Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Qatar committed to 'stable' Egypt despite tensions: Emir
• Walker: Protesters prepared him to confront global terrorism
• Assyrians: Ancient Christian community new to Syria
• FBI: 'We Are Losing the Battle' to Stop ISIS Radicalization Online
• Why is ISIS destroying ancient artifacts in Iraq?
• IS jihadists destroy ancient artefacts in Iraq: video
• Kurds blocking return of Arabs to disputed Iraq areas: watchdog
• US Republican presidential hopefuls talk tough
• 400-year-old books stolen in Italy are found in California
• Assyrian Christians describe harrowing flight from IS
• Erased: ISIS and the Destruction of Ancient Artifacts
• What determines the perfect candidate for 2016?
• New York arrests revive US lone-wolf attack fears
• Susan Rice, Samantha Power to address AIPAC meeting
• U.S.-led coalition launches 14 air strikes against Islamic State: statement
• Militants abduct more Christians, smash ancient artifacts
• ISIS Destroys Second Largest Museum in Iraq
• US-led strikes on IS after group seizes 220 Christians
• New York Met denounces 'catastrophic' Iraq destruction
• EU backs Germany over US Iraq deserter asylum refusal
• New IS video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts
• Legendary Journalist Barbara Walters Donates $15 Million For The Barbara Walters Campus Center At Sarah Lawrence College
• UNESCO head wants emergency Security Council meeting on Iraq
• US Christians back emerging private war on Iraq jihadists
• News Guide: Latest developments on Islamic State group
• IS executioner 'Jihadi John' named as London tech worker
• With sledgehammer, Islamic State smashes Iraqi history
• Principal: 'Vile' cyberbullies worse than Iraq insurgents
• Fight against Islamic State: Is Obama's 'lead from behind' working?
• Cyber threats expanding, new US intelligence assessment says
• Insight: Jordan takes no chances in confronting homegrown Jihadis
• As Abe pushes for more robust military, Japanese push back
• Bill O’Reilly clarifies claim he saw nuns executed in El Salvador
• Kyrgyzstan to vote on controversial anti-gay law
• EU deal on passenger data stalls in threat to terror fight
• Air strikes hit Islamic State in Syria after Christians abducted
• The Man Who Became Jihadi John
• Why is Libya falling apart?
• 5 Tough Questions for Obamacare’s Chief
• US looks to aid Syrian refugees amid security concerns

Qatar committed to 'stable' Egypt despite tensions: Emir Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:48 PM PST The Emir of Qatar said Thursday he was committed to "stability" in Egypt, despite a recent row between the two nations over Cairo's airstrikes against IS militants in Libya. Islamic State jihadists released a video this month showing the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, most of them Egyptian, prompting Cairo to launch air strikes on IS targets in the eastern city of Derna. Qatar responded by recalling its ambassador to Cairo for consultations.

Walker: Protesters prepared him to confront global terrorism Posted: 26 Feb 2015 03:39 PM PST OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday that his experience taking on thousands of protesters in his state helped prepare him to take on terrorists across the world.

Assyrians: Ancient Christian community new to Syria Posted: 26 Feb 2015 03:23 PM PST The Assyrian community, from which Islamic State jihadists recently abducted at least 220 people in Syria, is one the world's oldest Christian groups but came to the country less than a century ago. They are part of the patchwork of eastern Christian communities who trace their origins back to ancient Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq, well before Christianity and later Islam took root. In broad terms, Assyrians are Christians who remained faithful to the Nestorian doctrine, condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.

FBI: 'We Are Losing the Battle' to Stop ISIS Radicalization Online Posted: 26 Feb 2015 02:38 PM PST The terrorist group wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq as it blasts videos of beheadings to the world "has proven dangerously competent like no other group before it at employing [online] tools for its nefarious strategy," the head of the FBI's counterterrorism division, Assistant Director Michael Steinbach, told lawmakers today. In August, Juraboev allegedly posed a question on an Uzbek-language site tied to ISIS: "I am in USA now.

