Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Terror on Twitter: How Islamic State uses social media to draw recruits
• Republican-turned-Democrat Lincoln Chafee joins 2016 US race
• Launching '16 bid, Chafee refuses to rule out talks with IS
• Former Rhode Island Governor Chafee joins Democratic presidential race
• Al-Qaeda's Syria chief says IS caliphate 'illegitimate'
• The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet
• OPEC moots $80 as new 'fair' oil price - but will it stick?
• Dead Boston suspect planned to behead police: prosecutors
• Iowa man charged with making online threats against Boston mosque
• Gunmen in Egypt kill 2 police officers outside Giza Pyramids
• Why did a Hollywood actor decide to fight ISIS in Syria?
• Slain Boston man had planned to behead police officers: FBI
• In war on IS, solutions may be everywhere
• More than 10,000 jihadists killed since coalition raids: US
• Strike levels huge Iraq car bomb factory in blow to IS
• How Islamic State teaches hate: insights from an ex-Al Qaeda jihadist
• Qatar says air strikes ineffective without Iraqi national dialogue
• Canada police missed chances to stop Parliament attacker: probe
• Over 4,000 foreign jihadists on Interpol radar
• Rights groups says Syrian refugees stranded at Jordan border
• Why George W. Bush is more popular than President Obama
• Where they stand: Chafee on some issues of 2016 campaign
• Fight against IS could take 'generation or more': US envoy
• Saudi Shiites bury bomb victims, fear more attacks
• Where Are the China Hawks?
• Two Egyptian tourism police killed in rare attack near pyramids
• US official: Airstrikes killed 10,000 Islamic State fighters
• Protests, mega-deal as Merkel welcomes Egypt's Sisi
• Iraqi officials fear IS 'water war' in Ramadi
• Seeking Refuge: What's behind Europe's immigration crisis?
• Kurdish party could upset political landscape in Turkish vote
• Bahrain arrests 10 members of group accused of bomb attacks
• Iraq, Venezuela see $75-80 as "fair" price for oil
• Syrian troops battle to repel Islamic State attack on city
• Saudi names suspects in mosque bombings, offers $1 million bounty
• Officials say bombings kill 11 people in Iraq's capital
• Iraq, Iran fighters deployed to defend Damascus: security source
• Bahrain says Shiite 'terrorist' group busted
• Islamic State militants use water as weapon in western Iraq
• U.S., allies launch 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq: military

Terror on Twitter: How Islamic State uses social media to draw recruits Posted: 03 Jun 2015 05:04 PM PDT The US government is battling a "new generation of terrorists" who are using social media to quickly and effectively spread their violent ideology far beyond the battlefields of Syria and Iraq to the streets of Europe and America, senior intelligence officials told Congress on Wednesday. Unlike the centralized and secretive operations of Al Qaeda, the self-anointed Islamic State is successfully recruiting new members through aggressive use of social media, particularly Twitter, the officials said. As a result of this success, intelligence experts are scrambling to find ways to undercut the group's growing appeal among a small, but significant number of US residents.

Republican-turned-Democrat Lincoln Chafee joins 2016 US race Posted: 03 Jun 2015 04:38 PM PDT Lincoln Chafee, a former US senator and Rhode Island governor who was a longtime Republican before switching to the Democratic Party, launched his 2016 presidential campaign on Wednesday. Chafee, 62, becomes the fourth major politician to join the Democratic nomination battle, insisting in a low-key foreign policy speech at a Virginia university where he announced his bid that he will be "waging peace" if he wins the White House. Chafee will be an underdog in the nomination race, which is led by frontrunner Hillary Clinton but also features liberal Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, the political figure who reportedly pushed Chafee to switch political allegiances.

Launching '16 bid, Chafee refuses to rule out talks with IS Posted: 03 Jun 2015 04:33 PM PDT ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee entered the race for president Wednesday by calling for the U.S. to switch to the metric system, take an "open-minded approach" to drug trafficking and consider negotiating with Islamic State militants.

