Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Top Asian News 12:34 a.m. GMT
• A Look at the 6 Soldiers Who Died in Afghanistan Suicide Attack
• Michael Moore's New Movie Tells Americans: Pack Your Bags for Europe
• Obama says he is praying for persecuted Christians at Christmas
• Republicans, administration spar on visa travel for Iran
• Soldiers tell fearful Muslim girl, 'I will protect you'
• In Ramadi battle, a potential model for rolling back ISIS
• Somber Christmas for Iraq's Christians under threat from Islamic State
• Is Obama’s Strategy Working? New Analysis Shows ISIS Losing Ground
• The Real Secret to Trump's Success
• Wave of attacks kills at least 15 civilians across Iraq
• French ex-president Chirac leaves hospital for Christmas
• France looks to revoke dual nationality for convicted terrorists
• As US military handles drone strikes, less scrutiny
• As military handles drone strikes, less scrutiny by Congress
• France hardens stance on dual-national terror convicts
• Gazans celebrate Christmas with heavy hearts
• Civilians escape IS grip as Iraqi forces push on in Ramadi
• France looks to enshrine emergency anti-terror laws in constitution
• DLA delivers Christmas cheer to deployed service members
• Iraqi troops expected to drive ISIS from Ramadi in days: state TV
• Turkey's southeast hit by more clashes, militants launch bomb attack
• Iraq's Kurdistan region takes small step toward economic reform
• U.S., allies conduct 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq: U.S. military
• Russia hosts pro-Kurdish Turkish politician who condemns Ankara
• Iran calls the new U.S. visa law breach of the nuclear deal
• Thai junta says 99 percent of people are happy with its rule
• Despite arrests, Indonesia says terror attack threat remains
• Father of drowned Syrian toddler asks world to 'open its doors'
• Eight Islamic State commanders killed in air strikes: Iraqi state TV
• The Country of Last Resort
• Australian police arrest two more men over alleged attack plot
• Without the Past, the Future Holds Little Promise

Top Asian News 12:34 a.m. GMT Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:34 PM PST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Afghan military has rushed reinforcements to a southern district threatened for days with takeover by the Taliban, the country's defense minister said Wednesday as he appealed for stepped-up NATO assistance and military support. In a besieged army base in the embattled district of Sangin, an Afghan soldier described a dire situation, saying a handful of Afghan troops inside were fighting to the last, trying to keep the Taliban out. Meanwhile, at an air base outside of Kabul, U.S. troops saluted fallen comrades during a memorial ceremony Wednesday for six American soldiers killed in a Taliban attack this week.

A Look at the 6 Soldiers Who Died in Afghanistan Suicide Attack Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:12 PM PST Communities across the country are mourning the loss of six American airmen killed Monday when a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked their patrol near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen, 36, of Plymouth, Minnesota, was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida. As a gay service member, Vorderbruggen was a strong advocate against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibited gay and lesbian service members from openly serving in the military.

Michael Moore's New Movie Tells Americans: Pack Your Bags for Europe Posted: 23 Dec 2015 02:57 PM PST A documentary based on the benefits of invading other countries sounds like an unlikely premise for Michael Moore, the controversial filmmaker and antiwar activist who slammed the U.S. invasion of Iraq a decade ago in Fahrenheit 9/11. But his latest movie, Where to Invade Next, relies on the concept of a metaphorical, not a physical, attack. Moore, parading as a one-man army representing the United States, goes on a quest to gather the most effective ideas and policies from nations around the world. From the factories of Italy to the public schools of Finland and the prisons of Norway, Moore uses his so-called invasions to show how America might learn from the success and efficiency of others.

Obama says he is praying for persecuted Christians at Christmas Posted: 23 Dec 2015 02:37 PM PST By Julia Edwards HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he and his wife Michelle are praying for persecuted Christians as the world prepares to celebrate Christmas. Obama noted that the Islamic State's occupation of some areas will mean Christians there will have to keep their beliefs and celebrations quiet. "In some areas of the Middle East where church bells have rung for centuries on Christmas Day, this year they will be silent," Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

Republicans, administration spar on visa travel for Iran Posted: 23 Dec 2015 01:53 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Top GOP lawmakers accused the Obama administration Wednesday of ignoring congressional intent and the spirit of the law in offering reassurances to Iran about new visa rules.

