Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• From a Phase 2 TB Vaccine Trial, to Early Work to Neutralize Drug-Resistant Malaria, $10.7 Million in New Investments from GHIT Fund Escalates and Diversifies Japan's Global Health Commitments
• Woman warned of man with rifle before Colorado shooting
• U.S. government approves Italy's request to arm its drones
• Canadian fighting with Syrian rebels killed in northeast: monitor
• Bomb by Islamic State likely caused Russian plane crash: security sources
• Swamped Greece waves off first refugees to take up relocation offer
• German diplomat to lead UN Libya talks, ex-envoy heads to UAE
• The Latest: Sweden seeks to relocate migrants
• The Faces of 36 People You Might Not Think Are Veterans
• Q&A: EU refugee relocation tiny part of solving huge issue
• Erdogan seeks new charter to increase his powers
• India-born former soldier sworn in as Canada's new defense minister
• At least 120,000 displaced in Syria since Russia strikes began: US
• 85-90 percent of Russian strikes hit moderate Syria rebels: U.S.
• One of two black boxes from Russian plane damaged: Egyptian ministry
• 1st refugees relocated from Greece fly to Luxembourg
• Cyprus rescues migrants from boat sinking in Mediterranean
• Iraqi oil ministry official freed after brief kidnapping: police
• Clashes with Kurdish militants kill 18 in southeast Turkey
• Islamic State affiliate in Egypt insists it brought down Russian plane
• EU calls for global response to migration crisis at G20
• Greece carries out first relocation of refugees to Luxembourg
• Wounded Warrior Project Releases New Data from Largest Survey of Injured Veterans
• U.S. leads 25 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, Iraq
• Tortured by Islamic State, rescued before execution: freed hostages recount ordeal
• Bicyclist killed on Colorado street was Iraq War veteran
• One man killed in clashes in southeast Turkey: security sources
• Australian intelligence says spike in 'terrorism' funding investigations
• Egypt's Sisi calls for NATO help in Libya 'vacuum'
• Women take on gun violence with no-sex oath in the new trailer for Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq

From a Phase 2 TB Vaccine Trial, to Early Work to Neutralize Drug-Resistant Malaria, $10.7 Million in New Investments from GHIT Fund Escalates and Diversifies Japan's Global Health Commitments Posted: 04 Nov 2015 04:01 PM PST TOKYO, Nov. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), which in the last two years has invested US$43 million to develop innovative tools for fighting diseases worldwide, today announced it is investing $10.7 million* at multiple points in the product development pipeline to seek new interventions for malaria, tuberculosis (TB), leishmaniasis and dengue. The projects come at a crucial time for all four diseases: new drugs and vaccines for TB and malaria are desperately needed to fight rising resistance to existing therapies, while dengue infections continue to mount worldwide—and with no drugs or vaccines yet on the market to treat or prevent them. "We are excited about this latest round of investments as they showcase our aggressive 'Hit-to-Lead Platform' (HTLP) for advancing potentially promising new interventions that have been identified through our Screening Platform," said GHIT Fund's CEO Dr. BT Slingsby.

Woman warned of man with rifle before Colorado shooting Posted: 04 Nov 2015 03:48 PM PST DENVER (AP) — More than 10 minutes passed between the time a woman first called 911 to report a man with a rifle on her Colorado Springs street and her second call reporting he had shot a bicyclist to death.

U.S. government approves Italy's request to arm its drones Posted: 04 Nov 2015 03:38 PM PST By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved a longstanding request from Italy to arm its two MQ-9 Reaper drones with Hellfire missiles, laser-guided bombs and other munitions, the U.S. Defense Department announced on Wednesday. This would be the first effective sale of armed drones approved since the U.S. government established a policy in February for exports of the new type of weapons that have played a key role in U.S. military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. Italy would be only the second country to be approved to buy armed drones after Britain, which has been using them since 2007, according to two U.S. officials who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Canadian fighting with Syrian rebels killed in northeast: monitor Posted: 04 Nov 2015 03:10 PM PST A Canadian national fighting alongside Syrian rebels was killed in the northeast of the country on Wednesday in a suicide bomb attack carried out by Islamic State, monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. U.S.-backed rebel alliance the Democratic Forces of Syria, which includes the Kurdish YPG militia, launched an offensive last week against Islamic State in the norteastern province of Hasaka on the border with Iraq. U.S.-led air strikes have been targeting Islamic State in north and northeastern Syria as its partners on the ground put pressure on the group.

