Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Texas incident fuels concern about lone-wolf terror attacks
• Kurd leader asks for help for refugees from IS
• Pentagon chief calls for new multi-year defense spending deal
• Indianapolis man, 19, gets 50 years in Craigslist killing
• Texas attack shows evolution of 'lone wolf' militants -U.S. officials
• Iraq's largest oil refinery under threat from IS: US
• Forces loyal to Libya's official government claim they shot down rival war plane
• Obama hosts anxious Gulf leaders as sands shift in Mideast
• 10 Things You Need to Know about America’s Top General
• Dutch lawmaker plans Mohammed expo after US shootings
• State Department Adds ISIS Names in Multi-Million Dollar Catch-a-Terrorist Program
• Bosnian police launch operation to root out radical Islamists
• Are bungled VA claims systemic? Senators want agency review
• Banned in Syria, Muslim Brotherhood members trickle home
• Pentagon sees 'tough' Iraqi battle to secure Baiji oil refinery
• US offers $20 million bounty for ISIS leaders. Does money really talk?
• Australia's Bishop announces $19 mn aid for Pakistan
• Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis running for U.S. Senate
• Why ISIS now has a 5-star hotel for its fighters
• Iraq's unity 'voluntary and not compulsory': Kurdish leader
• U.S., allies conduct 11 air strikes in Iraq: statement
• French courtship of Gulf monarchies is risky: experts
• World neglects displaced as 30,000 a day forced to flee: report
• Gunman's hashtag hinted at Texas plot
• Iran leader says US backing 'immense crimes' in Yemen
• Iraq, other conflicts swell global total of displaced people
• Report: 2.2 million Iraqis displaced by Islamic State group
• The young face of Scotland's political earthquake
• Texas shootings: Was Islamic State the instigator, or just a cheerleader?
• After two attempts, U.N. starts zero-expectation talks on Syria
• Texas shooter was 'heartthrob' in Pakistan: schoolmates
• Starwood aims for 50 new Middle East hotels by 2019
• 5 Things to Know About Gen. Joseph Dunford
• US due to stop managing Afghan airspace by end of June
• Sydney Film Festival: Geoffrey Rush's 'The Daughter' to Premiere, Line Up Expands to 251 Films
• US investigates IS link to Texas shooting
• Over 38 million people 'internally displaced by conflicts'
• Obama, Biden tell Kurdish leader US stands by unified Iraq

Texas incident fuels concern about lone-wolf terror attacks Posted: 06 May 2015 04:43 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — The attempted attack on a provocative cartoon contest in Texas appears to reflect a scenario that has long troubled national security officials: a do-it-yourself terror plot, inspired by the Islamic State extremist group and facilitated through the ease of social media.

Kurd leader asks for help for refugees from IS Posted: 06 May 2015 02:44 PM PDT The leader of Iraq's Kurds said Wednesday his region's forces had destroyed the Islamic State group's reputation for invincibility but now need help dealing with a flood of refugees. After talks with President Barack Obama in Washington, Massud Barzani thanked US-led forces for their air support in the battle against the jihadists, but called for more humanitarian aid.

Pentagon chief calls for new multi-year defense spending deal Posted: 06 May 2015 02:26 PM PDT By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Calling Republican defense spending plans a "road to nowhere," Defense Secretary Ash Carter appealed on Wednesday for lawmakers to work with him toward a new bipartisan budget deal to provide stable funding for a U.S. military hurt by years of steep cuts. Carter told a Senate appropriations panel that Republican efforts to try to meet President Barack Obama's defense funding request were well-intentioned but would not give the Pentagon the flexibility it needed and ultimately would lock in budget cuts Obama has threatened to veto. The president proposed a $534 billion Pentagon base budget for the 2016 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 that exceeds federal spending caps by $35 billion and could trigger mandatory cuts. The Republican-controlled Congress, which opposes many of Obama's spending priorities, is considering a $499 billion Pentagon base budget that would not exceed spending caps.

Indianapolis man, 19, gets 50 years in Craigslist killing Posted: 06 May 2015 01:48 PM PDT INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis teenager has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a National Guardsman lured to an apartment complex by a Craigslist ad for an iPad.