Former Rhode Island Governor Chafee joins Democratic presidential race Posted: 03 Jun 2015 04:06 PM PDT Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee formally announced his bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday, becoming the third candidate to challenge party front-runner Hillary Clinton. Chafee, 62, a former Republican U.S. senator as well as an independent for a short time, announced his campaign in a speech at George Mason University in Virginia, just outside Washington. "I enjoy challenges and certainly we have many facing America," Chafee said, adding: "Today, I'm formally entering the race for the Democratic nomination for president." Although his 2016 bid is a long shot, Chafee's entry into the race adds one more challenger facing Clinton, the former senator and U.S. secretary of state.

Al-Qaeda's Syria chief says IS caliphate 'illegitimate' Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:56 PM PDT The chief of Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate described the rival Islamic State group's self-proclaimed caliphate as "illegitimate", in a wide-ranging television interview aired on Wednesday. In the second part of his appearance on the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera news channel, Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohamed al-Jolani criticised IS at length and said he did not foresee a reconciliation between the two jihadist groups soon. "They announced a caliphate, but the scholars rejected it as illegitimate.

The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:14 PM PDT Lincoln Chafee will not win the presidential nomination. In fact, his announcement that he was forming an exploratory committee was met with complete surprise—no one had expected him to run. Meanwhile, he carries all the dynastic baggage of Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush—his father was a longtime U.S. senator—but without the profile.

OPEC moots $80 as new 'fair' oil price - but will it stick? Posted: 03 Jun 2015 03:03 PM PDT Nearly a year after oil markets entered a deep downward spiral, unmoored from the $100-a-barrel mark that had anchored them for years, some OPEC members are publicly talking for the first time about a new "fair" price for their crude. Oil ministers from Iraq, Venezuela and Angola said in Vienna this week that a price of $75 or $80 a barrel - barely $10 above the going rate - could be just fine. Iraq's Adel Abdel Mahdi said it would be "equitable".

Dead Boston suspect planned to behead police: prosecutors Posted: 03 Jun 2015 02:47 PM PDT A 26-year-old security guard shot dead by police and the FBI in Boston planned to behead American police officers at random to wage violent jihad, court papers said Wednesday. An alleged associate, David Wright, 25, appeared in court Wednesday charged with conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation. Court papers said Rahim, who lived in Boston, had been "planning to engage in a violent attack in the United States" since May 26 -- little over a week before his death.

Iowa man charged with making online threats against Boston mosque Posted: 03 Jun 2015 02:29 PM PDT U.S. officials on Wednesday arrested an Iowa man and charged him with making online threats against a Boston mosque, including threats to shoot and kill Muslims. Federal court papers unsealed on Wednesday charged that Gerald Wayne Ledford, 57, of Clinton, Iowa, made threatening posts on the Facebook page of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, including the post "we will destroy you" and photos of a person carrying a long gun. Ledford is due to face a charge of transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure a person in U.S. District Court in Boston on June 24.

Gunmen in Egypt kill 2 police officers outside Giza Pyramids Posted: 03 Jun 2015 02:20 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Gunmen on a speeding motorcycle opened fire outside the famed Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo early Wednesday, killing two police officers in a rare attack near one of the country's top tourist attractions, authorities said.

Why did a Hollywood actor decide to fight ISIS in Syria? Posted: 03 Jun 2015 02:13 PM PDT Michael Enright has landed a new role. Mr. Enright, who played a deckhand in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," left Hollywood for Syria more than three months ago to join Kurdish fighters. A video released by Kurdish People's Protection Units, YPG, on Tuesday shows him in a military outfit shooting a Kalashnikov rifle from a trench.

Slain Boston man had planned to behead police officers: FBI Posted: 03 Jun 2015 01:59 PM PDT By Scott Malone and Elizabeth Barber BOSTON (Reuters) - A Massachusetts man slain by law enforcement officers on Tuesday had discussed plans to behead police officers with an associate arrested the same day, according to papers filed in Boston federal court on Wednesday. Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, who law enforcement officers shot to death after he allegedly confronted them with a large knife, had told David Wright "I'm just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue," an FBI agent involved in the investigation said in an affidavit. Rahim had ordered three knives, with blades ranging in length from 8 inches (20 cm) to 9.75 inches (25 cm), from online retailers and had joked in wire-tapped phone conversations with Wright, 24, about "thinking with your head on your chest," according to the affidavit.

