ultra-radical fighters control several strongholds in the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin, including Tikrit, hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein. They also hold other towns on the Tigris river, north of the government-held city of Samarra which Abadi visited on Sunday. ...

Iraq PM urges forces to spare civilians in Tikrit battle Posted: 01 Mar 2015 12:51 PM PST Iraq's prime minister on Sunday announced the launch of a military operation to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State jihadist group, urging his troops to spare civilians in the battle. Haider al-Abadi, speaking from Samarra, the other main city in the province of Salaheddin, appeared to be addressing fears of reprisals against the Tikrit area's Sunni population. "The priority we gave to the armed forces and all the forces taking part alongside them is to preserve the security of citizens," he told reporters. On Saturday, at least 11 Iraqi forces were killed in a suicide truck bomb attack on a military position south of Tikrit.

Killer of US teacher in Abu Dhabi referred to court Posted: 01 Mar 2015 12:48 PM PST An Emirati woman has been referred to court on charges of murdering one American in an Abu Dhabi mall and attempting to kill another at his home, officials said Sunday. Alaa Bader Abdullah is accused of stabbing to death teacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, in a shopping mall restroom and attempting to murder another American, a doctor of Egyptian origin, by planting a bomb outside his apartment. The jihadist-inspired attacks took place within hours of each other in the UAE capital on December 1. The 38-year-old faces charges of donating funds to Al-Qaeda "with the aim of financing terrorist organisations in the UAE," Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish said, quoted by the official WAM news agency.

AP Essay: 'Jihadi John' won't have the same impact unmasked Posted: 01 Mar 2015 12:47 PM PST LONDON (AP) — As "Jihadi John," he was a terrifying figure, his identity concealed by a black mask, his threatening tone backed up by his oversize, serrated knife and his willingness to use it in the name of Islamic State and its self-declared caliphate.

Iraqi premier gives ultimatum ahead of hinted Tikrit attack Posted: 01 Mar 2015 12:45 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister called on Sunni tribal fighters to abandon the Islamic State group Sunday, ahead of a promised offensive to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown from the extremists.

CCTV shows British schoolgirls in Istanbul on way to Syria - media Posted: 01 Mar 2015 12:37 PM PST Security footage appears to show three British schoolgirls, believed to be on their way to join Islamic State militants, waiting for hours at a bus station in Turkey before travelling to a city near the Syrian border, media reported on Sunday. British police and the girls' families have issued urgent appeals for their daughters to return home after they flew to Istanbul from London on Feb. 17. Friends Amira Abase, 15, Shamima Begum, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, are thought to have since entered Syria, British police have said.

Bomb blast in Egypt tourist town Aswan kills two: police Posted: 01 Mar 2015 11:52 AM PST A bomb blast killed two people Sunday in Aswan, the first such attack in the Egyptian tourist town since a wave of violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, police said. The explosion, caused by a device placed near a police station in the southern town, also wounded five people including a policeman, according to the same source. Aswan is one of two main tourist towns in Upper Egypt, along with Luxor. Egypt has been hit by a wave of bombings and shootings since the military ousted Morsi in July 2013.

Iraq predicts oil will rise to $64-65 per barrel Posted: 01 Mar 2015 11:23 AM PST Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said Sunday he expects the price of crude oil, which dropped to a six-year low in January, to continue recovering to reach $64 or $65 per barrel. Brent North Sea crude, the global benchmark, had tumbled to $45 per barrel at the beginning of the year, less than half the level reached six months earlier. Iraq, which is hugely dependent on oil exports for revenue and is fighting a costly war against the Islamic State jihadist group, also owes more than $20 billion to the oil companies operating in the south, Abdel Mahdi said. Abdel Mahdi said that besides a budget allocation of close to $12 billion to pay those dues he planned to ask the government to issue the same amount in treasury bonds.

Pentagon push for women's equality gets murky at academies' doorsteps Posted: 01 Mar 2015 10:47 AM PST In Jennifer Bower's freshman year at the United States Air Force Academy in 2003, a sexual assault scandal gave her a glimpse of where she stood as a woman at the school. Captain Bower and some of the women in her class were told to move from their originally assigned dorms into new rooms clustered around the bathrooms. The academy "was trying to eliminate opportunities where something untoward could happen," says Bower, who left active duty in 2011 and now serves in the Air Force Reserves. For more than 30 years, many women have felt like party-crashers at the nation's three service academies – the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy, and the Military Academy.

Activists say Islamic State releases 19 Syrian Christians Posted: 01 Mar 2015 10:16 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group released at least 19 Christians on Sunday who were among the more than 220 people the militants took captive in northeastern Syria last week, activists and a local leader said.

