Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Iraq, North Korea failures shadow nuclear talks with Iran
• US warns of Russia, China military threat amid growing chaos
• In emails, Hillary's outside advisers pushed hawkish Afghan line
• US flag to fly over Havana again, but that won't end America's Cuba debate
• Militants attack Egyptian army checkpoints in Sinai, kill 50
• The Latest: Muslim Brotherhood calls for Egypt 'rebellion'
• IS attacks kill dozens in Egypt's Sinai
• Houthi shells kill 18 in Yemen, dengue fever spreading
• UNESCO chief warns about jihadist 'culture cleansing'
• U.S. campaign highlights stress of fireworks on combat veterans
• Islamic State's strikes in Egypt: Is this a full-blown insurgency?
• Trouble at home: Why Brazil's Rousseff needed US state visit
• Man gets prison time, $1M fine in US military bribery case
• Man gets prison time, $1M fine in military bribery case
• UN: At least 1,466 Iraqis killed in June due to violence
• Commander who served in Iraq war in line to be Marine chief
• UK weighs more action against IS in Syria after Tunisia attack
• Rebel rocket fire kills 18 civilians in Yemen's Aden
• UN declares highest-level humanitarian emergency in Yemen
• Tunisia identifies all 38 hotel attack victims, 30 of them British
• Italian police arrest North Africa cell and five suspected Islamic State supporters
• UK family of 12, with baby and grandparents, believed to have gone to Syria
• 9 Azerbaijani citizens sentenced for joining Islamic State
• Turkish parliament elects ruling party MP speaker, reducing hopes for grand coalition
• Syrian Kurds say thwart big Islamic State attack on border town
• Islamic State less visible in Syrian stronghold: monitor
• Islamic State weaves web of support in Gulf Arab states
• Islamic State targeted in 17 air strikes by U.S.-led coalition: statement
• Hungary: Fence on Serbia border forced step to stop migrants
• Mass Sinai attacks show expanding Islamist challenge to Egyptian state authority
• Short of cash, U.N. cuts Syria refugees' rations again
• Italian police arrest family of couple who traveled to Syria
• Record 137,000 refugees, migrants crossed Mediterranean in 2015
• Tunisia hotel gunman trained in Libya jihadist camp: govt
• Australian killed fighting for Kurds against IS in Syria: family
• Idaho refugee center targeted by closure campaign over extremism fears

Iraq, North Korea failures shadow nuclear talks with Iran Posted: 01 Jul 2015 04:31 PM PDT By Arshad Mohammed VIENNA (Reuters) - Their inability to detect clandestine atomic programs in Iraq and North Korea shadows Western officials as they seek to curb Iran's known nuclear activities and keep it from pursuing others in secret. Closing loopholes in the current nonproliferation system is a key aim for the United States and its five big power partners as they negotiate an agreement with Iran to constrain its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions. Iran and the major powers missed Tuesday's deadline for a final deal and have given themselves until July 7 to reach one.

US warns of Russia, China military threat amid growing chaos Posted: 01 Jul 2015 03:28 PM PDT America's new military strategy singles out states like China and Russia as aggressive and threatening to US security interests, while warning of growing technological challenges and worsening global stability. A somber report released Wednesday by General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warns of a "low but growing" probability of the United States fighting a war with a major power, with "immense" consequences. Russia has "repeatedly demonstrated that it does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbors and it is willing to use force to achieve its goals," the 2015 National Military Strategy says.

In emails, Hillary's outside advisers pushed hawkish Afghan line Posted: 01 Jul 2015 03:17 PM PDT By Warren Strobel and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the fall of 2009, as U.S. President Barack Obama conducted a long, divisive review of whether to pour more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, an influential group of advisors were quietly pushing a hawkish line. The emails reveal how, even as Obama ran a highly formalized Afghan policy review of near-endless meetings and position papers, Hillary Clinton was receptive to outsiders' sometimes off-the-cuff views delivered through back-channels.