Texas attack shows evolution of 'lone wolf' militants -U.S. officials Posted: 06 May 2015 01:47 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball and Jon Herskovitz WASHINGTON/AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. investigators believe two men killed after opening fire on a Texas event that offered a prize for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad represent an evolving model of "lone wolf" militants who are radicalized partly by themselves and partly through long-distance engagement with organized militants. Although the Islamic State movement claimed credit for the Texas shooting, several U.S. officials said investigators have no evidence that either of the men shot dead by security personnel after they opened fire at the Garland, Texas, event traveled to Syria or Iraq. U.S. court documents do show that one of the men, Elton Simpson, once tried to travel to Somalia. Officials also said that no hard evidence had emerged to demonstrate that Simpson and the second Texas shooter, Nadir Soofi, attacked the contest venue under direct orders, or encouragement, from Islamic State leaders.

Iraq's largest oil refinery under threat from IS: US Posted: 06 May 2015 01:17 PM PDT Iraq's largest oil refinery is under growing threat from Islamic State jihadists, who have advanced inside the perimeter of the facility, the US military said Wednesday. US warplanes have been carrying out air strikes against the IS group around the Baiji refinery but it was unclear if Iraqi security forces would manage to hold on to the facility north of Baghdad, a Pentagon spokesman said. They do control parts of it," Colonel Steven Warren told reporters. Senior American officers have described securing Baiji town and the nearby refinery as a key step on the way to an eventual offensive to seize back control of the strategic city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Forces loyal to Libya's official government claim they shot down rival war plane Posted: 06 May 2015 01:13 PM PDT Forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognised government said that on Wednesday they had shot down a war plane belonging to a rival administration controlling Tripoli. Both governments have been fighting each other with aircraft and ground troops on several front, part of a wider conflict in the oil-producing nation four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. "Our forces shot down a plane trying to attack Zintan airport," said Mohamed El Hejazi, a spokesman for the army loyal to the official government, which has been based in the east since a rival faction seized Tripoli in August. Omar Matoog, a spokesman for the airport in Zintan, a western region allied to the eastern government, also said a MiG belonging to a rival administration in Tripoli had been shot down.

Obama hosts anxious Gulf leaders as sands shift in Mideast Posted: 06 May 2015 01:05 PM PDT With Iran emboldened and the United States seen in retreat, President Barack Obama faces the vexed task of restoring lost trust and influence when he hosts Gulf leaders at Camp David next week. Six Gulf Cooperation Council leaders -- including Saudi Arabia's freshly crowned and hawkish King Salman -- visit the White House on May 13, followed the next day by a trip to the bucolic presidential retreat near Washington.

10 Things You Need to Know about America’s Top General Posted: 06 May 2015 12:43 PM PDT Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and President Obama almost never agree on anything related to the military or U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. So it was something of a surprise on Tuesday when the Armed Services Committee chair lavished praise on the president's choice of Marine Corps commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. to become the next chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "I'm a strong supporter of Gen. Dunford," McCain told Defense One. McCain's enthusiasm for Dunford, the one-time commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, stems in part from his undisguised disdain for Gen. Martin Dempsey, the outgoing head of the Joint Chiefs, who McCain complained was far too cautious and ought to resign.  McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war, was infuriated by Dempsey's opposition to the 2007 surge in U.S. troops in Iraq ordered by President George W. Bush and his opposition to the U.S. getting more deeply involved in Syria.

Dutch lawmaker plans Mohammed expo after US shootings Posted: 06 May 2015 12:00 PM PDT Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders said on Wednesday he wanted to stage a parliamentary exhibition of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed that sparked a deadly shooting in Texas that left two dead. "I am going to request Parliament to exhibit the same cartoons as those that were displayed in Garland," Wilders told AFP on Wednesday, referring to the Dallas suburb where the shooting took place on Sunday. Police said the two gunmen drove up to the conference centre in Garland, where the American Freedom Defense Initiative was organizing a controversial Mohammed cartoon contest, and opened fire with assault rifles, hitting a security guard in the ankle. US investigators are probing the backgrounds of the two slain gunmen after the Islamic State group claimed it had ordered the shooting.

State Department Adds ISIS Names in Multi-Million Dollar Catch-a-Terrorist Program Posted: 06 May 2015 11:45 AM PDT The State Department is offering a sum of $20 million for information that leads to the capture of four Islamic State group leaders. Until this announcement, only one other ISIS figure has appeared on the "Rewards for Justice" list: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the infamous ISIS leader who remains at large and in command of the terrorist group. The State Department has paid more than $125 million to more than 80 people who have provided information that has led to arrests since the program's inception in 1984, according to the program's website. The State Department's Office of Diplomatic Security, which administers the program, does not reveal the sources of those tips and, aside from a handful of of examples on its website, does not say how often the program has been successful.

