Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Obama hails Iran deal in speech to US veterans
• U.S. general touts putting air controllers with Iraqi troops
• Gov. Walker issues order to arm Wisconsin National Guard
• Congress Urged to Take Action on Global Crisis in Religious Persecution
• Iraqis launch offensive near Anbar base as blasts kill 32
• Strike kills senior Al-Qaeda leader in Syria: Pentagon
• Obama pitches Iran deal to vets, Daily Show's Stewart
• Islamic State suspected in attack on Turkish town linked to Kobane
• Three Spain journalists missing in Syria
• U.S.' Biden, Iraq's Abadi discuss F-16 'milestone': White House
• Turkey identifies suspect in suicide attack as dead activists mourned
• Turkish police use tear gas on protesters
• Carter, Netanyahu call it a day after discussing Iran deal
• Pentagon chief tries to calm Mideast jitters over Iran deal
• Obama: echoes of Iraq war mindset in Iran nuke deal critics
• Bombing shows Turkey a vulnerable target for Islamic State
• Obama says Veterans Affairs agency still needs improving
• Invoking Iraq War, Obama brushes off Iran deal critics
• FACT CHECK: Trump shortchanges McCain's record on veterans
• Where They Stand: John Kasich on issues of 2016 campaign
• Factbox: With Kasich, Republican 2016 presidential field hits 16
• Obama likens Iran deal critics to Iraq war jingoists
• Suicide attack unlikely to change Turkish stance on Syria
• UK man charged with planning to attack US military personnel
• US military denies coordinating strikes with Syria regime
• Germany struggles with surge in arson attacks against refugees
• Weber State University Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities Announces 2015-2016 Theatre Season
• Is Iran open to improved US ties? Leader's tough talk masks debate.
• Obama’s Iran Deal 10 Years Later: How It Could Change the World
• Europe Puts Its Finger on the Trigger
• French foreign minister says will visit Iran 'next week'
• Stealthy jet ensures other war-fighting aircraft survive
• Mark Ruffalo on Climate Change, Activism and the Power of Anger
• Jordan battling to rescue its key earner tourism
• The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet

Obama hails Iran deal in speech to US veterans Posted: 21 Jul 2015 04:30 PM PDT US President Barack Obama told a gathering of military veterans Tuesday that hardheaded diplomacy with Iran could avoid the kind of "unnecessary wars" for which they paid the price. Obama travelled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in steely mood, and urged the 1.9 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars group to give the nuclear deal with Tehran a chance. Insisting he was no peacenik afraid to deploy the military, Obama boasted about a string of military operations that took high-ranking Al-Qaeda officials such as Osama bin Laden off the battlefield.

U.S. general touts putting air controllers with Iraqi troops Posted: 21 Jul 2015 04:08 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Putting U.S. air controllers with Iraqi forces closer to combat areas so they can identify and direct bombing would improve air strikes on Islamic State rebel targets and should be "seriously considered," a top U.S. general told lawmakers on Tuesday. General Mark Milley, nominee for the next Army chief of staff, also told his Senate confirmation hearing he favored providing lethal defensive equipment to help Ukrainian troops counter the artillery of Russian-backed rebels. Milley's appointment is one of several that is reshaping U.S. military leadership.

Gov. Walker issues order to arm Wisconsin National Guard Posted: 21 Jul 2015 03:41 PM PDT MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican Gov. Scott Walker issued an executive order Tuesday authorizing Wisconsin National Guard personnel to carry firearms while on duty in the wake of an attack on a pair of military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Congress Urged to Take Action on Global Crisis in Religious Persecution Posted: 21 Jul 2015 03:38 PM PDT WASHINGTON, July 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A bipartisan group of national thought leaders has called upon Congress to take action now to develop a national strategy addressing the tragic global crisis in religious freedom. With the current catastrophic state of international religious persecution, violence and terrorism, a deficient foreign policy will have dire consequences for religious minorities worldwide as well as for U.S. national security. ...

Iraqis launch offensive near Anbar base as blasts kill 32 Posted: 21 Jul 2015 03:24 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal fighters launched an offensive on Tuesday to dislodge Islamic State militants and secure a supply route in Anbar province, police and tribal sources said. The deadliest was when a car packed with explosives was detonated in the mainly Shi'ite district of New Baghdad in northeastern Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding 48. The pro-government offensive tackled Islamic State militants near the western outpost of Haditha in a bid to secure a route to the nearby Ain al-Asad military base.

