Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Obama on fighting the Islamic State: 'It will take time to root them out'
• Carnage in Nigeria's Jos ups pressure on Buhari
• Amnesty accuses Balkans of abusing EU-bound migrants
• Touting progress, Obama says Islamic State is losing ground
• Obama says US 'intensifying' anti-IS efforts in Syria
• Nevada GOP Rep. Joe Heck running for Reid's US Senate seat
• Obama: U.S. to increase support for Syria opposition
• Iraqi fighter jet accidentally bombs Baghdad, 12 killed
• U.S., allies target Islamic State with 19 air strikes in Syria, Iraq
• US oil prices sink nearly 8% on Greece, China worries
• Former kickboxing champ turned jihadist dies in Syria-Swiss TV
• All-clear at top US military hospital after gunshot scare
• Iran demands end to U.N. missile sanctions, West refuses
• Hungary parliament approves anti-migrant fence
• In Syria and Iraq, IS courts Sunni tribes with carrot and stick
• Obama at Pentagon for update on anti-IS campaign
• Israel arrests 6 Bedouin for supporting Islamic State group
• Islamic State takes ground from Syrian Kurds after air strikes
• Iraq jet accidentally bombs Baghdad, killing eight
• 800 million still hungry and poor despite progress of millennium goals: U.N.
• POW-MIA chief to push for private-group aid to find war dead
• Inside the Saudi prison that's home to new wave of jihadis
• Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride Cycles Through St. Louis
• Islamic State target Iraq's Haditha town with vehicle bombs
• Tensions with Russia could prompt NATO strategy rethink
• Hungary passes law to tighten asylum rules
• Italian police arrest Moroccan in anti-jihadism sweep
• Suicide bombers force soul-searching in British town
• True Detective Season Two: Fathers and Sons

Obama on fighting the Islamic State: 'It will take time to root them out' Posted: 06 Jul 2015 04:40 PM PDT Flanked Monday by America's top military officer, Gen. Martin Dempsey, as well as other brass including Gen. Joseph Votel, head of US Special Operations Command, President Obama was most interested in once again emphasizing his belief that this approach is a non-starter.

Carnage in Nigeria's Jos ups pressure on Buhari Posted: 06 Jul 2015 04:29 PM PDT At least 44 people were killed in twin bomb blasts in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the emergency services said on Monday, after a wave of mass casualty attacks blamed on Boko Haram militants. Sunday's bombings took the death toll from raids, explosions and suicide attacks to 267 this month alone and to 524 since Muhammadu Buhari became president on May 29, according to an AFP count.

Amnesty accuses Balkans of abusing EU-bound migrants Posted: 06 Jul 2015 04:18 PM PDT Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Balkan countries of mistreating migrants passing through their territories on the way to the European Union, saying people fleeing war were being "shamefully let down". "Thousands of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants -- including children -- making dangerous journeys across the Balkans are suffering violent abuse and extortion at the hands of the authorities and criminal gangs," the rights group said in a report. Migrants fleeing war, poverty and persecution were being "shamefully let down by a failing EU asylum and migration system which leaves them trapped without protection in Serbia and Macedonia," the London-based group said.

Touting progress, Obama says Islamic State is losing ground Posted: 06 Jul 2015 03:53 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama portrayed the U.S.-led coalition Monday as gaining ground against the Islamic State amid an expanded U.S. effort and ample signs of progress, but conceded more difficulties lay ahead in fighting what he described as a nimble and opportunistic enemy.

Obama says US 'intensifying' anti-IS efforts in Syria Posted: 06 Jul 2015 02:23 PM PDT President Barack Obama said Monday the US-led coalition battling Islamic State jihadists was "intensifying" its campaign against the group's base in Syria, but cautioned the fight would be long. Obama addressed the media after a briefing at the Pentagon with top military brass and members of his national security team on efforts to dismantle the jihadist group, which has taken over large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. The high-level talks came after coalition air strikes that hit the Islamic State group's de facto capital Raqa in Syria over the weekend -- some of the heaviest bombing since it began targeting the IS in Syria in September last year.