Bosnian police launch operation to root out radical Islamists Posted: 06 May 2015 11:13 AM PDT Bosnian police on Wednesday launched an operation to root out radical Islamists, arresting several people, a week after a suspected "terrorist attack" in which a police officer was killed. "The search is underway in 32 places in Republika Srpska (the Serb-run entity of Bosnia," interior ministry spokesman Milan Salamandija said. Those detained were suspected of having "made supplies of weapons and explosives aimed at committing terrorist acts against the institutions of the Republika Srpska and their representatives", a prosecutor said in a statement. The suspects "belong to radical movements, have fought in or returned from Syria, or were recruiters of jihadists," Salamandija said.

Are bungled VA claims systemic? Senators want agency review Posted: 06 May 2015 11:12 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Troubled by delays in handling veterans claims, a bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday urged a wide-scale, independent review of the Department of Veterans Affairs for mismanagement and changes to improve budgeting and speed up applications.

Banned in Syria, Muslim Brotherhood members trickle home Posted: 06 May 2015 10:46 AM PDT By Dasha Afanasieva ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Hundreds of members of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood have returned from exile, hoping to rebuild a movement which was crushed decades ago at home and is deemed a terrorist organization by leading Arab states. Membership of the Brotherhood remains punishable by death in Syria more than 30 years after President Bashar al-Assad's father outlawed the group, but the exiles are filtering back mainly into opposition-held areas. "We are encouraging people to go back to Syria... I would say hundreds," Mohammed Walid, who heads the Syrian Brotherhood, told Reuters. Walid said in an interview that these "nuclei" members had to explain the aims of his group, which is an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

Pentagon sees 'tough' Iraqi battle to secure Baiji oil refinery Posted: 06 May 2015 10:39 AM PDT The Pentagon on Wednesday said Iraq's fight to secure the country's largest oil refinery from Islamic State militants was headed in the wrong direction and declined to predict the outcome of ongoing battle. "It's been a tough, fluid fight," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told a news briefing, adding that "right now it's flowing in the wrong direction." "It could still turn around.

US offers $20 million bounty for ISIS leaders. Does money really talk? Posted: 06 May 2015 10:39 AM PDT The United States government may be banking on a bounty to take down the leaders of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. On Tuesday, the US State Department announced it will offer multimillion-dollar rewards for information about four IS leaders through its Rewards for Justice Program. According to a statement from the US State Department, the Rewards for Justice Program targeted four IS leaders and officials as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

Australia's Bishop announces $19 mn aid for Pakistan Posted: 06 May 2015 10:24 AM PDT Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Wednesday announced a $19 million aid package for Pakistan that includes help for border areas hit by conflict and natural disasters. Bishop made the pledge during a two-day visit to Islamabad, where she is holding talks with her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz on efforts to counter militancy, the future of Afghanistan and the reported rise of the Islamic State group in the region. The aid package includes $8 million to help restore infrastructure damaged by floods and conflict in the restive northwest and southwest, and around $8 million to support a trade initiative in partnership with the World Bank. Thousands of ethnic Hazara Shiites have in recent years fled the southwestern province of Baluchistan bound for Australia, which in 2013 introduced a military-led operation to turn back boats carrying asylum-seekers before they reach the continent.

Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis running for U.S. Senate Posted: 06 May 2015 10:18 AM PDT By Letitia Stein TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis said on Wednesday he will seek the Senate seat held by Marco Rubio, who is forgoing a re-election bid to run for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis, a conservative from North Florida who is in his second term in the House of Representatives, pledged to campaign on policies limiting the role of government. The open U.S. Senate seat in Florida, the largest of the "swing states" that go back and forth between the major parties in presidential elections, could see one of the most hotly contested congressional elections in 2016.

Why ISIS now has a 5-star hotel for its fighters Posted: 06 May 2015 10:06 AM PDT Over the weekend, the Islamic State group released photos of the newly renovated Ninawa International Hotel, a five-star establishment in Mosul now open to fighters for the militant group. The revamping of the hotel also gives Westerners another glimpse into the Islamic State's success at funding its operations.

