Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Agent testifies about interviews of man accused in attack
• The Latest: FBI agent testifies about thwarted Texas attack
• Trump being advised by ex-U.S. Lieutenant General who favors closer Russia ties
• EU Med countries oppose unilateral actions on refugee crisis
• US advisers may train Nigerian troops in Boko Haram fight: official
• Pentagon points to Syria gain as tactical vindication
• Oil ends down on profit-taking but still up strongly on week
• An unlikely normalcy prevails in the Syrian capital
• U.S. advisors within miles of battle for key Syrian town: military
• U.N.'s Ban urges European countries to keep borders open for refugees
• The Latest: Infantino says he'll make FIFA proud again
• France's Total fined 750,000 euros over Iraq 'oil for food' graft
• PKK 'not listening' to Ocalan: Turkish official
• AP FACT CHECK: Trump's spotty memory on Libya
• APNewsBreak: Pentagon starts aggressive cyberwar against IS
• Swiss to vote on automatic expulsions of criminal foreigners
• A look at key events in Syria since March 2011
• Syria's Al-Nusra Front: jihadists allied to anti-Assad rebels
• Kurds say investigating suspected Islamic State chemical attack in Iraq
• Bosnia eyes closure of radical Islamic centers over links to Syria militants
• Multiple forces embroiled in Syria's war
• France to move cautiously on Calais migrant 'jungle' camp clearance
• U.S., allies conduct 30 strikes against Islamic State: statement
• Powerful Iraq Shi'ite cleric says PM's position at stake unless he reforms
• Swedish media say minor freed from Islamic State back home
• Philippine army kills 42 Islamist militants in battles in south
• Libyan forces battle Islamic State in Sabratha, three killed
• All eyes on Syria as ceasefire deadline looms
• Russia, Syrian army pound rebels ahead of fighting halt
• U.N. Security Council aims to endorse halt in Syria fighting
• The Latest: Updates from the Republican presidential debate
• Trump's Achilles' Heel
• Tens of thousands at Baghdad rally to support cleric

Agent testifies about interviews of man accused in attack Posted: 26 Feb 2016 04:18 PM PST PHOENIX (AP) — An FBI agent testified Friday about his two interrogations of an Arizona man accused of planning a shooting at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas, saying the defendant denied knowing beforehand about the attack that was carried out by two of his friends.

The Latest: FBI agent testifies about thwarted Texas attack Posted: 26 Feb 2016 03:14 PM PST PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on the trial of a man accused of supporting Islamic State and orchestrating a thwarted attack on an anti-Islam event in Texas last year (all times local):

Trump being advised by ex-U.S. Lieutenant General who favors closer Russia ties Posted: 26 Feb 2016 03:04 PM PST By Mark Hosenball and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump is receiving foreign policy advice from a former U.S. military intelligence chief who wants the United States to work more closely with Russia to resolve global security issues, according to three sources. The sources, former foreign policy officials in past administrations, said retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who was chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama from 2012-2014, has been informally advising Trump.     Trump, who is leading the Republican race to be the party's presidential candidate in November's election, said earlier this month that he would soon release a list of his foreign policy advisers, but has yet to do so.

EU Med countries oppose unilateral actions on refugee crisis Posted: 26 Feb 2016 01:23 PM PST LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — The rift over how to handle Europe's immigration crisis ripped wide open Friday. As nations along the Balkans migrant route took more unilateral actions to shut down their borders, diplomats from EU nations bordering the Mediterranean rallied around Greece, the epicenter of the crisis.

US advisers may train Nigerian troops in Boko Haram fight: official Posted: 26 Feb 2016 01:11 PM PST The Pentagon is considering sending military advisers to Nigeria to train local troops to fight Boko Haram insurgents and boost security in the violence-wracked nation, a US official said Friday. The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the US military made a string of recommendations after Nigeria's leaders asked for help determining "possible courses of action" in the fight against the Islamist militants. One recommendation was to send a group of US advisers -- most likely special operations troops -- to Nigeria to train local forces.