US flag to fly over Havana again, but that won't end America's Cuba debate Posted: 01 Jul 2015 03:01 PM PDT The United States and Cuba may have agreed Wednesday to open embassies in each other's capital for the first time in half a century, but that doesn't mean it will be all salsa music and humdrum diplomacy between the two longtime adversaries anytime soon. President Obama emphasized that "very serious differences" remain between the two neighboring countries, particularly on human rights and democracy, as he announced a long-awaited accord between the two governments Wednesday. The agreement will allow each country's existing diplomatic offices in Washington and Havana to reopen as full-fledged embassies as of July 20.

Militants attack Egyptian army checkpoints in Sinai, kill 50 Posted: 01 Jul 2015 02:57 PM PDT EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Islamic militants on Wednesday unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 50 soldiers, security and military officials said.

The Latest: Muslim Brotherhood calls for Egypt 'rebellion' Posted: 01 Jul 2015 02:02 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — The latest news on the nine Muslim Brotherhood leaders killed in a Cairo apartment raid (all times local):

IS attacks kill dozens in Egypt's Sinai Posted: 01 Jul 2015 01:44 PM PDT Dozens of people were killed Wednesday in a wave of unprecedented attacks by the Islamic State group on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula, in a major challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. F-16 warplanes bombarded the militants as they fought security forces on the streets of the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid after striking military checkpoints in a surprise attack after dawn. Medical and security officials said at least 70 people, mostly soldiers, were killed in the attacks and hours of clashes, along with dozens of jihadists.

Houthi shells kill 18 in Yemen, dengue fever spreading Posted: 01 Jul 2015 01:40 PM PDT Shells fired by Yemen's dominant Houthi group killed 18 people near the southern port city of Aden early on Wednesday, local officials and witnesses said, while the United Nations warned that a dengue fever outbreak in Aden was rapidly spreading. Yemen, which has long struggled with poverty and hunger, has descended into a fullblown humanitarian crisis since a war erupted between the Houthis and allies of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, drawing in neighboring Saudi Arabia. The United Nations on Wednesday raised Yemen to its highest level humanitarian crisis, placing it alongside emergencies in South Sudan, Syria and Iraq.

UNESCO chief warns about jihadist 'culture cleansing' Posted: 01 Jul 2015 01:17 PM PDT The head of the UN cultural organisation on Wednesday called for a campaign against the "culture cleansing" being carried out by Islamic State jihadists. "Extremists don't destroy heritage as a collateral damage, they target it systematically to strike societies at their core," Irina Bokova said in a speech at the Chatham House think tank in London. Several archaeological sites have been attacked by IS jihadists in Iraq and Syria and their recent takeover of an area including the ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria sparked worldwide concern.

U.S. campaign highlights stress of fireworks on combat veterans Posted: 01 Jul 2015 01:07 PM PDT Gourley's husband Justin, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2000 to 2004, is one of about 500,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, which can be worsened by the cracks and thunder of celebratory fireworks. This year, in an effort to expose an issue about which many veterans feel shame, the Gourleys launched a sign campaign to educate their neighbors about the effects of fireworks on combat veterans.

Islamic State's strikes in Egypt: Is this a full-blown insurgency? Posted: 01 Jul 2015 12:52 PM PDT The coordinated attacks Wednesday in the northern Sinai Peninsula that killed at least 70 Egyptian soldiers raised questions both about the effectiveness of the government's tactics to contain the burgeoning Islamist insurgency there as well as the evolution of militant groups aligned with the so-called Islamic State. The dozen or more attacks were the most sophisticated and challenging to the Egyptian state in Sinai, or anywhere else in the country for that matter, for decades. The Egyptian government has been battling militants off and in the Sinai for years.

