2016年1月5日星期二

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Yahoo! News: Iraq


Iraq must walk a fine line amid Iranian, Saudi tensions

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 02:43 PM PST

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters display weapons used by Islamic State militants to attack their city in Haditha, 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The Islamic State group had captured Ramadi in May, in one of its biggest advances since the U.S.-led coalition began striking the group in 2014. Recapturing the city, which is the provincial capital of Anbar, provided a major morale boost for Iraqi forces. (AP Photo)BAGHDAD (AP) — While many Iraqi Shiites took to the streets in outrage over Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, the country's prime minister has had to walk a more cautious line, trying to contain Iraq's own explosive sectarian tensions.


Woman gets 3-year sentence for giving money to terror groups

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 01:46 PM PST

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Bosnian immigrant formerly from Illinois was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for giving money in support of the Islamic State and al-Qaida, despite her attorney's plea that she is by no means a terrorist.

MPs to debate petition seeking ban on Trump, no vote planned

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 01:38 PM PST

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in LowellMPs are to hold a debate on a petition signed by more than half a million people calling for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to be barred from Britain after his proposal to stop Muslims entering the United States. The debate, called by the Petitions Committee of the lower house of parliament, will be held on Jan. 18 but will not be followed by a vote. The British government responds to all petitions that gain more than 10,000 signatures and topics are considered for parliamentary debate if they reach 100,000.


IS has lost third of Iraq-Syria territory: coalition

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 01:33 PM PST

Iraqi security forces place the Iraqi flag above the Islamic State group flag on December 28, 2015 in front of the Anbar police headquarters after they recaptured RamadiThe Islamic State group has lost around a third of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, according to figures provided Tuesday by the US-led coalition. "In Iraq, it's about 40 percent," said Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the international coalition which carries out daily air raids against IS and also provides training and weapons to local forces fighting the group. When the size of the so-called caliphate IS proclaimed 18 months ago was at its largest, Iraq accounted for a slightly bigger part of it than Syria.


U.N. council urges Yemen's warring parties to resume ceasefire

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 01:15 PM PST

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday urged the warring parties in Yemen to resume a "meaningful, sustainable" ceasefire after a Saudi-led coalition ended a more than two-week-old truce amid accusations it had been repeatedly violated by both sides. The ceasefire began on Dec. 15 in tandem with U.N.-brokered peace talks. The coalition officially ended the truce on Saturday, saying it could not be maintained because of "the continuation of the Houthi militias and Saleh forces in violating it." Yemeni troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh are fighting alongside the Houthis.

Greece must be helped with refugee influx: Redgrave

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 12:04 PM PST

British Actress Vanessa Redgrave (R) talks to refugees and migrants during her visit to the reception facility of Eleonas in Athens on January 5, 2015Oscar-winning British actress Vanessa Redgrave on Tuesday urged the world to help debt-hit Greece to provide shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees in search of a better life. "The Greek people are showing the world how to be human...how to try to help fellow human beings," Redgrave told reporters during a visit to the Eleonas camp, the main facility housing migrants in Athens.


UK lawmakers to debate petition seeking ban on Trump, no vote planned

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 11:16 AM PST

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in LowellBritish lawmakers are to hold a debate on a petition signed by more than half a million people calling for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to be barred from Britain after his proposal to stop Muslims entering the United States. The debate, called by the Petitions Committee of the lower house of parliament, will be held on Jan. 18 but will not be followed by a vote. The British government responds to all petitions that gain more than 10,000 signatures and topics are considered for parliamentary debate if they reach 100,000.


Vice News says reporter released on bail in Turkey

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 11:13 AM PST

FILE - In this Saturday Nov. 1, 2014 file photograph, freelance translator Mohammed Rasool is pictured during a break while working with an Associated Press team in Turkey. Vice News said Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016 that reporter Mohammed Rasool has been released on bail after being held in a Turkish jail for four months. Rasool was detained in August along with two other journalists while reporting for Vice News on the situation in Turkey's mostly Kurdish regions. (AP Photo/Elena Becatoros, File)ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish journalist Mohammed Rasool has been released after 131 days in a Turkish prison, the organization he was working for said Tuesday. Rasool's arrest on charges of assisting a terrorist organization had been widely criticized by international media organizations.