Bomb by Islamic State likely caused Russian plane crash: security sources Posted: 04 Nov 2015 03:09 PM PST By Mark Hosenball, William James and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan NEW YORK/LONDON/CAIRO (Reuters) - Evidence now suggests that a bomb planted by the Islamic State militant group is the likely cause of last weekend's crash of a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, U.S. and European security sources said on Wednesday. Islamic State, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria and is battling the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula, said again on Wednesday it brought down the airplane, adding it would eventually tell the world how it carried out the attack. The Airbus A321M crashed on Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after taking off from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board.

Swamped Greece waves off first refugees to take up relocation offer Posted: 04 Nov 2015 02:09 PM PST The first refugees left Greece on Wednesday under the second phase of a troubled plan to share out migrants among EU members as the number of people entering Europe illegally this year reached 800,000. Thirty refugees were given a VIP sendoff from Athens airport before flying to Luxembourg where they will begin a new life. "Today they have the opportunity to make... a better life," Tsipras, who was flanked by Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and European Parliament chief Martin Schulz, said.

German diplomat to lead UN Libya talks, ex-envoy heads to UAE Posted: 04 Nov 2015 01:28 PM PST German diplomat Martin Kobler will take over the struggling UN peace effort in Libya in the coming days, the UN said Wednesday. Leon, who is Spanish, is to deliver his last report to the Security Council on Thursday before heading to Abu Dhabi to begin work as the first director of the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, starting in December. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric dismissed suggestion of a conflict of interest by Leon, who reportedly accepted the position while he was negotiating with the Libyan parties.

The Latest: Sweden seeks to relocate migrants Posted: 04 Nov 2015 11:15 AM PST ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The latest as tens of thousands of people flood into Europe in search of a new life. All times local.

The Faces of 36 People You Might Not Think Are Veterans Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:59 AM PST The "I Am" campaign highlights the faces of 36 veterans, all of whom challenge the notion of what a typical veteran looks like, and when it comes to their attributes, no two are the same. You don't look like a veteran,' " Kate Hoit, the director of communications for Got Your 6, told TakePart.

Q&A: EU refugee relocation tiny part of solving huge issue Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:41 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — Again, top government and European Union officials were on hand Wednesday for the departure of a tiny batch of refugees from a southern EU nation to the heartland of the continent where they will likely be granted asylum.

Erdogan seeks new charter to increase his powers Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:37 AM PST Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Wednesday for a new constitution that would give him greater powers, heightening opposition fears over authoritarian rule. Erdogan also vowed there would be no let-up in the military campaign against Kurdish rebels, one of the key security challenges for his new administration after a wave of tit-for-tat violence left a truce in tatters. The strongman of Turkish politics for more than a decade, Erdogan has long been pushing for a new constitution to transform his post into a powerful US-style executive presidency.

India-born former soldier sworn in as Canada's new defense minister Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:33 AM PST By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Harjit Sajjan, a former police officer and veteran of three military deployments to Afghanistan, was named Canada's new minister of defense on Wednesday, bringing first-hand expertise to one of the country's top cabinet positions. Sajjan will oversee an anticipated change in Canada's military involvement in the battle against militants in Syria and Iraq. Newly sworn-in Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already said he wants to end Canada's air strikes in the region in favor of providing humanitarian help.

At least 120,000 displaced in Syria since Russia strikes began: US Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:28 AM PST Syrian government offensives backed by Russian air strikes have displaced at least 120,000 people in the war-wracked country, senior US officials said Wednesday, accusing Moscow of complicating the situation on the ground. "Russia's military intervention has dangerously exacerbated an already complex environment," Anne Patterson, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Civilians also have been killed in Russian air strikes, she said, citing attacks on civil defense crews, hospitals, centers for displaced persons and ambulances.

85-90 percent of Russian strikes hit moderate Syria rebels: U.S. Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:06 AM PST Eighty-five to 90 percent of Russian strikes in Syria have hit the moderate Syrian opposition, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East told a congressional committee on Wednesday. Anne Patterson also told a House of Representatives hearing that President Barack Obama is considering additional ways to "intensify" the campaign against the Islamic State, which has seized swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq. The Obama administration last week announced it would send fewer than 50 special operations forces into Syria in an advise and assist capacity, weeks after Russia escalated its involvement in the conflict with its own air strikes.

