Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT
• Both sides upbeat after hearing about fatal border shooting
• No indication when court will rule in fatal border shooting
• As Obama visits, signs that India is pushing back against China
• Disenchanted militants in South Asia eye Islamic State with envy
• Kerry heads for London talks on combating jihadists
• Five global front lines that could define Obama's final two years
• 180 Australians backing Islamic State group, says minister
• Iran buries general 'martyred' in Syria and vows Israel will pay
• Obama as Cuba's Internet provider
• France anti-terror plan calls for hiring more intel agents
• Dean Cain Defends Chris Kyle
• Dean Cain Defends 'American Sniper': 'Chris Kyle Is An American Hero'
• British Iraq war report delay sparks cover-up claims
• EU faces 'huge challenge' to reassure Jews of future in Europe
• French leaders pledge more money for counter-terrorism fight
• 'American Sniper's' Fake Baby Mocked by Critics, Moviegoers
• GOP Blasts Obama for ‘Listless’ Anti-Terror Strategy Against ISIS
• Questions, answers on Yemen as rebels, president strike deal
• Kurdish forces cut key road in north Iraq drive
• Kurdish forces squeeze Islamic State supply line in northern Iraq
• Obama shops vision of 'middle class economics'
• 'Race against time' to save IS hostages: Japan PM
• AP Interview: Iraq premier says ground troops need more aid
• Trial of woman charged with supporting Islamic State starts in Germany
• Japanese reporter's bid to save friend led to Islamic State abduction
• Syria wants U.N. action against Turkey over Paris attacks suspect
• Oil plunge to cost Gulf exporters $300 bn, says IMF
• 2 Japanese hostages: How their lives got intertwined
• Thousands in Tehran mourn Iranian general killed by Israel
• Obama declares victory on the economy--prematurely
• Will Abe's hostage crisis polarize Japan? PM fights time.
• Japanese reporter's bid to save friend led to IS abduction
• France reinforces security, spy agencies after attacks
• Erdogan urges Islamic unity against 'modern Lawrences'
• Delay to Britain's Iraq War inquiry report causes outcry
• Iraq's Kurds scramble to fend off new Islamic State assault
• No new polio cases in Syria reported for a year: WHO
• Iraq war inquiry report delayed until after election

Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 21 Jan 2015 04:32 PM PST TOKYO (AP) — One is a freelance journalist respected for his reporting on refugees and children in war zones. The other is a man who seems obsessed with guns and went to Syria to train with fighters. Despite their differing backgrounds and passions, their paths had crossed before. Now, in a chilling video released this week, the two Japanese men were seen kneeling on the ground in orange jumpsuits with a masked, knife-wielding figure threatening to kill them if their government failed to pay a $200 million ransom by Friday.

Both sides upbeat after hearing about fatal border shooting Posted: 21 Jan 2015 04:31 PM PST NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a Mexican 15-year-old across the border should be accountable in U.S. district court because all of his actions were in the U.S., an attorney for the boy's parents told judges Wednesday.

No indication when court will rule in fatal border shooting Posted: 21 Jan 2015 04:08 PM PST NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a Mexican 15-year-old boy across the border should be accountable in U.S. district court because all of his actions were in this country, an attorney for the boy's parents told judges Wednesday.

As Obama visits, signs that India is pushing back against China Posted: 21 Jan 2015 03:57 PM PST By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Sri Lanka unexpectedly turfed out President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an election this month, it was the biggest setback in decades for China's expansion into South Asia - and a remarkable diplomatic victory for India. Despite New Delhi's protestations, diplomats and politicians in the region say India played a role in organizing the opposition against pro-China Rajapaksa. His successor, President Maithripala Sirisena, has said India is the "first, main concern" of his foreign policy and that he will review all projects awarded to Chinese firms, including a sea reclamation development in Colombo that would give Beijing a strategic toehold on India's doorstep.

Disenchanted militants in South Asia eye Islamic State with envy Posted: 21 Jan 2015 03:52 PM PST By Jibran Ahmad and Mohammad Stanekzai PESHAWAR, Pakistan/LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Splits within the Taliban, and doubts over whether its elusive leader is even alive, are driving a growing number of militant commanders in Afghanistan and Pakistan towards Islamic State (IS) for inspiration. Security and intelligence sources believe there are no operational links yet between IS and South Asia, and that the region is not a priority for a group that occupies areas of Syria and Iraq and is focused on the Arab world. In Afghanistan, one militant commander said many have turned to IS, or Daish as it is also known, because they are frustrated at the lack of leadership by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Afghan Taliban chief who has not been seen in public for years.

