Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Marianne Williamson, Hollywood's Favorite New Age Guru, Backs Bernie Sanders for President
• TSX rebounds as industrials, miners gain
• U.S. shares rally; dollar rises in May Day trading
• Monitor says strike by U.S-led forces kills 17 civilians in Syria
• Administration worries grow over Saudi campaign in Yemen
• ‘Dynamic Scoring’ is Hiding a $2 Trillion Hole in the GOP’s Balanced Budget
• Lebanese army says received bodies of two killed by militants
• Oil falls from 2015 highs, Iraq exports hit record
• Jihadists claim Baghdad car bombs to avenge Anbar
• Five Mercury Craters Named to Celebrate End of NASA's MESSENGER Mission
• Baghdad officials blame Sunni displaced for wave of bombings
• The Latest on Nepal: Donate tents and grains, but not tuna
• Iran stance and regional policy bring French leader Gulf Arab rewards
• U.S., allies stage 18 air strikes against Islamic State: coalition
• Hillary Alert: New Emails Mean Benghazi Isn’t Over
• Pope stokes flames ahead of US trip even as he ends problems
• Iran's Zarif congratulates new Saudi FM despite tensions
• British Gurkha troops supply clean water in native Nepal
• A year on, 'model' camp for Syrian refugees has mixed record
• Jailed Islamic State militant still longs for martyrdom
• After Somalia's famine, hunger persists
• Today in History

Marianne Williamson, Hollywood's Favorite New Age Guru, Backs Bernie Sanders for President Posted: 01 May 2015 02:11 PM PDT Williamson is urging her supporters to back the Vermont Senator over frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

TSX rebounds as industrials, miners gain Posted: 01 May 2015 02:09 PM PDT By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rebounded on Friday, with gains among miners, industrials and banks helping recoup almost all the previous session's losses. The most influential riser was Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc , which jumped 3.7 percent to C$271.19, after a slew of analysts raised price targets. Month-end positioning and disappointing earnings reports had sent the index down 0.8 percent on Thursday, but the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index reversed that move on Friday, rising 115.25 points, or 0.76 percent, to 15,339.77. The index slipped 0.4 percent for week, although it climbed more than 2 percent during the month of April, bolstered in part by a rally in crude prices.

U.S. shares rally; dollar rises in May Day trading Posted: 01 May 2015 02:04 PM PDT By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. shares rebounded sharply on Friday on gains in healthcare and technology stocks, while the dollar rose from nine-week lows on signs that the U.S. economy may be stabilizing. The Nasdaq snapped a four-day losing streak, while the S&P tech sector gained 1.5 percent and the S&P healthcare sector gained 1.3 percent. Apple shares rose 3 percent and were the biggest boost to the major U.S. indexes. All major European markets except London, its biggest, were closed on Friday for the May Day holiday, while many Asian markets were also shut.

Monitor says strike by U.S-led forces kills 17 civilians in Syria Posted: 01 May 2015 01:25 PM PDT An air strike by U.S.-led forces on the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on Friday killed at least 17 civilians including two children, and wounded dozens more, a group monitoring the Syrian conflict said. U.S. and Arab forces have been carrying out almost daily air raids against hardline jihadist groups in Syria, such as Islamic State, since last September and U.S.-led forces are also targeting the group in Iraq. Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the British-based Observatory for Human Rights, said it appeared that the air raid had mistakenly struck civilians in a village on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in Aleppo instead of militant targets.

Administration worries grow over Saudi campaign in Yemen Posted: 01 May 2015 12:44 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is growing increasingly wary about the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen and how to restore peace to a country wracked by sectarian divisions, endemic poverty and the al-Qaida offshoot posing the greatest threat to the American homeland.

‘Dynamic Scoring’ is Hiding a $2 Trillion Hole in the GOP’s Balanced Budget Posted: 01 May 2015 11:30 AM PDT Congressional Republicans vowed this year to take a more "dynamic" approach to budgeting in their drive to eliminate the deficit within a decade. Shortly after the GOP took control of Congress in January, the House Republicans adopted a new rule requiring budget scorekeepers at the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation to do an analysis of "major" legislation that projects the macroeconomic effects of the policy changes over time. The analysis, known as "dynamic scoring," has been controversial among economists dating back to the Reagan administration of the 1980s because it is so imprecise. The end result – put on full display Thursday when the House adopted a fiscal 2016 budget blueprint along party lines, 226-197 – was far more a reflection of wishful thinking than hard-headed budgetary policy making.