One of two black boxes from Russian plane damaged: Egyptian ministry Posted: 04 Nov 2015 10:00 AM PST Investigators have extracted and validated the contents of the flight data recorder, one of two so-called black boxes recovered from the Russian airplane that crashed in Egypt, Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry said the second black box which contains the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was partially damaged and much work was required to extract data from it. Earlier, Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate dismissed in an audio message doubts that it had downed the Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all aboard, and said it would tell the world how it did so in its own time.

1st refugees relocated from Greece fly to Luxembourg Posted: 04 Nov 2015 08:17 AM PST ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thirty refugees left Greece for Luxembourg on Wednesday, the first from Greece under a new EU relocation plan but only a minuscule fraction of the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who have entered Greece this year.

Cyprus rescues migrants from boat sinking in Mediterranean Posted: 04 Nov 2015 07:59 AM PST The Cyprus coastguard rescued 26 people overnight, mostly women and children believed to be Syrian migrants, from a boat sinking in the Mediterranean, officials said Wednesday. One of the men on board, later arrested as one of three suspected people smugglers, telephoned a contact in Cyprus to alert the authorities that the boat was in distress, passengers said.

Iraqi oil ministry official freed after brief kidnapping: police Posted: 04 Nov 2015 07:55 AM PST A senior official in Iraq's oil ministry was kidnapped in Baghdad but quickly freed by security forces on Wednesday, Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement. Militants wearing military uniforms seized the official, who was not named but holds the rank of general manager, in the northern district of al-Salikh. The militants were caught by security forces, the statement said.

Clashes with Kurdish militants kill 18 in southeast Turkey Posted: 04 Nov 2015 07:26 AM PST By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Eighteen people were killed in clashes in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region on Wednesday, a day after the military launched air strikes there, and authorities announced a curfew in two provincial districts. The violence came days after a parliamentary election won by the AK Party of President Tayyip Erdogan, who on Wednesday pledged to continue operations against the PKK until every last insurgent is "liquidated". The office of the governor of Diyarbakir declared a curfew in 22 villages in two provincial districts, Hani and Lice, saying there would be an operation against the PKK militants there.

Islamic State affiliate in Egypt insists it brought down Russian plane Posted: 04 Nov 2015 06:53 AM PST Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate dismissed in an audio message on Wednesday doubts that it had downed a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all aboard, and said it would tell the world how it did so in its own time. Sinai Province, an Egyptian group loyal to Islamic State, said in a statement the same day that it had brought down the airliner "in response to Russian air strikes that killed hundreds of Muslims on Syrian land". The claim was dismissed by Russian and Egyptian officials.

EU calls for global response to migration crisis at G20 Posted: 04 Nov 2015 06:07 AM PST By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants world leaders this month to help tackle the migration crisis that has seen more than half a million refugees enter the EU since the start of the year, threatening to dismantle Europe's open internal borders agreement. Leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies (G20) are to meet in the Turkish sea resort of Antalya on Nov 15-16 to discuss economic and tax cooperation, trade and climate change.

Greece carries out first relocation of refugees to Luxembourg Posted: 04 Nov 2015 06:07 AM PST By Michele Kambas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece relocated six asylum-seeking families to Luxembourg on Wednesday, the first such transfer from its soil under an European Union plan to ease the burden on nations inundated by an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Smiling parents holding young children posed for "selfies" with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn beside a Greek airliner on the runway before boarding the flight from Athens, live footage showed. "Thirty in the face of thousands who have fled their homes in Syria and Iraq is a drop in the ocean," Tsipras said.

Wounded Warrior Project Releases New Data from Largest Survey of Injured Veterans Posted: 04 Nov 2015 06:00 AM PST JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than three in four wounded veterans are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the 2015 annual Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) Alumni Survey, released nationally this morning. More than 23,000 injured service members completed the comprehensive survey, making it the largest collection of data on this generation of injured veterans ever collected. Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started nearly 15 years ago, the Department of Defense reports more than 52,000 men and women have been physically wounded.

