Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Invites to Syria talks on hold, agreement on opposition needed: U.N.
• Denmark tells U.N. it has trained radar on Syria
• Women Fleeing War Say European Refugee Camps Are No Safe Haven
• Iraq searching for three U.S. citizens reportedly abducted
• New riot in Dutch town against refugee centre
• 'Everyone can help' migrants, says Briton who risked jail
• Abduction of Americans in Iraq raises fears about security
• US and Iraq search for Americans kidnapped in Baghdad
• Islamic State's double standards sow growing disillusion
• Israel says Islamic State could attack it and Jordan after Syria setbacks
• Germany seeks to limit migration from North Africa
• Islamic State seizes new areas from troops in eastern Syria
• Islamic State presses attack on government-held area in eastern Syria
• Poland wants NATO summit to okay more troops for eastern Europe
• Syria rocket hits Turkish school, killing one
• U.S., allies conduct 35 air strikes on Islamic State: U.S. military
• Female refugees face abuse on migrant trail in Europe: Amnesty
• Families of missing Marines in Hawaii hold fast to hopes and prayers
• Islamic State battle turns Iraq's Ramadi into ghost town
• Ramadi civilians force Iraq to adjust fight against Islamic State
• Details about 12 Marines missing in Hawaii helicopter crash
• Indonesia at risk of bigger Islamic State-linked attacks: police chief
• Rocket strikes Turkish school near Syria, 1 dead
• One killed as rocket hits Turkish school near Syrian border
• Worried about sub-$20 crude? Some sellers are already there
• Report: Kurdish militant attack kills 3 Turkish policemen
• Several wounded in Turkey as mortar hits school near Syria border
• As Xi heads into Middle East feud, China says aims for balance
• Senate to consider stricter screening for Syrian refugees
• Brent oil falls below $28 after Iran sanctions lifted
• The Latest: Massachusetts man freed from Iran returns home
• 10 Things to Know for Monday
• After nuke deal and prisoner swap, where next for US-Iran ties?

Invites to Syria talks on hold, agreement on opposition needed: U.N. Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:46 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Monday it would not issue invitations to peace talks between Syria's government and opposition set to begin on Jan. 25 until major powers pushing the peace process reach agreement on which rebel representatives should attend. "At this stage the U.N. will proceed with issuing invitations when the countries spearheading the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) process come to an understanding on who among the opposition should be invited," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said. The countries driving the diplomatic initiative on Syria include the United States, Russia and other European and Middle Eastern powers, including rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Denmark tells U.N. it has trained radar on Syria Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:46 PM PST Denmark told the United Nations it was "taking necessary and proportionate measures" against Islamic State in Syria, which the foreign ministry later said involved training radar located in Iraq on the neighboring country. Denmark had previously contributed seven F-16 fighter jets which carried out bombing missions in Iraq against Islamist militants. "Denmark had a radar contribution - this can look, of course, into Syria.

Women Fleeing War Say European Refugee Camps Are No Safe Haven Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:32 PM PST The human rights group interviewed 40 women who had recently arrived in Northern Europe from Syria and Iraq and found that they lived in constant fear for their safety. About a dozen women said they'd been touched, groped, or leered at while held in European transit camps, where they reported being forced to sleep alongside hundreds of single men. Reem, a 20-year-old Syrian who was traveling with her teenage cousin, told Amnesty International that she never slept in settlements because she was too scared that she would be harassed.

Iraq searching for three U.S. citizens reportedly abducted Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:03 PM PST Security forces in Baghdad were hunting for three U.S. citizens who Iraqi lawmakers said on Monday had been kidnapped, which, if confirmed, would make them the first Americans abducted in the country since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011. Unknown gunmen seized the trio from a private apartment on Friday in the capital's southeastern Dora district, said Mohammed al-Karbouli, who sits on parliament's security and defense panel. Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia fighters, seen as a bulwark in the fight against Islamic State militants, have a heavy presence in that part of the predominately Sunni district.

