Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Editorial Roundup: Excerpts from recent editorials
• Russia Launches Airstrikes in Syria
• Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, but West disputes targets
• Suspect in Danish police stabbing was 'potential radical': spy agency
• Russia enters Syria war with air strikes
• Why is Finland a top destination for Iraqi asylum-seekers?
• Iraqi Kurds drive Islamic State out of villages
• Russia begins Syria air strikes as war enters volatile new phase
• Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq return home
• Amid Taliban gains, US military favors longer presence
• First wave of cold weather hits migrants hard in Balkans
• Russia, U.S. face off at U.N. over parallel Syria air campaigns
• Europe's migrant crisis in the UN spotlight
• The Latest: Syria opposition says Russia targets civilians
• 16 Turkish hostages freed in Iraq arrive back home
• Iraq Kurds take back land from IS jihadists
• Russia says its air strikes against Islamic State will not be extended to Iraq
• What are countries outside the EU doing to help Syrian refugees?
• Russia says ready to liaise with U.S. coalition on Syria strikes
• Republican-led Senate panel opens review of Syria intelligence
• Fleeing Iraqi Christians find new life in Lourdes
• Russia kicks off airstrike campaign in Syria
• Kurds take ground from Islamic State in north Iraq
• Former Secretaries of Defense to Keynote TMA Chicago/Midwest's Premier Event
• Labour grassroots members demand U.N. backing for Syria air strikes
• Sinclair stations begin show with Attkisson
• Finland shelves decisions on Iraqi and Somali asylum claims
• Kremlin launches airstrikes in Syria, despite Russian public's reluctance
• Western-backed Syrian rebel group says hit by Russian air strikes
• The forces fighting Syria's war
• Labour ready to support Syria air strikes, with conditions
• 16 Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq are released
• Russian strikes do not alter coalition anti-IS mission: US
• Russian official told U.S. embassy in Baghdad about Syria strikes: State Department
• Syria's Assad welcomes Russian decision on sending troops
• Singapore holds 2 for allegedly trying to join Islamic State
• Ready Pac Foods To Provide Job Opportunities For Refugees
• Finland suddenly a top choice for Iraqi asylum-seekers
• France opens probe into Assad regime for crimes against humanity
• Syria confirms Assad asked Putin for military aid

Editorial Roundup: Excerpts from recent editorials Posted: 30 Sep 2015 04:20 PM PDT Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:

Russia Launches Airstrikes in Syria Posted: 30 Sep 2015 03:33 PM PDT U.S. officials confirm that Russian military aircraft conducted airstrikes today in the vicinity of the city of Homs, Syria -- with the Russians giving the United States only an hour's advance notification that the airstrikes were about to occur through a message conveyed to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, U.S. officials said. The officials had no details on what kind of Russian aircraft conducted the airstrike in the vicinity of Homs, or what the Russians were targeting. The officials also said it appeared Russia had also conducted airstrikes north of the town of Hama, which lies to the north of Homs.

Russia begins airstrikes in Syria, but West disputes targets Posted: 30 Sep 2015 03:05 PM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — Russia launched airstrikes Wednesday in Syria, sharply escalating Moscow's role in the conflict but also raising questions about whether its intent is fighting Islamic State militants or protecting longtime ally, President Bashar Assad.

Suspect in Danish police stabbing was 'potential radical': spy agency Posted: 30 Sep 2015 03:00 PM PDT A Palestinian man suspected of seriously wounding a Danish policeman in a stabbing attack was known to authorities as possibly mentally unstable and a potential radical Islamist, the intelligence service said Wednesday. The suspect, a stateless Palestinian 25-year-old who was about to be deported from Denmark, was arrested after a manhunt on Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing a policeman at the country's largest reception centre for asylum seekers. The officer was critically wounded after being stabbed three times in the stomach at the Center Sandholm northwest of Copenhagen, but after surgery his condition was stable.

Russia enters Syria war with air strikes Posted: 30 Sep 2015 02:51 PM PDT Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria on Wednesday, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in several provinces along with Syrian government aircraft as President Vladimir Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat the Islamic State group in Syria. Both Moscow and Damascus presented the operation as targeting IS militants, with a Syrian security source saying "terrorist positions" were hit in Hama and Homs provinces, and that Russia aided government air strikes in Latakia province, the regime's stronghold.

Why is Finland a top destination for Iraqi asylum-seekers? Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:28 PM PDT Finland is working to convince asylum-seekers that it is no more appealing than the rest of Europe after it emerged as the top destination for Iraqi refugees behind Germany. Iraqis make up a small part of Europe's refugees, but people like Firas Afandi, an electrical engineer from Iraq, made the rugged 25-day journey across Europe, confident that Finland would welcome him, reported the Associated Press. Immigration officials realized in September that although Finland had been granting automatic asylum to refugees from certain parts of Iraq, other European Unions nations were not, reported the Finnish news site Uutiset.