Trouble at home: Why Brazil's Rousseff needed US state visit Posted: 01 Jul 2015 12:33 PM PDT As Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff traded amicable jokes with President Barack Obama at the White House and discussed bilateral trade and investment opportunities this week, attention back home in Brazil was focused largely on an issue hitting far closer to home. Rousseff's center-left party opposed the amendment – and it failed to pass by five votes. Rousseff went from being able to turn her back on the US invitation in 2013, claiming moral authority over reported spying on her personal communications, to needing a cozier relationship today with the United States.

Man gets prison time, $1M fine in US military bribery case Posted: 01 Jul 2015 12:10 PM PDT DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A man extradited from Iraq in a U.S. military contract bribery case has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.

Man gets prison time, $1M fine in military bribery case Posted: 01 Jul 2015 12:01 PM PDT A man extradited from Iraq in a military contract bribery case has been sentenced in Ohio to 2 1/2 years in prison. Metin Atilan (MEH'-tin AT'-il-ahn) also was fined $1 million and given five years' probation. ...

UN: At least 1,466 Iraqis killed in June due to violence Posted: 01 Jul 2015 11:28 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — At least 1,466 Iraqis were killed by armed conflict in June, up more than 40 percent from the previous month as security forces suffered mounting casualties battling the Islamic State group, according to U.N. figures released Wednesday.

Commander who served in Iraq war in line to be Marine chief Posted: 01 Jul 2015 11:15 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the White House is nominating Lt. Gen. Robert Neller, a commander who served in Iraq's western province during one of the most violent periods of the war, to be commandant of the Marine Corps.

UK weighs more action against IS in Syria after Tunisia attack Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT By William James and Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is considering whether it could and should do more to help defeat Islamic State militants in Syria after a deadly attack in Tunisia last week killed up to 30 of its nationals, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday. As part of a U.S.-led coalition against IS, Britain conducts regular air strikes in neighboring Iraq and flies drones over Syria to gather intelligence on the militant group.

Rebel rocket fire kills 18 civilians in Yemen's Aden Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:23 AM PDT SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Rockets fired by Shiite rebels have killed at least 18 civilians and 13 anti-rebel fighters in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, where fierce fighting has been raging for months, the director of Aden's health services said Wednesday.

UN declares highest-level humanitarian emergency in Yemen Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:06 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Wednesday declared its highest-level humanitarian emergency in conflict-torn Yemen, where over 80 percent of the population need assistance. U.N. officials have said the Arab world's most impoverished country is now a step away from famine.

Tunisia identifies all 38 hotel attack victims, 30 of them British Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:02 AM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Thirty Britons and eight other foreigners were killed last Friday when a gunman opened fire on holiday-makers at a Tunisian hotel, Tunisia's health ministry said on Wednesday, completing the last formal identification. The bloody massacre at the Sousse resort, claimed by Islamic State militants, was the worst such attack in Tunisia's modern history, delivering a blow to the vital tourist industry just as the North African state consolidates its new democracy. Four years after a popular uprising toppled autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia is facing a growing threat from Islamist militants who the British government has warned may try to carry out more attacks.

Italian police arrest North Africa cell and five suspected Islamic State supporters Posted: 01 Jul 2015 09:19 AM PDT By Ilaria Polleschi MILAN, Italy (Reuters) - Italian police said on Wednesday they had arrested two people in Rome suspected of plotting attacks in Italy and North Africa, and five others in Italy and Albania who were planning to join hardline militant group Islamic State. Like other European countries, Italy has stepped up surveillance of individuals suspected of supporting militants in Syria and Iraq after indications that a number of Italians have traveled to the region to fight. Italy has also been monitoring suspect militants tied to North Africa, and police said they seized two people on Wednesday, with a third person connected to the case already in jail for alleged terror offences committed in Morocco.

