Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• U.S. to intensify fight against Islamic State militants: Pentagon chief
• Saudi mosque suicide bomber threatened Shi'ites, Saudi soldiers: audio
• US steps up anti-IS raids, Iran invited to Syria talks
• Defense secretary says US is retooling fight against IS
• EU risks 'tectonic changes' as migrant flow swells to over 700,000
• Israel faces threats ranging from rockets to nuclear: defense minister
• US Shifting Anti-ISIS Strategy to 'Gather Battlefield Momentum,' DoD Secretary Ash Carter Says
• Syria suggests U.S. should have spent rebel training funds on aid
• GOP debate No. 3: A guide to candidates on the big stage
• Austria plans 'technical barriers' on Slovenian border in migrant crisis
• The Latest: Dutch town postpones migrant housing meeting
• Stuck in the 'Jungle': With few options, refugees plant roots in Calais camp
• British forces in Cyprus move migrants, deny UK asylum chances
• Sympathizing with Islamists is not a crime, German court rules
• Bombs kill four in Iraq, mortars target police training center: sources
• Iran has over 1,000 troops in Iraq, less than 2,000 in Syria: U.S. general
• National Cycling Event Helps Wounded Veterans Ride to Recovery and Healing
• As Iranian deaths in Syria rise, debate opens at home
• Over 700,000 migrants reached Europe's shores in 2015: UN
• IS militants tie captives to Palmyra columns, blow them up
• U.S. reports 13 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
• Disney, Easter Seals Dixon Center And USAA Join Forces To Encourage Hiring Of Military Veterans, Military Spouses And Caregivers
• Finland narrows asylum criteria for Somalis
• Calais migrants face grim winter in 'the jungle'
• Turkey is looking more and more like its troubled neighbors
• Where You Can Move the Stock Market
• Turkish police detain 30 IS suspects in raid: report
• AP Interview: Aid agency head says most refugees in cities
• Pro-Kurdish HDP party under pressure ahead of Turkey vote
• Turkey rounds up more IS suspects, strikes Kurds in Syria

U.S. to intensify fight against Islamic State militants: Pentagon chief Posted: 27 Oct 2015 03:25 PM PDT By David Alexander and Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will intensify air strikes and may carry out more direct ground attacks as it steps up efforts against Islamic State militants following a failed bid to train Syrian rebels, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told lawmakers on Tuesday. Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee just days after a U.S. soldier was killed participating in a Kurdish-led mission to rescue Islamic State hostages, Carter indicated that similar missions were likely in the future as U.S. forces adapt to the fight in Syria and Iraq. "We won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground," said Carter, using an acronym for the militant group.

Saudi mosque suicide bomber threatened Shi'ites, Saudi soldiers: audio Posted: 27 Oct 2015 02:33 PM PDT The Islamic State suicide bomber who carried out an attack on a Shi'ite mosque in the Saudi city of Najran on Monday threatened Shi'ites and Saudi soldiers, according to a posthumous audio message purportedly by the attacker. Najran, close to the Yemeni border, is the historic center of the Ismailis, a Shi'ite sect which has long complained of victimization by Wahhabis, who follow the Saudi state's prevailing school of Sunni Islam. "My second message, to the soldiers of the tyrant who protect the polytheists and their temples in (Saudi Arabia) ... you will not be safe in your homes or your offices and we'll target you as long as the planes of your guardian hit Muslims with Crusader planes in Iraq and Syria." Saudi Arabia is part of a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants that has carried out a campaign of air strikes against the militants, who have seized parts of Syria and Iraq.

US steps up anti-IS raids, Iran invited to Syria talks Posted: 27 Oct 2015 02:05 PM PDT The United States announced Tuesday that Iran may take part in talks to end the civil war in Syria and warned of increased military action against the Islamic State. On the military front, the Pentagon said it may launch more air strikes and even direct ground attacks by special forces against jihadists seeking to carve out an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria. "An invitation to Iran to participate, I think Iranian leaders can take to mean that it's a genuine multilateral invitation," department spokesman John Kirby said.

Defense secretary says US is retooling fight against IS Posted: 27 Oct 2015 01:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Signaling a possible escalation of U.S. military action in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday that the United States is retooling its strategy in Iraq and Syria and would conduct unilateral ground raids if needed to target Islamic State militants.

