Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• EU ministers can't agree on relocating 40,000 refugees
• Russia is top U.S. national security threat: U.S. Gen. Dunford
• Former Saudi FM Prince Saud al-Faisal dies
• Saud al-Faisal, former Saudi foreign minister, dies
• FBI says it thwarted Islamic State-inspired July 4 attacks
• Joint Chiefs nominee: Russia biggest threat to US security
• Iraqi officials: Bombs in Baghdad, Iraqi town kill 16 people
• Syrian army says it's closing in on Islamic State in Palmyra
• Morocco arrests eight from 'IS recruitment cell'
• Saud al-Faisal, Saudi foreign minister for 40 years, dies
• Saudi former veteran foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal dies
• George W. Bush charges vets group $100,000 for speech. Too much?
• Saudi FM says Riyadh determined to confront Iranian expansion in region
• Is a 'rump state' of Syria inevitable? Assad digs in his heels.
• In Baghdad, end of a curfew brings Ramadan joy
• AJC Deplores UNESCO World Heritage Report on Israel
• Paul Ryan: Threat of Government Shutdown Is Real Unless Dems Back Down
• Army announces troop cuts, says they could expand
• U.N. expects Yemen fighting to halt from Friday until Ramadan ends
• Tech and politics clash over protecting your data
• Number of Syrian refugees tops four million: UN
• Iraq police and militiamen clash in Baghdad
• Syria army 'battles IS outside Palmyra'
• As Iraq splinters, Kurds' own unity put to test
• Emir says Kuwaitis foil bid to sow sectarian divisions after bombing
• Trump Won’t Tone It Down: He Doubles Down on Insults
• U.S., allies conduct 21 air strikes against Islamic State: military
• Russia wants Iran arms embargo 'lifted as soon as possible'
• Two Indonesian pilots may pose security threat: leaked document
• Syria's neighbors now host four million of its refugees, U.N. says
• Obama picks career diplomat as ambassador in Libya

EU ministers can't agree on relocating 40,000 refugees Posted: 09 Jul 2015 03:31 PM PDT BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union ministers failed Thursday to agree on relocating 40,000 of the refugees making risky boat trips from North Africa to Italy and Greece and will try again later this month to broker a deal on how many people each country will accept.

Russia is top U.S. national security threat: U.S. Gen. Dunford Posted: 09 Jul 2015 03:30 PM PDT By Phil Stewart and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia presents the greatest threat to U.S. national security and its behavior is "nothing short of alarming," Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford told lawmakers on Thursday as they weighed his nomination to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford also added his voice to those Pentagon officials who have supported providing lethal arms to Ukraine to help it defend itself from Russia-backed separatists, a step that President Barack Obama has so far resisted. "My assessment today, senator, is that Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security," said Dunford, the Marine Corps commandant, who is expected to swiftly win Senate confirmation to become the top U.S. military officer.

Former Saudi FM Prince Saud al-Faisal dies Posted: 09 Jul 2015 03:25 PM PDT Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal, formerly the world's longest-serving foreign minister who oversaw four decades of turbulent diplomacy for the oil-rich kingdom, has died, family members and an official said Thursday. Prince Saud, who was born in 1940, was one of the highest profile members of the kingdom's ruling elite before stepping down in April for health reasons. The prince oversaw Saudi Arabia's emergence as a major diplomatic player, facing successive regional crises and maintaining a focus on relations with the West.

Saud al-Faisal, former Saudi foreign minister, dies Posted: 09 Jul 2015 02:39 PM PDT RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal, who was the world's longest-serving foreign minister with 40 years in the post until his retirement this year, has died, the ministry spokesman said Thursday. He was 75.

FBI says it thwarted Islamic State-inspired July 4 attacks Posted: 09 Jul 2015 02:26 PM PDT U.S. authorities foiled attacks planned around the Fourth of July, arresting more than 10 people in the month before the holiday who were inspired by Islamic State online recruitment, FBI Director James Comey said on Thursday. "I do believe our work disrupted efforts to kill people likely in connection with July 4th," Comey told reporters at the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Separately, a national security source said multiple overseas plots by Islamic State sympathizers had also been halted in recent days.