Briton suspected of being masked man in IS video: BBC

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 10:56 AM PST

The masked Islamic State fighter who helped execute five "spies" has been identified as Siddhartha Dhar, according to the BBCInvestigations into the identity of an English-speaking man who featured in an Islamic State (IS) group video are focusing on a Briton, Siddhartha Dhar, the BBC reported Tuesday. A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron told AFP on Tuesday that "work is underway to examine the content and the individuals in that video", but that it was unlikely the authorities would publicly confirm the man's identity at any stage. On Sunday, IS released a video featuring a masked fighter, carrying a gun and speaking with a British accent, which showed the killing of five "spies" it said had worked with the international coalition fighting IS jihadists in Iraq and Syria.


U.S. West Point academy swears in first woman commandant of cadets

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 10:52 AM PST

Brigadier General Diana Holland walks to podium during a ceremony where she was appointed as the first female Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West PointBy Mike Segar WEST POINT, N.Y. (Reuters) - The first female commandant of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy was sworn in on Tuesday, the latest milestone for American women who now are allowed to serve all military combat roles. Brigadier General Diana Holland, 47, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, assumed the leadership post after being honored in packed ceremony at the academy 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City, whose graduates typically serve as Army officers. "I'm very grateful for this opportunity," said Holland, a 1990 West Point graduate who thanked her husband and father for their support and said she looked forward to working with the cadets.


From resignation to determination: Obama's evolution on guns

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 10:37 AM PST

From Fort Hood, Tex. and Tucson, Ariz., to Aurora, Colo. and Newtown, Conn., President Obama has addressed mass shootings more than a dozen times since he took office in 2008. In that time, his comments on guns have evolved markedly, from "thoughts and prayers" offered in the wake of a 2009 shooting in Binghamton, N.Y., to expressions of healing, anger, and finally, calls for political action on gun control. On Tuesday, Mr. Obama outlined a series of executive actions on guns, including expanding mandatory background checks, increasing enforcement of existing laws, devoting $500 million more in federal funds to treating mental illness, and funding more gun-safety technologies.

US-led coalition: IS has lost 30 percent of its territory

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 09:51 AM PST

Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters display weapons used by Islamic State militants to attack their city in Haditha, 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The Islamic State group had captured Ramadi in May, in one of its biggest advances since the U.S.-led coalition began striking the group in 2014. Recapturing the city, which is the provincial capital of Anbar, provided a major morale boost for Iraqi forces. (AP Photo)BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said Tuesday that the militants have lost 30 percent of the territory they once held in Iraq and Syria.


As Cold War with Saudi sharpens, Iran's Guards deliver warning

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:59 AM PST

By Babak Dehghanpisheh and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin BEIRUT/DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was quick to condemn the execution of Saudi cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, stating: "Without a doubt, the hated Saudi regime will pay a price for this shameful act." For an organization deeply involved in wars in Syria and Iraq this looks no idle threat, at least in the eyes of Sunni Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia who say Shi'ite rival Tehran is bent on undermining their security. Tehran denies interfering in Arab lands.

Bodies of 34 migrants found on Turkish coast, at least 12 rescued

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:53 AM PST

By Melih Aslan ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The bodies of 34 migrants, at least seven of them children, were found at two sites along Turkey's Aegean coast on Tuesday after they apparently tried to cross to the nearby Greek island of Lesbos. The flow of migrants, mostly fleeing Syria's civil war in search of sanctuary in Europe, has continued despite colder winter weather, though the numbers have dipped somewhat. Twenty-four of the bodies were discovered on the shoreline in the district of Ayvalik, the Turkish coast guard command told Reuters.