U.S. leads 25 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, Iraq Posted: 04 Nov 2015 04:44 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 25 air strikes in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, according to the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations. In Iraq, 19 strikes near six cities hit six units of militant fighters as well as an Islamic State explosives facility, various weapons caches and a headquarters location, among other targets, according to the task force statement released on Wednesday. ...

Tortured by Islamic State, rescued before execution: freed hostages recount ordeal Posted: 04 Nov 2015 04:03 AM PST By Isabel Coles ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The last thing that came to Saad Khalaf Ali's mind as his Islamic State interrogators smothered him with a plastic bag was his two wives and children. The former policeman is one of many Iraqis to have suffered at the hands of Islamic State, which tortures, executes or beheads anyone deemed immoral or an opponent of its ideology and its goal of creating a caliphate across the Muslim world. Saad withstood the punishment but succumbed to psychological pressure when the militants threatened to slaughter his entire family.

Bicyclist killed on Colorado street was Iraq War veteran Posted: 04 Nov 2015 03:03 AM PST DENVER (AP) — A bicyclist who begged for his life as a gunman killed him during a rampage on the streets of Colorado Springs was an Army veteran who survived three deployments in Iraq, his former wife said.

One man killed in clashes in southeast Turkey: security sources Posted: 04 Nov 2015 02:57 AM PST One person was killed in clashes in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, security sources said, as violence continued to rock the mainly Kurdish region days after a general election. Turkish jets pounded 16 targets belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq for a second day on Tuesday, the military General Staff said on its website. The AK Party won back a parliamentary majority on Sunday in a major victory for President Tayyip Erdogan, who has pledged to continue operations against the PKK after a two-year ceasefire that he had championed collapsed in July.

Australian intelligence says spike in 'terrorism' funding investigations Posted: 03 Nov 2015 10:40 PM PST By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's anti-money laundering agency says reports of suspected "terrorism-financing" tripled in the past year, with over A$50 million ($35.92 million) which could be used to support Islamist militants being investigated. The financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, said in its annual report released this week that it had recorded a trebling of "suspicious matter reports" that could be linked to funding of militant groups. "The volume of terrorism financing in Australia is linked to the number of Australians travelling to join terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq," the report said.

Egypt's Sisi calls for NATO help in Libya 'vacuum' Posted: 03 Nov 2015 08:10 PM PST Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for NATO powers to help rebuild Libya, beset by violence since an uprising backed by the Western military alliance toppled leader Moamer Kadhafi, in an interview. Sisi was quoted in British newspaper the Daily Telegraph ahead of a visit to London in which he is to discuss security co-operation with Prime Minister David Cameron. "Libya is a danger that threatens all of us.

Women take on gun violence with no-sex oath in the new trailer for Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq Posted: 03 Nov 2015 05:58 PM PST With Amazon Studios' first original movie, Chi-Raq , due to hit theaters in December, the first trailer was released Tuesday. The film, which features a star-studded cast, is directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee. Chi-Raq  is a modern adaptation of the Greek comedy  Lysistrata  by Aristophanes, and it also satirizes the city of Chicago's rampant gun violence. In fact, the movie's title is a nickname often used by Southside residents, blending the name of their city with that of Iraq to comment on the level of danger. After flashing "This is an emergency" multiple times at the beginning of the trailer, a voiceover tells us that "homicides in Chicago, Illinois, have surpassed the death toll of American special forces in Iraq." The preview gets more lighthearted from there, but the message is clear throughout. Related:  Amazon will debut first original movie, Spike Lee 's Chi-Raq, in theaters this winter In the film, Lysistrata (played by Teyonah Paris) encourages a group of women to withhold sex to get the men in their lives to put down their guns. The idea catches on too, as shown in the trailer — so much so that even the poles in strip clubs are empty. "I will deny rights of access and entrance," the women chant together in a show of solidarity. In addition to Paris, the cast includes the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Hudson, Wesley Snipes, John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, Angela Bassett, and more. It's an impressive list, especially on top of the fact that Lee is behind the camera. The award-winning director also co-wrote the film with Kevin Willmott. Chi-Raq is set to hit theaters for a limited release on Dec. 4, thanks to a partnership between Amazon, Roadside Attractions, and Lionsgate. The movie will later be released on Amazon Instant Video, making it free for Prime members.

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