Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Iraq must walk a fine line amid Iranian, Saudi tensions
• Woman gets 3-year sentence for giving money to terror groups
• MPs to debate petition seeking ban on Trump, no vote planned
• IS has lost third of Iraq-Syria territory: coalition
• U.N. council urges Yemen's warring parties to resume ceasefire
• Greece must be helped with refugee influx: Redgrave
• UK lawmakers to debate petition seeking ban on Trump, no vote planned
• Vice News says reporter released on bail in Turkey
• Briton suspected of being masked man in IS video: BBC
• U.S. West Point academy swears in first woman commandant of cadets
• From resignation to determination: Obama's evolution on guns
• US-led coalition: IS has lost 30 percent of its territory
• As Cold War with Saudi sharpens, Iran's Guards deliver warning
• Bodies of 34 migrants found on Turkish coast, at least 12 rescued
• 36 migrants killed in 2 boat disasters off Turkey
• The most unusual part of Trump's new ad
• A look at where countries stand in Saudi Arabia-Iran dispute
• Saudi-Iran crisis unlikely to lead to war: analysts
• Turkey finds bodies of 36 drowned migrants
• Timeline of the latest Iran-Saudi crisis
• Swooning for Saudi Arabia
• New Saudi-Iran crisis threatens wider escalation
• Turkish army kills 14 Kurdish militants, one security officer dead
• Iran president criticizes Saudi Arabia over severing ties
• Saudi beheadings wrong response to criticism: Iran president
• How the Execution of a Shia Cleric Is Roiling the Middle East
• Woman faces sentencing for giving money to terrorist groups
• Islamic State territory shrinks in Iraq and Syria: U.S.-led coalition
• Militant in Islamic State video believed to be British bouncy castle salesman
• Archaeologists Return to Neanderthal Cave as ISIS Pushed from Iraq
• U.S., allies launch 20 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military
• Support for Extremist Groups Linked to Governance Failures After Iraq War, says Mercy Corps
• AP Analysis: With execution, Saudis ignite regional tensions
• Today in History
• 'We are not natural-born enemies of Iran,' Saudi U.N. envoy says
• Saudi-Iran row could shatter Syrian peace efforts: analysts

Iraq must walk a fine line amid Iranian, Saudi tensions Posted: 05 Jan 2016 02:43 PM PST 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 MPs 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 The 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 Oscar-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 British 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 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 Investigations 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 By 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 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 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 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 The 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 Turkish 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 The 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 Once 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 By 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 Saudi 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 Islamic 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 By 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 As 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 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 By 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 The 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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