Kerry heads for London talks on combating jihadists Posted: 21 Jan 2015 03:48 PM PST US Secretary of State John Kerry headed for London late Wednesday to co-host talks on the fight against Islamic militants, insisting a 60-plus coalition of nations was determined to win the battle. He and British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond will meet with a small number of the countries that have joined the US-led coalition since September, aiming to drive the Islamic State (IS) group out of its footholds in Iraq and Syria. The coalition had "greater determination, greater resolve to be able to get the job done," Kerry said after talks in Washington with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Foreign fighters would be a particular focus of the London meeting in the wake of the attacks in Paris earlier this month, a State Department official told reporters on a conference call.

Five global front lines that could define Obama's final two years Posted: 21 Jan 2015 03:47 PM PST The comment underscores how a president tagged as "leading from behind" – even from within his own White House – foresees tackling the major foreign policy challenges of his final years. From the battle with IS to Iran's nuclear program to an embrace of international trade deals, Obama's clear signal from the State of the Union is that cooperation with partners – and even with longtime adversaries, as in the case of Cuba – will continue to trump a rush to confrontation.

180 Australians backing Islamic State group, says minister Posted: 21 Jan 2015 02:46 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Australia called Wednesday for a broader international coalition, led by the U.S., to combat the "terrifying challenge" of jihadist groups that are challenging governments and aiming to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East.

Iran buries general 'martyred' in Syria and vows Israel will pay Posted: 21 Jan 2015 02:35 PM PST Iranians have grown used to burying "martyrs" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who have died fighting Sunni militants in Syria. "This is our first martyred commander, who was killed directly with a Zionist bullet," said the master of ceremonies in a prayer hall just inside the gate of an expansive IRGC base in eastern Tehran. Iran has long declared itself leader of an axis of resistance – along with Hezbollah, Syria, and Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad – against US and Israeli influence in the region.

Obama as Cuba's Internet provider Posted: 21 Jan 2015 01:21 PM PST Cuba is the least-wired country in Latin America, and ranks with China and Iran in its restrictions on freedom of the Internet and other telecommunications. Cuba's regime also worries that a greater flow of ideas over the Internet will undercut its propaganda about the quality of life in the island nation. Mr. Obama's pressure on Cuba is important not only for Cuba. For the fourth consecutive year, Internet freedom has declined around the world, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Freedom House, as more governments block or filter the Web, or arrest those who use the Internet for dissent.

France anti-terror plan calls for hiring more intel agents Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:49 PM PST France announced sweeping new measures to counter homegrown terrorism Wednesday, including giving security forces better weapons and protection, going on an intelligence agent hiring spree and creating ...

Dean Cain Defends Chris Kyle Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:42 PM PST Seth Rogen compared "American Sniper" to Nazi propaganda on Twitter, and Dean Cain immediately fired back. Dean, who co-starred on the 2012 NBC reality series "Stars Earn Stripes" with the subject of "American Sniper," Chris Kyle, Tweeted, "Seth...I like your films, but right now, I wanna kick your ass. Chris is an American Hero. On Wednesday, Dean visited Access Hollywood Live to discuss his reaction and remember his late friend.

Dean Cain Defends 'American Sniper': 'Chris Kyle Is An American Hero' Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:42 PM PST Seth Rogen compared "American Sniper" to Nazi propaganda on Twitter, and Dean Cain immediately fired back. Dean, who co-starred on the 2012 NBC reality series "Stars Earn Stripes" with the subject of "American Sniper," Chris Kyle, Tweeted, "Seth...I like your films, but right now, I wanna kick your ass. Chris is an American Hero. On Wednesday, Dean visited Access Hollywood Live to discuss his reaction and remember his late friend.