Iraq's unity 'voluntary and not compulsory': Kurdish leader Posted: 06 May 2015 09:47 AM PDT The unity of Iraq "is voluntary and not compulsory," the head of the country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said on Wednesday, while stressing the Kurds had no immediate plans to break away from the central government in Baghdad. Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani was speaking in Washington after holding talks earlier with U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on issues that included the campaign to battle Islamic State. The White House said that in those talks, Obama and Biden stressed that Washington supports "a united, federal and democratic Iraq." There have been fears that the country could fracture further along ethnic and religious lines following rapid advances by Islamic State, a radical militant group.

U.S., allies conduct 11 air strikes in Iraq: statement Posted: 06 May 2015 08:48 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led military coalition launched 11 air strikes in Iraq against Islamic State militants since early Tuesday, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement. The strikes targeting the militants in Iraq destroyed vehicles, fuel tanks, buildings and other structures near the cities of Bayji, Ramadi, Mosul and others, the task force said on Wednesday. The coalition conducted no strikes in Syria during the 24-hour period through Wednesday morning, the task force said. (Reporting by Washington newsroom)

French courtship of Gulf monarchies is risky: experts Posted: 06 May 2015 08:29 AM PDT Hungry for defence deals, France has cosied up to the Gulf monarchies, winning several billion-euro contracts in the process, but its strategy of backing one side in the region's Sunni-Shia power struggle is risky, say experts. These are boom times for France's defence industry, with the country signing 15 billion euros ($16.7 billion) worth of weapons deals this year -- almost double its 8.1-billion tally for the whole of 2014. Mounting chaos in the Middle East has prompted the oil-rich Gulf monarchies to arm themselves to the teeth, and they are increasingly reluctant to work with the United States, given its recent efforts to build bridges with their great rival, Iran. France has leapt into the void.

World neglects displaced as 30,000 a day forced to flee: report Posted: 06 May 2015 08:21 AM PDT By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of people displaced within their own countries was the worst in a generation last year, but there is little sign of governments taking action to deal with the problem, the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Wednesday. "Every single day last year 30,000 men, women and children were forced out of their homes because of conflict and violence," the agency's Secretary General Jan Egeland told a news conference in Geneva. Six out of every 10 people displaced in 2014 were in just five countries: Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

Gunman's hashtag hinted at Texas plot Posted: 06 May 2015 07:19 AM PDT PHOENIX (AP) — About 20 minutes before the shooting at a Texas cartoon contest that featured images of the Prophet Muhammad, a final tweet posted on an account linked to one of the gunmen said: "May Allah accept us as mujahideen," or holy warriors.

Iran leader says US backing 'immense crimes' in Yemen Posted: 06 May 2015 07:11 AM PDT Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday accused the United States of supporting "immense crimes" in Yemen by Saudi Arabia, which is leading an air war against Tehran-backed rebels. "The Saudi government is killing innocent people, women and children in Yemen ... and Americans support these immense crimes," Khamenei said in a speech to students quoted on his official website. Iran, the Shiite rival of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, has strongly condemned the nearly six-week-old coalition air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels who have seized large parts of Yemen including the capital.

Iraq, other conflicts swell global total of displaced people Posted: 06 May 2015 06:35 AM PDT BERLIN (AP) — A group that monitors the plight of people forced out of their homes by conflicts says the number of people displaced within their own countries surged to 38 million last year, with a few countries led by Iraq accounting for much of the increase.

Report: 2.2 million Iraqis displaced by Islamic State group Posted: 06 May 2015 06:23 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Conflicts and violence worldwide displaced a record 38 million people in 2014, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone forced to flee the Islamic State group, a Norwegian humanitarian group report released Wednesday revealed.

The young face of Scotland's political earthquake Posted: 06 May 2015 06:06 AM PDT If there is one face to remember from Britain's general election on Thursday, it may well be that of Mhairi Black, a 20-year-old politics student from Glasgow and candidate for the Scottish National Party. Black would be the youngest member of parliament since 1667 and the embodiment of expected sweeping victories for nationalists in Scotland at the expense of the centre-left Labour Party. To take her place as the representative for Paisley and Renfrewshire South near Glasgow, she would have to topple one of Labour's big guns, 47-year-old Douglas Alexander, their foreign affairs spokesman and campaign chief. She says her hometown has been in decline all through her life, with one in five people in Paisley now living in poverty and one in three families forced to resort to food banks for help.

