Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Assange hopes to walk out of embassy after UN panel ruling
• U.S. Marine Corps expects budget squeeze to fund fleet modernization
• New U.S. intelligence report says Islamic State weaker
• Will America stick with Colombia in peace, as it did in war?
• Why Sanders and Clinton are fighting over the word 'progressive'
• World powers pledge $10 billion in aid for Syria
• Number of ISIS Fighters in Iraq and Syria Drops, Increases in Libya, US Official Says
• US struggling to build anti-Islamic State strategy in Libya
• Tortured Italian student died 'slow death': Egypt official
• IS forces rise in Libya, drop in Iraq and Syria: US official
• WikiLeaks' Assange 'arbitrarily detained' in embassy, U.N. panel to say
• Saudi ready to join anti-IS ground op in Syria: general
• Lawmakers introduce bill to make women register for draft
• Islamic State numbers go down in Iraq, Syria; up in Libya
• Fear stalks Libya's growing jihadist haven
• Clinton, Sanders take new combative tone into first one-on-one debate
• Number of migrants registering in Germany falls markedly in January
• US demands end to Russia strikes after Syria talks collapse
• Woman in hiding tells why she blew whistle on Paris attacker
• Saudi says Iranian pilgrims welcome despite rift
• Julian Assange: WikiLeaks' fugitive anti-hero
• Italy to send 130 military personnel to Iraq to recover wounded
• U.S., allies conduct 22 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military
• Viewer's Guide: Clinton, Sanders clash over economic divide
• 5 Conspiracy Theories About the Oil Crash, from Ludicrous to Logical
• 10 Things to Know for Today
• To silence propaganda, Iraq seeks to take Islamic State offline
• Kosovo FM 'received death threat from IS leader'
• Syrian refugees struggle to buy food as aid dwindles
• Clinton defends progressive record against Sanders critique
• Gaza and Israel on edge as West Bank unrest simmers
• Democratic hopefuls Sanders and Clinton spar over 'progressive' credentials
• Today in History
• In-Depth Federal Budget Survey: Republicans and Democrats Agree on Changes Reducing Deficit By $52 billion
• 50 Years of the Super Bowl: 17 Major Players Spill on Wardrobe Malfunctions, O.J. Simpson, Deflategate in THR's Oral History
• Iraq building security wall around Baghdad
• Iraq Kurds to pay partial salaries due to economic crisis

Assange hopes to walk out of embassy after UN panel ruling Posted: 04 Feb 2016 04:53 PM PST WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he hoped a UN panel's decision expected on Friday could lead to the end of his confinement in the Ecuadorean embassy in London over a rape allegation in Sweden. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) is expected to declare that his three-and-a-half years stuck in a cramped embassy office amount to illegal detention, the Swedish foreign ministry and Assange's lawyers said Thursday. Assange, who has been holed up at the embassy since June 2012 to avoid arrest, said he expects the British police to call off their attempts to detain him if the panel rules in his favour.

U.S. Marine Corps expects budget squeeze to fund fleet modernization Posted: 04 Feb 2016 03:44 PM PST The United States Marine Corps will try to maintain funding for its plans to modernize its fleet of aging aircraft and ships in the fiscal 2017 defense budget, the commandant of the Marine Corps said on Thursday. General Robert Neller told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Washington that there was a difference between the budget expected on Feb. 9 and what the Marines wanted. "We're going to do everything to protect our modernization," said Neller, who took command of the Marine Corps last year.