Lebanese army says received bodies of two killed by militants Posted: 01 May 2015 10:23 AM PDT Lebanon's army said on Friday it had received the bodies of two people killed by militants and that their identities were being checked, but it gave no details on which group had delivered them. Earlier on Friday, LBC television and other local media had reported that Islamic State had handed over the bodies of a civilian and a soldier who were killed last year on the outskirts of Arsal, a town near the Syrian border. If it was Islamic State, that would be the first time that the hardline group had cooperated with the army to hand over bodies. Sunni Muslim groups fighting in Syria's civil war have also been active across the border in Lebanon.

Oil falls from 2015 highs, Iraq exports hit record Posted: 01 May 2015 08:47 AM PDT Oil prices eased off 2015 highs on Friday after Iraq said its crude oil exports hit a record in April, and prices were pressured also by a stronger dollar. Brent and U.S. crude rallied between 20 and 25 percent in April, helped by a weaker dollar and bets that a global supply glut would ease, following the June-to-January sell-off that halved prices from above $100 a barrel. News that Iraq's oil exports rose in April to a record 3.08 million barrels per day (bpd) from 2.98 million bpd in March served as a reminder of ample supply in the market. Iraq's data highlights increasing output from OPEC members, whose supply in April rose to its highest in more than two years at 31.04 million bpd, according to a Reuters survey.

Jihadists claim Baghdad car bombs to avenge Anbar Posted: 01 May 2015 08:36 AM PDT The Islamic State jihadist group said Friday it carried out a series of deadly car bombings in Shiite districts of Iraq's capital to avenge attacks on displaced persons from a Sunni province. Eleven people were killed and more than 40 wounded in a wave of car bomb attacks on Thursday, medics said. Police say several of the displaced have been kidnapped and killed in Baghdad, including four victims found on April 25 with gunshot wounds to the head.

Five Mercury Craters Named to Celebrate End of NASA's MESSENGER Mission Posted: 01 May 2015 08:17 AM PDT Just hours before NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft was expected to crash onto the surface of Mercury, ending the probe's four-year observation of the rocky planet, the winners of a contest to name five new craters on Mercury were announced. The five winning crater names are: Carolan, Enheduanna, Karsh, Kulthum and Rivera. MESSENGER, which captured stunning images of Mercury's cratered surface, crashed into the surface of the planet at at 3:26 p.m. EDT (1926 GMT) yesterday (April 30). The new crater names have been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Baghdad officials blame Sunni displaced for wave of bombings Posted: 01 May 2015 08:15 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Sunnis fleeing the fighting in western Anbar province have provided a cover for Islamic State militants to carry out a wave of bombings that struck Baghdad, political and security officials in the Iraqi capital claimed on Friday — an assertion vigorously disputed by Sunni lawmakers.

The Latest on Nepal: Donate tents and grains, but not tuna Posted: 01 May 2015 07:25 AM PDT 8:15 p.m. (1400 GMT)

Iran stance and regional policy bring French leader Gulf Arab rewards Posted: 01 May 2015 06:34 AM PDT By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France's tough line in talks with Iran and a similar analysis to Gulf Arab states on regional crises has sealed strategic new links in the Middle East that will be cemented when President Francois Hollande attends a regional leaders' summit next week. Those ties, which Paris has sought to nurture since Hollande came to power in 2012 - were highlighted on Thursday when Qatar agreed to buy French-made Rafale fighter jets in a 6.3-billion-euro ($7 billion) deal. Hollande travels to Doha on May 4 to sign the contract before heading to Riyadh at King Salman's invitation to attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) heads of state, a first for a Western leader, at which issues from the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen to Syria's civil war will top the agenda. "It's important for us because it shows the appreciation of Gulf countries in our strategic choices with regard to Iran, Syria and the fight against Islamic State," said a senior French diplomat.