Texas shootings: Was Islamic State the instigator, or just a cheerleader? Posted: 06 May 2015 05:27 AM PDT While the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the weekend attack by two gunmen on a Texas cartoon contest depicting the prophet Muhammad, officials are questioning the militant group's direct involvement. IS recently encouraged sympathizers in the US, Europe, and Australia who aren't able to travel to fight in Syria and Iraq – where the group operates – to carry out attacks where they live, the Associated Press reports. An estimated 3,000 Westerners have traveled to Syria since 2011 to join IS in its fight, including possibly "hundreds" of people from the US, reports The Christian Science Monitor. This attack wasn't the first jihadist operation to take place on US soil, but "if Islamic State is able to prove that it planned and direct it – rather than just staking a claim after the event – then that would be a significant development," writes the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner.

After two attempts, U.N. starts zero-expectation talks on Syria Posted: 06 May 2015 04:39 AM PDT By Sylvia Westall and Tom Miles BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations has adopted a cautious approach to the Syria talks it launched this week, avoiding raising expectations that this latest initiative can end a four-year-old conflict which has so far defied all diplomatic efforts to resolve it. U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura says he wants to talk to diplomats, activists and political and military leaders to see if there is any new common ground since a roadmap for ending the war was declared in 2012. Diplomats are skeptical his efforts will come to anything, but agree this year alone much has changed, both on the battlefield and in the relationships between allies and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  "The balance of power has shifted," said one Western diplomat who tracks Syria.

Texas shooter was 'heartthrob' in Pakistan: schoolmates Posted: 06 May 2015 03:58 AM PDT Nadir Soofi, one of the gunmen who attacked a Texas venue hosting a contest to draw the Prophet Mohammed, was a charismatic "ladies' man" as a teenager, contemporaries from an elite Pakistani school told AFP Wednesday. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, although US officials caution it is too early to draw a firm link. Soofi studied at the $20,000-a-year International School of Islamabad from 1992 to 1998, where contemporaries said he was funny, popular and charming and showed no inclination towards extremism. Soofi's mother taught art at the heavily-guarded school, which is popular with diplomats and rich Pakistanis, several of his contemporaries said.

Starwood aims for 50 new Middle East hotels by 2019 Posted: 06 May 2015 01:01 AM PDT The US chain is planning new luxury and mid-tier properties across the region from Dubai to Doha and even Iraq.

5 Things to Know About Gen. Joseph Dunford Posted: 06 May 2015 12:13 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama nominated Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford on Tuesday to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top U.S. military position, replacing Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.

US due to stop managing Afghan airspace by end of June Posted: 05 May 2015 11:31 PM PDT The United States is to stop managing Afghan airspace by the end of June after its air-traffic control contract with the government in Kabul expires, a development that could see international airlines ...

Sydney Film Festival: Geoffrey Rush's 'The Daughter' to Premiere, Line Up Expands to 251 Films Posted: 05 May 2015 09:00 PM PDT Features from Jafar Panahi, Miguel Gomes and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon also competing for the Sydney Film Prize.

US investigates IS link to Texas shooting Posted: 05 May 2015 06:43 PM PDT US investigators look into the background of two slain gunmen after the Islamic State group claimed it had ordered an attack targeting an exhibit of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. The White House said it was too soon to tell if the jihadist group was behind the failed attack, in which two gunmen were shot dead by a police officer before they could storm the event. The case "is still under investigation by the FBI and other members of the intelligence community" to determine if the two assailants had any ties to the IS group, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. The Islamic State claim marked the first time the extremist group, which has captured swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq using brutal methods, alleged to have carried out an attack in the United States.

Over 38 million people 'internally displaced by conflicts' Posted: 05 May 2015 05:07 PM PDT Conflicts and violence in places like Syria and Ukraine have displaced a record 38 million people inside their own countries, equivalent to the total populations of New York, London and Beijing, a watchdog group said Wednesday. Nearly one third of them -- a full 11 million people -- were displaced last year alone, with an average of 30,000 people fleeing their homes every day, the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said in a report. "These are the worst figures for forced displacement in a generation, signalling our complete failure to protect innocent civilians," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council which is behind the IDMC. Internally displaced people (IDPs) is a label given to people who remain in their homeland, as opposed to refugees, who flee across borders.

Obama, Biden tell Kurdish leader US stands by unified Iraq Posted: 05 May 2015 04:52 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden told the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq that the United States remains committed to a united, federal and democratic Iraq.

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