36 migrants killed in 2 boat disasters off Turkey

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:53 AM PST

Turkish paramilitary police officers collect the body of a migrant lying on the beach in Ayvalik, Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. A Turkish media report says the bodies of seven more migrants have washed up on a shore in Turkey _ in a second migrant tragedy at sea in one day. The Dogan news agency the drowned bodies, including women and children, washed up at the coast of Dikili on Tuesday, hours after nine bodies were discovered further north, on a sandy beach in the resort of Ayvalik. Dikili and Ayvalik _ some 50 kilometers (30 miles) away _are crossing points for migrants trying to make their way to the Greek island of Lesbos.(AP Photo)ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Authorities recovered the bodies Tuesday of at least 36 migrants who drowned off Turkey after their boats overturned in rough waters as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, officials and news reports said. Twelve others were rescued.


The most unusual part of Trump's new ad

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:52 AM PST

Donald Trump's new political ad is getting a lot of attention. It's his first video foray into the Iowa and New Hampshire TV markets, and it's as belligerent as you might expect, jumping from shots of terrorism suspects and border-crossing migrants to video of United States warships firing cruise missiles, flashing police lights, and a thundering Mr. Trump promising – no surprise here – to "make America great again!" 

A look at where countries stand in Saudi Arabia-Iran dispute

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:35 AM PST

FILE -- In this Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016 file photo, smoke rises as Iranian protesters, upset over the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran, Iran. Diplomatic tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which began with the kingdom's execution of al-Nimr and later saw attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic, have seen countries around the world respond. On Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, President Hassan Rouhani said Saudi Arabia's move to sever ties with his country couldn't DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which began with the kingdom's execution of a Shiite cleric and escalated with attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic, have countries around the world responding by choosing sides or urging calm.


Saudi-Iran crisis unlikely to lead to war: analysts

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:25 AM PST

Iranian women gather during a demonstration against the execution of prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities, at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran on January 4, 2016The escalating standoff between Iran and Saudi Arabia may raise instability in the Middle East, but it will probably not become a direct military confrontation, experts and diplomats say. Riyadh has severed all ties with Tehran, withdrawn its diplomats and cut air links in response to weekend attacks on its missions in the Islamic republic. The assaults on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad followed vehement Iranian criticism of Sunni Saudi Arabia for executing leading Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr after convicting him of "terrorism".


Turkey finds bodies of 36 drowned migrants

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:19 AM PST

Turkey, which is home to 2.2 million refugees from Syria's civil war, has become a hub for migrants seeking to move to EuropeTurkish authorities on Tuesday found the bodies of at least 36 migrants, including several children, washed up on beaches and floating off its western coast after their boats sank while crossing the Aegean Sea to EU member Greece. The tragedies, the deadliest so far reported in the Aegean in 2016, come as the EU seeks to push Turkey to halt the flow of migrants across its borders in exchange for financial help. A spokesman for the Turkish coastguard told AFP that the bodies of 36 migrants had been found, including 29 recovered by the Turkish gendarmerie and seven by the coastguard.


Timeline of the latest Iran-Saudi crisis

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 07:44 AM PST

Iranian protesters demonstrate outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran on January 2, as they protest against the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authoritiesThe latest crisis between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia deepened Tuesday, four days after it erupted with the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Riyadh announces the execution of Nimr, 56, who had voiced bitter opposition to the Saudi royal family, and 46 other "terrorists". Nimr was arrested in 2012, three years after calling for Eastern Province's Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates to be separated from Saudi Arabia and unite with Bahrain.


Swooning for Saudi Arabia

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 07:31 AM PST

Swooning for Saudi ArabiaOnce upon a time, Republican leaders said the United States should push the Middle East toward democracy because Arab dictators were breeding Arab terrorists. Not anymore. In the party George W. Bush once ran, his fight-terrorism-with-democratization thesis has been largely orphaned. The new buzzword is "stability." Donald Trump publicly bemoans the fall of Saddam Hussein and Muammar al-Qaddafi. Ted Cruz attacks the Obama administration for not doing more to keep Hosni Mubarak in power and urges it to emulate Egypt's current dictator, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Bush's former vice president, Dick Cheney, insists that, "The Egyptian people are delighted that the military stepped in," in a brutal coup d'état. And W.'s own brother, Jeb, whose Super PAC has received donations from at least two lobbyists for Saudi Arabia, says the next president must "restore trust" and "work more closely" with America's "important partner" in Riyadh.


