Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Kerry stresses need to end Syria, Yemen conflicts in talks with Saudis
• Group of weary refugees stuck at Serbian-Macedonian border
• Kerry arrives in Saudi for talks on Syria, Yemen wars
• Mississippi man pleads guilty to trying to join Islamic State
• French police arrest teenagers suspected of plotting attack
• Oil up as IEA sees tighter supply; Goldman says rally premature
• Arab League brands Lebanon's Hezbollah 'terror' group
• IEA says oil may have bottomed as non-OPEC producers cut output
• German broadcaster: IS files refer to some Paris attackers
• Catholic Relief Services Assists One Million Syrians Affected by the Civil War
• Arab League brands Hezbollah group a terrorist organization
• Turkey drops case against police over Ankara bombing
• Iraqi girl dies after IS chemical attack
• U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to Deliver Keynote Address at World Affairs Council - Annual Global Education Gala
• US general in Korea nominated as next NATO supreme commander
• Children exposed to raw sewage, noxious fumes at Greek border camp
• Obama's criticism of British PM: Blow to 'special relationship'?
• Iraq's Abadi asks political blocs to nominate technocrats for cabinet
• Oil price 'might have bottomed out': International Energy Agency
• Shi'ite cleric Sadr urges Iraq PM to press on with forming new cabinet
• Kosovo court hands prison sentence to man who joined IS
• How Iraq Warped Obama’s Worldview
• Key players in Syria's multi-front war
• Saudis walk out of Arab League meeting after Iraqi minister's comments
• EU to ease Greece migrant buildup, wrestles Turkey deal
• U.S. targets Islamic State in Iraq, Syria with 14 strikes: statement
• U.S. Navy may raise current 308-ship target for fleet
• Iraq Shi'ite militia leader's convoy attacked, two guards wounded: TV
• Archbishop of Canterbury says migration fears are valid
• UK press up in arms over Obama comments about Cameron
• Macedonia 'paying for EU mistakes' in refugee crisis: president
• 270,000 dead, 4.7 million refugees: Syria's war in numbers
• Greece tourism insists on sunny outlook amid refugee crisis
• AP FACT CHECK: Bruised realities in GOP debate
• IS expanding in Libya, fueling arms race
• U.S. strikes Islamic State chemical weapons capabilities: Pentagon
• Why Donald Trump's Ideological Mashup Is Brilliant
• Australia declares war on biker gangs, tears up visas
• Obama hopes Cuba trip can remake US image
• What We're Following This Evening

Kerry stresses need to end Syria, Yemen conflicts in talks with Saudis Posted: 11 Mar 2016 03:11 PM PST HAFR AL-BATIN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the need to move now to end the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in talks with top Saudi officials on Friday, a senior U.S. official said. Kerry also sought to reassure officials of the importance of U.S.-Saudi ties a day after President Barack Obama was quoted in a U.S. magazine as saying regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran need to "share the neighborhood" and establish a "cold peace." Meeting at a Saudi military base outside Hafr al-Batin near the Saudi border with Iraq, Kerry held talks with Saudi King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

Group of weary refugees stuck at Serbian-Macedonian border Posted: 11 Mar 2016 01:54 PM PST TABANOVCE, Macedonia (AP) — Yousif Shikhmous had such high hopes of starting a new life in Germany that when his son was born, the Syrian refugee named him Merkkel. Only four months later, Shikhmous has seen all those dreams shattered after he and his family boarded what has become known as "The Last Train to Europe."

Kerry arrives in Saudi for talks on Syria, Yemen wars Posted: 11 Mar 2016 01:33 PM PST HAFR AL-BATIN, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed Friday at a sprawling military facility in northeastern Saudi Arabia where the kingdom just finished a three-week-long counter-terrorism drill that included 20 nations and which observers say was a show of force against its foes.

Mississippi man pleads guilty to trying to join Islamic State Posted: 11 Mar 2016 01:14 PM PST Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, 23, and Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, were arrested at a Mississippi airport in August 2015, while attempting to board a flight to Turkey, where they believed an Islamic State contact would convey them to Syria, according to court documents filed by U.S. prosecutors. Young, who has not pleaded guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in June, acknowledged her role as the "planner of the expedition" in an incriminating farewell letter, the documents said.