Pentagon points to Syria gain as tactical vindication Posted: 26 Feb 2016 12:52 PM PST The Pentagon highlighted Friday a recent victory against the Islamic State group in Syria as evidence its tactical plan to defeat the jihadists is working. The US-led coalition's strategy in Syria and Iraq is to bomb IS targets using drones and warplanes, while also deploying specialized commandos on the ground to train and arm local anti-IS fighters. In Syria, about 50 US commandos are working with anti-IS fighters including a largely Kurdish group called the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Oil ends down on profit-taking but still up strongly on week Posted: 26 Feb 2016 12:35 PM PST Oil prices fell on Friday as investors cashed out big weekly profits after a rally driven by disruptions to crude supplies and Wall Street's gains from U.S. economic data. Prices turned negative soon after the release of weekly U.S. oil rig data by industry firm Baker Hughes that showed a 10th weekly drop in the rig count. "I think a good part of the selling was due to cashing out of winning positions people had established earlier in the week," said David Thompson, executive vice-president at Powerhouse, a commodities-focused broker in Washington.

An unlikely normalcy prevails in the Syrian capital Posted: 26 Feb 2016 12:17 PM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An unlikely normalcy prevails in the Syrian capital, where a mix of rural refugees and urbanites conduct their daily business and enjoy the easy cafe culture to the muffled sounds of explosions in the distance.

U.S. advisors within miles of battle for key Syrian town: military Posted: 26 Feb 2016 11:59 AM PST By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. special forces advisors are within miles of rebels who they are helping to capture the strategic Syrian town of al-Shadadi from Islamic State but are away from the front lines, a U.S. military spokesman said on Friday. The United States sent dozens of special operations troops to northern Syria last year to advise opposition forces in their fight against the militant group.

U.N.'s Ban urges European countries to keep borders open for refugees Posted: 26 Feb 2016 11:57 AM PST U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Friday about increasing border restrictions in the Balkans and Austria for migrants and refugees streaming toward Europe and urged all countries to keep their frontiers open. Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Turkey is hosting more than 2.6 million refugees and asylum seekers, and the influx to Greece from Turkey continues unabated. Seven European states have restored border controls within the Schengen passport-free zone, and others have said they would unilaterally tighten border controls unless a deal with Turkey to curb the flow of migrants from conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries shows results soon.

The Latest: Infantino says he'll make FIFA proud again Posted: 26 Feb 2016 11:48 AM PST ZURICH (AP) — The Latest on the FIFA election (all times local):

France's Total fined 750,000 euros over Iraq 'oil for food' graft Posted: 26 Feb 2016 10:40 AM PST French energy giant Total was ordered on appeal Friday to pay 750,000 euros for siphoning cash from the UN "oil-for-food" programme that aided sanctions-hit Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Total was among more than a dozen individuals and companies that had been cleared of corruption in 2013 after an eight-year investigation. Among those cleared was France's former interior minister Charles Pasqua, who died last June, aged 88.

PKK 'not listening' to Ocalan: Turkish official Posted: 26 Feb 2016 10:05 AM PST Turkey believes the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is no longer listening to its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan and there is now no point in allowing him to make public statements, a senior Turkish official said on Friday. Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told foreign reporters that Ocalan, jailed on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, had effectively lost control over its military leadership based on Qandil mountain in northern Iraq. Turkey is currently seeing one of its worst upsurges in fighting with the PKK in years after a two-and-a half year ceasefire declared by Ocalan fell apart in July.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump's spotty memory on Libya Posted: 26 Feb 2016 09:54 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is displaying a spotty memory about his past views on foreign policy.

APNewsBreak: Pentagon starts aggressive cyberwar against IS Posted: 26 Feb 2016 09:53 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Not long after Defense Secretary Ash Carter prodded his cyber commanders to be more aggressive in the fight against Islamic State, the U.S. ramped up its offensive cyberattacks on the militant group.

Swiss to vote on automatic expulsions of criminal foreigners Posted: 26 Feb 2016 08:56 AM PST GENEVA (AP) — Swiss voters will this weekend cast ballots in a referendum on whether the country should automatically expel foreigners who break the law, potentially even for not disclosing income levels or libel. Opinion polls suggest the vote could go either way.