Joint Chiefs nominee: Russia biggest threat to US security Posted: 09 Jul 2015 02:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia poses the world's greatest threat to U.S. national security, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff declared on Thursday. The White House quickly distanced the president from that blunt assessment.

Iraqi officials: Bombs in Baghdad, Iraqi town kill 16 people Posted: 09 Jul 2015 01:40 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of bombings in Iraq, including a car bombing in Baghdad and a town south of the Iraqi capital, killed 16 people on Thursday, officials said.

Syrian army says it's closing in on Islamic State in Palmyra Posted: 09 Jul 2015 12:59 PM PDT The Syrian army said on Thursday it was closing in on Islamic State militants in control of Palmyra, in a major offensive to recapture the city of Roman ruins from the jihadists. A newsflash on state television quoted a Syrian army source as saying its forces were in the vicinity of the city.

Morocco arrests eight from 'IS recruitment cell' Posted: 09 Jul 2015 12:48 PM PDT Morocco said Thursday it had arrested eight people suspected of operating a recruitment cell for the Islamic State group in the North African kingdom. Cell members "secured the transfer of dozens of fighters... in coordination with elements operating on the border between Turkey and Syria," said an interior ministry statement carried by the official MAP news agency. The recruits were charged with "carrying out suicide car bomb operations in Iraq and Syria" for the extremist group, the statement added.

Saud al-Faisal, Saudi foreign minister for 40 years, dies Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:48 AM PDT Former Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal died on Thursday, Saudi Arabian sources and media close to the kingdom's ruling family reported, two months after he was replaced following 40 years in the job. Prince Saud, who was 75, was the world's longest serving foreign minister when replaced on April 29 by Adel al-Jubeir, the then-ambassador to Washington. The Al-Arabiya channel, which is close to King Salman's branch of the ruling family, confirmed the news.

Saudi former veteran foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal dies Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:48 AM PDT Prince Saud al-Faisal, who retired in April after serving 40 years as Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, died on Thursday, two Saudi sources and media close to the ruling family said. Equally at home in Arab robes or a tweed suit and tie, and as fluent in English as in Arabic, Prince Saud proved adept at cutting through diplomatic niceties to deliver Saudi Arabia's message with pith and wit.

George W. Bush charges vets group $100,000 for speech. Too much? Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:41 AM PDT Bill Clinton commands upwards of $200,000 for some speeches, and reportedly pulled in a $500,000 donation to his foundation for one. Former actor Ronald Reagan turned his talent into a lucrative third career. Bush charged the Texas-based charity Helping a Hero $100,000 for a 2012 speech at a charity fundraiser for veterans who lost limbs in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, ABC News first reported.

Saudi FM says Riyadh determined to confront Iranian expansion in region Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:36 AM PDT By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday his country was determined to confront what he called Iran's internal meddling in the affairs of Arab states, saying Riyadh had already curbed Tehran's efforts to expand its influence. Regional instability has been fueled by rivalry between Shi'ite Muslim Iran and the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is among the main sponsors of the insurgency against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who in turn is backed by Iran and Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement.

Is a 'rump state' of Syria inevitable? Assad digs in his heels. Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:14 AM PDT A Hezbollah-led assault this week on the rebel-held town of Zabadani near Damascus appears consistent with an Iranian-backed plan for the Syrian regime to withdraw its forces to a more defendable line in the west of the country. For months, analysts have seen a pull back to a "rump state" as inevitable given the exhaustion of the Syrian army, the critical shortage of loyalist fighters, limits on Iranian resources, and territorial gains made this year by rebel forces in the north and south of the country. While that assessment hasn't changed, President Bashar al-Assad's regime so far is showing little sign of retrenching to its mooted enclave in western Syria, with hard-pressed and vulnerable Syrian troops continuing to fight isolated battles in far-flung outposts across the country.