New riot in Dutch town against refugee centre Posted: 18 Jan 2016 01:28 PM PST Clashes erupted late Monday in a small Dutch town during violent protests against the planned opening of a centre for asylum seekers, Dutch media and officials said. The riot came only hours after populist far-right politician Geert Wilders called for Islamic male refugees to be kept locked up in asylum centres, saying such a move was needed to protect Dutch women after the New Year's Eve assaults in Cologne, Germany. A Facebook page "Protest AZC Heesch" -- which had over 3,000 likes -- had called for supporters to join a rally from 7:00pm (1800 GMT) outside the town hall in Heesch.

'Everyone can help' migrants, says Briton who risked jail Posted: 18 Jan 2016 12:52 PM PST Former British soldier Robert Lawrie, who risked jail for trying to smuggle a four-year-old Afghan girl out of a French migrant camp, said Monday everyone should seek to help refugees. Lawrie last week escaped a potential jail term of up to five years and a fine of up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) after trying with her father's agreement to spirit Bahar Ahmadi out of the squalid camp near the northern port of Calais known as "The Jungle" and take her to relatives in England.

Abduction of Americans in Iraq raises fears about security Posted: 18 Jan 2016 12:36 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The abduction of three Americans from a Baghdad apartment over the weekend is the latest in a series of brazen high-profile kidnappings undermining confidence in the Iraqi government's ability to control state-sanctioned Shiite militias that have grown in strength as Iraqi security forces battle the Islamic State group.

US and Iraq search for Americans kidnapped in Baghdad Posted: 18 Jan 2016 09:46 AM PST Search operations were under way Monday for three Americans kidnapped from a "suspicious apartment" in Baghdad, in a rare abduction of Western nationals in the Iraqi capital. Kidnappers in Iraq have recently seized groups of Qataris and Turks, but it has been years since Americans were abducted, with Iraqis suffering the most from kidnappings for ransoms or to settle scores. The Islamic State group, which overran large areas in 2014, has abducted thousands of people in Iraq, while Shiite paramilitary forces opposed to the jihadists have also carried out kidnappings.

Islamic State's double standards sow growing disillusion Posted: 18 Jan 2016 09:41 AM PST GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) — Mohammed Saad, a Syrian activist, was imprisoned by the Islamic State group, hung by his arms and beaten regularly. Then one day, his jailers quickly pulled him and other prisoners down and hid them in a bathroom.

Israel says Islamic State could attack it and Jordan after Syria setbacks Posted: 18 Jan 2016 09:27 AM PST By Dan Williams TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Islamic State's battleground setbacks in Syria have increased the chance of an attack by the insurgents or their allies on Israel and Jordan, Israel's military chief said on Monday.  While focused on shoring up its Syrian and Iraqi fiefdoms, Islamic State has in recent months stepped up attacks abroad and issued public threats to include Israel among its targets. Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot, chief of Israel's armed forces, said that with Russia intervening last year to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the insurgents' advance had been largely arrested.

Germany seeks to limit migration from North Africa Posted: 18 Jan 2016 09:24 AM PST By Caroline Copley and Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany wants to limit migration from North Africa by declaring Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia 'safe countries', officials from the ruling coalition said on Monday, cutting their citizens' chance of being granted asylum to virtually zero. The initiative follows outrage over sexual attacks on women in Cologne on New Year's Eve blamed predominantly on North African migrants that sharpened a national debate about the open-door refugee policy adopted by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel's conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), agreed on Monday that Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia - troubled by unrest rather than full-blown conflict - should be designated safe countries.

Islamic State seizes new areas from troops in eastern Syria Posted: 18 Jan 2016 08:41 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants launched a fresh offensive Monday, taking advantage of a sandstorm that sharply reduced visibility in eastern Syria and capturing new areas from government forces near the city of Deir el-Zour, opposition activists said.

Islamic State presses attack on government-held area in eastern Syria Posted: 18 Jan 2016 08:13 AM PST Islamic State captured ground from Syrian government forces near the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Monday, a group monitoring the war said, pressing a three-day assault which state media says has killed 300 people. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there was still no word on the fate of over 400 people it reported kidnapped when IS began to attack government-held areas of the city on Saturday. State media has made no mention of the abductions.