EU risks 'tectonic changes' as migrant flow swells to over 700,000 Posted: 27 Oct 2015 01:41 PM PDT Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II risks triggering "tectonic changes", a top EU official warned Tuesday, as figures showed more than 700,000 newcomers have reached the continent's Mediterranean shores this year. "The situation will deteriorate even further," European Council president Donald Tusk said, warning of a "new wave of refugees (arriving) from Aleppo and other Syrian regions under Russian bombardment". "I have no doubt that this challenge has the potential to change the European Union we have built," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Israel faces threats ranging from rockets to nuclear: defense minister Posted: 27 Oct 2015 12:55 PM PDT Israel faces a wide variety of threats ranging from Islamic militants wielding missiles and rockets to nuclear attack, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday during a visit to the United States. Yaalon was speaking with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the National Defense University in Washington. Carter emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Israeli security relationship and the United States' commitment to maintaining close ties.

US Shifting Anti-ISIS Strategy to 'Gather Battlefield Momentum,' DoD Secretary Ash Carter Says Posted: 27 Oct 2015 12:35 PM PDT U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has laid out changes to the Obama administration's anti-ISIS strategy that will lead to more airstrikes and special operations raids against ISIS, saying they will help "gather battlefield momentum." They also open the door for U.S special operations forces to conduct raids inside Iraq on their own. The changes are intended to build on the Obama administration's strategy to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria where the tactical fight against the terror group has stalemated. "The changes we're pursuing can be described by what I call the 'three R's': Raqqa, Ramadi, and Raids," Carter said in testimony today before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Syria suggests U.S. should have spent rebel training funds on aid Posted: 27 Oct 2015 12:34 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria suggested on Tuesday that the United States could have spent $500 million tackling Syria's refugee and humanitarian crisis instead of on a largely failed program to train and equip moderate rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian United Nations Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari also accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of supporting "terrorism with great generosity" rather than a $2.9 billion U.N. humanitarian response plan that is less than 40 percent funded for 2015. "The United States spent half a billion dollars - this is enough to fill the humanitarian deficit - half a billion dollars ... within the framework of the program to train and to equip the moderate opposition," Ja'afari told a U.N. Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in Syria.

GOP debate No. 3: A guide to candidates on the big stage Posted: 27 Oct 2015 11:51 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — There's an angry young man who matured into an eternally mellow surgeon and politician. A Hispanic firebrand who is most at home in English, and an Anglo who speaks fluent Spanish at home. And that given-to-preening reality show guy.

Austria plans 'technical barriers' on Slovenian border in migrant crisis Posted: 27 Oct 2015 10:50 AM PDT Austria will build "technical barriers" on its border with Slovenia to help control the flow of thousands of migrants crossing daily into Austrian territory, its interior minister said on Tuesday. Over 680,000 asylum seekers fleeing war and deprivation in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have poured into Europe this year, with Slovenia and Austria currently bearing the brunt of a migrant tide along a corridor northwestwards from the Balkans. "I have commissioned plans for special construction measures," Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters, according to Austria's APA news agency.

The Latest: Dutch town postpones migrant housing meeting Posted: 27 Oct 2015 10:39 AM PDT BERLIN (AP) — The latest in the odyssey of hundreds of thousands of migrants crossing Europe in search of a new life. All times local.

Stuck in the 'Jungle': With few options, refugees plant roots in Calais camp Posted: 27 Oct 2015 10:10 AM PDT Mr. Mirzah, from Afghanistan, has been at the Jungle for three months and says running the restaurant keeps him sane. A few tents down, Ahmed Adenan is running his own restaurant, just steps from a barbershop where haircuts are 5 euros a pop. Recommended: More than Bastille, Bonaparte, and brie: Test your knowledge of France with our quiz!

British forces in Cyprus move migrants, deny UK asylum chances Posted: 27 Oct 2015 09:31 AM PDT The 114 migrants who landed at a British air base on Cyprus last week were moved to another military facility Tuesday, officials said, warning that the island would not become a conduit for immigration. The migrants came ashore on two fishing boats Wednesday at the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, from where British planes are carrying out bombing raids against the Islamic State group in Iraq. "We can confirm that the migrants have been moved to a temporary transit facility to provide more suitable accommodation," a British Forces Cyprus spokesperson told AFP.