Why is ISIS destroying ancient artifacts in Iraq? Posted: 26 Feb 2015 02:34 PM PST The Islamic State – aka ISIS – continues its campaign of violence, this time attacking history itself. A new video that surfaced Thursday that purportedly shows members of the radical group taking sledgehammers, pickaxes, and even jackhammers to the ancient artifacts housed within the Mosul Museum in northern Iraq.

IS jihadists destroy ancient artefacts in Iraq: video Posted: 26 Feb 2015 02:22 PM PST Islamic State militants armed with sledgehammers and jackhammers have destroyed priceless ancient artefacts in Iraq's city of Mosul, a video released by the jihadists Thursday shows. The destruction sparked widespread consternation and alarm, with some archaeologists and heritage experts comparing it to the 2001 demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban. The United Nations' cultural agency immediately demanded an emergency meeting of the Security Council, arguing that heritage protection was an integral part of Iraq's security. The video shows IS militants knocking statues off their plinths and rampaging through the Mosul museum's collection, which includes artefacts from the Assyrian and Hellenistic periods dating back to several centuries before Christ.

Kurds blocking return of Arabs to disputed Iraq areas: watchdog Posted: 26 Feb 2015 02:13 PM PST Kurdish forces have prevented displaced Arabs from returning to disputed areas of Iraq that Kurdish leaders want to incorporate in their autonomous region over Baghdad's objections, a report said Thursday. Human Rights Watch warned the Kurdistan regional government against meting out "collective punishment of entire Arab communities" for the Islamic State jihadist group's attacks. "Cordoning off Arab residents and refusing to let them return home appears to go well beyond a reasonable security response," said Letta Tayler, senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at the New York-based rights group. The HRW report said Kurdish forces have for months barred Arabs displaced by last year's IS offensive from returning to their homes in disputed areas.

US Republican presidential hopefuls talk tough Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:25 PM PST US Republican presidential hopefuls wooed thousands of conservatives gathered near Washington on Thursday, coming out swinging against the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton and fellow party members seen as not conservative enough. Candidates-in-waiting, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, brought crowds to their feet at the Conservative Political Action Conference with red-meat messages such as peace through strength, repealing "Obamacare" and the need for greater presidential leadership. CPAC is a must stop for Republicans politicos. The Texas Republican raised hackles in his own party in recent years when he helped push the US government into shutdown over budget fights, and for opposing Republican leadership on a series of issues.

400-year-old books stolen in Italy are found in California Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:20 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two stolen Italian books dating to the 17th century that were discovered in California and many other plundered ancient artifacts will be returned to their country of origin, federal officials say.

Assyrian Christians describe harrowing flight from IS Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:15 PM PST Danny Jano, an Assyrian Christian, fled with his family in their pyjamas when they heard that Islamic State group jihadists were approaching their home in northeast Syria. Control of the province is largely divided between IS and Kurdish militia fighters, although regime forces are present in some provincial cities.

Erased: ISIS and the Destruction of Ancient Artifacts Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:05 PM PST One way to think about this is as part of a concerted attack on civilization itself. "I'm totally shocked," a professor at the University of Mosul's college of archeology told the AP.

What determines the perfect candidate for 2016? Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:59 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Let's say, for a moment, that America has given you the job of picking the perfect candidate for president. Good luck, Mr. or Ms. Voter, deciding what they've got to have — and what they can do without.

New York arrests revive US lone-wolf attack fears Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:41 PM PST The arrest of alleged Islamic State group sympathizers in New York has heightened fears of a lone-wolf terror threat in the United States after recent attacks in France and Denmark. FBI agents arrested Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, at John F. Kennedy airport allegedly attempting to board a flight to Istanbul and Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, at home in Brooklyn after he had repeatedly threatened to kill President Barack Obama.

Susan Rice, Samantha Power to address AIPAC meeting Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:34 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move that may ease — or exacerbate — spiraling tensions with Israel over a potential Iran nuclear deal, the White House has decided against snubbing America's leading pro-Israel lobby and will send President Barack Obama's national security adviser and U.N. ambassador to address its annual policy conference.

