Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Criminal motives likely in Americans' kidnapping in Iraq: U.S. officials
• US has no plans yet to attack IS forces in Libya: Pentagon
• Knowing all the angles: Ancient Babylonians used tricky geometry
• Pentagon chief announces measures to improve quality of life for military
• Carter: IS trying to strengthen its 'footprint' in Libya
• Republicans raise concerns on visa waiver bill implementation
• Pick to lead Afghanistan forces says situation is worsening
• Man arrested in Disneyland Paris hotel with two handguns: police
• Military Fertility: It's Complicated
• Biden sees growing progress in battle against Islamic State
• Trump raises campaign stakes with Republican debate boycott
• Biden on GOP White House race: It's a 'gift from the Lord'
• Fed owns up to global risks in statement shift
• Coalition service member dies in non-combat incident in Iraq: U.S. military
• US Has Spent $65 Billion to Train Afghan Security Forces — but They're Still Not Ready
• Finland expects to expel 20,000 failed asylum seekers: govt
• 4 Disturbing Lessons from the New ISIS Video on the Paris Attacks
• Morocco, Germany agree on migrant deportations
• Did the Wounded Warrior Project waste donors' money?
• US monitoring Iraq's largest dam for signs of collapse
• No bomb found on plane at Cairo airport after threat: sources
• Syrian Kurds plan big attack to seal Turkish border: source
• Top US general in Iraq warns Mosul Dam could collapse
• Finland expects to expel 20,000 of last year's asylum seekers
• Within OPEC, Iran is a challenge to any deal on oil cuts: sources
• A refugee will be a torch bearer in 2016, Olympic committee says
• Fearful of Russia, Europe's defense cuts slow: NATO data
• Get Ready for a Third US Front Against ISIS—This Time in Libya
• German parliament approves more soldiers for Mali, Iraq
• Soccer-Vietnam fires Japanese coach for being too tough
• Suspected Russian raids kill 54 Syrian civilians: monitor
• Homesick and fed up: Iraqi refugees in Germany head home
• Retreat Is A Lifeline For Family Caregivers Of Injured Veterans
• Iraq's Mosul dam could face catastrophic collapse: top U.S. general
• Israel reluctant to accuse Islamic State over bar shootings despite hallmarks
• Sanctions scars and oil slump point to low Iran credit rating
• Iraqi army learns Ramadi's lessons in U.S.-led coalition training
• Turkey's Kurdish conflict impacting Syria, migrant crises: Demirtas
• Here’s Why the Republican Populist Revolt Will Backfire
• U.S. asks NATO for surveillance planes in fight against Islamic State

Criminal motives likely in Americans' kidnapping in Iraq: U.S. officials Posted: 28 Jan 2016 04:30 PM PST Criminal, not political motives likely were behind the kidnapping of three American contractors in Iraq this month, U.S. officials familiar with investigations into their disappearance said on Thursday. Kidnapping for ransom or other criminal purposes has become a common tactic among Shiite militia groups in Iraq. On Thursday, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, explicitly accused Iran of involvement in the kidnapping, but cited no evidence to back the claim.

US has no plans yet to attack IS forces in Libya: Pentagon Posted: 28 Jan 2016 03:22 PM PST The United States has not decided whether to launch military action in Libya, where the Islamic State group is exploiting political instability to expand its operations, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said Thursday. Washington is "developing options for what we might do in the future," Carter told reporters. "We're looking to help them (the Libyans) get control over their own country and, of course, the United States will support the Libyan government when it forms," he said.

Knowing all the angles: Ancient Babylonians used tricky geometry Posted: 28 Jan 2016 02:50 PM PST By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ancient Babylonian astronomers were way ahead of their time, using sophisticated geometric techniques that until now had been considered an achievement of medieval European scholars. "No one expected this," said Mathieu Ossendrijver, a professor of history of ancient science at Humboldt University in Berlin, noting that the methods delineated in the tablets were so advanced that they foreshadowed the development of calculus. The methods were similar to those employed by 14th century scholars at University of Oxford's Merton College, he said.

Pentagon chief announces measures to improve quality of life for military Posted: 28 Jan 2016 02:07 PM PST U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday announced a series of measures aimed at improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military, including a doubling of maternity leave for most personnel to 12 weeks. Women make up about 15 percent of the U.S. military, and thousands of women have served alongside men in Iraq and Afghanistan. "What we do to strengthen quality of life for military families today and what we do to demonstrate that we are a family-friendly force to those we want to recruit is absolutely essential to our future strength," Carter said.