Pope denounces 'intolerable brutality' in Iraq, Syria Posted: 01 Mar 2015 08:58 AM PST Pope Francis on Sunday denounced the "intolerable brutality" being inflicted on Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria by Islamic State group militants. "Unfortunately the tragic news just keeps coming from Iraq and Syria," the pontiff said after his weekly prayer in St Peter's Square, without specifically naming IS. Last week, IS kidnapped 220 Assyrians in the Tal Tamr area of Syria where the extremist Islamist group has seized control of 10 Christian villages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

U.S.-led coalition launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria Posted: 01 Mar 2015 08:23 AM PST A U.S.-led coalition launched seven air strikes in Iraq and two in Syria since early Saturday against Islamic State militants, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Sunday. The military statement said two air strikes involving U.S. drones in Syria near Al Hasakah struck an Islamic State tactical unit and destroyed two vehicles. In Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition used warplanes and drones to strike near Al Asad, Al Qaim, Kirkuk and Mosul, destroying Islamic State tactical units, boats, a storage facility, buildings and other targets, according to the statement.

Egypt army: 172 Sinai militants killed in February Posted: 01 Mar 2015 08:10 AM PST Egypt's army said Sunday at least 172 militants were killed in February in joint police and military operations in the restive Sinai where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency. The militants were killed in a series of security operations in the peninsula after a deadly January 29 attack by jihadists left 30 people dead, mostly soldiers. The army said the militants were killed in the North Sinai cities of El-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and in the town of Rafah that borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Egypt's army has poured troops and armour into the region to fight an Islamist insurgency since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Iraq minister sees oil at $64 to $65 per barrel Posted: 01 Mar 2015 07:41 AM PST Iraq's Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi said on Sunday world oil prices were gradually rebounding and he expected to see a barrel of crude selling at around $65. I can see that oil will be sold at $64 to $65 a barrel," he told a news conference in Baghdad. OPEC producer Iraq has been hit by the slump, with revenues falling sharply just as it faces a costly military campaign against Islamic State militants who have seized large parts of the north and west of the country. Iraq's oil revenues for February were just a fraction under $3.5 billion, on exports of 2.535 million barrels per day.

Egypt's president in Saudi Arabia for talks with new king Posted: 01 Mar 2015 07:39 AM PST RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first policy meeting with the country's king ahead of a conference aimed at shoring up financial support from wealthy Gulf states for Egypt's battered economy.

Turkey's Kurdish rebels hail 'historic' disarmament call Posted: 01 Mar 2015 06:49 AM PST Kurdish rebels on Sunday hailed as "historic" a call for disarmament made by their jailed leader and said Turkey should speed up reforms to move the peace process forward. Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) imprisoned on an island near Istanbul, had on Saturday urged the separatists to hold a congress on disarmament in the coming months. "Such a goodwill statement presents a unique chance to advance democracy and resolve the Kurdish issue and Turkey's basic problems," the PKK said in a statement.

CCTV shows Syria-bound UK girls at Istanbul bus station: reports Posted: 01 Mar 2015 06:48 AM PST Security footage appears to show three British girls, believed to be heading for Syria to join Islamic State (IS) militants, waiting at a bus station in Istanbul before travelling to a Turkish town on the Syrian border, media reported Sunday. Close friends Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, boarded a flight from London to Istanbul on February 17. British police, who have said the girls are thought to have since entered Syria, and their families have launched urgent appeals for the teens to return home.

Kurdish rebels call disarmament move historic, want Turkey to step up reforms Posted: 01 Mar 2015 04:20 AM PST Kurdish militants on Sunday described as "historic" a call by their jailed leader to hold a disarmament congress and said Turkey must now take concrete steps to keep the peace process on track. Abdullah Ocalan, who still exerts influence over the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from his prison cell, on Saturday called on followers to meet in the spring and agree to lay down their arms. Ocalan's call has been lauded by both sides as a crucial step in Turkey's efforts to negotiate an end to a 30-year insurgency that has killed 40,000 people, mostly Kurds. "Such a goodwill statement presents a very important foundation and opportunity to democratize the state and government and resolve the Kurdish issue and Turkey's basic problems," the PKK said in a statement.

Pope prays with thousands for kidnap victims in Syria, Iraq Posted: 01 Mar 2015 03:40 AM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has led tens of thousands of people in prayer in St. Peter's Square for Christians and others who have been kidnapped or are victims of other "intolerable brutality" in Syria and Iraq.

Obama, Netanyahu on collision course 6 years in the making Posted: 28 Feb 2015 07:30 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — For six years, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been on a collision course over how to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, a high-stakes endeavor both men see as a centerpiece of their legacies.

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