New Saudi-Iran crisis threatens wider escalation

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 07:18 AM PST

Supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest against the execution of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, during a demonstration in Najaf, IraqBy Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - The last time Saudi Arabia broke off ties with Iran, after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters in 1988, it took a swing in the regional power balance in the form of Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait to heal the rift. It is hard to see how any lesser development could resolve the region's most bitter rivalry, which has underpinned wars and political tussles across the Middle East as Riyadh and Tehran backed opposing sides. Riyadh's expulsion of Iran's envoy after another storming of its Tehran embassy, this time in response to the Saudi execution of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, raised the heat again, making the region's underlying conflict even harder to resolve.


Turkish army kills 14 Kurdish militants, one security officer dead

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 07:15 AM PST

Turkish security forces have killed at least 14 militants in the mainly Kurdish southeast, the military said on Tuesday, as an army campaign to quell fighting that has spread to the streets of cities entered a third week. A member of the "village guard", a Kurdish militia fighting alongside government forces, was killed on Tuesday during clashes with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the district of Sur in Diyarbakir, the regional capital, the General Staff said on its website. The PKK members were killed in Sur and the towns of Cizre and Silopi on Monday, the military said.

Iran president criticizes Saudi Arabia over severing ties

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 07:04 AM PST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's president said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia cannot "cover up" its crime of executing a leading Shiite cleric by severing diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, even as the kingdom's allies began limiting their links to his country.

Saudi beheadings wrong response to criticism: Iran president

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 06:49 AM PST

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani leaves after a press conference in his office in Tehran on December 16, 2015Saudi Arabia should not respond to criticism of its regime by beheading people, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday following Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Officials have not said how Nimr was put to death, but beheading is common in the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom, which has since cut diplomatic ties with predominantly Shiite Iran. "One does not respond to criticism by cutting off heads," Rouhani said as he welcomed visiting Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen to Tehran.


How the Execution of a Shia Cleric Is Roiling the Middle East

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 06:41 AM PST

Kuwait has recalled its envoy from Iran, a day after Bahrain and Sudan severed diplomatic relations with Tehran, and the United Arab Emirates downgraded them.

Woman faces sentencing for giving money to terrorist groups

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 06:01 AM PST

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Bosnian immigrant faces sentencing for giving money to terror groups in Iraq and Syria.

Islamic State territory shrinks in Iraq and Syria: U.S.-led coalition

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 05:24 AM PST

An Islamic State flag flies over the customs office of Syria's Jarablus border gate as it is pictured from the Turkish town of KarkamisIslamic State's territory shrank by 40 percent from its maximum expansion in Iraq, and by 20 percent in Syria in 2015, as international forces pushed it out of several cities, the U.S.-led coalition fighting it said on Tuesday. "We believe in Iraq it's about 40 percent ... And Syria, harder to get a good number, we think it's around 20," coalition spokesman U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren told a press briefing in Baghdad. "Taking together Iraq and Syria .. they lost 30 percent of the territory they once held," he said.


Militant in Islamic State video believed to be British bouncy castle salesman

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 05:04 AM PST

A file picture shows a man identified by local media as Siddharta Dhar as he takes part in a demonstration outside the U.S. embassy in central LondonBy Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - The masked militant in an Islamic State video showing the killing of five men accused by the group of being Western spies is believed to be a Londoner known as Sid who once sold inflatable bouncy castles. Siddhartha Dhar, who left Britain for Syria while on police bail after his arrest on suspicion of belonging to a banned group and encouraging terrorism, has been identified by media as the spokesman in the militant organisation's latest film. The video also features a young boy wearing a black bandanna around his head and army-style camouflage clothing, threatening in English to "kill the kaffir (unbelievers) over there".


