Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Two California men charged with seeking to help Islamic State
• IS suicide bomber attacks Saudi Shiite mosque, killing 21
• Wounded Egyptian soldier kidnapped and killed in Sinai: sources
• US officials: Iran enters Iraqi fight for key oil refinery
• NATO to hold summit in Warsaw in July 2016
• Clinton appears to rule out return of ground forces in Iraq
• Turkey arrests French citizen bound for Syria: official
• How an Iraqi friar saved ancient Christian manuscripts from IS
• U.S., allies conduct 20 air strikes against Islamic State militants: military
• Swiss extradite French teenager trying to get to Syria
• Iraqi metal band navigates long road to therapy
• Islamic State loyalists claim Saudi mosque attack
• Islamic State expands its 'state'
• Islamic State fighters press advance east of Iraqi town
• IS captures Iraqi town, purges opponents in Syria's Palmyra
• Over 55,000 have fled IS-captured Ramadi since mid-May
• U.N. office outraged by 'biased' Hungarian survey on migration
• British bomber jailed for life for murder of U.S. sergeant in Iraq
• Iraqi forces clear path to key refinery
• UK bomb maker sentenced to life for killing US soldier
• Iraq deputy PM appeals for more help
• Insurgents in Syria seize hospital from army: monitor
• Deputy Russia FM: Western Mideast policies 'short-sighted'
• Today in History
• Press Club Of Western PA Announces 2015 Golden Quill Winners
• Pentagon says US anti-armor weapons due in Iraq next week

Two California men charged with seeking to help Islamic State Posted: 22 May 2015 04:30 PM PDT By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two Southern California men were charged on Friday with conspiring to travel to the Middle East to join the militant group Islamic State, U.S. prosecutors said, a day after one of the men was arrested at the Los Angeles airport. The arrests on Thursday of Anaheim residents Muhanad Badawi and Nader Elhuzayel, both 24, represent the latest case of U.S. authorities cracking down on individuals they believe are seeking to join the group, which is fighting in Syria and Iraq. Badawi and Elhuzayel were recorded talking to each other last month when they expressed support for Islamic State and said they wished to die on the battlefield, according to an affidavit filed in court.

IS suicide bomber attacks Saudi Shiite mosque, killing 21 Posted: 22 May 2015 02:47 PM PDT An Islamic State group suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia on Friday, killing 21 people and wounding 81 in an assault that threatens to fan sectarian tensions. The bomber struck during the main weekly prayers in Eastern Province, where assailants linked to the Sunni extremist IS killed seven members of the minority Shiite community in November. The interior ministry said a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the mosque in Kudeih, in the Shiite-majority city of Qatif, the official SPA news agency reported.

Wounded Egyptian soldier kidnapped and killed in Sinai: sources Posted: 22 May 2015 01:47 PM PDT Suspected Islamist militants kidnapped a wounded Egyptian soldier then killed him in the restive North Sinai province on Friday, security sources said. Gunmen stopped an ambulance carrying two wounded soldiers south of the provincial capital of Al-Arish, the sources told Reuters. The gunmen shot and wounded the paramedic and took the ambulance and one of the soldiers, the sources said.

US officials: Iran enters Iraqi fight for key oil refinery Posted: 22 May 2015 01:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran has entered the fight to retake a major Iraqi oil refinery from Islamic State militants, contributing small numbers of troops — including some operating artillery and other heavy weapons — in support of advancing Iraqi ground forces, U.S. defense officials said Friday.

NATO to hold summit in Warsaw in July 2016 Posted: 22 May 2015 12:09 PM PDT NATO announced Friday it will hold its next summit in Warsaw on July 8-9 next year as it tackles perceived threats from Russia to the east and jihadists to the south. The Polish capital is the former host of the Warsaw Pact, the anti-NATO alliance between Moscow and its eastern satellites that existed until the Soviet bloc collapsed in 1991. At their last summit in Wales in September NATO leaders agreed to bolster the alliance's eastern defences amid charges that Russia has provided troops and equipment to support Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Clinton appears to rule out return of ground forces in Iraq Posted: 22 May 2015 11:48 AM PDT HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) — Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton says U.S. ground forces should not be sent back to Iraq.