In war on IS, solutions may be everywhere Posted: 03 Jun 2015 01:40 PM PDT At least 22,000 people from more than 90 countries have now joined Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, either as fighters or support staff. They were not sent by their countries. But neither were they stopped. This success by IS in recruiting foreign fighters from afar, says Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, "is a failure on the part of the world."

More than 10,000 jihadists killed since coalition raids: US Posted: 03 Jun 2015 01:35 PM PDT More than 10,000 jihadists have been killed in air strikes against the Islamic State group over a nine-month coalition campaign, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. "We have seen enormous losses from Daesh (IS), more than 10,000 since the beginning of the campaign and this will end up having an impact," Blinken told French radio, without specifying whether the losses were in Iraq or Syria.

Strike levels huge Iraq car bomb factory in blow to IS Posted: 03 Jun 2015 01:31 PM PDT An air strike in the Iraqi town of Hawijah completely levelled one of the Islamic State group's largest car bomb factories, causing heavy casualties and extensive destruction, officials said. The blast caused by the strike and the destruction of explosive material was heard as far as Kirkuk, a city under Kurdish control that lies 55 kilometres (34 miles) away. Iraqi officials said the strike was carried out by a US-led coalition, which has defended its 10-month air campaign against IS despite a number of recent advances by the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

How Islamic State teaches hate: insights from an ex-Al Qaeda jihadist Posted: 03 Jun 2015 01:17 PM PDT The rise of the Islamic State has been so quick and its behavior so shockingly brutal that in the world's collective consciousness the Sunni jihadist group has come to overshadow even Al Qaeda. For Aiden Dean, a young former Bahraini (and now British) citizen who runs a consulting company in Dubai, the rise of the self-described Islamic State (IS) is simply the latest iteration of a process of radicalization that breeds ever greater extremism. Recommended: How much do you know about the Islamic State?

Qatar says air strikes ineffective without Iraqi national dialogue Posted: 03 Jun 2015 12:31 PM PDT By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Qatar said on Wednesday coalition air strikes in Iraq were hopeless without a real push for national reconciliation and that the door should be left open to those who leave al-Qaeda's Syrian wing. Speaking a day after a meeting of countries fighting Islamic State, Khaled al-Attiyah said the international community was not doing enough to pressure all parties in Iraq to start national reconciliation. "A big group of people in Iraq are being marginalized: if we don't do something to include them in the political process, then we are forcing them to join the other side," Attiyah told Reuters in an interview in Paris, referring to Sunni Muslims.

Canada police missed chances to stop Parliament attacker: probe Posted: 03 Jun 2015 12:17 PM PDT By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police missed chances to stop a gunman who stormed into Parliament last October after killing a soldier, an official probe said on Wednesday, adding that the attack could have been much worse. Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a convert to Islam who said he wanted to punish Canada for sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, ran right past a room where the prime minister was meeting legislators. The attack revealed many shortcomings on Parliament Hill, where the four different agencies responsible for security did not have a single radio frequency they could communicate on and rarely cooperated, according to the four-part probe.

Over 4,000 foreign jihadists on Interpol radar Posted: 03 Jun 2015 12:01 PM PDT Interpol has identified over 4,000 foreign fighters who have joined jihadists groups in conflict zones, mainly in Syria and Iraq, Interpol head Jurgen Stock said Wednesday in Barcelona. "In September 2014 less than 900 foreign terrorist fighters had been identified by Interpol. Stock was speaking at the opening of a meeting in the northeastern Spanish city of police forces from around the world with Interpol which aims to boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Rights groups says Syrian refugees stranded at Jordan border Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:51 AM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanian border restrictions have left hundreds of Syrians refugees stranded in a remote desert area, a leading international rights group said Wednesday, urging Jordan to let them enter the country.

Why George W. Bush is more popular than President Obama Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:37 AM PDT George W. Bush, once the most unpopular living president in history, is now more popular than President Barack Obama, who was once the most-liked leader of the free world. A new CNN/ORC poll reveals that 52 percent of Americans see Mr. Bush positively, while 43 percent do not. In contrast, 49 percent view Mr. Obama favorably, while 49 percent do not.