U.S.-led coalition launches 14 air strikes against Islamic State: statement Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:06 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its partner nations launched 14 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria since Wednesday morning, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Thursday. Five air strikes were conducted in Syria, the task force said in a statement. They struck Islamic State tactical units near Al Hasakah and fighting positions near Kobani. In Iraq, nine air strikes were launched near Al Asad, Fallujah, Mosul and other locations, hitting tactical units, buildings, vehicles and a training camp, the statement said. ...

Militants abduct more Christians, smash ancient artifacts Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:05 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants seized more Christians from their homes in northeastern Syria in the past three days, bringing the total number abducted by the extremist group to over 220, activists said Thursday.

ISIS Destroys Second Largest Museum in Iraq Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:01 PM PST In the video released on Thursday, ISIS militants use sledge hammers to destroy the museum statues one by one. In the end, the pride of Assyrian civilization, a gigantic winged bull that stood for thousands of years as part of the ancient Nineveh wall is destroyed too. Mosul museum was the second largest in Iraq, a national museum considered one of the largest in the world.

US-led strikes on IS after group seizes 220 Christians Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:43 AM PST The US-led coalition carried out air strikes Thursday against the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, where the jihadists have launched a new offensive and kidnapped 220 Assyrian Christians. The raids struck areas around the town of Tal Tamr in Hasakeh province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, without giving information on possible casualties. The town remains under the control of Kurdish forces, but at least 10 surrounding villages have been seized by IS, along with the captives. The IS offensive has killed at least 35 jihadists and 25 members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and of an Assyrian defence force, according to the Observatory.

New York Met denounces 'catastrophic' Iraq destruction Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:38 AM PST New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art on Thursday strongly condemned the "catastrophic" destruction of ancient artefacts by extremists in Iraq's second city of Mosul. Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group knocked statues off their plinths and smashed them to pieces with sledgehammers at a museum in Mosul, all shown on a video released by fighters. "We strongly condemn this act of catastrophic destruction to one of the most important museums in the Middle East," said Metropolitan director Thomas Campbell in a statement. "This mindless attack on great art, on history, and on human understanding constitutes a tragic assault not only on the Mosul Museum, but on our universal commitment to use art to unite people and promote human understanding.

EU backs Germany over US Iraq deserter asylum refusal Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:52 AM PST The EU's top court on Thursday backed a decision by Germany to deny asylum to a former US soldier who deserted on the grounds that the Iraq war was unlawful. Andre Shepherd, 33, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, walked off his base in southern Germany in 2007 and spent 19 months on the run before applying for asylum. He had completed a five-month stint as an Apache helicopter mechanic between 2004 and 2005, but refused an order to return to Iraq and take part in what he called war crimes. Germany turned down the bid by Shepherd, who is married to a German woman, in 2011 but a Munich court referred the matter to EU judges for confirmation of the laws on refugees.

New IS video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:28 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The Islamic State group released a video on Thursday showing militants using sledgehammers to smash ancient artifacts in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, describing the relics as idols that must be removed.

Legendary Journalist Barbara Walters Donates $15 Million For The Barbara Walters Campus Center At Sarah Lawrence College Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:26 AM PST BRONXVILLE, N.Y., Feb. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sarah Lawrence College announced today that prominent alumna Barbara Walters, noted broadcast journalist and author, together with her charitable trust have made a gift of $15 million to establish The Barbara Walters Campus Center on the historic College's 44-acre campus just north of New York City in Westchester County. The gift represents the largest single donation in the College's 89-year history and comes as the College prepares to enter the public phase of a capital campaign. The Barbara Walters Campus Center, a multi-use building that will serve as the hub of student life and campus community, will bring together aspects of student engagement and day-to-day social and intellectual experiences. The building will feature adaptable social and academic spaces, a venue suitable for large public and campus events, lounges, dining facilities, the College's radio station, a media innovation lab, areas for career services, student clubs, activities, and collaborative work.

UNESCO head wants emergency Security Council meeting on Iraq Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:15 AM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO says she is "deeply shocked" at footage showing Islamic State group militants using sledgehammers to destroy Iraqi artifacts, and she has asked the U.N. Security Council president for an emergency meeting on the protection of Iraq's cultural heritage.