British Iraq war report delay sparks cover-up claims Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:41 PM PST A further delay to a report into Britain's role in the Iraq war sparked angry claims of a cover-up on Wednesday, illustrating the lingering controversy over a conflict in which 179 British soldiers died. Six years after the inquiry started and 12 years on from the beginning of the war itself, its chairman John Chilcot said there was "no realistic prospect" of publication before May's general election. The delay is linked to a process in which individuals such as former prime minister Tony Blair, who led Britain into the 2003 conflict, are given the chance to respond to criticism of them in the report. The fact is that neither myself nor, as far as I am aware, any of the people who are the principal witnesses to this inquiry are the reasons for this delay," Blair told broadcaster BBC.

EU faces 'huge challenge' to reassure Jews of future in Europe Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:29 PM PST The EU faces a "huge challenge" to reassure Jews about their future in Europe after Islamist attacks in Paris, a top official said Wednesday as it discussed fresh counter-terror measures. European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said the 28-nation bloc was determined to respond in keeping with its core values of tolerance and inclusion, promising a new strategy would be ready by May. "Today we see in some of our member states that a majority of the Jewish community is not sure that they have a future in Europe," he said. It is a "fundamental value" that everyone has a place in Europe no matter what his or her creed or background is.

French leaders pledge more money for counter-terrorism fight Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:24 PM PST French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced sweeping new measures Wednesday to reinforce France's counterterrorism apparatus that is already considered to be one of the most advanced in Europe. The announcement came as France charged four men with providing logistical support to Amedy Coulibaly, one of three French Muslims who sparked three days of mayhem in which 17 people died, along with the gunman, in Paris two weeks ago. The prime minister said surveillance is needed for 3,000 people with ties to France, including some currently overseas. French authorities estimate more than 1,200 French citizens are involved with extremist groups such as the Islamic State, and that some 200 have returned from fighting in Syria and Iraq.

'American Sniper's' Fake Baby Mocked by Critics, Moviegoers Posted: 21 Jan 2015 12:20 PM PST Clint Eastwood's war biopic grossed a shocking $105 million over the weekend, earned six Oscar noms last week — and is drawing criticism for its use of a very unrealistic-looking baby.

GOP Blasts Obama for ‘Listless’ Anti-Terror Strategy Against ISIS Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:33 AM PST Amid a new era of global terrorism typified by the bloody attacks in France earlier this month that left 17 victims dead, Obama used some tough talk in his State of the Union address. Obama has vowed that he would not deploy additional combat ground troops to Iraq and Syria against ISIS, and he stuck to that position last night.

Questions, answers on Yemen as rebels, president strike deal Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:24 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — Shiite rebels holding Yemen's embattled president captive in his own home reached a deal Wednesday night to end a violent confrontation in the capital. However, even with the deal, many questions remain about who is actually in charge of this country targeted in a U.S. drone-strike campaign against al-Qaida fighters.

Kurdish forces cut key road in north Iraq drive Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:23 AM PST Kurdish forces launched an offensive against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group on Wednesday, cutting a road linking two of the main areas it holds in north Iraq, officials said. The Kurdistan Regional Security Council said peshmerga forces began a "large-scale offensive" around 7:00 am (0400 GMT). IS spearheaded a sweeping offensive that has overrun much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland since June, presenting both an opportunity for territorial expansion and a threat to the country's three-province autonomous Kurdish region. Backed by the strikes as well as international advisers and trainers, Kurdish forces have clawed back significant ground from IS.

Kurdish forces squeeze Islamic State supply line in northern Iraq Posted: 21 Jan 2015 10:58 AM PST By Isabel Coles NEAR MOSUL DAM, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish forces in northern Iraq said on Wednesday they had cleared Islamic State insurgents from nearly 500 square kilometers of territory and broken a key IS supply line between the city of Mosul and strongholds to the west near Syria. An al Qaeda splinter group, Islamic State took Mosul, the biggest northern city, and wide swathes of northern and western Iraq in June, humbling weak government forces.

Obama shops vision of 'middle class economics' Posted: 21 Jan 2015 10:58 AM PST President Barack Obama hit the road Wednesday to sell his vision of a reinvigorated nation that embraces distributive "middle class economics", after a combative State of the Union address. Obama will head West to Idaho and Kansas, where he will reprise the key themes of his penultimate State of the Union -- namely that the United States has turned a page on years of economic suffering. With damage from the Great Recession easing, an emboldened Obama on Tuesday called for a new chapter of American politics, one focused squarely on addressing inequality. "The shadow of crisis has passed," he told a Congress now controlled by his Republican foes during the showpiece event of the American political calendar.