Carter: IS trying to strengthen its 'footprint' in Libya Posted: 28 Jan 2016 01:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Islamic State fighters are trying to "consolidate their own footprint" in Libya by setting up training sites, drawing in foreign recruits and using the levers of economic power to raise money through taxes, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday.

Republicans raise concerns on visa waiver bill implementation Posted: 28 Jan 2016 01:17 PM PST By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five U.S. Republican lawmakers raised concerns on Thursday with the Obama administration about implementation of a law meant to make it harder for people to enter the United States if they have visited certain countries, in a letter seen by Reuters. Kevin McCarthy, top Republican in the House of Representatives, and four other House members said in the letter that the Department of Homeland Security is making overly broad exemptions to allow people to skirt the new requirements. The law was designed to keep people who have traveled to Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sudan from coming to the United States except through the normal visa process.

Pick to lead Afghanistan forces says situation is worsening Posted: 28 Jan 2016 01:01 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday the security situation in the war-torn country is deteriorating and assured senators he will do a thorough review of American troop levels needed to stabilize the nation.

Man arrested in Disneyland Paris hotel with two handguns: police Posted: 28 Jan 2016 12:51 PM PST A man carrying two handguns, ammunition and a Koran was arrested Thursday at a hotel in Disneyland Paris, a police source said. The man was "detected upon his arrival at the hotel on the Disneyland site where he had a reservation. Hotel security found two handguns, a Koran and ammunition on him," the source said.

Military Fertility: It's Complicated Posted: 28 Jan 2016 12:42 PM PST Melissa Price remembers the exact moment her third child was conceived. "That's the one thing you don't want to do: You don't want to get pregnant in theater," says Price, who left her tour two months early due to the pregnancy.

Biden sees growing progress in battle against Islamic State Posted: 28 Jan 2016 12:34 PM PST The U.S.-led battle against Islamic State militants controlling parts of Iraq and Syria is gaining steam and will show more progress by year's end, Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday. Biden touted the recent success of U.S. efforts backing Iraqi troops against the Islamic State in Iraq as part of a broad defense of Obama administration foreign policy. "I promise you, after Ramadi, watch what happens now in Raqqa in Syria and what happens in Mosul (Iraq), by end of this year," he told U.S. House of Representatives Democrats, in Baltimore for a three-day retreat.

Trump raises campaign stakes with Republican debate boycott Posted: 28 Jan 2016 12:17 PM PST US Republicans scrambling to win the first contest in the presidential nomination race were gearing for battle at Thursday's high-profile debate in Iowa, but frontrunner Donald Trump is upending the campaign by defiantly refusing to attend. Trump's gamble has left the presidential race in uncharted waters just days before Iowans vote on February 1, insisting he will not back down in his feud with debate host Fox News. In a consequential game of political chicken, Trump is not blinking.

Biden on GOP White House race: It's a 'gift from the Lord' Posted: 28 Jan 2016 11:58 AM PST BALTIMORE (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday likened the Republican presidential race to a "gift from the Lord" for Democrats trying to win control of the House and Senate.

Fed owns up to global risks in statement shift Posted: 28 Jan 2016 11:53 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the U.S. Federal Reserve's arsenal of tools the characterization of economic risks is heavy artillery, used to flag the moments when major events like the 2003 Iraq war or the near crack-up of the euro zone in 2011 make forecasting even trickier than usual. The U.S. central bank has now put the world on notice that the slide in oil prices and sharp slowdown in global growth may rank as one of those very shocks, capable of changing the Fed's bias from implying a steady set of future rate hikes to one pointing to an extended pause or even a rate cut driven by stubbornly low inflation. Coming just a month after it began hiking rates for the first time since the financial crisis, the Fed's decision to pull the risk assessment altogether from its statement this week is "a U.S. recession insurance policy," said Bank of the West Chief Economist Scott Anderson.