US Christians back emerging private war on Iraq jihadists Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:05 AM PST After fighting with rebels in Libya and embracing the revolt in Syria, Matthew VanDyke has rolled up in northern Iraq, but the celebrity American revolutionary-cum-filmmaker has traded his fatigues for a three-piece suit. VanDyke, who rose to fame as a foreign fighter backing Libyan rebels against Moamer Kadhafi, has just finished leading his new military contracting firm through its first assignment -- training Christian volunteers to take on jihadists. Funded by Christian groups from abroad, mainly from the United States, the Nineveh Plains Protection Unit (NPU) aims to bring a local Christian militia to bear against the Islamic State group that has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.

News Guide: Latest developments on Islamic State group Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:56 AM PST From Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State militants abducted Christians and destroyed Mesopotamian relics, to arrests of suspects in New York and a Muslim group in Britain shedding light on the possible identity of a British-accented militant from IS beheading videos, the extremist group dominated the headlines on Thursday around the globe.

IS executioner 'Jihadi John' named as London tech worker Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:53 AM PST London (AFP) - "Jihadi John", the masked Islamic State group militant apparently responsible for beheading a series of Western hostages, was named on Thursday as Kuwaiti-born London computer programmer Mohammed Emwazi. A Washington Post report citing friends, a leading think-tank researching foreign jihadists and a British security official quoted by the New York Times identified Emwazi as being the executioner. The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College in London said it believed the identity "to be accurate and correct". He believed the leak had come from the United States and pointed out that "there are no further Americans being held hostage by Islamic State".

With sledgehammer, Islamic State smashes Iraqi history Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:19 AM PST By Isabel Coles and Saif Hameed ARBIL/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Ultra-radical Islamist militants in northern Iraq have destroyed a priceless collection of statues and sculptures from the ancient Assyrian era, inflicting what an archaeologist described as incalculable damage to a piece of shared human history. A video published by Islamic State on Thursday showed men attacking the artifacts, some of them identified as antiquities from the 7th century BC, with sledgehammers and drills, saying they were symbols of idolatry. The smashed articles appeared to come from an antiquities museum in Mosul, the northern city which was overrun by Islamic State last June, a former employee at the museum told Reuters. The militants shoved stone statues off their plinths, shattering them on the floor, and one man applied an electric drill to a large winged bull.

Principal: 'Vile' cyberbullies worse than Iraq insurgents Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:18 AM PST WINCHENDON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts high school principal said cyberbullies who targeted some of his students are worse than the insurgents he fought in Iraq and vowed the anonymous posters would be found and punished.

Fight against Islamic State: Is Obama's 'lead from behind' working? Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:22 AM PST When Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi took to the airwaves Sunday to propose creation of a pan-Arab military force to fight the self-proclaimed Islamic State and other forms of extremist militancy in the region, some of the reaction was confusion. Isn't there already a United States-led coalition of regional and other military powers working "to degrade and ultimately destroy" the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, some wondered? With Jordan launching airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria after the terrorist group publicly executed a captured Jordanian pilot in particularly gruesome fashion, followed by Egypt doing the same in Libya in response to the videotaped beheading of 21 Coptic Christians, is the anti-IS fight just every country for itself? President Sisi's proposal and the go-it-alone revenge airstrikes are just two elements in growing questioning of US leadership of the anti-IS battle – and whether once again President Obama is opting to "lead from behind" in a crucial battle in the Middle East.

Cyber threats expanding, new US intelligence assessment says Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:04 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has elevated its appraisal of the cyber threat from Russia, the U.S. intelligence chief said Thursday, as he delivered the annual assessment by intelligence agencies of the top dangers facing the country.

Insight: Jordan takes no chances in confronting homegrown Jihadis Posted: 26 Feb 2015 07:44 AM PST By Samia Nakhoul and Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - At Jordan's State Security court, Islamic State militants, clad in green military fatigues with long, unkempt beards, stood impassively, awaiting sentence inside a black iron cage. The barred enclosure was very much like the one in which their fellow jihadis in Syria burned alive Jordanian pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, igniting a storm across a troubled kingdom in an uneasy alliance with the West against Islamic State (IS).