Poland wants NATO summit to okay more troops for eastern Europe Posted: 18 Jan 2016 08:11 AM PST By Gabriela Baczynska and Wiktor Szary BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Poland wants NATO to agree to deploy 'substantial' numbers of forces and equipment in central and eastern Europe to ensure the region's security in the face of a more aggressive Russia, President Andrzej Duda said on Monday. A former Moscow satellite, Warsaw will host a NATO summit in July when it is expected to press for an increased presence of NATO forces on its soil and in former communist-ruled Europe. Russia has threatened to retaliate against any such moves and some NATO members, including Germany, are skeptical of the idea for fear of antagonizing Moscow.

Syria rocket hits Turkish school, killing one Posted: 18 Jan 2016 07:31 AM PST At least one person was killed and one more seriously wounded Monday when a rocket fired from a jihadist-controlled area in Syria slammed into a schoolyard in a Turkish border town, officials said. A female school cleaner was killed and a schoolgirl required an operation for her injuries in the strike on the town of Kilis just north of the border with Syria, the local governor's office said. The rocket fire "came from Syria", it added, without giving further details.

U.S., allies conduct 35 air strikes on Islamic State: U.S. military Posted: 18 Jan 2016 07:15 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies conducted a total of 35 air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement early on Monday. Twenty-five of the air strikes took place in Iraq, with 10 of them hitting tactical units, weapons caches and other Islamic State targets near Mosul. The coalition targeted the Islamic State in Syria with 10 air strikes. ...

Female refugees face abuse on migrant trail in Europe: Amnesty Posted: 18 Jan 2016 06:36 AM PST Female asylum seekers face physical assault and sexual harassment on their journeys through Europe, Amnesty International warned in a report on Monday, calling on governments to offer more protection. The London-based human rights group interviewed 40 migrant women and girls in Germany and Norway who had travelled to Greece and then across the Balkans. "Many reported that in almost all of the countries they passed through, they experienced physical abuse and financial exploitation, being groped or pressured to have sex by smugglers, security staff or other refugees," the report said.

Families of missing Marines in Hawaii hold fast to hopes and prayers Posted: 18 Jan 2016 06:28 AM PST The 12 Marines that went missing after two helicopters collided during a training mission off the coast of Hawaii late Thursday have been identified.

Islamic State battle turns Iraq's Ramadi into ghost town Posted: 18 Jan 2016 05:47 AM PST Moments earlier, a 2000-pound bomb dropped by a U.S.-led coalition plane hit a vehicle on the other side of the four-lane road forming the latest frontline in Iraq's battle against Islamic State. Baghdad and Washington have touted Ramadi as the first major success for Iraq's U.S.-backed army since it collapsed in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance across the country's north and west in mid-2014. Iraqi officials and the coalition say hundreds of air strikes launched on the city since July played a decisive role in recapturing it.

Ramadi civilians force Iraq to adjust fight against Islamic State Posted: 18 Jan 2016 05:44 AM PST By Stephen Kalin RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - When Islamic State militants fleeing the Iraqi military's advance in Ramadi tried to force Mohammed Nafaa to follow them across the city for the fourth time in as many months, he and his family hid inside and hoped to be left alone. After the militants retreated again last week, Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces evacuated Nafaa and scores of other residents who had been hiding for around ten days, steering them to safety through streets mined with explosives. Ramadi has been touted as the first major success for Iraq's U.S.-backed army since it collapsed in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance across the country's north and west in mid-2014.

Details about 12 Marines missing in Hawaii helicopter crash Posted: 18 Jan 2016 05:17 AM PST HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Marine Corps has released the names of 12 Marines missing after two helicopters crashed off Hawaii. Here are their stories:

Indonesia at risk of bigger Islamic State-linked attacks: police chief Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:38 AM PST By Kanupriya Kapoor and Aubrey Belford JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is bracing for the return of experienced Islamic State fighters from the Middle East who would be capable of carrying out attacks far more deadly than the assault on Jakarta last week, the country's police chief said on Monday. Thursday's attack in the heart of Jakarta was a hastily executed "Plan B" by Islamist militants, after police raids had disrupted preparations for other strikes against Christmas and New Year events, Police General Badrodin Haiti told Reuters in an interview.

Rocket strikes Turkish school near Syria, 1 dead Posted: 18 Jan 2016 03:50 AM PST ISTANBUL (AP) — Projectiles fired from Syria struck near a school Monday in the southern Turkish city of Kilis, killing one person, according to local authorities.