Soldiers tell fearful Muslim girl, 'I will protect you' Posted: 23 Dec 2015 01:35 PM PST DALLAS (AP) — Melissa Yassini and her 8-year-old daughter, Sofia, spend some time every evening reading messages from the thousands of people who have told Sofia not to be afraid just because she's Muslim.

In Ramadi battle, a potential model for rolling back ISIS Posted: 23 Dec 2015 01:08 PM PST If the Iraqi forces now advancing toward the heart of Ramadi are able to wrest the strategic and psychologically important city from Islamic State, the impact could be significant both in the Iraqi Security Forces and within Iraq's Sunni community. It could also provide evidence that the Obama administration's strategy for defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – which Defense Secretary Ashton Carter defined as "Raqqa, Ramadi, and raids" – is starting to work. Iraqi Army commanders said Wednesday their forces have cleared large swaths of Ramadi, are fighting street-by-street, and could fully recapture the city within days.

Somber Christmas for Iraq's Christians under threat from Islamic State Posted: 23 Dec 2015 12:38 PM PST By Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - With Christmas falling this year a day after Prophet Mohammad's birthday, the city of Baghdad is holding Christmas celebrations in a sign of brotherhood with Iraq's hard-pressed Christian community. Fireworks will illuminate the Tigris river every night of the week and a 25-metre (82 feet) Christmas tree has been set up in Zawraa public park. In Zayuna camp, in the east of the city, children listened to Christmas carols on Wednesday and danced with Santa Claus to Iraqi songs.       But, though grateful, many Christians say the gesture comes too late to improve their lot in Iraq, their homeland for nearly 2,000 years, but where Islamic State is making their future increasingly bleak.     "I saw some nice gestures from many people on Facebook and this made me happy, to be honest, that people are celebrating Christmas together with us in defiance of Daesh," said Mariam, a 29-year-old school teacher in Baghdad, referring to Islamic State.

Is Obama’s Strategy Working? New Analysis Shows ISIS Losing Ground Posted: 23 Dec 2015 12:37 PM PST Over the past few weeks, the White House has been waging a multi-faceted messaging campaign to convince the American public and the world that President Obama has the right plan to destroy ISIS. In major addresses overseas, speeches at the Defense Department and the National Counterterrorism Center and wide-ranging media interviews, the president has sought to calm the nerves of a public made jittery after the ISIS attacks in Paris and the domestic terror strike in California. The terror group, while still in control of large chunks of land and cities inside Iraq and Syria, was routed along Syria's northern border with Turkey, which has long been a concern of the U.S. and its allies as a major causeway for jihadists.

The Real Secret to Trump's Success Posted: 23 Dec 2015 11:47 AM PST The critique I hear most often of my big piece on Trump and the GOP is that I neglected the role of race. Isn't it obvious, critics ask, that Trump has enflamed xenophobic bigotry? That the secret of his success in the polls (39 percent in a CNN poll on Wednesday) is his racist appeal to bigots and haters?

Wave of attacks kills at least 15 civilians across Iraq Posted: 23 Dec 2015 11:31 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of attacks across Iraq killed at least 15 civilians on Wednesday as government forces pressed on with their offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from a major city west of Baghdad, officials said.

French ex-president Chirac leaves hospital for Christmas Posted: 23 Dec 2015 11:09 AM PST Former French president Jacques Chirac left hospital Wednesday after two weeks of medical checkups and will spend Christmas with his family, relatives said. Chirac, 83, was taken to hospital in Paris on December 9 after complaining he had felt "weak for a few days," his daughter Claude Chirac had said at the time, adding that there was no "cause for concern". "He has returned home safely," a family member told AFP.

France looks to revoke dual nationality for convicted terrorists Posted: 23 Dec 2015 09:36 AM PST The French government is hardening its position toward dual-nationals, in what is part of a new series of constitutional changes following the Nov. 13 attacks: French nationals who who have participated in acts of terrorism and who are also nationals of other countries could have their nationality revoked. This measure, along with a move to uphold the state of emergency imposed by President François Hollande by enshrining it in the constitution, would require a three-fifths majority in the lower and upper houses of France's Parliament. "The threat has never been higher," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters on Wednesday.

As US military handles drone strikes, less scrutiny Posted: 23 Dec 2015 09:36 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Putting the U.S. military in charge of drone strikes in Iraq and Syria has effectively reduced congressional scrutiny of those sensitive operations, leaving some activists, lawmakers and U.S. intelligence officials fearful of increased civilian casualties.