French police arrest teenagers suspected of plotting attack Posted: 11 Mar 2016 01:02 PM PST PARIS (AP) — Two teenage girls suspected of plotting an attack against a Parisian concert hall have been arrested and presented to an anti-terrorism judge, Paris prosecutors said Friday.

Oil up as IEA sees tighter supply; Goldman says rally premature Posted: 11 Mar 2016 12:42 PM PST By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose up to 2 percent on Friday, with U.S. crude gaining for a fourth straight week, after the world's energy watchdog said the market may have hit bottom, although Goldman Sachs said the 50 percent rally in under two months was "premature." The Paris-based International Energy Agency, which coordinates energy policies of industrialized nations, said U.S. and non-OPEC crude output was beginning to fall quickly, while increases in Iranian supply had been less than dramatic. The IEA said it believed non-OPEC output will fall by 750,000 barrels per day this year, some 25 percent more than the 600,000 bpd it previously forecast. Goldman Sachs remained bearish, saying in a note to clients that prices could fall sharply in coming weeks with record U.S. inventory builds offsetting production declines in the country.

Arab League brands Lebanon's Hezbollah 'terror' group Posted: 11 Mar 2016 12:17 PM PST The Arab League on Friday declared Iran ally Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, after Gulf monarchies adopted the same stance over the Lebanese Shiite movement's support for the regime in Syria's war. The move reflects the worsening tensions between Shiite Iran and the six-nation Sunni-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is a key member. Friday's decision was endorsed by the majority of foreign ministers of the pan-Arab body except for Lebanon and Iraq which expressed "reservations", said Bahraini diplomat Wahid Mubarak Sayar.

IEA says oil may have bottomed as non-OPEC producers cut output Posted: 11 Mar 2016 12:01 PM PST Oil prices might have bottomed as production declines in the United States and other non-OPEC producers accelerate and an increase in Iranian supply has been less than dramatic, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. After a spectacular 2015, growth in global demand was slowing - with India and the Middle East being rare pockets of improvement, the IEA said in a monthly report. Growth could slow even further if oil prices kept rising, said the Paris-based IEA, which coordinates energy policies of industrialized nations.

German broadcaster: IS files refer to some Paris attackers Posted: 11 Mar 2016 11:32 AM PST LONDON (AP) — A cache of leaked documents containing the names of recruits into the Islamic State group includes references to several of the men who carried out the November attacks in Paris, a German broadcaster reported Friday. Security officials and counterterrorism analysts said the cache could provide valuable clues into how the group lures followers and how vast its global recruiting networks are.

Catholic Relief Services Assists One Million Syrians Affected by the Civil War Posted: 11 Mar 2016 10:59 AM PST BALTIMORE, March 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Syria marks five years since the beginning of its brutal civil war, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) reports that it has supported over one million people affected by the conflict. "The scale of the suffering is devastating," said Kevin Hartigan, CRS Regional Director for Europe and the Middle East, who has overseen the response for the past four years. "But as Pope Francis reminds us, there are human faces behind the staggering statistics.

Arab League brands Hezbollah group a terrorist organization Posted: 11 Mar 2016 10:36 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — The Arab League on Friday formally branded Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group a terrorist organization, a move that raises concerns of deepening divisions among Arab countries and ramps up the pressure on the Shiite group, which is fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria.

Turkey drops case against police over Ankara bombing Posted: 11 Mar 2016 10:35 AM PST Turkish prosecutors have dropped a probe into senior security officials suspected of negligence over a massive suicide bombing that killed 103 people in Ankara last year, Anatolia news agency reported Friday. Turkey blamed the October attack, in which two bombers blew themselves up at a crowded peace rally, on Islamic State (IS) extremists acting under orders from their leadership in Syria. Three senior Ankara police officials, including the city's police chief, were sacked soon afterwards amid accusations of security lapses and a wave of public anger at the deadliest attack in Turkey's modern history.