New U.S. intelligence report says Islamic State weaker Posted: 04 Feb 2016 03:22 PM PST Islamic State has as many as 25,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq, down from a previous estimate of up to 31,000, according to a U.S. intelligence report revealed by the White House on Thursday. U.S. officials cited factors such as battlefield casualties and desertions to explain the roughly 20 percent decrease in fighters, and said the report showed a U.S.-led campaign to crush Islamic State was making progress. The new intelligence estimate "means they continue to be a substantial threat, but the potential numbers have declined," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Will America stick with Colombia in peace, as it did in war? Posted: 04 Feb 2016 03:16 PM PST After 15 years and $10 billion, the United States aid program known as Plan Colombia has helped put the country on the verge of peace for the first time in more than half a century. The Colombian government is in the final stages of peace negotiations with rebels from the FARC, the last major guerrilla group fighting in Colombia's war. Recommended: Think you know Latin America?

Why Sanders and Clinton are fighting over the word 'progressive' Posted: 04 Feb 2016 02:55 PM PST Senator Sanders began this tussle over the nature of political identity on Wednesday by saying Mrs. Clinton "just wasn't a progressive" on a host of issues, while campaigning in the Granite State. The Vermont senator and avowed democratic socialist also pointed out that Clinton has taken lots of campaign money from Wall Street and has a super PAC, two things of which he's never been accused. Clinton during her own campaign stops responded that Sanders isn't a "gatekeeper" on who can claim the "P" label.

World powers pledge $10 billion in aid for Syria Posted: 04 Feb 2016 02:38 PM PST World leaders pledged over $10 billion (9.0 billion euros) Thursday to help conflict-hit Syrians at a London conference overshadowed by the breakdown of peace talks in Geneva. The European Union, Germany, Britain and the United States were among the biggest donors to provide food, education and job opportunities for Syrians in their homeland and neighbouring countries where they have fled.

Number of ISIS Fighters in Iraq and Syria Drops, Increases in Libya, US Official Says Posted: 04 Feb 2016 02:05 PM PST The U.S. now estimates that the number of ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria has decreased to between 19,000 and 25,000 resulting from battlefield deaths and a reduced flow of foreign fighters into Syria. Previous U.S. estimates for Iraq and Syria in the past year have been that ISIS has remained constant at between 20,000 and 30,000, with a peak of 33,000, according to a Defense Department official.

US struggling to build anti-Islamic State strategy in Libya Posted: 04 Feb 2016 01:39 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is struggling to find the right mix of military and diplomatic moves to stop the Islamic State in Libya, where the extremist group has taken advantage of the political chaos in the country to gain a foothold with worrying implications for the U.S. and Europe — particularly Italy, just 300 miles (500 kilometers) away.

Tortured Italian student died 'slow death': Egypt official Posted: 04 Feb 2016 01:37 PM PST CAIRO (AP) — The body of an Italian graduate student who disappeared last month has been found with multiple stab wounds, cigarette burns and other signs of torture and a "slow death" on a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo, an Egyptian prosecutor said Thursday.

IS forces rise in Libya, drop in Iraq and Syria: US official Posted: 04 Feb 2016 01:11 PM PST Islamic State fighters have streamed into Libya in recent months, a US official said Thursday, heightening fears that the extremists are gaining ground and influence in the north African country. About 5,000 IS jihadists are now in Libya, the defense official said, approximately double earlier estimates, while the number of IS extremists in Iraq and Syria has dropped. The updated tallies comes as the adminstration of President Barack Obama faces growing calls for the US military to step up action against the IS group in Libya, where the jihadists have already seized the city of Sirte and an adjoining length of Mediterranean coastline.

WikiLeaks' Assange 'arbitrarily detained' in embassy, U.N. panel to say Posted: 04 Feb 2016 12:51 PM PST By Johan Ahlander and Guy Faulconbridge STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been subject to 'arbitrary detention' during the 3-1/2 years he has spent in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid a rape investigation in Sweden, a U.N. panel will rule on Friday. Assange, who enraged the United States by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, appealed to the panel saying he was a political refugee whose rights had been infringed by being unable to take up asylum in Ecuador.