Where they stand: Chafee on some issues of 2016 campaign Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:29 AM PDT PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee was expected to announce his candidacy Wednesday for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president. Here's a look at where Chafee — a Republican who became an independent, then a Democrat — stands on some issues likely to be debated in the campaign:

Fight against IS could take 'generation or more': US envoy Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:23 AM PDT The Islamic State group is a "global threat" that will take a generation or more to defeat, Washington's envoy for the US-led coalition fighting the jihadists said Wednesday. Despite "strategic momentum" against IS -- or Daesh as he called it -- General John Allen conceded, in a keynote speech to the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, that the fight would continue for several years. "Defeating Daesh's ideology will likely take a generation or more.

Saudi Shiites bury bomb victims, fear more attacks Posted: 03 Jun 2015 11:01 AM PDT Prompted by fears of another deadly suicide attack, cranes lowered concrete barricades on Wednesday outside a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia still reeling from a bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. The minority Shiite community buried four men -- hailed as heroes -- who were blown to pieces on Friday when they prevented the bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in the Gulf city of Dammam.

Where Are the China Hawks? Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:54 AM PDT On Monday, Lindsey Graham announced his presidential candidacy in a speech devoted mostly to foreign policy. In American politics today, especially in the GOP, Graham's priorities are typical. Two years ago, during Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel's contentious seven-and-a-half-hour grilling by the Armed Services Committee, senators mentioned Israel 178 times and Iran 171 times.

Two Egyptian tourism police killed in rare attack near pyramids Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:54 AM PDT Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two members of Egypt's tourism and antiquities police force on a road near the Giza pyramids on Wednesday, security sources said, in a rare attack near a tourist site. No group immediately claimed responsibility but Islamist militants bent on toppling the Cairo government have killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the past, usually at checkpoints and barracks or police stations. Attacks have increased since 2013 when then-army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his troubled year in office.

US official: Airstrikes killed 10,000 Islamic State fighters Posted: 03 Jun 2015 10:41 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. official said Wednesday that more than 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months, offering a body count for a campaign that has yet to blunt their advance.

Protests, mega-deal as Merkel welcomes Egypt's Sisi Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:58 AM PDT German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose controversial Berlin visit was met by human rights protests but crowned by a multi-billion-euro energy deal. German engineering titan Siemens signed its largest-ever order, worth 8.0 billion euros ($9.0 billion) and centred on natural gas and wind power plants, that it said would boost the North African country's power generation by 50 percent. Merkel in a joint press conference with Sisi voiced criticism of Egypt's use of the death penalty and record on religious freedom, but pledged closer economic ties with its partner in the fight against Islamic extremism.

Iraqi officials fear IS 'water war' in Ramadi Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:50 AM PDT The Islamic State jihadist group will use its seizure of a dam in Ramadi to mount fresh attacks on pro-government forces preparing to besiege the city, Iraqi officials warned Wednesday. The day after the US-led coalition opposing IS met in Paris, General John Allen -- who is coordinating international efforts against the jihadists -- warned the fight to defeat them could last "a generation or more". A string of IS advances last month cast doubt on the coalition's strategy, but Washington has insisted it is on the right track.

Seeking Refuge: What's behind Europe's immigration crisis? Posted: 03 Jun 2015 09:19 AM PDT It's just the beginning of "boat season," when warm weather and calmer seas lure tens of thousands of asylum seekers across the Mediterranean to Europe. Yet already, 1,850 people have died – and the world has registered one of the deadliest maritime accidents in modern history, with 800 individuals perishing in April after their fishing vessel capsized between Libya and Italy.

Kurdish party could upset political landscape in Turkish vote Posted: 03 Jun 2015 08:55 AM PDT By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The smallest party in Turkey's parliament may wind up occupying its most decisive seats after an election on Sunday, potentially ending 12 years of single-party rule and heralding a dramatic transformation of the Kurdish political movement. The left-wing Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is gaining traction among voters who once viewed its origins in Kurdish nationalism with distrust. Polls show the HDP on the cusp, with a handful forecasting it will seize enough seats to deprive the ruling AK Party of a majority, crushing conservative President Tayyip Erdogan's dream of a new constitution vesting him with expansive powers.

Bahrain arrests 10 members of group accused of bomb attacks Posted: 03 Jun 2015 08:18 AM PDT MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Officials in Bahrain say they have busted a cell with ties to Iran that is accused of carrying out bombings inside the tiny Gulf kingdom.