Iraqi girl dies after IS chemical attack Posted: 11 Mar 2016 10:00 AM PST A three-year-old Iraqi girl wounded in a chemical attack by the Islamic State group died in hospital Friday, medical sources and officials said. "She died of respiratory complications and kidney failure... caused by the mustard agent used by Daesh (IS) in Taza," said Masrour Aswad, of the Iraqi Commission for Human Rights. Fatima Samir was among the dozens of people hospitalised after a chemical attack carried out Wednesday on Taza, a town just south of the city of Kirkuk.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to Deliver Keynote Address at World Affairs Council - Annual Global Education Gala Posted: 11 Mar 2016 09:42 AM PST WASHINGTON, March 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On March 29, 2016, the World Affairs Council-Washington, DC will host its annual Global Education HONORS: Gala at the Ritz Carlton-Washington, DC. The gala is an event that recognizes organizations and nations who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to global education, international affairs, and global communications. The Keynote Address will be delivered by Hon.

US general in Korea nominated as next NATO supreme commander Posted: 11 Mar 2016 09:00 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's chief decision-making body said Friday it has approved the nomination of the U.S. Army general currently in charge of American forces in Korea to become the next supreme allied commander Europe, or SACEUR.

Children exposed to raw sewage, noxious fumes at Greek border camp Posted: 11 Mar 2016 08:35 AM PST Days of heavy rain have turned Greece's Idomeni border camp into a foul-smelling bog, exposing migrant children to raw sewage, noxious fumes and bitter cold, with aid workers describing conditions as "critical". More than 14,000 mainly Syrian and Iraqi refugees including many children are camped out at the squalid camp where they have been stranded by Skopje's decision to close the frontier. Macedonia has not let anyone enter since Monday.

Obama's criticism of British PM: Blow to 'special relationship'? Posted: 11 Mar 2016 08:07 AM PST President Obama has publicly criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron, heaping blame for Libya's chaos at the prime minister's feet, while also lamenting his failure to secure parliamentary approval for airstrikes in Syria. The comments, made during a sweeping interview in The Atlantic that considers President Obama's navigation through the world of foreign policy, are seen as unusual for a sitting president. "Obama wasn't saying the relationship is broken.

Iraq's Abadi asks political blocs to nominate technocrats for cabinet Posted: 11 Mar 2016 08:02 AM PST By Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked political blocs in parliament and "influential social figures" to nominate technocrats as candidates for ministerial positions in a new cabinet he plans to form, state TV reported on Friday. A year and a half into his four-year term, Abadi is trying to challenge a system of patronage which has become entrenched in Iraq over the last decade, paralyzing politics and allowing corruption to flourish. Al-Iraqia news channel, which announced Abadi's move on Friday, said an independent committee of experts will review the names put forward and then select a list of names from those candidates for him to choose his ministers.

Oil price 'might have bottomed out': International Energy Agency Posted: 11 Mar 2016 07:06 AM PST The oil price may have finally bottomed out after an unprecedented drop over the past 18 months, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday, noting oil's "remarkable recovery" over recent weeks. Recent sharp gains in the oil price, taking it to around $40 per barrel now from $28.50 in mid-January, do not necessarily mean that the worst is over, the IEA said in its monthly oil market report. Oil prices rebounded Friday following the report, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April adding 71 cents on the day to trade at $38.55 and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery rising 66 cents to $40.71.

Shi'ite cleric Sadr urges Iraq PM to press on with forming new cabinet Posted: 11 Mar 2016 06:58 AM PST Powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday to press on with plans to form an independent cabinet of technocrats to fight graft despite "political pressure" to desist. Earlier Abadi asked political blocs in parliament and "influential social figures" to nominate technocrats as candidates for ministerial positions in the new cabinet, state television reported. "I want the prime minister to continue his reform plan with no fear of political pressure," Sadr said in a pre-recorded speech aired during a demonstration held in Baghdad by his supporters to demand political reforms.It was not immediately clear whether Sadr had recorded his speech before or after the state television announcement on Abadi's call.

Kosovo court hands prison sentence to man who joined IS Posted: 11 Mar 2016 06:27 AM PST PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A Kosovo court has sentenced an Albanian man to three years imprisonment for joining the Islamic State group.

How Iraq Warped Obama’s Worldview Posted: 11 Mar 2016 06:25 AM PST On October 2, 2002, Barack Obama gave a speech opposing war in Iraq—perhaps, in retrospect, the most important speech he ever gave. He was right, of course, and the foreign-policy establishment was largely wrong. The problem is that politicians who were right about Iraq tend to overestimate what that says about their foreign-policy judgment. For Obama, the effects of being right are magnified. He became president, in part, because of Iraq and the considerable damage the conflict had done to the country. Obama offered the promise of a decisive correction and, for true believers, a kind of spiritual atonement.