Sympathizing with Islamists is not a crime, German court rules Posted: 27 Oct 2015 08:43 AM PDT German prosecutors failed to get a tougher sentence for a woman who married a jihadist and took her young daughters to Syria, the Federal Court of Justice said on Tuesday in a landmark ruling that could affect future trials of suspected Islamists. A court in Munich last year handed the now 30-year old woman an 18-month suspended sentence for taking her two daughters away to Syria without the knowledge of their father. Intelligence agencies say some 740 Islamists from Germany, of whom a fifth are women, have traveled to Syria and Iraq.

Bombs kill four in Iraq, mortars target police training center: sources Posted: 27 Oct 2015 08:38 AM PDT At least four people were killed by bomb blasts in Iraq on Tuesday and mortars targeted a police training facility, security and medical sources said, wounding two officers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but Islamic State militants who seized swathes of northern and western Iraq last year regularly target security and civilian targets. Iraq is also gripped by a sectarian conflict mostly between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims that has been exacerbated by the rise of the ultra-hardline Sunni group, Islamic State.

Iran has over 1,000 troops in Iraq, less than 2,000 in Syria: U.S. general Posted: 27 Oct 2015 08:14 AM PDT Washington believes there are fewer than 2,000 Iranian troops in Syria helping the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and more than 1,000 in Iraq supporting the Baghdad government, the top U.S. military officer said on Tuesday. Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the number of Iranian forces in Iraq had fluctuated over time. "I think there's more than 1,000 that are on the ground in Iraq," Dunford said.

National Cycling Event Helps Wounded Veterans Ride to Recovery and Healing Posted: 27 Oct 2015 07:55 AM PDT TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Soldier Ride® presented by USAA® heads to the sunshine state Thursday, November 5 through Saturday, November 7 to help our nation's heroes take their first emotional steps towards recovery. Over the course of Soldier Ride Tampa, participants will come together for a long weekend of group cycling that facilitates camaraderie and healing through physical health and wellness activities. Soldier Ride often serves as an introductory physical health and wellness event for WWP veterans, who then go on to participate in a variety of WWP events.

As Iranian deaths in Syria rise, debate opens at home Posted: 27 Oct 2015 07:25 AM PDT A spike in the number of Iranian military officers killed in Syria has started a rare debate back home about the country's increased efforts to prop up President Bashar al-Assad. In Tehran, where war dead are revered and remembered in giant public murals, newly erected memorials are a sign of the human cost that Iran is paying in Syria, amid worries of what is to come. The past two weeks have seen the deaths there of one of Iran's best known generals, Hossein Hamedani, two colonels and nine other members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Over 700,000 migrants reached Europe's shores in 2015: UN Posted: 27 Oct 2015 06:43 AM PDT More than 700,000 refugees and migrants have reached Europe's Mediterranean shores so far this year, amid the continent's worst migration crisis since World War II, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. Taking into account arrivals in other European countries, the total number of people landing on the continent's shores was more than 705,200, the UN said. A total of 85 percent were from what the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described as the world's 10 main refugee-producing countries.

IS militants tie captives to Palmyra columns, blow them up Posted: 27 Oct 2015 06:34 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group killed three of its captives in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra by tying them to Roman-era columns at the site, then blowing the structures up with explosives, activists said Tuesday.

U.S. reports 13 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Posted: 27 Oct 2015 04:47 AM PDT A U.S.-led coalition carried out 12 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and one in Syria on Monday, a U.S. military statement said. Twelve air strikes in Iraq were concentrated near Sinjar, Kisik and Ramadi, a Sunni city in western Iraq that was captured by Islamic State in May, said the statement on Tuesday. In Syria, an attack by a fighter plane destroyed an Islamic State mortar system near Mar'a, it said.