In Baghdad, end of a curfew brings Ramadan joy Posted: 09 Jul 2015 11:03 AM PDT By Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It's 1.30 a.m. and the Aroma Café in an affluent district of Baghdad is buzzing, packed with people enjoying a traditional pre-dawn Suhoor meal before starting their daily Ramadan fast. The lifting of a night-time curfew in the Iraqi capital five months ago means that, for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion brought violence and turmoil, lavish Ramadan meals can stretch on until dawn. "This is the first year that we feel the joys of Ramadan in the way that we used to do in the 80s and 70s," said Fawziya at the Aroma Cafe, referring an era which many Baghdad residents now recall as a golden age.

AJC Deplores UNESCO World Heritage Report on Israel Posted: 09 Jul 2015 10:50 AM PDT NEW YORK, July 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC deplores the condemnation of Israel by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee. Meeting in Bonn, Germany, the committee voted 13 to 2, with 5 abstentions and one country absent, to express "deep concern" about Israeli actions that allegedly damage the structures and "visual integrity" of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Paul Ryan: Threat of Government Shutdown Is Real Unless Dems Back Down Posted: 09 Jul 2015 10:50 AM PDT House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) warned on Thursday that the threat of another government shutdown is real unless President Obama and the Democrats end their opposition to a GOP budget plan that boosts defense spending while capping domestic programs. Ryan said that senate Democrats' efforts to filibuster a fiscal 2016 defense appropriations bill that exceeds legal caps by $38 billion are problematic and could provoke another government-wide spending crisis. During an interview this morning with Ben White of Politico, Ryan was asked whether the festering dispute over spending policy could cause a repeat of the 2013 government shutdown.

Army announces troop cuts, says they could expand Posted: 09 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army said Thursday that six domestic bases will lose 1,200 or more soldiers as part of a cost-saving plan to reduce the active-duty force by 40,000 troops over the coming two years. If Congress and the White House cannot avert another round of budget cuts this year, even deeper troop reductions would result, Army officials said.

U.N. expects Yemen fighting to halt from Friday until Ramadan ends Posted: 09 Jul 2015 10:26 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said it expects an unconditional week-long humanitarian pause in the fighting in Yemen to start on Friday to allow the delivery of assistance to some of the 21 million people in need. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement since late March in a bid to restore to power Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh. "(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) noted that the President has communicated his acceptance of the pause to the coalition to ensure their support and collaboration," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Thursday.

Tech and politics clash over protecting your data Posted: 09 Jul 2015 09:43 AM PDT A heated debate flares up on Capitol Hill over a proposal to weaken cybersecurity tools for the sake of national security and law enforcement.

Number of Syrian refugees tops four million: UN Posted: 09 Jul 2015 08:35 AM PDT More than four million Syrians have fled their country's civil war, the United Nations said on Thursday, with many now despairing that they will ever return to their conflict-wracked homeland. "We don't think about going back to Syria. What we think about from day-to-day is how to keep our children alive," said Yassin al-Ali, a Syrian refugee living in northern Lebanon.

Iraq police and militiamen clash in Baghdad Posted: 09 Jul 2015 08:17 AM PDT Iraqi paramilitaries exchanged fire with police in Baghdad Thursday, the latest sign of tension between the government and the country's Shiite militias, security sources said. An interior ministry officer said around 15 gunmen from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) force stormed an unfinished health ministry building in the Zayyounah neighbourhood overnight. A police colonel said three policemen were wounded in the clashes, which resulted in the militiamen eventually leaving the building.