A look at key events in Syria since March 2011 Posted: 26 Feb 2016 08:22 AM PST As a U.S. and Russian-backed cease-fire is to go into effect, here are some of the key events since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began:

Syria's Al-Nusra Front: jihadists allied to anti-Assad rebels Posted: 26 Feb 2016 08:10 AM PST Allied with rebels in many parts of Syria, Al-Nusra Front -- the country's Al-Qaeda affiliate -- is a major complication for a ceasefire due to come into force midnight Friday. Al-Nusra and the extremist Islamic State group are both excluded from the planned truce between regime forces and non-jihadist rebels. The head of Al-Nusra, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, urged opponents of President Bashar al-Assad to reject the truce and instead intensify attacks on the regime.

Kurds say investigating suspected Islamic State chemical attack in Iraq Posted: 26 Feb 2016 07:41 AM PST Kurdish authorities said on Friday they were investigating another suspected chemical attack by Islamic State militants against peshmerga fighters in northwestern Iraq this week. Dozens of peshmerga and civilians were treated for nausea and vomiting after homemade rockets, that appeared to have contained a chemical substance, were fired at them in the Sinjar area on Feb. 25, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on its official Twitter account. Earlier on Friday, Jabbar Yawar, the secretary general of the peshmerga ministry, told Reuters the substance was probably chlorine, a choking agent whose use as a chemical weapon dates back to World War One.

Bosnia eyes closure of radical Islamic centers over links to Syria militants Posted: 26 Feb 2016 07:09 AM PST By Daria Sito-Sucic GRACANICA, Bosnia (Reuters) - Dozens of breakaway Muslim community groups in Bosnia face shutdown by police for rejecting the authority of the moderate national Islamic organization and radicalizing young men who have left to join Islamist insurgents in Syria, officials said. Most of Bosnia's Muslims, known also as Bosniaks, are moderates well integrated in its widely secular society, which also comprises Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. Echoing the experience of other European countries with Muslim communities, more than 150 Bosnians have gone to fight alongside Islamist militants such as Islamic State in Syria and Iraq over the past few years, police say.

Multiple forces embroiled in Syria's war Posted: 26 Feb 2016 07:08 AM PST Syria's war has become increasingly complex since it started in March 2011 with anti-government protests, with a mix of internal and external players pushing their own agendas. A partial ceasefire between regime forces and non-jihadist rebel fighters is due to take effect at midnight Friday (2200 GMT) local time. It does not include the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

France to move cautiously on Calais migrant 'jungle' camp clearance Posted: 26 Feb 2016 06:59 AM PST By Matthias Blamont CALAIS, France (Reuters) - The French government is likely to move cautiously in clearing part of a shanty town outside Calais for migrants trying to reach Britain after it won a legal battle to start dismantling the so-called "jungle". A judge upheld a government order on Thursday to evict migrants living in the southern part of the camp although a few makeshift buildings of social importance such as a school and a theater will be left untouched. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said authorities would work with humanitarian organizations to relocate migrants to a nearby park of converted shipping containers or other reception centers around the country.

U.S., allies conduct 30 strikes against Islamic State: statement Posted: 26 Feb 2016 05:43 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 30 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Thursday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on Friday. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes, including eight near al-Hawl, which hit five tactical units and destroyed seven Islamic State vehicles, a staging area and a mortar position, according to the statement. ...

Powerful Iraq Shi'ite cleric says PM's position at stake unless he reforms Posted: 26 Feb 2016 04:29 AM PST Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi must take decisive action to root out corruption and implement promised reforms or risk losing power, prominent Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told more than 100,000 supporters in central Baghdad on Friday. Abadi promised political and economic reforms last summer after mass street protests but quickly ran into legal challenges and systemic resistance to change. "Today the (position of the) prime minister is at stake, especially after the people have revolted," Sadr, whose Al-Ahrar bloc holds 34 seats in parliament and three cabinet posts, told supporters in a mass show of strength on Tahrir Square.