Disney, Easter Seals Dixon Center And USAA Join Forces To Encourage Hiring Of Military Veterans, Military Spouses And Caregivers Posted: 27 Oct 2015 04:00 AM PDT In response, The Walt Disney Company, Easter Seals Dixon Center, and USAA are bringing the Heroes Work Here initiative to hire, train and support veterans to Chicago on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at Venue SIX10. The Honorable Robert A. McDonald, United States Secretary of Veteran Affairs, and Staff Sergeant Travis Mills will keynote the complimentary event for business leaders, human resources and recruiting professionals. Leading up to Veterans Day, the daylong conference is designed to educate and inspire business leaders from Midwest-based companies of all sizes to build or expand their own veteran and military family hiring programs through special employer and veteran panels, workshops and presentations. McDonald and SSG Travis Mills, one of only five surviving quadruple amputees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, will headline the event's elite group of speakers.

Finland narrows asylum criteria for Somalis Posted: 27 Oct 2015 03:50 AM PDT Improved security in large parts of Somalia means that Finland is likely to grant asylum to fewer Somalis arriving in the Nordic state, its immigration service said on Tuesday. Around 24,000 of the more than 680,000 refugees and migrants to have streamed into the European Union from war-torn and deprived areas of the Middle East, Africa and Asia have entered Finland and both it and the EU at large have struggled to cope. The Finnish Immigration Service said that given improved security in southern and central Somalia as well as the capital Mogadishu, not all Somalis coming from these areas could now be deemed "to run a personal risk of falling victim to violence".

Calais migrants face grim winter in 'the jungle' Posted: 27 Oct 2015 03:42 AM PDT Of the 700,000 people who have reached Europe this year looking for peace and prosperity but lacking the papers to stay, the 6,000 living in the dunes on the northwest coast of France in hope of reaching Britain may be among the most determined and resourceful.

Turkey is looking more and more like its troubled neighbors Posted: 27 Oct 2015 03:10 AM PDT At a qualifying match this month for next year's Euro 2016 soccer championship in the central Anatolian city of Konya, the teams of Turkey and Iceland stood, heads bowed, for a minute of silence commemorating the 102 victims of suicide bombings in Ankara three days earlier. Instead of a closing of national ranks, the moment spotlighted Turkey's raw divisions. The bombings, carried out by Islamic State followers from inside Turkey, targeted the pro-Kurdish coalition the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), left-wing activists and trade unionists as they gathered for a rally against fighting in southeast Turkey between security forces and insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Where You Can Move the Stock Market Posted: 27 Oct 2015 01:00 AM PDT There's a lot of money to be made - and lost - on these itty-bitty bourses.

Turkish police detain 30 IS suspects in raid: report Posted: 26 Oct 2015 11:55 PM PDT Turkish police detained around 30 Islamic State suspects in a dawn raid on Tuesday, a day after a deadly shootout with a group of the jihadists, local media reported. Turkey, gearing up for elections on Sunday, has launched a hunt for IS extremists after blaming the group for a massive twin bomb attack in the capital Ankara this month that killed 102 people. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday vowed to press ahead with operations against all "terrorists" including Islamic the State and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

AP Interview: Aid agency head says most refugees in cities Posted: 26 Oct 2015 07:46 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 60 percent of refugees are living in cities today and there are currently more Syrian refugees in Istanbul than in all the rest of Europe, the head of the International Rescue Committee said Monday.

Pro-Kurdish HDP party under pressure ahead of Turkey vote Posted: 26 Oct 2015 05:53 PM PDT Selahattin Demirtas shared a cup of tea at dawn on Sunday with a few workers on a Turkish building site, joined students for a simple omelette at noon and then made a speech to just a few hundred party members in a dimly-lit Istanbul conference room. While his rivals stage colourful mass rallies, where the flags fly and the rhetoric flows, the leader of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party has been forced into running a very low-key campaign for the weekend election. Demirtas and his Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) are the government's latest bete noire, accused of being a political front for outlawed Kurdish rebels engaged in a new armed campaign against the Turkish state.

Turkey rounds up more IS suspects, strikes Kurds in Syria Posted: 26 Oct 2015 05:51 PM PDT Turkey pressed on with its "war on terror" on Tuesday, just five days before a pivotal election, detaining dozens of Islamic State suspects in massive police raids and hitting Kurdish rebels across the border in Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been playing the security card in the run-up to Sunday's vote with tensions running high over the renewed Kurdish conflict and a massive bomb attack blamed on IS jihadists. Backed up by helicopters, counter-terrorism police also raided addresses in three districts of Istanbul, detaining 21 suspects, including seven children, Dogan added.

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