Strike kills senior Al-Qaeda leader in Syria: Pentagon Posted: 21 Jul 2015 03:16 PM PDT The alleged leader of Al-Qaeda's Khorasan Group was killed in an air strike by the US-led coalition in northern Syria, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The "kinetic strike" killed Muhsin al-Fadhli on July 8 while he was traveling in a vehicle near Sarmada, Syria, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. Fadhli was allegedly the leader of the Khorasan Group, a group of senior Al-Qaeda members who have traveled from Central Asia and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria to plot attacks on the West.

Obama pitches Iran deal to vets, Daily Show's Stewart Posted: 21 Jul 2015 03:09 PM PDT By Julia Edwards NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's campaign to convince Congress to support the Iran nuclear deal led him on Tuesday to a veterans' convention and The Daily Show, where he took jabs at those opposing the agreement. In a back and forth on Comedy Central's nightly political satire show, Obama pushed back against hard questions from host Jon Stewart. "Sounds like a good partner for peace," Stewart responded sarcastically.

Islamic State suspected in attack on Turkish town linked to Kobane Posted: 21 Jul 2015 02:17 PM PDT Suruc, the Turkish border town targeted Monday by a bombing that killed 32 people, served as a lifeline to the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane during fierce fighting last fall and is now home to the largest refugee camp in Turkey. As such, it is a symbol of Ankara's open door policy toward its war-torn neighbor. Now, amid renewed criticism of Turkey's Syria policy, local authorities focused their suspicions on the Islamic State (IS).

Three Spain journalists missing in Syria Posted: 21 Jul 2015 01:31 PM PDT Three Spanish freelance journalists have gone missing in Syria where they were reporting from the northwestern Aleppo region, the head of a Spanish press federation said on Tuesday. Jose Manuel Lopez, Antonio Pampliega and Angel Sastre entered Syria via southern Turkey on July 10 "and there has been no news of them since July 12", said Elsa Gonzalez, president of the Federation of Press Associations of Spain.

U.S.' Biden, Iraq's Abadi discuss F-16 'milestone': White House Posted: 21 Jul 2015 01:30 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi spoke on Tuesday about the recent delivery of F-16 fighter jets, calling it a "major milestone" in the partnership between the two countries, the White House said. Biden offered condolences for the attack last week that killed more than 100 people in a suicide car bombing in Diyala province, and the leaders discussed the ongoing campaign against Islamic State militants in Anbar province, the White House said in a statement about the phone call. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Turkey identifies suspect in suicide attack as dead activists mourned Posted: 21 Jul 2015 12:40 PM PDT Turkey said Tuesday it had identified a suspect over a devastating suicide bombing on the border with Syria blamed on Islamic State jihadists, as the government rushed to bolster security on the porous frontier. The attack in Suruc, in a mainly Kurdish region of Turkey, was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years and the first time the government has directly accused Islamic State of carrying out an act of terror on Turkish soil.

Turkish police use tear gas on protesters Posted: 21 Jul 2015 12:14 PM PDT Turkish police on Tuesday fired tear gas and water cannon against hundreds of protesters who took to streets to condemn the deadly suicide attack in a border town, an AFP photographer reported. A crowd of 800 demonstrators gathered at Kadikoy on the Asian side of Istanbul to denounce the attack in the Kurdish majority town of Suruc near the Syrian border. The bomb attack blamed on the Islamic State killed 32 people -- mostly young activists.

Carter, Netanyahu call it a day after discussing Iran deal Posted: 21 Jul 2015 11:45 AM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — In high-stakes talks aimed at calming U.S. allies' fears about the Iran nuclear deal, Defense Secretary Ash Carter appeared to change no minds among Israeli leaders fiercely opposed to the deal.

Pentagon chief tries to calm Mideast jitters over Iran deal Posted: 21 Jul 2015 11:09 AM PDT US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter sought to reassure anxious Middle East allies Tuesday over the Iran nuclear deal during a regional tour that includes stops in Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Carter met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce critic of the landmark Iran accord, before flying on to Jordan, a key partner in the US-led war on the Islamic State (IS) group. Addressing military personnel from six nations in the anti-jihadist coalition at a Jordanian airbase, he said the United States and Israel had a "common commitment to countering Iranian malign influence in the region".