Turkey arrests French citizen bound for Syria: official Posted: 22 May 2015 11:36 AM PDT Turkish authorities have detained and then deported a French national who arrived in the country seeking to join jihadists in Syria, an official said Friday. The man, identified only as B.T., had landed Thursday night at Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul on a flight from Milan, the Turkish official, who asked not to be named, told AFP. "After a long and detailed interview, B.T. confessed he was going to Adana (in southern Turkey) on his way to join a terrorist group in Syria," the official said.

How an Iraqi friar saved ancient Christian manuscripts from IS Posted: 22 May 2015 10:44 AM PDT Bullets whistled overhead, a black Islamic State flag flapping in the distance, but all Friar Najeeb Michaeel could think of as he fled the jihadists was how to save hundreds of ancient Iraqi manuscripts in his possession. "You are going to get us killed with your archives," Michaeel's assistant Watheq Qassab grumbled as he struggled to carry six boxes of the documents dated between the 13th and 19th century across the border from Iraq into Kurdistan in August last year. Michaeel first smuggled his precious library out of Mosul to Qaraqosh -- Iraq's largest Christian town -- during an Islamist insurgency in 2008 which saw thousands of Christians flee the city.

U.S., allies conduct 20 air strikes against Islamic State militants: military Posted: 22 May 2015 10:40 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq since Thursday, concentrating on targets near Ramadi, the city that recently fell to the insurgents, the U.S. military said on Friday. In the same period, the forces conducted five air strikes in Syria, hitting targets near Al Hasakah, Dayr Az Zawr and Kobani, according to a statement. The five air strikes near Ramadi destroyed Islamic State armored vehicles, tanks, personnel carriers and improvised explosive devices and also hit a tactical unit, the statement said. ...

Swiss extradite French teenager trying to get to Syria Posted: 22 May 2015 10:32 AM PDT Switzerland has extradited a French teenager who was trying to reach Syria for a second time since March, the justice ministry said Friday. The 18-year-old was sent back to France on Thursday following a demand from French authorities, the ministry said. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper said the teenager left Geneva on May 12 for Istanbul in a second attempt to go on to Syria.

Iraqi metal band navigates long road to therapy Posted: 22 May 2015 10:29 AM PDT With their homeland torn by years of war, a group of Iraqis has found a form of therapy not by firing guns but by banging their heads to heavy metal. Violence was never the solution, really," said Marwan Hussein, the drummer and lyricist of the band Acrassicauda. Acrassicauda was at the forefront of Baghdad's fledgling metal scene as social restrictions loosened following the US invasion in 2003, appealing to youth whose causes of angst were considerably more intense than those facing middle-class fans in the West.

Islamic State loyalists claim Saudi mosque attack Posted: 22 May 2015 10:14 AM PDT RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people Friday in a blast inside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia as worshippers commemorated the 7th century birth of a revered figure, residents and officials said.

Islamic State expands its 'state' Posted: 22 May 2015 09:47 AM PDT By Samia Nakhoul BEIRUT (Reuters) - Almost a year after Islamic State's shock capture of Mosul, Iraq's second city, the black flags of the jihadis have been raised over Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province to the west of Baghdad, seat of Iraq's increasingly theoretical central government. Nobody talks of Mosul or recapturing it from Islamic State. Now it is all about the fall of Ramadi, the neighboring ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in central Syria and beyond - the Libyan city of Sirte, hometown of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Islamic State fighters press advance east of Iraqi town Posted: 22 May 2015 08:18 AM PDT Islamic state fighters pressed an advance east of Ramadi on Friday after breaching Iraqi defenses outside the city the insurgents overran last weekend in a major defeat for the Baghdad government. The fall of Ramadi is the most significant setback for Iraqi forces in almost a year and has cast doubt on the effectiveness of U.S. strategy in helping Iraq to fight Islamic State. While pro-government forces are seeking to retake the town, Islamic State fighters have been pushing forward in the direction of Fallujah in a bid to take more territory in Anbar province that would bring them closer to the Iraqi capital.

IS captures Iraqi town, purges opponents in Syria's Palmyra Posted: 22 May 2015 08:07 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic State group militants searched through the Syrian town of Palmyra for government troops and fighters, using lists of names and informers to track them down and shooting some in the head on the spot, activists said Friday, estimating at least 150 have been killed in the past two days.