Key players in Syria's multi-front war Posted: 11 Mar 2016 06:00 AM PST Syria's war has in five years spiralled into a complex, multi-front conflict, with regime forces, rebels, Kurds and jihadists carving out zones of control as world powers conduct air campaigns. It now controls about a third of Syrian territory, where roughly 60 percent of the population lives. Militias from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan have also bolstered the regime forces.

Saudis walk out of Arab League meeting after Iraqi minister's comments Posted: 11 Mar 2016 05:25 AM PST The Saudi delegation at the Arab League stormed out of a meeting after Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari defended the Shi'ite Hashd Shaabi militia grouping, an Iraqi foreign ministry source told Reuters on Friday. Tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim powers have been on the rise as sectarian wars rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and the Arab League has become a forum for predominantly Sunni countries, led by Saudi Arabia, to air grievances with regional Shi'ite power Iran. "The Saudi delegation withdrew from the meeting hall after the speech of Foreign Minister Al-Jaafari who rejected speaking against Hashd Shaabi and other resistance groups," the source said, declining to be named.

EU to ease Greece migrant buildup, wrestles Turkey deal Posted: 11 Mar 2016 05:17 AM PST By Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union aims to rehouse thousands of asylum-seekers from Greece in the coming months, officials said on Thursday as EU ministers wrestled with concerns about the legality of a new plan to force migrants back to Turkey. Dimitris Avramopoulos, the member of the executive European Commission who handles migration, told reporters at a meeting of national interior ministers that at least 6,000 people a month should be relocated to other member states under a scheme which has moved only about 900 hundred people so far. Some 35,000 people have been stranded in Greece since Austria and states on the route to Germany began closing borders, barring access to migrants hoping to follow more than a million who reached northern Europe last year.

U.S. targets Islamic State in Iraq, Syria with 14 strikes: statement Posted: 11 Mar 2016 04:34 AM PST The U.S.-led coalition conducted 14 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Thursday in its latest round of daily attacks on the militant group, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement. In Iraq, 13 strikes were staged near seven cities, including Ramadi, Sinjar and Hit, according to the statement released on Friday. The operations hit five Islamic State tactical units and destroyed or damaged a dozen fighting positions as well as various weapons and supply targets, it said.

U.S. Navy may raise current 308-ship target for fleet Posted: 11 Mar 2016 03:49 AM PST The U.S. Navy will likely increase its requirement for a 308-ship fleet given the rapidly changing world security situation, including the U.S. battle against Islamic State, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said on Thursday. Richardson said the Navy was reviewing an assessment completed in 2012 and updated in 2014, before Russia's reemergence as a "global power competitor," and the start of the U.S.-led campaign to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. "I would bet a paycheck that it's going to be a number greater than 308 ships, just by virtue of the additive nature of the complexity and the contestants that are confronting us right now," Richardson told an event hosted by Washington defense consultant Jim McAleese and Credit Suisse.

Iraq Shi'ite militia leader's convoy attacked, two guards wounded: TV Posted: 11 Mar 2016 03:45 AM PST The convoy of the leader of one of Iraq's main Shi'ite militias, Aws al-Khafaji, came under attack and two of his guards were wounded, Baghdad-based Afaq TV reported on Friday. An explosive device blew up as his convoy was passing in the region of Arab Jubour, just south of Baghdad, TV reported. Khafaji is the commander of Abul Fadhl al-Abbas Forces, one of the groups fighting Islamic State militants.

Archbishop of Canterbury says migration fears are valid Posted: 11 Mar 2016 03:36 AM PST Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the leader of the world's Anglicans, said Friday that people were entitled to fear the impact of mass migration, in his first intervention in Britain's EU referendum debate. As the European Union struggles to deal with the arrival of an influx of people fleeing war in Syria and upheaval across the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Welby said there was a "genuine fear" about the impact on housing, employment and public services.

UK press up in arms over Obama comments about Cameron Posted: 11 Mar 2016 02:59 AM PST LONDON (AP) — The British press on Friday accused President Barack Obama of launching an unprecedented verbal attack on British Prime Minister David Cameron in a magazine interview.