Saudi ready to join anti-IS ground op in Syria: general Posted: 04 Feb 2016 12:14 PM PST Saudi Arabia is ready to join any ground operation the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group in Syria might decide on, a general from the kingdom said on Thursday. "If there is any willingness in the coalition to go in the ground operation, we will contribute positively in that," Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri told AFP. Since late 2014 Saudi Arabia has been part of a US-led coalition which officially has 65 members and has been bombing the Islamic State Sunni extremist group which seized large parts of Syria and Iraq.

Lawmakers introduce bill to make women register for draft Posted: 04 Feb 2016 11:31 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican congressmen who are military veterans have introduced a bill requiring women to register for the draft.

Islamic State numbers go down in Iraq, Syria; up in Libya Posted: 04 Feb 2016 10:28 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — New intelligence assessments show that the number of Islamic State group fighters has dropped in Iraq and Syria but is rising in Libya, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.

Fear stalks Libya's growing jihadist haven Posted: 04 Feb 2016 10:23 AM PST Public beheadings and roving jihadist gangs are terrifying residents in the Islamic State group's Libyan stronghold of Sirte, in an ominous sign of the movement's growing international influence. Witnesses tell of amputations and executions in squares in Moamer Kadhafi's hometown on the Mediterranean coast, where women can no longer go out without a male guardian. Civilian life has disappeared and the scenes we saw on television from Syria and Iraq now apply to people here," a Sirte municipal council official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Clinton, Sanders take new combative tone into first one-on-one debate Posted: 04 Feb 2016 09:10 AM PST Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders take an increasingly combative tone into their first one-on-one debate on Thursday, cranking up a fight over who is best suited to lead the party's liberal agenda on the economy and healthcare. Five days before New Hampshire voters render a judgment in the second of the state-by-state presidential nominating contests, Clinton and Sanders will square off on MSNBC at 9 p.m. EST (0200 Friday GMT) in Durham, New Hampshire. Polls show Sanders, a U.S. senator from neighboring Vermont, has a comfortable lead over Clinton in New Hampshire after surprising the front-runner by managing a virtual tie with her in the kickoff contest in Iowa on Monday.

Number of migrants registering in Germany falls markedly in January Posted: 04 Feb 2016 08:38 AM PST Germany registered 91,671 migrants in January, less than half November's level, officials said on Thursday as pressure mounted on Chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver on her pledge to reduce the influx. An Interior Ministry statement on the latest migrant tally gave no explanation for the notable drop in migrant arrivals, but it said previously that a downward trend seen since late last year was due mainly to freezing winter weather. Germany has also reimposed spot controls on border points with Austria used by incoming migrants and is seeking to speed up deportations of those not qualifying for asylum.

US demands end to Russia strikes after Syria talks collapse Posted: 04 Feb 2016 07:59 AM PST The United States demanded Thursday that Russia immediately halt its bombing campaign in Syria after a bitter breakdown in peace talks exposed the deep rift between world powers aiming to end the five-year conflict. On the ground, nearly 40,000 people have fled an offensive this week by President Bashar al-Assad's regime north of the city of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. Assad's forces also entered two Shiite villages that were under siege by rebels, prompting what state news agency SANA called "mass celebrations" in the streets of Nubol and Zahraa.

Woman in hiding tells why she blew whistle on Paris attacker Posted: 04 Feb 2016 07:31 AM PST By Brian Love PARIS (Reuters) - A woman whose phone tip-off allowed police to corner and kill the ringleader of the Nov. 13 assault on Paris has spoken for the first time of his plans for a follow-up attack and how he bragged about entering France with 90 others from Syria. The woman, in hiding and under police protection, contacted a French radio station to complain of what she deems insufficient support from the public authorities, and she also talked of the events that led police to Islamist militant Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Abaaoud died when elite police laid siege to his hideout flat in Saint Denis north of Paris on Nov. 18, days after the Islamic State-claimed attacks in which he and a large group of militants killed 130 people in and near the French capital.