Over 55,000 have fled IS-captured Ramadi since mid-May Posted: 22 May 2015 07:40 AM PDT The United Nations said Friday that around 55,000 people had fled Ramadi since a surge by the Islamic State group in mid-May that landed the Iraqi provincial capital in the hands of jihadists. Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said some 128,000 people had fled the restive Ramadi district since the beginning of April. Just two days ago the International Organization for Migration put the number of people displaced from Ramadi since May 15 at 40,000.

U.N. office outraged by 'biased' Hungarian survey on migration Posted: 22 May 2015 06:58 AM PDT By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Hungary's survey of its citizens' views on immigration is "extremely biased" and "absolutely shocking" because of questions that suggest a link between migrants and terrorism, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday. Prime Minister Viktor Orban launched the consultation last month to sound out the public, sending a questionnaire to every Hungarian adult. Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said there was no reason to assume that migrants looking for a better job or seeking asylum had anything to do with terrorism.

British bomber jailed for life for murder of U.S. sergeant in Iraq Posted: 22 May 2015 06:48 AM PDT A London taxi driver, convicted of making bombs which were used against U.S. forces in Iraq, one of which killed a U.S. sergeant, was jailed for life on Friday and told he would spend at least 38 years behind bars. Anis Sardar, 38, of northwest London, was convicted at London's Woolwich Crown Court of murder and conspiracy to murder after his fingerprints were found on adhesive tape used to make two bombs planted under roads leading out of Baghdad in an area close to the U.S. Army's Camp Liberty. One of the devices exploded as a U.S. armoured vehicle drove over it on Sept. 27, 2007, killing Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson, who was married with two young children.

Iraqi forces clear path to key refinery Posted: 22 May 2015 06:48 AM PDT Iraqi troops fighting Islamic State group forces have cleared a ground route into the country's largest oil refinery, the US military said Friday. "Iraqi Security Forces and Federal Police, enabled by the coalition, have successfully cleared and established a ground route" into the Baiji refinery, the US military said in a statement. The refinery is located near Baiji, around 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Baghdad.

UK bomb maker sentenced to life for killing US soldier Posted: 22 May 2015 05:11 AM PDT LONDON (AP) — A British man was sentenced Friday to life in prison for making a roadside bomb that killed a U.S. soldier in Iraq in 2007.

Iraq deputy PM appeals for more help Posted: 22 May 2015 04:29 AM PDT SOUTHERN SHUNE, Jordan (AP) — Iraq's deputy prime minister is appealing for greater international help in fighting the Islamic State group, saying its recent takeover of the key city of Ramadi was a "big disaster" and that the country's own forces could not adequately fight back.

Insurgents in Syria seize hospital from army: monitor Posted: 22 May 2015 03:41 AM PDT Insurgents on Friday seized a hospital from Syrian government forces who had been besieged there since late April, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, another gain by rebels who have dealt a series of blows to President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian state TV said soldiers holed up in the Jisr al-Shughour hospital in Idlib province had been freed, saying they had managed to "break the siege" in an operation coordinated with air strikes and artillery bombardment. The al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, an insurgent group involved in the offensive, said government forces had fled.

Deputy Russia FM: Western Mideast policies 'short-sighted' Posted: 22 May 2015 01:56 AM PDT SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan (AP) — A deputy Russian foreign minister says external players cannot solve the Syria crisis and that "short-sighted'" Western policies in the Middle East have helped destabilize countries such as Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Today in History Posted: 21 May 2015 09:01 PM PDT Today is Friday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2015. There are 223 days left in the year.

Press Club Of Western PA Announces 2015 Golden Quill Winners Posted: 21 May 2015 05:30 PM PDT PITTSBURGH, May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania announced the winners of the 51st annual Golden Quill Awards during an awards presentation tonight at the Sheraton Hotel, Station Square, Pittsburgh. The Golden Quills competition recognizes professional excellence in written, photographic, broadcast and online journalism in Western Pennsylvania. ...

Pentagon says US anti-armor weapons due in Iraq next week Posted: 21 May 2015 05:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — An expedited shipment of 2,000 lightweight shoulder-fired weapons intended to help the Iraqi army stop the Islamic State group's increasingly effective use of car bombs should arrive in Iraq as soon as next week, the Pentagon said Thursday.

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