UK family of 12, with baby and grandparents, believed to have gone to Syria Posted: 01 Jul 2015 08:34 AM PDT A British family of 12, including a baby and two grandparents one aged 75, are believed to have gone to Syria after the family reported them missing, police said on Wednesday. The family, from Luton in Bedfordshire, central England, have not been seen since mid-May when they failed to return home after a holiday in Bangladesh. "There is a suggestion that the family may have gone to Syria, however police have so far been unable to corroborate that information," Bedfordshire Police said in a statement.

9 Azerbaijani citizens sentenced for joining Islamic State Posted: 01 Jul 2015 08:32 AM PDT BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced nine people to prison terms of up to 15 years on charges of fighting alongside the Islamic State group in Syria.

Turkish parliament elects ruling party MP speaker, reducing hopes for grand coalition Posted: 01 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT Turkey's parliament voted along party lines on Wednesday to elect as its speaker Ismet Yilmaz, Defence Minister from the ruling AK Party, reducing prospects of a grand coalition between the assembly's two biggest parties. Had a consensus candidate been elected speaker, it could have pointed to a coalition between the AKP, which finished first in a June 7 ballot but was deprived a majority, and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). All coalition options could be hampered by differences over domestic and foreign policies and by AKP founder and president Tayyip Erdogan's determination to play a pivotal role in government.

Syrian Kurds say thwart big Islamic State attack on border town Posted: 01 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian Kurdish militia said it had recovered full control of the border town of Tel Abyad on Wednesday after Islamic State fighters raided its outskirts the day before in preparation for a larger assault. Backed by U.S.-led air strikes, the Kurdish YPG militia and smaller Syrian rebel groups captured Tel Abyad from Islamic State on June 15, severing an important supply route for the militants between the Turkish border and its de facto capital of Raqqa city to the south. YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said Islamic State fighters were repelled overnight after they briefly wrested control of an area on Tel Abyad's eastern periphery.

Islamic State less visible in Syrian stronghold: monitor Posted: 01 Jul 2015 08:07 AM PDT The hardline Islamic State group has installed surveillance cameras in its Syrian stronghold Raqqa city because it does not appear to have enough members to patrol the streets, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing activists on the ground, said Islamic State appeared to have sent members from Raqqa into battle in other parts of Syria, leading to a reduction in patrols of its self-appointed religious police in the northern city. Raqqa is Islamic State's defacto capital for territory that spreads across Syria and Iraq.

Islamic State weaves web of support in Gulf Arab states Posted: 01 Jul 2015 07:45 AM PDT By Angus McDowall and William Maclean KUWAIT/DUBAI (Reuters) - When a Saudi Arabian man flew to Kuwait in the early hours of Friday to carry out the country's worst militant attack, a bomb vest, Kuwaiti-style Arab robes, a place to prepare, and a car and driver to take him to his target were all lined up for him. The vest had been ferried across from Saudi Arabia a few days before in a complex operation suggesting Islamic State now commands a capable network of militants, propagandists and sympathizers on the Arabian peninsula, a security source said.Among those Fahd Suliman Abdul-Muhsen al-Qabaa contacted when his overnight flight via Bahrain landed, one had a family tie to Islamic State and another links to al Qaeda attacks in Kuwait a decade earlier, a security source and Kuwaiti media have reported.

Islamic State targeted in 17 air strikes by U.S.-led coalition: statement Posted: 01 Jul 2015 07:35 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State forces in Syria and Iraq on Tuesday in the latest round of daily attacks on the militant group, the joint task force overseeing the air strikes said. There were five air strikes using attack, bomber and fighter aircraft in northern Syria, near Hasaka, Kobani and Tal Abyad, the task force said in a statement Wednesday. ...

Hungary: Fence on Serbia border forced step to stop migrants Posted: 01 Jul 2015 06:59 AM PDT BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The fence Hungary wants to build on the Serbian border to stem the flow of illegal migrants is a "forced measure" not aimed at its southern neighbor, Hungary's prime minister said Wednesday.