Iraqi Kurds drive Islamic State out of villages Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:17 PM PDT IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq drove the Islamic State group from more than 140 sq. kilometers (54 sq. miles) of territory near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and cleared part of a major highway Wednesday.

Russia begins Syria air strikes as war enters volatile new phase Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:00 PM PDT By Andrew Osborn and Phil Stewart MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades, but Moscow's assertion that it had hit Islamic State was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground. The air strikes plunged the four-year-old civil war in Syria into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to assert Russian influence in the unstable region. The attacks also raised the dangerous specter of Washington and Moscow running air strikes concurrently and in the same region, but without coordination.

Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq return home Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:48 PM PDT ANKARA/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sixteen Turkish workers abducted by militants in Iraq arrived back in Turkey to emotional scenes on Wednesday night after more than a month in captivity. The men were snatched on Sept. 2 from a stadium they were building on the outskirts of Baghdad, apparently by an armed group that used a familiar Shi'ite Muslim slogan and threatened to attack Turkish interests in Iraq if its demands were not met. The families of the hostages waved Turkish flags as the men, many in tears, disembarked from the plane.

Amid Taliban gains, US military favors longer presence Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:38 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Taliban gaining new ground, U.S. military commanders are arguing for keeping at least a few thousand American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016, a move that would mark a departure from President Barack Obama's current policy.

First wave of cold weather hits migrants hard in Balkans Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:25 PM PDT BERKASOVO, Serbia (AP) — Afghan asylum-seeker Asina Ansari stood ankle-deep in mud on the border between Serbia and Croatia, clutching her feverish and shivering 2-year-old son Mohtar in a blanket.

Russia, U.S. face off at U.N. over parallel Syria air campaigns Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:13 PM PDT By Denis Dyomkin and Arshad Mohammed UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and the United States faced off at the United Nations on Wednesday over parallel air campaigns against Islamic State in Syria, with both sides claiming legitimacy for their actions but differing over the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hours after Russian launched its first air strikes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a Security Council meeting that Moscow would liaise with the U.S.-led coalition of Western allies and regional states that has been flying missions for a year.

Europe's migrant crisis in the UN spotlight Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:03 PM PDT Europe's migrant crisis took center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon seeking to muster a global response to the worst refugee crisis since World War II. The UN chief opened the UN General Assembly in New York this week with a call to Europe "to do more" amid sharp divisions between the continent's leaders on how to respond to the migrant flow. Europe's handling of the crisis has come into focus amid an intense diplomatic debate over the way forward to end the four-year war in Syria, which has driven four million people from their homes.

The Latest: Syria opposition says Russia targets civilians Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:49 AM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — The latest developments as Russia and other nations counter Islamic State militants in Syria. All times local:

16 Turkish hostages freed in Iraq arrive back home Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:37 AM PDT Sixteen Turkish workers who had been kidnapped in Iraq nearly a month ago were freed on Wednesday and flew back home where they were welcomed by their tearful families. A Turkish plane carrying the workers from the Iraqi capital Baghdad landed at an Ankara airport, where they were embraced by their relatives. The men were among 18 employees of major Turkish construction firm Nurol Insaat abducted on September 2 in the Sadr City area of north Baghdad, where they were working on a football stadium project.

Iraq Kurds take back land from IS jihadists Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:33 AM PDT A ground offensive led by 3,500 Iraqi Kurdish forces Wednesday recaptured several villages west of the city of Kirkuk from the Islamic State group, officials said. Backed by warplanes from the US-led coalition, the fourth operation of its kind in the Kirkuk area left at least 16 Kurdish peshmerga forces and dozens of IS fighters dead. "The offensive, launched from three fronts west of Kirkuk, included approximately 3,500 peshmerga," the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said in a statement.

Russia says its air strikes against Islamic State will not be extended to Iraq Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:14 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's fledgling air campaign against Islamic State in Syria will not be extended to Iraq and Russian jets are not using Iraq's airspace to carry out strikes inside Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. Peskov also said Iraq had not asked Moscow to conduct air strikes against Islamist militants on Iraqi territory. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Lidia Kelly and Andrew Osborn; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

What are countries outside the EU doing to help Syrian refugees? Posted: 30 Sep 2015 10:57 AM PDT According to the latest count from the United Nations, 4.1 million Syrians are registered as refugees. While countries in the European Union have strained to accommodate the refugees, countries outside of Europe have stepped up to offer help. Labor law loopholes and expired hajj visas make counting refugees in the Gulf states difficult, but "Saudi Arabia says it has taken in more than 2.5 million Syrians since the outbreak of the conflict, while the United Arab Emirates says it has granted residency permits to 100,000 Syrians," The Christian Science Monitor reported earlier this month.