Saudi says Iranian pilgrims welcome despite rift Posted: 04 Feb 2016 07:26 AM PST Iranian pilgrims are still welcome to visit Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia despite increased tensions between the two countries, Riyadh's foreign minister said on Thursday. "Any Muslim is welcome in Mecca and Medina... and this includes the Iranian pilgrims," Adel al-Jubeir told reporters. In January, protesters burned Riyadh's embassy in Tehran and a consulate in Iran's second city of Mashhad to protest the Saudi execution of a prominent cleric from the minority Shiite community.

Julian Assange: WikiLeaks' fugitive anti-hero Posted: 04 Feb 2016 07:08 AM PST When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced he might finally leave Ecuador's embassy in London, it was a new twist in a long-running thriller pitting hi-tech activists against mighty governments. Ecuador granted him political asylum in 2012, while Sweden wants him extradited over an allegation of rape. Assange said Thursday he expects to be treated as a free man if a UN panel rules in his favour in the alleged rape case, though Britain said it would have to detain him should he emerge.

Italy to send 130 military personnel to Iraq to recover wounded Posted: 04 Feb 2016 06:56 AM PST Italy will send a team specialized in treating war wounded to Iraq as it prepares to send troops to guard Mosul dam maintenance workers, Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said on Thursday. In the wake of the deadly Islamic State attacks in Paris in November, Italy declined French and American calls to join in air strikes in Syria. In an interview with Canale 5 television, Pinotti said Italy's cabinet would approve a mission to send 130 military personnel to retrieve and treat the wounded in the coming weeks.

U.S., allies conduct 22 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military Posted: 04 Feb 2016 06:46 AM PST The United States and its allies conducted 22 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, focusing primarily on the Iraqi towns of Qayyarah, Mosul and Ramadi, the U.S. military said in a statement on Thursday. The U.S.-led coalition carried out six air strikes around Qayyarah, bombing weapons, fighting positions and command and control points, the statement said. It carried out five strikes around Mosul and four around Ramadi, focusing on similar targets.

Viewer's Guide: Clinton, Sanders clash over economic divide Posted: 04 Feb 2016 05:22 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The face-to-face meeting between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is rooted in an intensifying debate over who understands the great divide between rich Americans and everyone else.

5 Conspiracy Theories About the Oil Crash, from Ludicrous to Logical Posted: 04 Feb 2016 03:00 AM PST The last time crude oil prices spent significant time below $30 a barrel Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were still "Bennifer," Howard Dean was leading the Democratic primary race and Saddam Hussein had just been captured by U.S. troops in Iraq. It was December 2003 and the world was awash in oil. Oil had been relatively cheap throughout the 1990s thanks to regulated production and price controls.

10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 04 Feb 2016 02:43 AM PST Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

To silence propaganda, Iraq seeks to take Islamic State offline Posted: 04 Feb 2016 02:15 AM PST By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq is trying to persuade satellite firms to halt Internet services in areas under Islamic State's rule, seeking to deal a major blow to the group's potent propaganda machine which relies heavily on social media to inspire its followers to wage jihad. Social media apps like Twitter and Telegram are scrambling to limit Islamic State's cyber-activities. For Iraq then, the key is to stop the militant group from accessing the web at all - a feat, which if achieved, could sever a significant part of a propaganda campaign that has inspired deadly attacks in the West.

Kosovo FM 'received death threat from IS leader' Posted: 04 Feb 2016 12:36 AM PST Kosovo's foreign minister and former premier Hashim Thaci says he received a death threat purportedly from the leader of the Islamic State organisation over his opposition to the extremist group. A Pristina news website this week reported details of a letter addressed to then-prime minister Thaci in late 2014, allegedly signed by IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, calling on him to abandon Kosovo's alignment with the West or face "great revenge". Thaci, who is now front-runner to become president of Muslim-majority Kosovo this year, confirmed that he had received a threatening letter from Baghdadi, saying he would "not step back or retreat from any threats" in tackling Islamic fundamentalism.