As military handles drone strikes, less scrutiny by Congress Posted: 23 Dec 2015 09:24 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Putting the U.S. military in charge of drone strikes in Iraq and Syria has effectively reduced congressional scrutiny of those sensitive operations, leaving some activists, lawmakers and U.S. intelligence officials fearful of increased civilian casualties.

France hardens stance on dual-national terror convicts Posted: 23 Dec 2015 09:17 AM PST PARIS (AP) — France's government hardened its position toward dual-national terrorism convicts Wednesday, saying they deserved to have their citizenship revoked as part of constitutional changes upholding the state of emergency imposed after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

Gazans celebrate Christmas with heavy hearts Posted: 23 Dec 2015 08:58 AM PST It is a bitter Christmas for Elias Manna, who will celebrate alone for the first time because his five sons have left the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory hit by three wars since 2008. "At first, they left to study there," Manna, 62, said as he stood before the large wooden cross in front of a church for Latin rite Catholics in Gaza City, explaining that his sons moved to Europe.

Civilians escape IS grip as Iraqi forces push on in Ramadi Posted: 23 Dec 2015 08:55 AM PST Dozens of families the Islamic State group had been using as human shields in Ramadi escaped to safety Wednesday as Iraqi forces closed in on the jihadists' last redoubts. "Ramadi residents who were held by Daesh (IS) in the city centre escaped the siege and went towards the military units in Tal Mshahideh" in eastern Ramadi, provincial council spokesman Eid Ammash al-Karbuli said. Ibrahim al-Fahdawi, who heads the security committee in Khaldiya, east of Ramadi, said the families numbered around 50.

France looks to enshrine emergency anti-terror laws in constitution Posted: 23 Dec 2015 08:07 AM PST The French cabinet backed reform proposals Wednesday that could see the state of emergency called after last month's Paris attacks enshrined in the constitution, prompting criticism from rights groups. Special policing powers used under the state of emergency -- such as house arrests and the right to raid houses without clearance by a judge -- are currently based on an ordinary law which can be challenged at the constitutional court. In the wake of the Paris attacks that left 130 dead, President Francois Hollande called for the emergency powers to be protected from litigation by placing them in the constitution.

DLA delivers Christmas cheer to deployed service members Posted: 23 Dec 2015 07:57 AM PST PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Service members deployed this Christmas will still enjoy a traditional holiday meal, with all the trimmings, thanks to the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support. "Wherever our nation's military are serving around the world, DLA Troop Support is committed to providing quality, nutritious and delicious meals to them," said Anthony Amendolia, customer relationship specialist with DLA Troop Support's Subsistence supply chain.

Iraqi troops expected to drive ISIS from Ramadi in days: state TV Posted: 23 Dec 2015 07:55 AM PST By Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's army chief was quoted on Wednesday as saying he needed only days to drive Islamic State from Ramadi, the city whose fall in May exposed the weakness of the Baghdad government and dampened hopes of restoring control in the north and west. Iraqi troops began advancing on Tuesday in an offensive complicated by rivalries and suspicions harbored by local Sunni tribes and by Shi'ite militia backed by Iran. U.S. officials, concerned also by militant operations over the border in Syria, have expressed frustration at delays in seizing back the city.

Turkey's southeast hit by more clashes, militants launch bomb attack Posted: 23 Dec 2015 06:53 AM PST By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants intensified in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Wednesday after a bomb attack on troops there killed one soldier and wounded seven other people, security sources said. Turkish security forces last week launched an operation in the southeast, backed by tanks and thousands of troops, as President Tayyip Erdogan pledged to root out militants after the AK Party which he co-founded won a November election. Figures from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) show at least 24 civilians have been killed in fighting, while state media said 168 militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in eight days in six southeastern towns.

Iraq's Kurdistan region takes small step toward economic reform Posted: 23 Dec 2015 06:47 AM PST The government of Iraq's Kurdistan region has unveiled spending cuts in a tentative step toward tackling an economic crisis that officials say poses a greater threat than Islamic State. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which is three months in arrears and deeply in debt, has been struggling since early 2014 when the Baghdad government slashed its funding, halting a boom fueled by Iraq's growing oil revenues. Then Islamic State overran a third of Iraq, scaring off foreign investors and driving more than one million refugees into Kurdistan.