One killed as rocket hits Turkish school near Syrian border Posted: 18 Jan 2016 03:14 AM PST By Tulay Karadeniz ANKARA (Reuters) - A female school employee was killed and a female student wounded on Monday when a rocket believed to have been fired from Syria struck a school in southeastern Turkey, the local governor's office said. Turkish army radar showed shots were fired into the border province of Kilis from Islamic State outposts inside Syria, military sources operating in the area told Reuters, adding that the army had retaliated "in kind". Two other rockets, also believed to have come from Syria, landed in an empty field next to the school, the governor's office said.

Worried about sub-$20 crude? Some sellers are already there Posted: 18 Jan 2016 03:03 AM PST An end to sanctions on Iran has driven global crude futures to 12-year lows and brought sub-$20-a-barrel oil in sight, although for some producers that is already a painful reality. Producers of certain crudes from Mexico, Venezuela, Canada and Iraq are bracing for worse to come as Iran - now free of international sanctions - prepares to offload hefty supplies of heavy sour grades onto export markets. This could act as an additional weight on benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures, which have slumped roughly 20 percent since the start of the year to prices under $29 a barrel.

Report: Kurdish militant attack kills 3 Turkish policemen Posted: 18 Jan 2016 01:59 AM PST ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says Kurdish militants have killed three policemen and wounded four others in an attack in the southeastern province of Sirnak.

Several wounded in Turkey as mortar hits school near Syria border Posted: 18 Jan 2016 01:33 AM PST Several people were wounded and at least one feared killed after a mortar shell which appeared to have been fired from Syria struck a school in Turkey's southeastern border province of Kilis, security sources and local media reports said. Footage broadcast on the website of the Hurriyet newspaper showed what appeared to be a body lying by the door of the school in Kilis town, the provincial capital, as shocked women and children were escorted from the building. Security sources said as many as two people may have been killed, while local media reports said four people including pupils were wounded, one of them seriously.

As Xi heads into Middle East feud, China says aims for balance Posted: 18 Jan 2016 01:31 AM PST By Michael Martina and Chen Aizhu BEIJING (Reuters) - China intends to retain a balanced stance in the Middle East, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday, as President Xi Jinping prepared to leave on an unusual visit this week to Saudi Arabia and Iran, regional powers currently locked in a bitter dispute. Tensions between the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Muslim Iran have escalated since Saudi authorities executed Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Jan. 2, triggering outrage among Shi'ites. In response, Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, prompting Riyadh to sever relations.

Senate to consider stricter screening for Syrian refugees Posted: 18 Jan 2016 12:49 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate will consider rigorous new screening procedures for Syrian and Iraqi refugees seeking to enter the United States as national security looms large for voters in an election year.

Brent oil falls below $28 after Iran sanctions lifted Posted: 17 Jan 2016 11:38 PM PST Brent crude fell below $28 a barrel in Asia on Monday for the first time in more than 12 years on fears about a worsening supply glut after Western sanctions on Iran were lifted, allowing Tehran to resume oil exports. Up to half a million barrels per day of Iranian crude could be added to already saturated markets after US and European leaders ended a crippling embargo put in place over Tehran's nuclear programme. The news led to further selling of the black gold, which has fallen by about three quarters since mid-2014 owing to the supply glut, record output levels, weak demand and a slowing global economy.

The Latest: Massachusetts man freed from Iran returns home Posted: 17 Jan 2016 09:18 PM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The latest developments as Iran and world powers implement a landmark deal reached last year to curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions (all times local).

10 Things to Know for Monday Posted: 17 Jan 2016 06:06 PM PST Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday:

After nuke deal and prisoner swap, where next for US-Iran ties? Posted: 17 Jan 2016 04:58 PM PST Was this weekend's nuclear deal and Washington's surprise prisoner swap with Tehran the final high point of a one-off diplomatic initiative or the start of a real realignment? Most experts see a formal restoration of diplomatic ties as far off and progress as fragile, but Washington at least is ready to see how far the diplomatic track will take it. On Saturday, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed Iran had put a nuclear bomb beyond its immediate reach and the US and EU lifted their most draconian economic sanctions.

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