Russia says ready to liaise with U.S. coalition on Syria strikes Posted: 30 Sep 2015 10:05 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia is ready to open "standing channels of communication" with the U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State militants in Syria in a bid to boost the fight against "terrorist groups," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. Russia said it had launched air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria on Wednesday, an assertion that was disputed by the United States and France, which suspect Moscow of shoring up support for President Bashar al-Assad against other opposition groups in the civil war.

Republican-led Senate panel opens review of Syria intelligence Posted: 30 Sep 2015 10:00 AM PDT A U.S. Senate committee said on Wednesday it has begun a review of Obama administration intelligence assessments related to the fight against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria, citing news reports that those assessments were skewed to be too optimistic. Republican Senators Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Joni Ernst, a committee member, sent letters to James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, and Jon Rymer, the Department of Defense Inspector General, expressing concerns about the assessments.

Fleeing Iraqi Christians find new life in Lourdes Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:38 AM PDT By Matthias Blamont LOURDES, France (Reuters) - For Iraqi Christians fleeing Islamic State militants in their native land reaching Lourdes, the French town long synonymous with miraculous religious visions, feels little short of a modern-day miracle. Arriving in the town where peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous is said to have had visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858, the refugees have also experienced real Christian charity through the efforts of some dedicated, Lourdes-based compatriots, an ex-soldier and the local parish priest. It is the town of the Virgin Mary, giving us our faith," said one of the refugees, Youssif, 48, a former teacher of the Aramaic and Syriac languages.

Russia kicks off airstrike campaign in Syria Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:27 AM PDT Russia has carried out its first airstrikes in Syria, US officials confirm. According to Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, Sergei B. Ivanov, the attack was a response to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad's request for military assistance. Analysts say Russia's move could be more than just an intervention against IS, as Homs isn't currently under the terrorist group's control.

Kurds take ground from Islamic State in north Iraq Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:22 AM PDT By Isabel Coles ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish forces said they drove Islamic State militants out of villages near the oil city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Wednesday, in an offensive backed by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition. The assault consolidated their control over Kirkuk and brought the peshmerga, the military forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, closer to the insurgents' bastion of Hawijah, around 55 km (34 miles) west of Kirkuk. Around 3,500 peshmerga took part in the operation beginning early on Wednesday southwest of Kirkuk, the Kurdistan region's security council said in a statement.

Former Secretaries of Defense to Keynote TMA Chicago/Midwest's Premier Event Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:21 AM PDT Robert Gates served as the 22nd Secretary of Defense (2006 - 2011) and is the only secretary of defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in that office by a newly elected president. Secretary Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received the CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.

Labour grassroots members demand U.N. backing for Syria air strikes Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:15 AM PDT Britain's Labour lawmakers should not support air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria without United Nations authorisation, party members voted on Wednesday. Labour's grassroots members voted at the party's annual conference in favour of making any support for the government's push to extend the air strikes conditional on several points, including "clear and unambiguous authorisation". The vote is not binding on lawmakers, many of whom favour extending air strikes.

Sinclair stations begin show with Attkisson Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:14 AM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson promises her new Sinclair Television show will be different than typical Sunday morning public affairs programs, but she couldn't resist having Donald Trump as her first guest.

Finland shelves decisions on Iraqi and Somali asylum claims Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:07 AM PDT Finland said on Wednesday it has suspended decision-making on asylum claims by Iraqis and Somalis while it continues to assess the security situation in the two countries. The Finnish Immigration Service said it might tighten guidelines for granting people asylum after the assessment is completed within a couple of weeks, indicating that some claims may not be based on genuine fear of war or persecution. The suspension concerns only some tens of asylum seekers whose claim would have been decided now, said Jaana Vuorio, the head of the Nordic country's immigration service.

Kremlin launches airstrikes in Syria, despite Russian public's reluctance Posted: 30 Sep 2015 08:37 AM PDT Russia's parliament unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the use of force in Syria Wednesday morning, even as the first Russian-piloted warplanes were reportedly already going into action near the Syrian city of Homs. The scene in Russia's parliament – which gave legal cover to an action the Kremlin had already decided on – was strongly reminiscent of the use-of-force resolution granted Mr. Putin in early March of last year to send Russian forces into Ukraine – several days after the operation had actually begun. In that case official Moscow fibbed volubly about the role of Russian special forces in taking over Crimea until Putin admitted it about a month later.