Iraq, Venezuela see $75-80 as "fair" price for oil Posted: 03 Jun 2015 08:17 AM PDT The top oil officials of Iraq, Venezuela and Angola said on Wednesday that $75 to $80 a barrel was now a "fair" price for oil, reflecting an emerging consensus on a possible new equilibrium for volatile markets. "The equitable price will be between $75 and $80," Iraqi oil minister Adel Abdel Mahdi told an OPEC seminar in Vienna. "We share the same opinion of the minister of Iraq regarding this issue," Venezuela's oil minister Asdrubal Chavez said.

Syrian troops battle to repel Islamic State attack on city Posted: 03 Jun 2015 07:55 AM PDT By Tom Perry and Sylvia Westall BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops and militia battled on Wednesday to repel an Islamic State attack on the city of Hasaka in the northeast, and a Kurdish official said the government forces may not be able to hold off the jihadists. Hasaka city is divided into zones run separately by the government of President Bashar al-Assad and a Kurdish administration, whose well-organized militia YPG receives air support from a U.S.-led alliance bombing Islamic State. The YPG has dealt Islamic State heavy blows elsewhere in the northeast since early May, driving it out of swathes of the province bordering Iraq and Turkey.

Saudi names suspects in mosque bombings, offers $1 million bounty Posted: 03 Jun 2015 07:40 AM PDT Saudi Arabia offered a cash reward of 5 million riyals ($1.3 million) for information leading to the arrest of sixteen people it said were involved in two deadly mosque bombings claimed by Islamic State, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. A suicide bomber disguised as a woman blew himself up on Friday outside a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in the city of Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, killing himself and four other people. A week earlier, another suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shi'ite mosque in the nearby village of al-Qadeeh, killing 22 people.

Officials say bombings kill 11 people in Iraq's capital Posted: 03 Jun 2015 07:34 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say bombings targeting public places have killed 11 people around the capital, Baghdad.

Iraq, Iran fighters deployed to defend Damascus: security source Posted: 03 Jun 2015 07:32 AM PDT Thousands of Iranian and Iraqi fighters have been deployed in Syria in past weeks to bolster the defences of Damascus and its surroundings, a Syrian security source told AFP on Wednesday. "Around 7,000 Iranian and Iraqi fighters have arrived in Syria over the past few weeks and their first priority is the defence of the capital. "The goal is to reach 10,000 men to support the Syrian army and pro-government militias, firstly in Damascus, and then to retake Jisr al-Shughur because it is key to the Mediterranean coast and the Hama region" in central Syria, he added.

Bahrain says Shiite 'terrorist' group busted Posted: 03 Jun 2015 07:16 AM PDT Bahraini authorities say they have busted a 14-member Shiite "terrorist" group accused of having carried out bomb attacks on police and civilians in the Sunni-ruled monarchy. The cell includes two members, based in Iran, who are accused of having recruited militants in the Gulf state for the little-known Al-Ashtar Brigades, the prosecution said late Tuesday. Police have arrested 10 suspected cell members on suspicion of "forming and joining a terrorist group and attempting to kill policemen, possessing and using explosives, and weapons training", the prosecution said.

Islamic State militants use water as weapon in western Iraq Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:56 AM PDT Islamic State militants have closed gates of a dam on the Euphrates River in western Iraq, reducing the water and giving them greater freedom of movement to attack government forces downstream on the southern bank, local officials said. The militants have redirected the flow of water to their advantage on the battlefield around the city of Ramadi. The Euphrates has acted as a barrier between the militants who control its northern bank and pro-government forces who are trying to advance towards Ramadi on the other side.

U.S., allies launch 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq: military Posted: 03 Jun 2015 06:46 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and coalition forces conducted 18 air strikes targeting Islamic State in 10 Iraqi cities since Tuesday morning, as well as four air strikes against the militant group in Syria, the U.S. military said. The strikes in Iraq destroyed Islamic State targets including buildings, fighting positions, tactical units, vehicles and heavy machine guns, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement Wednesday. Cities hit included Ramadi, recently captured by the militant group, Sinjar, Tal Afar, Baiji, Kirkuk, Mosul and Fallujah, it said. ...

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