Obama: echoes of Iraq war mindset in Iran nuke deal critics Posted: 21 Jul 2015 11:09 AM PDT PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) — President Barack Obama denounced "chest-beating" critics and told a veterans group Tuesday that those who oppose the diplomatic agreement to rein in Iran's nuclear program are some of the same people who were quick to want to go to war in Iraq and thought military action there would take only a matter of months.

Bombing shows Turkey a vulnerable target for Islamic State Posted: 21 Jul 2015 11:07 AM PDT ISTANBUL (AP) — Officials have raised concerns that a deadly bombing in southeastern Turkey is part of a campaign of retaliation by the Islamic State group for a recent crackdown on its operations in the country.

Obama says Veterans Affairs agency still needs improving Posted: 21 Jul 2015 10:47 AM PDT By Julia Edwards PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - A little more than a year after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' secretary stepped down over reports the agency was offering inadequate health care, President Barack Obama told veterans on Tuesday his administration had more work to do for them. The group was the first major veterans organization to call for an investigation into reports last year that the federal agency was hiding reports of veterans' long wait times for care. Obama said veterans still needed better mental health care and should not have to drive long distances for care.

Invoking Iraq War, Obama brushes off Iran deal critics Posted: 21 Jul 2015 10:45 AM PDT PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brushing off his "chest-beating" critics, President Barack Obama accused opponents of the Iran nuclear deal Tuesday of being the same people who rushed the U.S. into an ill-fated war in Iraq. As he sought support for the deal from U.S. veterans, he said the deal's foes were merely popping off soundbites that accomplish nothing.

FACT CHECK: Trump shortchanges McCain's record on veterans Posted: 21 Jul 2015 10:43 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — After stirring up a furor with his dismissive remarks about John McCain's Vietnam war experience, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went after the Arizona senator's record on veterans' issues, accusing McCain, a former Navy pilot, of abandoning those who served their country in uniform.

Where They Stand: John Kasich on issues of 2016 campaign Posted: 21 Jul 2015 10:31 AM PDT COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Where Ohio Gov. John Kasich stands on various issues that will be debated in the Republican presidential campaign, a race he joined Tuesday.

Factbox: With Kasich, Republican 2016 presidential field hits 16 Posted: 21 Jul 2015 09:48 AM PDT (Reuters) - The field for the Republican Party's 2016 presidential nomination grew to 16 candidates on Tuesday as Ohio Governor John Kasich entered the race for the White House. For the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll results on the Republican presidential candidates, see: (http://bit.ly/1BKCdVi) Here is a list of the Republicans seeking the nomination for the November 2016 election: JEB BUSH The former Florida governor, the son of one president and brother of another, announced his White House bid on June 15 after long testing the waters. Before officially entering the race, Bush, 62, already had faced criticism for not distancing himself from the foreign policies of his brother, former President George W. Bush, and for struggling with questions about the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Obama likens Iran deal critics to Iraq war jingoists Posted: 21 Jul 2015 09:05 AM PDT President Barack Obama says the people criticizing the Iran nuclear deal are the same people who rushed into war with Iraq. Obama is speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' national convention in Pittsburgh. ...

Suicide attack unlikely to change Turkish stance on Syria Posted: 21 Jul 2015 09:04 AM PDT By Nick Tattersall and Orhan Coskun ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - A suspected Islamic State suicide bombing that killed 32 people in a Turkish border town is unlikely to push Ankara to strike against the group in Syria, where it still sees Kurdish separatism and President Bashar al-Assad as the major threats. Turkey has been a reluctant partner in a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State, refusing a frontline role in military action and arguing only Assad's ouster - not just air strikes on the radical Islamists - can bring peace. It is believed to favor some less radical Islamists who vie with Islamic State.

UK man charged with planning to attack US military personnel Posted: 21 Jul 2015 08:48 AM PDT LONDON (AP) — A British man has been accused in court of planning an attack against U.S. military personnel in Britain.

US military denies coordinating strikes with Syria regime Posted: 21 Jul 2015 08:24 AM PDT The US military flatly denied Tuesday a claim from a Kurdish militia source that it coordinates air strikes against the IS group in Syria with Bashar al-Assad's government forces. Both Syrian and US-led coalition planes have been seen in recent days over Hasakeh in northern Syria, where the so-called Islamic State is battling local Kurdish fighters. "US aircraft are not coordinating in any way with Syrian government assets, neither directly or through an intermediary, nor have we in the past," Major Curtis Kellogg of US Central Command told AFP.