Coalition service member dies in non-combat incident in Iraq: U.S. military Posted: 28 Jan 2016 11:24 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A service member of the U.S.-led coalition targeting Islamic State has died in a non-combat incident in Iraq, the U.S. military said in a statement on Thursday. "This incident is under investigation and further information will be released as appropriate," the statement said. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

US Has Spent $65 Billion to Train Afghan Security Forces — but They're Still Not Ready Posted: 28 Jan 2016 11:15 AM PST President Obama's nominee to lead American military forces in Afghanistan has a sobering message for lawmakers on Capitol Hill: Security forces there are not yet ready to stand on their own. This tough assessment comes after more than a decade of U.S. efforts to train and equip the Afghan Army and police -- at a cost of roughly $65 billion. "We have years to go" before Afghanistan's forces can successfully execute many kinds of missions, including air support, intelligence gathering and special operations, Army Lt. Gen. John "Mick" Nicholson told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Finland expects to expel 20,000 failed asylum seekers: govt Posted: 28 Jan 2016 09:53 AM PST Finland expects to expel around 20,000 of the 32,000 asylum seekers it received in 2015, the country's interior ministry said on Thursday. "In principle we speak of about two-thirds, meaning approximately 65 percent of the 32,000 will get a negative decision (to their asylum application)," Paivi Nerg, the ministry's administrative director told AFP. More than 20,000 of the asylum seekers Finland welcomed in 2015 came from Iraq.

4 Disturbing Lessons from the New ISIS Video on the Paris Attacks Posted: 28 Jan 2016 09:00 AM PST ISIS's recent seventeen-minute video "Kill Them Wherever You Find Them" portraying nine of the attackers who carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks killing 130 civilians is a wakeup call for the West. After the Paris attacks, a flood of "experts" from the media and think tanks talked about the shift in ISIS's strategy from targeting the near enemy (Shiites, other Muslims and Middle East governments) to the far enemy (the West). It attempted attacks on the West before and after the Paris attacks.

Morocco, Germany agree on migrant deportations Posted: 28 Jan 2016 08:42 AM PST Morocco's king has agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on repatriating illegal migrants to Morocco, the palace said, a move that follows sexual attacks on women in the German city of Cologne blamed mainly on North African men. Germany wants to limit migration from North Africa by declaring Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia "safe countries", which would end their citizens' chance of being granted asylum. The initiative follows outrage over 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 Merkel.

Did the Wounded Warrior Project waste donors' money? Posted: 28 Jan 2016 08:24 AM PST The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a veterans services charity, is being accused of spending too much donation money on itself through lavish employee accommodations, lobbying efforts, and overhead expenses. WWP was founded in 2003 to support veterans who sustained a "physical or mental injury, illness, or wound" any time after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Last year, The Daily Beast noted that WWP spent tens of thousands of dollars in court and threatened other charities over their use of similar logos or names.

US monitoring Iraq's largest dam for signs of collapse Posted: 28 Jan 2016 07:46 AM PST The United States is monitoring Iraq's largest dam for signs of further deterioration that could point to an impending catastrophic collapse, US army officers said on Thursday. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group seized the Mosul Dam briefly in 2014, leading to a lapse in maintenance that weakened an already flawed structure, and Baghdad is seeking a company to make repairs. "The likelihood of the dam collapsing is something we are trying to determine right now," Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the US-led operation against IS, told journalists in Baghdad.

No bomb found on plane at Cairo airport after threat: sources Posted: 28 Jan 2016 07:45 AM PST Egyptian security has found nothing suspicious on board a passenger plane that was held up for searches at Cairo airport on Thursday afternoon following a bomb threat, security sources said. The EgyptAir plane had been due to depart for Istanbul at 1355 (1155 GMT) but was halted after the threat was passed on to Egyptian authorities by a foreign embassy, the sources said. Security sources said the checks had been completed and nothing suspicious had been found.

Syrian Kurds plan big attack to seal Turkish border: source Posted: 28 Jan 2016 07:26 AM PST By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - The powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and its local allies have drawn up plans for a major attack to seize the final stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border held by Islamic State fighters, a YPG source familiar with the plan said on Thursday. Such an offensive could deprive Islamic State fighters of a logistical route that has been used by the group to bring in supplies and foreign recruits. After a year of military gains aided by U.S.-led air strikes, the Kurds and their allies already control the entire length of Syria's northeastern Turkish frontier from Iraq to the banks of the Euphrates river, which crosses the border west of the town of Kobani.

Top US general in Iraq warns Mosul Dam could collapse Posted: 28 Jan 2016 07:16 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The top U.S. general in Iraq warned Thursday of the potential collapse of Mosul Dam in the country's north, saying such an event could prove "catastrophic."