U.S., allies stage 18 air strikes against Islamic State: coalition Posted: 01 May 2015 06:23 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led military coalition launched 18 air strikes in Syria and Iraq against Islamic State since early Thursday, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement. The seven strikes targeting the militants in Iraq struck five units of Islamic State fighters and destroyed several fighting positions and other targets near the cities of Bayji, Falluja, Mosul, Ramadi and Tal Afar, the task force said on Friday. ...

Hillary Alert: New Emails Mean Benghazi Isn’t Over Posted: 01 May 2015 05:00 AM PDT Hillary Clinton tried to take a break from controversy this week with a speech at Columbia University in New York voicing her concern about civil unrest in Baltimore and her prescription for reforming the criminal justice system. On Thursday, House Republicans announced that their once floundering probe of Clinton's conduct surrounding the 2012 terrorist attacks on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya just got another important boost: The State Department handed over 4,000 pages of new documents to a select House committee investigating the tragic attacks that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher J. Stevens. "The Benghazi Committee continues to build the most comprehensive and complete record on what happened before, during and after the Benghazi terrorist attacks," Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), chair of the panel, declared in a statement. "Contrary to those who said all had been asked and answered, the Benghazi Committee has shown there is more still for Congress to consider.

Pope stokes flames ahead of US trip even as he ends problems Posted: 01 May 2015 04:57 AM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Francis visits the United States this fall, he can expect the same rock-star adulation that greets him wherever he goes. But his positions on hot-button issues such as the death penalty and climate change could quickly set the stage for conflict. That may explain why Francis has been clearing the decks on a host of less high-profile matters of contention that could also have marred the visit.

Iran's Zarif congratulates new Saudi FM despite tensions Posted: 01 May 2015 04:03 AM PDT Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif congratulated his newly-installed Saudi counterpart on his appointment, Iranian media reported Friday, even as tensions flare between the rival regional powers over Yemen. Zarif said he hoped that "relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Saudi monarchy will develop" following the nomination of Adel al-Jubeir as Riyadh's top diplomat. Tensions between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran have soared following the launch in March of a Riyadh-led aerial campaign against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen. Iran denies providing arms to Huthi rebels in Yemen and is insisting on a complete end to Saudi-led strikes as a condition for peace talks in the impoverished Gulf nation.

British Gurkha troops supply clean water in native Nepal Posted: 01 May 2015 12:43 AM PDT KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A group of Nepal's Gurkhas serving in the British army have rushed back home to lend a hand in the recovery from the massive earthquake.

A year on, 'model' camp for Syrian refugees has mixed record Posted: 01 May 2015 12:40 AM PDT AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan (AP) — A year after opening, a camp in Jordan billed as an improved model for sheltering Syrian refugees has a mixed record: Azraq offers safety and a sense of order, with its close to 10,000 prefab shelters arranged in tidy rows, but refugees say life is tough because of lack of electricity, jobs and freedom of movement.

Jailed Islamic State militant still longs for martyrdom Posted: 01 May 2015 12:01 AM PDT By Isabel Coles ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The airstrike obliterated its target in northern Iraq and sent the men scattering. The 30-year old Islamic State militant hid in the bushes on the banks of the river Tigris for two days before venturing out in search of a boat, but by that time Kurdish forces had overrun the area and he was taken prisoner. "I wish I had been martyred," Mohanad told Reuters in an interview at the maximum security jail where he has been held since January in the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region. Mohanad appeared healthy and comfortable speaking about his past.

After Somalia's famine, hunger persists Posted: 30 Apr 2015 10:42 PM PDT At a hospital in Mogadishu's Yaqshid district, children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, worsened by stomach and chest infections, are receiving treatment that is likely saving their young lives. Three years have elapsed since famine killed more than a quarter of a million people in Somalia –- more than half of them children –- yet for many of the country's poorest and most vulnerable people the hunger has not gone away. Seven-month-old Zakaria was admitted to the specialised clinic with severe acute malnutrition and a respiratory tract infection. After six days of being fed fortified milk and antibiotics, his tiny body still appeared emaciated and listless but his mother, Baarlin Hassan Nuur, 30, said he was much improved.

Today in History Posted: 30 Apr 2015 09:00 PM PDT Today is Friday, May 1, the 121st day of 2015. There are 244 days left in the year.

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