'Race against time' to save IS hostages: Japan PM Posted: 21 Jan 2015 10:37 AM PST Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted Wednesday it was a "race against time" to free two hostages snatched by Islamist militants who are demanding $200 million for their lives. A defiant Abe said he would not bow to "terrorism" as he took charge of the crisis that Japan was thrust into with the release of a chilling video apparently showing two Japanese men kneeling in the desert of Syria or Iraq. "I have ordered the government to use all diplomatic channels and routes possible... to ensure the release of the two people." Abe, who rushed home from a tour of the Middle East, said he had sought help from Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, as well as from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Japan will do its best in the battle against the cowardice of terrorism, hand in hand with the international community," Abe said.

AP Interview: Iraq premier says ground troops need more aid Posted: 21 Jan 2015 09:59 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday appealed for more aid for the country's beleaguered ground forces, which have yet to score a decisive victory against the Islamic State group despite five months of U.S.-led coalition air raids.

Trial of woman charged with supporting Islamic State starts in Germany Posted: 21 Jan 2015 09:14 AM PST The trial of a woman accused of sending money and film-making equipment to Islamist militant group Islamic State in Syria began in the German city of Duesseldorf on Wednesday. The 25-year-old woman, who holds joint German and Polish citizenship, appeared in the high-security courthouse wearing a chador, a black, head-to-toe gown worn by some conservative Muslims. The charges against her include aiding a terror organization for sending up to 11,000 euros ($13,000) to the group, as well as cameras and other equipment for making propaganda films, Simon Henrichs from the federal prosecutors' office told the court. German security services say about 600 German residents have joined IS and other similar groups in Syria and Iraq.

Japanese reporter's bid to save friend led to Islamic State abduction Posted: 21 Jan 2015 09:02 AM PST By Antoni Slodkowski TOKYO (Reuters) - It is an unlikely friendship that ties the fates of war correspondent Kenji Goto and troubled loner Haruna Yukawa, the two Japanese hostages for which Islamic State militants demanded a $200 million ransom this week. Yukawa was captured in August outside Aleppo. Goto, who had returned to Syria in late October to try to help his friend, had been missing since then. For Yukawa, who dreamed of becoming a military contractor, traveling to Syria had been part of an effort to turn his life around after going bankrupt, losing his wife to cancer and attempting suicide, according to associates and his own accounts.

Syria wants U.N. action against Turkey over Paris attacks suspect Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:47 AM PST By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria called on the United Nations Security Council to take action against Turkey for allowing a French woman linked to militant attacks in Paris to illegally enter Syria along with other foreign fighters. France launched a search for 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene after police killed her partner Amedy Coulibaly while storming a Jewish supermarket where he had taken hostages earlier this month. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Boumeddiene arrived in Istanbul from Madrid on Jan. 2 and that Paris had not asked that she be denied access.

Oil plunge to cost Gulf exporters $300 bn, says IMF Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:37 AM PST The plunge in the oil price will cost the powerful energy exporters of the Gulf Cooperation Council around $300 billion, threatening to send many into budget deficits, the IMF reported Wednesday. Of the major exporters of the GCC, the International Monetary Fund predicted in a new report that only Kuwait would maintain a budget surplus this year. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will sink into deficits.

2 Japanese hostages: How their lives got intertwined Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:30 AM PST TOKYO (AP) — One is a freelance journalist respected for his reporting on refugees and children in war zones. The other is a man who seems obsessed with guns and went to Syria to train with fighters.

Thousands in Tehran mourn Iranian general killed by Israel Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:27 AM PST Thousands gathered in Tehran Wednesday at a funeral procession for a Revolutionary Guards general killed by Israel, after his commander warned the Jewish state it should "await destructive thunderbolts". General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi died alongside six fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah group in the attack Sunday near Quneitra on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights. Allahdadi's coffin was draped in an Iranian flag as it was carried into a Guards base in southeast Tehran.

Obama declares victory on the economy--prematurely Posted: 21 Jan 2015 07:47 AM PST The economic "crisis," may be over, as Obama declared in his State of the Union speech, but there are still deep problems afflicting millions of Americans.