Finland expects to expel 20,000 of last year's asylum seekers Posted: 28 Jan 2016 06:53 AM PST Finland expects to expel nearly 20,000 migrants out of the 32,000 who sought asylum last year, a senior official from interior ministry said on Thursday, around the normal percentage but many more people. "20,000 is the estimate we are working with at the moment, but the number of asylum seekers who decide to return voluntarily could change it", Permanent Secretary Paivi Nerg told Reuters. About 4,000 asylum seekers had already withdrawn their applications, she said.

Within OPEC, Iran is a challenge to any deal on oil cuts: sources Posted: 28 Jan 2016 06:34 AM PST By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran, boosting oil exports after the lifting of sanctions, is talking of a need to recoup its market share, making the OPEC member a challenge to any deal among producers to fix a supply glut, OPEC sources said on Thursday. Russian officials have decided they should talk to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries about output cuts, the head of Russia's pipeline monopoly said on Wednesday, hinting Moscow may be softening its steadfast refusal to cooperate over supplies. Iran wants to recover its position as OPEC's second-largest producer behind Saudi Arabia, which it lost in 2012 to Iraq when sanctions over its nuclear work forced Tehran to cut exports.

A refugee will be a torch bearer in 2016, Olympic committee says Posted: 28 Jan 2016 06:15 AM PST The flame for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will pass through a refugee camp in Athens and one refugee will be among the torch bearers, the head of the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday. "The Olympic flame will pass through this camp here and will be shown to the refugees," IOC head Thomas Bach said during a visit to the Eleonas camp for refugees and migrants in Athens, which houses mostly Afghans and Iranians. "We want to draw the attention of the world to the problems of the refugees," Bach said.

Fearful of Russia, Europe's defense cuts slow: NATO data Posted: 28 Jan 2016 06:06 AM PST By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO defense cuts slowed sharply in 2015, alliance data showed on Thursday, also revealing a split between big-spending eastern European nations fearful of Russia and others such as Italy that are still reducing their budgets. Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, failing states on NATO's borders, and the spread of Islamic militancy have refocused governments on the need to defend home territory after more than a decade of NATO-led operations in Afghanistan. NATO's defense spending as a share of economic output fell 1.5 percent in 2015, the sixth straight year of cuts, dragged down by a 12 percent decrease in Italy, the U.S.-led alliance said in its annual report.

Get Ready for a Third US Front Against ISIS—This Time in Libya Posted: 28 Jan 2016 05:45 AM PST The Pentagon is considering military action in Libya to counter the growing threat of ISIS, ramping up speculation that the administration could soon open up a third front against the terror group. "We're looking at military options, a range of other options as a government that we can engage in to try … to be prepared, in the event that ISIL in Libya becomes more of a threat than it is even today," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters during a Wednesday briefing. U.S. officials are "extremely worried about the metastasis of ISIL to other locations, Libya being just one of those locations," Cook added, using the other common acronym for the extremist network.

German parliament approves more soldiers for Mali, Iraq Posted: 28 Jan 2016 05:35 AM PST The German parliament approved government plans on Thursday to send up to 650 soldiers to Mali, boosting its presence in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the West African country which is beset by Islamist militant violence. The Bundestag lower house of parliament also agreed to increase the number of soldiers training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq to up to 150 from up to 100. The majority of the German forces who will start going to Mali in the coming weeks will be stationed in the north of the country which has seen an upsurge of violence by Islamist militants.

Soccer-Vietnam fires Japanese coach for being too tough Posted: 28 Jan 2016 05:29 AM PST Vietnam fired Japanese coach Toshiya Miura on Thursday after complaints about tough tactics and excessive physical demands on players, leaving the national team without a boss in the middle of a World Cup qualifying campaign. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said top officials unanimously agreed to dispense with Miura, 52, who had not achieved the results they wanted from both the national and under-23 teams he coached. "Through discussion and analysis, the meeting agreed with an assessment that tactics of the national team and the under-23 national team need to be suitable with the size and physical condition of Vietnamese players," the VFF said in a statement.

Suspected Russian raids kill 54 Syrian civilians: monitor Posted: 28 Jan 2016 05:23 AM PST Suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 54 civilians in rebel- and jihadist-held areas of Syria in the past 24 hours, a monitoring group said Thursday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said strikes on Wednesday had killed 29 civilians, including nine women and three children, in villages controlled by the Islamic State group in the eastern Deir Ezzor province and its provincial capital of the same name. The strikes killed another 15 civilians, including five young brothers, in and around the city of Al-Bab, an IS bastion in the northern province of Aleppo, the Observatory said.