Syrian refugees struggle to buy food as aid dwindles Posted: 03 Feb 2016 11:34 PM PST KAWERGOSK CAMP, Iraq (AP) — Perwin Shamsaddeen Ali, a Syrian refugee living in a tent camp in northern Iraq, has been reduced to cooking one meal a day for her family of four.

Clinton defends progressive record against Sanders critique Posted: 03 Feb 2016 11:33 PM PST MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders opened up a new line of attack in the Democratic presidential primary on Wednesday, putting Hillary Clinton on the defensive over her liberal credentials just days after she eked a slim victory in the Iowa caucuses.

Gaza and Israel on edge as West Bank unrest simmers Posted: 03 Feb 2016 09:40 PM PST Struck in an Israeli air raid in the 2014 Gaza war, Mohammed's home was only recently rebuilt but he remains undaunted by the prospect of another showdown with the Jewish state. "I'm not afraid of Israel," the 35-year-old father of six said while seated on floor cushions in his home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, his children occasionally peeking their heads around the door. The member of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said preparations for another war have included rebuilding attack tunnels destroyed by Israel two years ago.

Democratic hopefuls Sanders and Clinton spar over 'progressive' credentials Posted: 03 Feb 2016 09:24 PM PST Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton battled over their progressive credentials at a town hall on Wednesday, but also reflected on their spirituality, a topic that more commonly dominates the narrative on the other side of the political aisle. Sanders, speaking at the televised event in Derry, New Hampshire, built on an earlier back-and-forth between the two candidates on Twitter and in appearances in the state, which hosts the second party-nominating contest on Feb. 9, reminding voters that he and Clinton have made different decisions on backing the Iraq war, taking money from Super PACs and energy policies. "Some of my best friends are moderates, but you can't be a progressive and a moderate at the same time," Sanders said at the town hall, hosted by CNN, which included questions from voters.

Today in History Posted: 03 Feb 2016 09:01 PM PST Today is Thursday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2016. There are 331 days left in the year.

In-Depth Federal Budget Survey: Republicans and Democrats Agree on Changes Reducing Deficit By $52 billion Posted: 03 Feb 2016 09:01 PM PST WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the announcement of President Obama's FY2017 budget draws near, a new, national survey finds majorities of Republicans and Democrats agreeing on cuts in spending and increases in revenues that would reduce the projected deficit by $52 billion. Seventy-six percent approved of taxing carried interest like ordinary income – repealing the special tax treatment that has benefited hedge fund managers – including 74 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of independents.

50 Years of the Super Bowl: 17 Major Players Spill on Wardrobe Malfunctions, O.J. Simpson, Deflategate in THR's Oral History Posted: 03 Feb 2016 09:00 PM PST THR spoke to a slew of VIPs who've worked on the broadcasts as they remember O.J. announcing right before his arrest, the time Eli Manning left Dan Patrick hanging and whom Howard Stern got everyone to boo.

Iraq building security wall around Baghdad Posted: 03 Feb 2016 04:55 PM PST Iraq is building a three-metre-high security wall and trench defences around Baghdad in an effort to thwart jihadist attacks, a security official said on Thursday. The aim is to prevent the infiltration of "terrorists" and car bombs into the city, Brigadier General Saad Maan said. "We began constructing a three-metre-high (10 foot) concrete wall and a trench around the city of Baghdad," he told AFP.

Iraq Kurds to pay partial salaries due to economic crisis Posted: 03 Feb 2016 04:28 PM PST Iraq's Kurdish region has announced it will pay only partial salaries to all government employees except security personnel as it struggles with an economic crisis due to low oil prices. The autonomous region in northern Iraq, like the rest of the country, has been suffering from the huge drop in oil prices since mid-2014. Kurdish leader Massud Barzani this week called for a referendum on independence, but economic challenges effectively rule out a viable Iraqi Kurdish state for now.

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States