Swedish media say minor freed from Islamic State back home Posted: 26 Feb 2016 02:32 AM PST COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Media in Sweden are reporting that a Swedish minor — a 16-year-old girl — who was rescued from Islamic State territory in Iraq this month has returned home.

Philippine army kills 42 Islamist militants in battles in south Posted: 26 Feb 2016 12:44 AM PST Philippine security forces killed as many as 42 Muslim rebels claiming links with Islamic State and captured their stronghold during five days of fighting in the mountains of a southern island, an army spokesman said on Friday. Three soldiers were killed and 11 wounded when the forces seized the bastion of an affiliate of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian network of Islamist militants, in the province of Lanao del Sur. "Our troops were able to seize a stronghold of the terrorists on Thursday night," the spokesman, Major Filemon Tan, told reporters by telephone from the southern island of Mindanao, estimating that about 42 militants had been killed.

Libyan forces battle Islamic State in Sabratha, three killed Posted: 25 Feb 2016 11:15 PM PST By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan forces battled to clear Islamic State insurgents from the western city of Sabratha on Thursday, in fighting that killed at least three Libyans and one of the militants, officials said. Islamic State has gained ground rapidly in Libya in the last year, controlling the city of Sirte and attacking oil ports, as it takes advantage of the conflict between the country's two rival governments and their armed factions. U.S. warplanes hit Islamic State in Sabratha last week, a sign of growing Western engagement against the militant group in Libya as it expands beyond its original territory in Iraq and Syria.

All eyes on Syria as ceasefire deadline looms Posted: 25 Feb 2016 10:59 PM PST US President Barack Obama has warned Moscow and Damascus the "world will be watching" their commitment to a looming ceasefire, as the 17-nation group backing the Syria peace process prepared to fine-tune the deal. Obama said the next few days would be critical for the partial truce brokered by Moscow and Washington -- due to begin at midnight Friday -- which has been agreed by both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and Syria's top opposition grouping. The deal -- which excludes the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and other extremists -- marks the biggest diplomatic push yet to help end Syria's violence, but has been plagued by doubts after the failure of previous peace efforts.

Russia, Syrian army pound rebels ahead of fighting halt Posted: 25 Feb 2016 08:47 PM PST By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russian warplanes bombed Syrian rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria and government forces pounded a suburb of the capital on Thursday, ahead of a planned halt to fighting that rebels predicted Damascus and Moscow would ignore. The "cessation of hostilities" agreed to by the United States and Russia is due to take hold on Saturday morning from midnight. Damascus has agreed to the deal, as has the main opposition alliance, although it is only ready to commit for two weeks given its deep reservations.

U.N. Security Council aims to endorse halt in Syria fighting Posted: 25 Feb 2016 08:47 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and the United States circulated to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday a draft resolution endorsing the planned halt in fighting in Syria and council diplomats said they hoped to adopt it as soon as possible. The "cessation of hostilities" agreed to by the United States and Russia is due to take hold on Saturday morning from midnight.

The Latest: Updates from the Republican presidential debate Posted: 25 Feb 2016 08:02 PM PST HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on the final Republican presidential debate before Super Tuesday (all times local):

Trump's Achilles' Heel Posted: 25 Feb 2016 05:39 PM PST Donald J. Trump takes this philosophy one step further. "It occurs to me ... that it isn't so much that Trump 'speaks his mind,' but that he speaks the mind of the dissatisfied voter. The current rise of Trump with his (middle-finger) attitude for everyone and everything is just how voters feel.

Tens of thousands at Baghdad rally to support cleric Posted: 25 Feb 2016 04:24 PM PST Tens of thousands of Moqtada al-Sadr's supporters gathered in central Baghdad Friday for a rally during which the Iraqi cleric demanded that the government carry out serious reforms. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi promised to carry out reforms in response to a wave of protests demanding better services and an end to corruption that swept Baghdad and the south last year. The Shiite cleric, who has repeatedly announced he was quitting politics or threatened to do so over the years, controls a large militia group called Saraya al-Salam.

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