Germany struggles with surge in arson attacks against refugees Posted: 21 Jul 2015 08:21 AM PDT By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Hardly a day has passed this year in Germany without an attack on refugee shelters as the country struggles to cope with a record-breaking number of asylum-seekers fleeing wars and violence abroad. A total of 150 arson or other attacks have been recorded in the first six months of 2015, damaging or destroying newly renovated shelters for the 450,000 asylum-seekers expected to reach Germany this year, according to government data. "I feel shame for the hatred of foreigners out there on the streets of Germany," Justice Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday after the Interior Ministry reported a near doubling of attacks on shelters to 150 in the first half of this year.

Weber State University Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities Announces 2015-2016 Theatre Season Posted: 21 Jul 2015 06:03 AM PDT OGDEN, Utah, July 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities at Weber State University (WSU) www.weber.edu/cah today announced its 2015-2016 theatre season, complete with two musicals, a classic and a Utah premiere. "The goal of every theatre season is to present live performances that enrich, educate and enlighten our audiences," said Catherine Zublin, interim dean of the Weber State University Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities. "What is particularly noteworthy about the 2015-2016 season is our award-winning directors have selected plays that have stood the test of time like Shakespeare's, The Tempest and George and Ira Gershwin's musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It along with timely productions like 9 Circles that confronts issues dealing with the aftermath of war.

Is Iran open to improved US ties? Leader's tough talk masks debate. Posted: 21 Jul 2015 05:39 AM PDT When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered his prayer sermon to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan Saturday, just days after conclusion of the landmark Iran nuclear deal, the hostile rhetoric rang like business as usual. "Our policy toward the arrogant government of America will not change in any way despite these negotiations and the document that has been prepared," Ayatollah Khamenei said, his left hand resting on the barrel of a rifle – a tradition of Iran's main prayer leaders since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Recommended: How much do you know about Iran?

Obama’s Iran Deal 10 Years Later: How It Could Change the World Posted: 21 Jul 2015 01:15 AM PDT The president visited Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the supreme leader of Iran, accompanied by Iranian President Mohammed Javad Zarif in Tehran. Many Saudi and Israeli voices now question the possibility of turning Iran from a U.S. foe to an ally. A more realistic scenario would be something akin to what happened after President Nixon's overtures to China in 1972.

Europe Puts Its Finger on the Trigger Posted: 21 Jul 2015 01:00 AM PDT Around the continent, defense and intelligence budgets are ballooning in response to a plethora of threats.

French foreign minister says will visit Iran 'next week' Posted: 21 Jul 2015 12:47 AM PDT France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday he would visit Iran "next week", after the historic deal on its nuclear programme, and expected to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani. Although Fabius did not provide more precise details, his aides told AFP that the trip would likely take place next Wednesday. "I will be there next week," Fabius told French radio.

Stealthy jet ensures other war-fighting aircraft survive Posted: 21 Jul 2015 12:07 AM PDT JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. (AP) — Screaming through the air along southern Virginia's coast, the Air Force's F-22 Raptor routinely puts on a dazzling show of loops, dives and combat maneuvers designed to bedevil and defeat opponents before they ever know it's there.

Mark Ruffalo on Climate Change, Activism and the Power of Anger Posted: 20 Jul 2015 09:00 PM PDT At the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy, the Academy Award nominee says renewable energy is more accessible than ever before.

Jordan battling to rescue its key earner tourism Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:37 PM PDT Natural wonders it has in abundance, but natural resources are lacking. A haven of peace surrounded by war, Jordan is turning to contingency measures to try to revive its tourism industry which is suffering because of the raging violence in its neighbours Iraq and Syria. Tourism in 2014 contributed 14 percent of the kingdom's gross domestic product, to the tune of $4.4 billion (4.0 billion euros), the second highest earner after remittances from expatriates.

The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet Posted: 20 Jul 2015 03:10 PM PDT With John Kasich's announcement Tuesday morning that he's running for president, the Republican presidential field is now complete. Oh sure, there might be new candidates—former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore seems likely to announce a campaign in August—but every candidate with even a small chance of making it to a debate stage in Cleveland (or past Super Tuesday, for that matter) has already leaped in. In fact, Kasich might not make the stage, either—even though the first forum is being held in Ohio, the state where he's governor.

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