Syria army 'battles IS outside Palmyra' Posted: 09 Jul 2015 07:30 AM PDT Syrian army troops backed by war planes advanced to within several kilometres of Palmyra on Thursday, battling Islamic State group fighters outside the famed ancient city, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops were now some five kilometres (three miles) west of the city and engaged in fierce clashes with forces from the extremist group. "Regime forces could enter the city at any moment, they are not far away and the area between them and the city is desert," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

As Iraq splinters, Kurds' own unity put to test Posted: 09 Jul 2015 07:17 AM PDT By Isabel Coles ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Their common enemy is Islamic State, but Iraq's Kurds are preoccupied by a struggle within their autonomous region, where political parties are jousting over the presidency and their supporters are invoking an old civil war. Several factions that hold the balance of power say they will only agree to extend President Massoud Barzani's mandate to avoid a leadership vacuum if the entire system is overhauled in a way that would ultimately reduce his authority. Barzani, 68, a veteran guerrilla leader who fought against dictator Saddam Hussein for decades, has ruled the region since its presidency was established in 2005.

Emir says Kuwaitis foil bid to sow sectarian divisions after bombing Posted: 09 Jul 2015 06:07 AM PDT The emir of Kuwait said on Thursday his country had thwarted attempts to sow sectarian divisions after last month's suicide bombing but warned that the world needs to do more to confront the "satanic" behavior of Islamist militants. An Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shi'ite mosque in the Western-allied Gulf Arab state on June 26, killing 27 people in the worst militant attack in a decade. Kuwaiti officials say the bombing appeared aimed at stoking sectarian hatred between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in the country.

Trump Won’t Tone It Down: He Doubles Down on Insults Posted: 09 Jul 2015 05:45 AM PDT Real estate mogul and master of outrageous soundbites Donald Trump can't seem to stay out of the news these days as he continues his quest to win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus spent 45 minutes on the phone with Trump yesterday, urging him to "tone it down" because he was hurting the Republican brand, but The Donald was undeterred. Most of the media attention surrounding Trump has been negative since he asserted that illegal Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals.

U.S., allies conduct 21 air strikes against Islamic State: military Posted: 09 Jul 2015 05:14 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 14 air strikes on Wednesday and conducted seven strikes against the militant group in Syria, the military said in a statement on Thursday. The Iraq strikes were spread across the country, hitting targets near Baghdadi, Al Huwayjah, Falluja, Haditha, Kirkuk, Makhmur, Mosul, Ramadi, Sinjar and Tal Afar. They destroyed a checkpoint, tunnel entrance, weaponry, buildings and a bunker, according to the Combined Joint Task Force. ...

Russia wants Iran arms embargo 'lifted as soon as possible' Posted: 09 Jul 2015 03:16 AM PDT Russia wants to see a United Nations arms embargo against Iran lifted "as soon as possible" but it is up to Tehran to accept the terms of a final nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. "We are in favour of lifting the embargo as soon as possible and will support a decision made by Iran's negotiators," Lavrov told reporters.

Two Indonesian pilots may pose security threat: leaked document Posted: 09 Jul 2015 01:45 AM PDT Australian authorities believe two Indonesian pilots may pose a security threat after being radicalised by Islamic State, a leaked intelligence document obtained by an investigative website shows, although officials Thursday refused to confirm its veracity. The Australian Federal Police "Operational Intelligence Report", published online by investigative website The Intercept, said the pilots were "likely employees" of AirAsia and Premiair and came to their attention through their Facebook pages. It said their postings "inferred support to the Islamic State (IS)" group.

Syria's neighbors now host four million of its refugees, U.N. says Posted: 08 Jul 2015 10:16 PM PDT The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries has passed 4 million, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Thursday, adding that the total was on course to reach 4.27 million by the end of 2015. "This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. It is a population that needs the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into poverty," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a statement. Most refugees from Syria's four years of war are in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey, which has more refugees than any other country, with 1.8 million Syrians.

Obama picks career diplomat as ambassador in Libya Posted: 08 Jul 2015 08:19 PM PDT President Barack Obama has tapped a career diplomat with extensive experience in global hot spots to head the sensitive post of ambassador to Libya. If the nomination is approved, Peter Bodde will replace Deborah Jones, who succeeded Christopher Stevens, who was killed in a 2012 attack on an American mission in Benghazi, Libya. The US mission to Libya is based in Malta because of insecurity in the country.

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