Archaeologists Return to Neanderthal Cave as ISIS Pushed from Iraq

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 04:51 AM PST

Archaeologists Return to Neanderthal Cave as ISIS Pushed from IraqAs the terrorist group ISIS is pushed out of northern Iraq, archaeologists are resuming work in the region, making new discoveries and figuring out how to conserve archaeological sites and reclaim looted antiquities. Several discoveries, including new Neanderthal skeletal remains, have been made at Shanidar Cave, a site in Iraqi Kurdistan that was inhabited by Neanderthals more than 40,000 years ago. Additionally, though ISIS did destroy and loot a great number of sites, there are several ways for archaeologists, scientific institutions, governments and law enforcement agencies in North America and Europe to help save the region's heritage, said Dlshad Marf Zamua, a Kurdish archaeologist and doctoral student at Leiden University in the Netherlands.


U.S., allies launch 20 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 04:22 AM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition on Monday staged 20 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in its latest daily attacks on the militant group, the coalition leading the operations said. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Combined Joint Task Force said 19 strikes near six Iraqi cities hit seven Islamic State tactical units. The strikes, centered near Mosul, Kisik and Sinjar, also struck numerous fighting positions, vehicles, weaponry and other targets, the statement said. ...

Support for Extremist Groups Linked to Governance Failures After Iraq War, says Mercy Corps

Posted: 05 Jan 2016 12:30 AM PST

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Perceptions of a lack of inclusivity in governance in Iraq has fueled support for extremist groups, according to new research from the global organization Mercy Corps. The report, "Investing In Iraq's Peace," is based on a public opinion survey of 5,000 people across Iraq, repeated over three years from 2013 to 2015, coupled with interviews of Iraqi citizens including civic leaders, youth, government officials and activists. The survey found that, contrary to popular assumptions, tensions between Iraq's different sects have been overplayed as the main cause of conflict.

AP Analysis: With execution, Saudis ignite regional tensions

Posted: 04 Jan 2016 10:01 PM PST

A picture of Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, left, is seen partly painted over by authorities on a wall in the largely Shiite western town of Malkiya, Bahrain, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. Allies of Saudi Arabia, including the monarchy in neighboring Bahrain, began scaling down their diplomatic ties to Iran in the wake of the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran that followed al-Nimr's execution. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — By executing a senior Shiite cleric, Saudi Arabia effectively lit a match to set off regional sectarian tensions and its rivalry with Iran, threatening to derail already-shaky peace efforts over the wars in Syria and Yemen.


Today in History

Posted: 04 Jan 2016 09:01 PM PST

Today in History

'We are not natural-born enemies of Iran,' Saudi U.N. envoy says

Posted: 04 Jan 2016 08:04 PM PST

Supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest against the execution of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, during a demonstration in KerbalaBy Michelle Nichols and Sam Wilkin UNITED NATIONS/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would restore ties with Iran when Tehran stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries and pledged that Riyadh would continue to work "very hard" to support bids for peace in Syria and Yemen despite the spat. Saudi Arabia cut all ties with Iran on Sunday following the kingdom's execution of prominent Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Protesters in Iran and Iraq marched for a third day to denounce the execution.


Saudi-Iran row could shatter Syrian peace efforts: analysts

Posted: 04 Jan 2016 08:01 PM PST

Iranian protesters set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran during a demonstration against the execution of prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities, on January 2, 2016The deepening crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran could threaten fragile efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian war, which has claimed more than a quarter of a million lives, analysts say. "The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia will definitely have a negative impact" on the peace process, said Samir Nashar, a member of the Syrian opposition-in-exile. On opposite sides of the Sunni-Shiite faultline in Islam, Iran and Saudi Arabia are also key players in the Syrian conflict, respectively backing or opposing the regime in Damascus.


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