Western-backed Syrian rebel group says hit by Russian air strikes Posted: 30 Sep 2015 08:26 AM PDT By Dasha Afanasieva ANKARA (Reuters) - Russian air strikes in northwest Syria which Moscow said targeted Islamic State fighters hit a rebel group supported by Western opponents of President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, wounding eight, the group's commander said. "The northern countryside of Hama has no presence of ISIS at all and is under the control of the Free Syrian Army," Major Jamil al-Saleh, who defected from the Syrian army in 2012, told Reuters via Skype. Russia's defense ministry said it launched air strikes against Islamic State in Syria after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to prop up Kremlin's closest Middle East ally.

The forces fighting Syria's war Posted: 30 Sep 2015 07:40 AM PDT The Russian air strikes in Syria add yet another element to a bloody and complex war sparked by anti-government protests that erupted in March 2011. It now controls about a third of Syrian territory, with the rest divided among Islamic State jihadists, Al-Qaeda-linked groups, mainstream rebels and Kurdish forces. The most powerful of these is Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, which experts say has sent between 5,000 and 8,000 fighters to Syria.

Labour ready to support Syria air strikes, with conditions Posted: 30 Sep 2015 07:21 AM PDT The Labour Party on Wednesday said it was open to the possibility of Britain joining air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria on condition of clear approval by the United Nations. The party's annual conference approved, by a near unanimous show of hands, a motion on British participation in the air campaign. The move threatens embarrassment for Labour's new radical leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is a co-founder of the Stop the War coalition, which campaigned against the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and has opposed any British participation in Syria.

16 Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq are released Posted: 30 Sep 2015 07:02 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Sixteen Turkish workers kidnapped from a construction site in Baghdad and held for nearly a month were released on Wednesday, Turkey's prime minister and Iraqi officials said.

Russian strikes do not alter coalition anti-IS mission: US Posted: 30 Sep 2015 07:02 AM PDT Russia launched its first air strikes in Syria on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin won parliamentary permission to use force abroad, the United States said. A US official said the strike was near the city of Homs in what is Moscow's first engagement in a distant theatre of war since the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Russia's deepening engagement in Syria comes as Putin and US President Barack Obama push rival plans on ways to defeat the Islamic State group in Syria and on the future role of the country's embattled leader Bashar al-Assad.

Russian official told U.S. embassy in Baghdad about Syria strikes: State Department Posted: 30 Sep 2015 06:34 AM PDT A Russian official in Baghdad told U.S. Embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying missions on Wednesday over Syria against Islamic State forces, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said. In a statement, Kirby added that the Russian official, who he did not name, requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian air space during the Russian air missions. "The U.S.-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL," Kirby added, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Syria's Assad welcomes Russian decision on sending troops Posted: 30 Sep 2015 06:31 AM PDT DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad welcomed Wednesday's decision by Russia to send troops to his war-torn country, saying the military support from Moscow is the result of a Damascus request.

Singapore holds 2 for allegedly trying to join Islamic State Posted: 30 Sep 2015 06:15 AM PDT SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore's government said Wednesday that it has been holding two of its citizens since August for attempting to make their way to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

Ready Pac Foods To Provide Job Opportunities For Refugees Posted: 30 Sep 2015 05:35 AM PDT IRWINDALE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ready Pac Foods, Inc. opens its employment doors for refugees relocating to the United States from the current crisis in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The fresh foods company has committed to train and hire refugees from among the 10,000 Syrian refugees expected from the recent White House announcement.As part of the training, Ready Pac Foods will provide practical resources and expertise to a number of positions within its manufacturing business. Additionally, Ready Pac Foods will work to create long-term jobs for those in need. ...

Finland suddenly a top choice for Iraqi asylum-seekers Posted: 30 Sep 2015 05:07 AM PDT HELSINKI (AP) — After 25 days of winding through Europe on buses, trains, cars, a motorcycle and even a horse cart, Firas Afandi reached the end of the line: Finland.

France opens probe into Assad regime for crimes against humanity Posted: 30 Sep 2015 04:45 AM PDT France has launched an inquiry into Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime for alleged crimes against humanity, saying it was forced to act in the face of "systematic cruelty". The announcement Wednesday came after world powers sparred at the United Nations over the embattled Syrian leader's fate. A judicial source told AFP that prosecutors in Paris, with the backing of the foreign ministry, had opened a preliminary inquiry on September 15 into alleged crimes committed by the Syrian government between 2011 and 2013.

Syria confirms Assad asked Putin for military aid Posted: 30 Sep 2015 04:42 AM PDT Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has requested military assistance from Russia in a letter to President Vladimir Putin, Damascus confirmed on Wednesday. "The Russian air force was dispatched to Syria after a request from the Syrian state via a letter by President Assad to President Putin that includes an invitation to send the Russian air force as part of President Putin's initiative to fight terrorism," the Syrian leader's office said in a statement.

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States