Nevada GOP Rep. Joe Heck running for Reid's US Senate seat Posted: 06 Jul 2015 02:08 PM PDT LAS VEGAS (AP) — Joe Heck, the newly announced Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada, on Monday criticized Donald Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants, saying entire ethnic groups can't be stereotyped.

Obama: U.S. to increase support for Syria opposition Posted: 06 Jul 2015 02:03 PM PDT By Jeff Mason and Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday pledged to increase U.S. support for the moderate opposition in Syria's civil war and said the United States needed to do more at home to prevent attacks and combat Islamic State efforts to recruit followers. Obama, speaking at the Pentagon, said the United States would continue to crack down on Islamic State's illicit finance operations around the world. There are no current plans to send additional U.S. troops overseas, he said, repeating that the fight against the militant group would not be quick.

Iraqi fighter jet accidentally bombs Baghdad, 12 killed Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:49 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi fighter jet accidentally dropped a bomb on a Baghdad neighborhood Monday, killing at least 12 people on the ground, Iraqi officials said.

U.S., allies target Islamic State with 19 air strikes in Syria, Iraq Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:47 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces conducted 11 air strikes in Iraq and eight more in Syria against Islamic State forces on Sunday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said on Monday. In Iraq, air strikes using attack, fighter, bomber and drone aircraft were conducted near Bayji, Falluja, Haditha, Kirkuk, Makhmur, Ramadi and Sinjar, the statement said. In Syria, air strikes that were carried out using bomber, drone and fighter aircraft were conducted near Al Hasakah, Ar Raqqah and Kobani, the statement said. The statement said the U.S. ...

US oil prices sink nearly 8% on Greece, China worries Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:45 PM PDT US oil prices sank nearly eight percent Monday on worries about slowing global growth after Greek voters rejected a bailout offer and China moved to calm financial market turbulence. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August fell $4.43, closing at $52.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. "With the crisis in Greece, with the Chinese market unstable, the demand we once saw for global oil is eroding quickly," said Carl Larry, a consultant for Frost & Sullivan in Houston.

Former kickboxing champ turned jihadist dies in Syria-Swiss TV Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:44 PM PDT ZURICH, July 6 (Reuters) - A former world champion kickboxer who left his home and family in Germany to join up with Middle East jihadists has died in Syria, Swiss television reported on Monday, citing his brother. Valdet Gashi died last Saturday under circumstances that remain unclear, SRF, the Swiss public broadcaster, said. According to media accounts, the 29-year-old German of Albanian descent linked up with Islamic State militants in January. In a telephone interview with SRF last month, he said he was trying to help build a modern calpihate in Syria. ...

All-clear at top US military hospital after gunshot scare Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:01 PM PDT Authorities gave the all-clear at a US military hospital complex outside Washington on Monday after reports of a gunshot prompted a lockdown -- the second such false alarm in a week in the capital area. Staff at the sprawling Walter Reed National Medical Center were ordered to shelter in place as police with sniffer dogs combed its 20-story main building, but investigators found no sign of any shots fired. "There is no evidence or any indication of a firearm being discharged," Montgomery County Police spokesman Captain Paul Starks said.

Iran demands end to U.N. missile sanctions, West refuses Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:00 PM PDT By Parisa Hafezi and Louis Charbonneau VIENNA (Reuters) - A dispute over U.N. sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program and a broader arms embargo were among issues holding up a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers on Monday, the day before their latest self-imposed deadline. "The Iranians want the ballistic missile sanctions lifted. "The Western side insists that not only should it (Iran's ballistic missile program) remain under sanctions, but that Iran should suspend its program as well," an Iranian official said.

Hungary parliament approves anti-migrant fence Posted: 06 Jul 2015 11:49 AM PDT Hungary's parliament on Monday overwhelmingly approved the construction of a controversial fence on the border with Serbia to keep out migrants, under new legislation that also tightens asylum application rules. The plans for the four-metre (13-foot) high barrier announced by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban last month triggered concern both in Serbia and the European Union, which is struggling to control a massive influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa. "Hungary is confronted with the biggest surge of migrants in its history, its capacities are overloaded by 130 percent," Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said before the vote.