U.S., allies conduct 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq: U.S. military Posted: 23 Dec 2015 05:44 AM PST The United States and its allies have conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and eight in Syria on Tuesday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement. Four of the strikes were near Ramadi, where Iraqi troops were fighting to retake the city from Islamic State, it said. U.S.-led air strikes also were launched near seven other Iraqi cities including Sinjar, Tal Afar, Fallujah and Kisik.

Russia hosts pro-Kurdish Turkish politician who condemns Ankara Posted: 23 Dec 2015 05:41 AM PST By Dmitry Solovyov MOSCOW (Reuters) - The leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday and criticized Ankara for shooting down a Russian warplane last month. Russia, which imposed economic sanctions on Turkey after the Nov. 24 incident, and has sharply criticized President Tayyip Erdogan and would be keenly aware of the sensitivity of Ankara to any contacts between Moscow and Kurdish politicians. The visit by Selahattin Demirtas, leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), is likely to further damage ties between Moscow and Ankara.

Iran calls the new U.S. visa law breach of the nuclear deal Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:42 AM PST Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday a new U.S. law putting visa restrictions on Iranians and those who had visited Iran would, if implemented, breach a nuclear deal Tehran had struck with world powers earlier this year. The new measure passed by the U.S. Congress will prevent visa-free travel to the United States for people who have visited Iran or hold Iranian nationality. The measure, which President Barack Obama signed into law on Friday, also applies to Iraq, Syria and Sudan, and was introduced as a security measure after Islamic State attacks in Paris and an attack in San Bernardino, California.

Thai junta says 99 percent of people are happy with its rule Posted: 23 Dec 2015 04:07 AM PST BANGKOK (AP) — It's the kind of poll result you'd see in a North Korean election or Saddam Hussein's Iraq: Thailand's military-ruled government says 99 percent of the country's people are happy with its performance since it took power in a coup last year.

Despite arrests, Indonesia says terror attack threat remains Posted: 23 Dec 2015 03:50 AM PST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Despite foiling an alleged plot by Islamic militants to assassinate public figures, Indonesian officials believe a credible threat of terrorist attacks remains in the year-end holiday season in this predominantly Muslim nation, especially against minority Christians.

Father of drowned Syrian toddler asks world to 'open its doors' Posted: 23 Dec 2015 01:54 AM PST The father of toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose lifeless body on a Turkish beach became a symbol of the refugee crisis, has made a Christmas appeal to the world to open its doors to Syrians fleeing conflict. The message, to be broadcast by Britain's Channel 4 on Christmas Day, comes after the UN refugee agency said that more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year. Three-year-old Aylan died in September after his family, sheltering in Turkey from the war in Syria, decided to make a desperate bid to reach Greece in a flimsy inflatable boat.

Eight Islamic State commanders killed in air strikes: Iraqi state TV Posted: 23 Dec 2015 12:50 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Eight senior Islamic State commanders were killed in air strikes by the Iraqi airforce, Iraqi state TV reported on Wednesday citing a military statement. "F-16 planes killed dozens of terrorists including eight senior commanders of Daesh in strikes on Hawija and Anbar," said the statement, using a derogatory name for Islamic State and not giving further details. Iraq's armed forces on Tuesday started an attack to dislodge Islamic State militants from Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, that they captured in May. ...

The Country of Last Resort Posted: 23 Dec 2015 12:00 AM PST Albania is starting to look like refugees' best hope. But it's no one's first choice.

Australian police arrest two more men over alleged attack plot Posted: 22 Dec 2015 09:13 PM PST By Lincoln Feast SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police said on Wednesday they had arrested two more men in Sydney as part of an operation that thwarted a potential attack by home-grown Islamist militants last year on targets that included a navy base. The arrests of the men, aged 24 and 20, brings to 13 the number of people arrested in the operation, New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters. Earlier this month, police charged five people including a 15-year-old boy over the same alleged plot to attack potential targets that included the headquarters of the Australian Federal Police in Sydney and a navy base in the same city.

Without the Past, the Future Holds Little Promise Posted: 22 Dec 2015 05:39 PM PST In the late 1990s, I found myself on a journalists' trip up the great Volga River in Russia starting in the charming old city of Volgograd. Before we left northward on the river, I could not help but notice the beauty of a single Russian Orthodox church spire etched against the sky as the sun went down. "Before the revolution," our guide said, "Volgograd had 73 churches." In short, all had been destroyed by the communists, many made into museums of Marxism.

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