Macedonia 'paying for EU mistakes' in refugee crisis: president Posted: 11 Mar 2016 02:42 AM PST Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov on Friday angrily charged that his country had been forced to "pay for the mistakes" of the EU during the record migrant influx. Ivanov accused the 28-member EU of failing to anticipate the massive influx via Turkey and then dithering in the face of the historic refugee wave. "In the refugee crisis, we are now paying for the EU's mistakes, we have already spent 25 million euros ($28 million) of our taxpayers' money and had to declare a national crisis," he told Germany's Bild newspaper.

270,000 dead, 4.7 million refugees: Syria's war in numbers Posted: 11 Mar 2016 02:35 AM PST Syria's war has killed more than a quarter of a million people, uprooted over half the population and left much of the country in ruins since it erupted five years ago. The fighting has left more than 270,000 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor which relies on a large network of doctors and activist sources across the country. Handicap International, a French non-governmental organisation, said earlier this month that one million people had been wounded in the war.

Greece tourism insists on sunny outlook amid refugee crisis Posted: 10 Mar 2016 10:50 PM PST Greece, long loved by tourists for its white-washed chapels, sun-kissed islands and turquoise Mediterranean seas, is trying to shake its new image as Europe's frontline state in the migrant crisis. At Berlin's ITB, which bills itself as the world's leading travel trade show, Greek tourism professionals are at pains to stress that their crisis-battered country remains a premier holiday getaway. For Greece -- long battered by recession and a drawn out financial crisis -- tourism is a lucrative and vital sector, making up some 20 percent of gross domestic product and accounting for about one in five jobs.

AP FACT CHECK: Bruised realities in GOP debate Posted: 10 Mar 2016 08:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential contenders hurled insults again Thursday night but not at each other — rather, at the facts.

IS expanding in Libya, fueling arms race Posted: 10 Mar 2016 08:24 PM PST The Islamic State group has significantly expanded its control over Libya, fueling demand by the country's warring parties for more arms to confront the threat, UN experts have told the Security Council. IS has successfully recruited young men from local tribes, offering them protection and benefits but it has also enlisted military officers from the former regime of Moamer Kadhafi, said the report by the panel of experts who report to a UN sanctions committee. Extremists from sub-Saharan Africa have traveled through Sudan to join IS ranks in Sirte and Benghazi, the report said, confirming fears that the Libyan IS branch is seeking to draw recruits from other parts of the continent.

U.S. strikes Islamic State chemical weapons capabilities: Pentagon Posted: 10 Mar 2016 08:17 PM PST The United States has carried out air strikes that it believes have degraded the chemical weapons capabilities of Islamic State in Iraq after using information obtained from a captured militant, the Pentagon said on Thursday. U.S.-led coalition forces detained Sulayman Dawud al Bakkar, Islamic State's head of chemical and traditional weapons manufacturing, during an operation in Iraq in February, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

Why Donald Trump's Ideological Mashup Is Brilliant Posted: 10 Mar 2016 08:10 PM PST Trump is busting ideological barriers. It's a political winner.

Australia declares war on biker gangs, tears up visas Posted: 10 Mar 2016 06:53 PM PST Australia declared war on outlaw motorcycle gangs on Friday, with the visas of more than 80 foreign nationals torn up in a crackdown on drug-dealing, extortion and gun-smuggling, which officials said was causing misery. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed 81 biker gang members have had their visas cancelled or refused since mid-2014 with 27 of them already kicked out of the country. "Our government is very happy to declare war on outlaw motorcycle gang members," said Dutton.

Obama hopes Cuba trip can remake US image Posted: 10 Mar 2016 06:48 PM PST Barack Obama will make history this month by becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in almost a century, but he also hopes to remake the United States' image in Latin America. When Obama sets foot in Havana on March 20, the White House imagines a "Berlin Wall moment" -- a singular legacy gilding event like Ronald Reagan's 1987 address before the Brandenburg Gate. Whereas Reagan sought to end the Cold War division of Europe, Obama hopes to symbolically "tear down" decades of Cold War antagonism across the narrow Florida Straits.

What We're Following This Evening Posted: 10 Mar 2016 04:25 PM PST Trouble at a charity for American vets: CBS News reports the two top executives of the Wounded Warrior Project were fired today by the group's board of directors for lavish spending unrelated to the welfare of injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

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