Mass Sinai attacks show expanding Islamist challenge to Egyptian state authority Posted: 01 Jul 2015 06:29 AM PDT An Egyptian militant group allied with the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of at least 50 soldiers in the Sinai today in a coordinated series of attacks on six different military outposts in the lawless peninsula. The Sinai has had an Islamist militancy problem for decades, but in recent years the militants have grown and focused intensely on the Egyptian military and police. Today's attacks, which continued through the afternoon, appear to be the most serious challenge to government authority in living memory and follow the assassination of Egypt's chief prosecutor in Cairo.

Short of cash, U.N. cuts Syria refugees' rations again Posted: 01 Jul 2015 04:53 AM PDT The World Food Programme, running short of cash, will halve the value of food vouchers given to Syrian refugees in Lebanon this month and may cut all help for 440,000 Syrians in Jordan next month, the U.N. agency said on Wednesday. "Just when we thought things couldn't get worse, we are forced yet again to make yet more cuts," Muhannad Hadi, WFP's Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, said in a statement. "Refugees were already struggling to cope with what little we could provide." United Nations aid agencies said last week that a $4.5 billion appeal to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 was less than a quarter funded, putting millions of vulnerable people at risk, and had already led to cuts in vital assistance.

Italian police arrest family of couple who traveled to Syria Posted: 01 Jul 2015 03:49 AM PDT ROME (AP) — Italian anti-terrorism police on Wednesday arrested several family members of a married couple who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State group and were allegedly trying to persuade their relatives to join them, officials said.

Record 137,000 refugees, migrants crossed Mediterranean in 2015 Posted: 01 Jul 2015 02:35 AM PDT "Europe is living through a maritime refugee crisis of historic proportions," the UN refugee agency warned in a report. The immigration crisis is a burning issue for the EU, where member states have been wrangling over the best ways to tackle human trafficking and arguing over how to share the burden of helping new arrivals, many of them ill, starving and destitute. The soaring numbers arriving in Italy and Greece, before moving on to other northern European states in the hope of finding jobs, has sparked outcry and growing anti-foreigner rhetoric in many countries.

Tunisia hotel gunman trained in Libya jihadist camp: govt Posted: 30 Jun 2015 11:49 PM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - The Tunisian gunman who carried out a deadly attack on a hotel last Friday trained in a jihadist camp in Libya last year, Tunisia's government said on Tuesday. The death toll from the assault on the Imperial Marhaba beach hotel in the popular resort town of Sousse was revised down on Tuesday to 38 from a previously given 39. A spokesman for the prime minister said Saif Rezgui, who was killed by police following the rampage, was in Libya at the same time as two Tunisian gunmen who subsequently stormed the Tunis Bardo museum in March.

Australian killed fighting for Kurds against IS in Syria: family Posted: 30 Jun 2015 09:47 PM PDT An Australian man has died after stepping on a landmine in Syria while fighting for Kurdish forces against the Islamic State group, his family said Wednesday. Keith Harding said he learned on Monday that his 23-year-old son Reece, who left Australia in May, died on the weekend during a night-time operation. When he did so, the man on the other line explained: "I'm sorry mate that Reece is gone... he's stepped on a landmine.

Idaho refugee center targeted by closure campaign over extremism fears Posted: 30 Jun 2015 08:35 PM PDT A long-standing refugee welcoming center in conservative Idaho has found itself at the center of a campaign by adversaries seeking to force it closed, citing fears that the immigrants it hosts could include Islamist extremists. The backlash comes amid an uptick in anti-Islamic protests and advertising campaigns in the United States, including a high profile May rally outside an Arizona mosque that saw more than 200 protesters, some armed, berate Islam and its Prophet Mohammad. The newly formed Idaho group, whose 100 members plan a door-to-door information drive in July to win support for closing the refugee center in Twin Falls, said it was concerned the center will welcome Syrians displaced from that country's civil war who may not have been adequately screened by the U.S. government for security risks.

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