In Syria and Iraq, IS courts Sunni tribes with carrot and stick Posted: 06 Jul 2015 11:47 AM PDT The sheikh from the Iraqi city of Ramadi which fell to IS on May 15 was one of several tribal leaders in Syria and Iraq who have pledged their support for the jihadist group. IS appears to have recognised the importance of Syria and Iraq's Sunni Arab tribes early on as it seized control of large parts of both countries last year. In Syria, the country's approximately 15 Sunni tribes account for some 15 percent of the population, though many Syrian Sunnis are not affiliated with a tribe.

Obama at Pentagon for update on anti-IS campaign Posted: 06 Jul 2015 11:41 AM PDT US President Barack Obama was to visit the Pentagon on Monday for an update on the campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The briefing on US-led efforts to dismantle the jihadist group follows coalition air strikes that hit its de facto capital Raqa in Syria over the weekend. Obama was to deliver a statement to the media after his Pentagon briefing by members of his national security team.

Israel arrests 6 Bedouin for supporting Islamic State group Posted: 06 Jul 2015 11:11 AM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Shin Bet security agency says it has arrested six Bedouin for establishing a cell supportive of the Islamic State group.

Islamic State takes ground from Syrian Kurds after air strikes Posted: 06 Jul 2015 10:55 AM PDT By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters stormed a Syrian town held by Kurdish-led forces near Raqqa city on Monday, part of a wider offensive by the militants two days after their de facto capital was hit by some of the heaviest U.S.-led air strikes in the conflict. The Kurdish YPG militia said it was fighting to expel Islamic State fighters who had attacked Ain Issa, captured from them only two weeks ago with aerial support from the U.S.-led military alliance. Ain Issa sits on a major east-west highway from Aleppo in the west to the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Iraq jet accidentally bombs Baghdad, killing eight Posted: 06 Jul 2015 10:25 AM PDT A bomb fell from an Iraqi Sukhoi warplane and exploded in eastern Baghdad on Monday because of a "technical problem", killing at least eight people and wounding 17, officials said. "One of the bombs became stuck because of a technical problem, and during its (the aircraft's) return to base it fell on... houses in Baghdad Jadida," security spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said. The pilot tried six times to drop the bomb, which became stuck while he was carrying out strikes against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, but was unable to dislodge it "mechanically or manually," the defence ministry said in a statement.

800 million still hungry and poor despite progress of millennium goals: U.N. Posted: 06 Jul 2015 10:23 AM PDT By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - About 800 million people still live in dire poverty and suffer from hunger despite the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) being the most successful anti-poverty push in history, the U.N. said on Monday. The number of people living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day has more than halved, to 836 million from 1.9 billion in 1990, the U.N. said in a report analyzing eight development goals set out in the Millennium Declaration in 2000. "Following profound and consistent gains, we now know that extreme poverty can be eradicated within one more generation," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

POW-MIA chief to push for private-group aid to find war dead Posted: 06 Jul 2015 10:04 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Pentagon's new agency in charge of recovering and identifying remains of U.S. war dead said he will push for more partnering with private groups that have resources and interest to help reinvigorate a troubled POW-MIA accounting mission.

Inside the Saudi prison that's home to new wave of jihadis Posted: 06 Jul 2015 09:42 AM PDT By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - The man visible on the block's control room monitor, pacing his small cell in uniform grey robe, is one of a rising number of security prisoners in Saudi Arabia, where the wars in Syria and Iraq have led to a surge in domestic jihadist activity. Until last year, the population of inmates at security prisons like Ha'er, just south of Riyadh, had been dropping as those detained during an al Qaeda uprising a decade ago were gradually released. As of March, nearly 2,300 Saudis had traveled to Syria to join jihadist groups like Islamic State and Nusra Front, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry.

Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride Cycles Through St. Louis Posted: 06 Jul 2015 09:00 AM PDT ST. LOUIS, July 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A city known for its sports teams and monumental architecture will soon serve as a backdrop for more than 50 injured service members taking an emotional first step towards recovery. Come show your support for our country's bravest men and women as Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Soldier Ride® presented by USAA® heads to St. Louis July 9-11. ...

Islamic State target Iraq's Haditha town with vehicle bombs Posted: 06 Jul 2015 06:09 AM PDT An Islamic State militant blew up an explosive-laden bulldozer near Haditha, killing seven Iraqi soldiers in one of a wave of bomb attacks on the northwestern town on Monday, a police source said. Haditha and its nearby dam lie in one of the few parts of the huge western province of Anbar still under the control of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government forces, which were driven out of the provincial capital Ramadi in May. Security services said they fired on and destroyed four other vehicles believed to be rigged with explosives near the town, before they could reach their targets. The coordinated assault reflected an escalation of Islamic State operations in the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Tensions with Russia could prompt NATO strategy rethink Posted: 06 Jul 2015 05:52 AM PDT By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is preparing for a long standoff with Russia, reluctantly accepting that the Ukraine conflict has fundamentally transformed Europe's security landscape and that it may have to abandon hope of a constructive relationship with Moscow. Some NATO allies, anxious to avoid a new Cold War or being dragged into an expensive arms race, had hoped the crisis in relations caused by President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region last year would blow over quickly, just as a chill over Russia's 2008 war with Georgia did. Both sides have escalated their rhetoric over eastern Ukraine, where the U.S.-dominated, 28-nation alliance accuses Russia of sending in troops to back pro-Russian separatists - charges denied by Moscow.

Hungary passes law to tighten asylum rules Posted: 06 Jul 2015 04:31 AM PDT BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's parliament passed legislation on Monday that tightens its asylum rules, providing the legal framework for the erection of a fence along the country's southern border with Serbia to stem the flow of illegal migrants. The legislation shortens the time frame for screening asylum claims and will allow Budapest to reject claims from migrants who on their journey from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq have passed through safe countries. The United Nations and the Council of Europe have criticized the bill, saying it would weaken refugee protection in Hungary. ...

Italian police arrest Moroccan in anti-jihadism sweep Posted: 06 Jul 2015 12:44 AM PDT MILAN (Reuters) - Italian police said on Monday they had arrested a Moroccan suspected of promoting Islamic militancy, and that a broader police operation was under way in a town near the central city of Pisa. Like other European countries, Italy has stepped up surveillance of individuals suspected of supporting militants in Syria and Iraq after indications that some of its citizens have travelled to the region to fight. Last week Italian police arrested two people in Rome suspected of plotting attacks in Italy and North Africa. ...

Suicide bombers force soul-searching in British town Posted: 05 Jul 2015 07:25 PM PDT Ten years after the ringleader of the London bombings set out from his Dewsbury home to blow up a train, the small English town is again grasping for answers after a local teen-turned-suicide bomber staged a deadly attack in Iraq. As Britain marks the anniversary on Tuesday of the attacks which killed 52 people, many in Dewsbury's tight-knit Muslim community blame the Internet for radicalisation, and eye government anti-extremism projects with suspicion. A recent speech by Prime Minister David Cameron in which he accused some British Muslims of "quietly condoning" jihadist actions has sparked outrage in the town.

True Detective Season Two: Fathers and Sons Posted: 05 Jul 2015 07:00 PM PDT Each week following episodes of True Detective, Spencer Kornhaber, Sophie Gilbert, and Christopher Orr will discuss the murders and machinations depicted in the HBO drama. Orr: More than a third of the way into this season of True Detective, I'd say that the two best scenes so far were adjacent ones, albeit ones in consecutive episodes: the last scene of episode two—the man in the bird mask appearing out of nowhere, the stunning (apparent) death of a principal character as the radio plays "I Pity the Fool"—and the first scene of tonight's episode: Ray and his father in the bar, and yet clearly someplace else altogether, someplace otherworldly. "Where is this?" Ray asks.

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