Homesick and fed up: Iraqi refugees in Germany head home Posted: 28 Jan 2016 05:13 AM PST BERLIN (AP) — It's a change of heart that Iraqi immigrant Sekvan Agho never saw coming.

Retreat Is A Lifeline For Family Caregivers Of Injured Veterans Posted: 28 Jan 2016 04:59 AM PST BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When Heather Lehman got word she'd been selected to attend an all-expense-paid, three-day retreat for the caregivers of wounded, ill, and injured veterans, she went into panic mode. After surviving multiple roadside bombs and accidents during two tours in Iraq, he is now a severely injured veteran.

Iraq's Mosul dam could face catastrophic collapse: top U.S. general Posted: 28 Jan 2016 04:39 AM PST The U.S. military has a contingency plan to deal with a potential collapse of Mosul dam in northern Iraq which would be catastrophic, the top U.S. general in Iraq said on Thursday. U.S. Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland said Iraqi authorities understood "the potential" for the collapse of the hydroelectric dam, whose foundation requires constant grouting to maintain structural integrity. "The likelihood of the dam collapsing is something we are trying to determine right now ... all we know is when it goes, it's going to go fast and that's bad," MacFarland, head of the U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in Baghdad.

Israel reluctant to accuse Islamic State over bar shootings despite hallmarks Posted: 28 Jan 2016 04:17 AM PST By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - It appeared to have hallmarks of the first Islamic State attack in Israel: A Muslim citizen opened fire on a Tel Aviv bar days after the militant group threatened the country, and left behind a black ISIS banner. "This really was not a classic ISIS terrorist attack," a security official told Reuters on Thursday after the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency and Justice Ministry issued their findings on the Jan. 1 shooting rampage by Nashat Melhem that killed three people. An Israeli indictment against three Arab citizens for abetting Melhem's escape said he had "sought to help the enemy, including the ISIS group, fight Israel".

Sanctions scars and oil slump point to low Iran credit rating Posted: 28 Jan 2016 03:29 AM PST By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Low oil prices and the economic and geopolitical scars of years of international sanctions all point to a high risk 'junk' credit rating for Iran when it starts feeling its way back into borrowing markets. With sanctions related to its nuclear program now being lifted, Tehran is expected to start tapping bond markets in the next six to 12 months, to try and breathe new life into the second biggest economy in the Middle East. A credit rating from one of the big three agencies, Standard and Poor's, Moody's or Fitch, while not essential, would help.

Iraqi army learns Ramadi's lessons in U.S.-led coalition training Posted: 28 Jan 2016 03:28 AM PST By Stephen Kalin BESMAYA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition forces training Iraqi soldiers to fight Islamic State are applying lessons from last month's recapture of Ramadi to prepare the army to retake the northern city of Mosul later this year. Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces pushed the insurgents out of most of Ramadi, in the Euphrates river valley west of the capital, after a six-month siege in which roadside bombs laid as densely as conventional minefields slowed the military's advance to a crawl. Now the army's 72nd infantry brigade is receiving training in combined arms breaching - a mixture of tactics used to overcome such obstacles - as part of a 10-week course at Besmaya, a base south of Baghdad.

Turkey's Kurdish conflict impacting Syria, migrant crises: Demirtas Posted: 28 Jan 2016 02:57 AM PST By Hanna Knutson BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition said conflict in the country's largely Kurdish southeast had grown into an international problem, feeding into war in neighboring Syria, and urged allies to do more to push for a ceasefire. Unrest in the NATO member state, which is negotiating to join the European Union, has turned parts of the southeast into a war zone. It is also complicating efforts to stage Syrian peace talks.

Here’s Why the Republican Populist Revolt Will Backfire Posted: 28 Jan 2016 02:15 AM PST Barack Obama has a lot to do after he leaves office. Arrangements must be made for a new residence after two terms in the White House, and Obama has hinted at a number of locations, including New York, North Carolina, and home to Chicago. "What a great idea!" Hillary Clinton gushed at a campaign event in Decorah, Iowa on Monday night when an attendee offered the suggestion.

U.S. asks NATO for surveillance planes in fight against Islamic State Posted: 28 Jan 2016 02:05 AM PST The head of NATO said on Thursday that the United States has requested the alliance's help in fighting Islamic State in the Middle East by providing surveillance planes called the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). NATO is not directly involved in combating Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq, with the United States leading a coalition of nations that includes all 28 NATO allies. NATO member Turkey also shares a long border with Syria and Iraq.

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