Will Abe's hostage crisis polarize Japan? PM fights time. Posted: 21 Jan 2015 07:43 AM PST On Tuesday Japan was served grim notice of the risks involved in allying itself to US-led efforts to combat terrorism when the self-described jihadist group  Islamic State released a video showing a shrouded militant flanked by two Japanese men dressed in orange jumpsuits.

Japanese reporter's bid to save friend led to IS abduction Posted: 21 Jan 2015 07:38 AM PST By Antoni Slodkowski TOKYO (Reuters) - It is an unlikely friendship that ties the fates of war correspondent Kenji Goto and troubled loner Haruna Yukawa, the two Japanese hostages for which Islamic State militants demanded a $200 million (132.34 million pounds) ransom this week. Yukawa was captured in August outside Aleppo. Goto, who had returned to Syria in late October to try to help his friend, had been missing since then. For Yukawa, who dreamed of becoming a military contractor, traveling to Syria had been part of an effort to turn his life around after going bankrupt, losing his wife to cancer and attempting suicide, according to associates and his own accounts.

France reinforces security, spy agencies after attacks Posted: 21 Jan 2015 07:17 AM PST By Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - France is to recruit thousands of extra police, spies and investigators to boost national security and intelligence, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on Wednesday, two weeks after 17 people were killed by Islamist militants. Warning the threat remained high after the most deadly Islamist attack on French soil, Valls said the state would hire 2,680 in the police, justice, intelligence and defense sectors by 2018 for anti-jihadi work, surveillance and security. Several thousand planned job cuts in the army are to be canceled and dozens of extra Muslim chaplains deployed to work with potential militants in France's overcrowded jails. "The fight against terrorism, jihadism and radical Islam will be a long haul," Valls told a news conference after the measures were agreed by President Francois Hollande's cabinet.

Erdogan urges Islamic unity against 'modern Lawrences' Posted: 21 Jan 2015 07:16 AM PST Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called on Muslim states to speak with one voice against terrorism and racism, positioning himself once again as a key leader of the Islamic world. Addressing a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Erdogan said Islamic states had to defeat the successors of the iconic British officer Lawrence of Arabia who were seeking to disrupt the Middle East. He said acts of terrorism "never bind the Muslims nor Islamic countries" and called on the Muslim world to engage in "self-criticism" to define a united route in order to address the challenges. "When the Muslim world remains silent and every sect stands behind their own sympathisers, others are stepping in: terrorists and modern Lawrences," he said.

Delay to Britain's Iraq War inquiry report causes outcry Posted: 21 Jan 2015 06:53 AM PST By William James LONDON (Reuters) - A decision to delay a long-awaited official report into Britain's role in the Iraq War until after a general election in May drew accusations of a whitewash on Wednesday and demands for British voters to be given its findings. The investigation, headed by former civil servant John Chilcot, was set up six years ago to learn lessons from the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq which ousted Saddam Hussein and its aftermath. Britain was the U.S. main ally in the war despite widespread public opposition. Rose Gentle, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq in 2004, said she was disgusted the report had taken so long to come out.

Iraq's Kurds scramble to fend off new Islamic State assault Posted: 21 Jan 2015 06:41 AM PST Kurdish forces have clawed back territory and painstakingly restored their warrior image. Kurdish commanders reckon they can see off the renewed IS assaults, but admit this depends on ongoing US-led coalition airstrikes.

No new polio cases in Syria reported for a year: WHO Posted: 21 Jan 2015 06:38 AM PST Syria has gone a year without a reported polio case, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, after a massive immunisation campaign triggered by the disease's appearance in the war-torn country. The agency said "the outbreak seems to have been brought under control" in Syria after a push to immunise millions of children across the Middle East. "It's a very encouraging sign that Syria's returning to a polio-free status," Chris Maher, the WHO's polio eradication manager, told AFP. He said the landmark did not guarantee that Syria was polio-free, but it did suggest that the mass immunisation had been successful.

Iraq war inquiry report delayed until after election Posted: 21 Jan 2015 06:21 AM PST LONDON (AP) — The report of an inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war will be delayed until after a national election in May, its chairman said, provoking dismay from politicians of all parties Wednesday.

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