As Abe pushes for more robust military, Japanese push back Posted: 26 Feb 2015 07:33 AM PST Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his critics charge, has gone on the warpath again. On the contrary, say his supporters: His renewed drive to revise Japan's pacifist Constitution and to loosen its shackles on the military is simply a long-overdue bid to defend his country in an increasingly threatening world. After a two-year hiatus, Mr. Abe has seized on the recent murders of two Japanese hostages by Islamic State militants in Syria to revive his campaign for a more activist Japanese security policy.

Bill O’Reilly clarifies claim he saw nuns executed in El Salvador Posted: 26 Feb 2015 07:29 AM PST The allegations against Bill O'Reilly do not stop with Argentina. Critics claim he was dishonest about what he says he witnessed in El Salvador and Florida, as well

Kyrgyzstan to vote on controversial anti-gay law Posted: 26 Feb 2015 07:19 AM PST Kyrgyzstan is set to vote on a controversial bill that would make it a crime punishable by up to six months in jail to present gay relationships in a positive way in the ex-Soviet state. The move by the predominantly Muslim Central Asian country follows an anti-gay law passed in Russia in 2013 which bans promoting gay relationships to minors. The Kyrgyz legislation would criminalise "forming positive attitudes toward non-traditional sexual relations" -- a euphemism for gay relationships. The bill has strong support in Kyrgyzstan's pro-Russian parliament, where MPs overwhelmingly voted for it in the first of its three mandatory readings last year.

EU deal on passenger data stalls in threat to terror fight Posted: 26 Feb 2015 07:10 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — Delays in setting up a European Union-wide system using air travel information to fight terrorism could lead to a patchwork of schemes that lets suspects slip through the net, officials warned Thursday.

Air strikes hit Islamic State in Syria after Christians abducted Posted: 26 Feb 2015 06:52 AM PST By Oliver Holmes and Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - A U.S.-led alliance launched air strikes against Islamic State on Thursday in an area of northeast Syria where the militants are now estimated to have abducted at least 220 Assyrian Christians this week, a group monitoring the war reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strikes targeted Islamic State fighters near the town of Tel Tamr, where the militants, also known as ISIS, had captured 10 Assyrian villages. A prominent Syrian Christian, Bassam Ishak, told Reuters: "Some people have tried to call them by cellphone, the relatives that have been abducted, and they get an answer from a member of ISIS who tells that they will send the head of their relative. "They are trying to terrorize the parents, the relatives in the Christian Assyrian community," said Ishak, who is president of the Syriac National Council of Syria.

The Man Who Became Jihadi John Posted: 26 Feb 2015 06:19 AM PST "I feel like a prisoner, only not in a cage, in London," Mohammed Emwazi wrote in a 2010 e-mail to a friend. Five years later, as The Washington Post reported, Emwazi was revealed to be "Jihadi John," the Islamic State executioner who has beheaded multiple hostages in a series of widely circulated Islamic State propaganda videos. While Emwazi was born in Kuwait, his middle-class background and academic success—he reportedly graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in computer programming—position him within a seemingly counterintuitive frame for a foreign ISIS recruit.

Why is Libya falling apart? Posted: 26 Feb 2015 06:09 AM PST Since Muammar Qaddafi's death in 2011, gangster-style militias in Libya have proliferated and are fighting over oil as two rival governments compete for control. Now the self-described Islamic State has arrived to try to put down roots and recruit militants. The war to oust former Prime Minister Qaddafi – backed by the United States, NATO war planes, and neighboring countries such as Qatar– planted the seeds for Libya's turmoil today. In the aftermath, the groups quickly fell to fighting over Libya's rich oil reserves.

5 Tough Questions for Obamacare’s Chief Posted: 26 Feb 2015 06:00 AM PST The HHS secretary responded on Wednesday, saying her department has no contingency plan to stave off any potential disaster if the Court sides against them.

US looks to aid Syrian refugees amid security concerns Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:30 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's commitment to take in potentially thousands of Syrian refugees is raising national security concerns among law enforcement officials and some congressional Republicans who fear clandestine radicals could slip into the country among the displaced.

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