Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Huge tax leak exposes Putin aides, world leaders, stars
• Syrian Nusra Front's Abu Firas killed in suspected drone strike: rebels
• Iraqi forces take northern edge of IS-held town
• Islamic State affiliate claims Saudi police station bombing
• Structures of hope for a new Syria
• Turkey prepares for up to 500 migrants from Greece on Monday
• Army seizes key IS bastion in central Syria: state TV
• Syrian forces seize Islamic State-held town near Palmyra
• Syria parliamentary vote campaign on war footing
• U.S. says it killed ISIS militant who killed Marine in Iraq
• Czechs to return Iraqi Christians who tried to move to Germany, interior minister says
• Iraqis displaced from western city of Ramadi begin to return home
• Turkey's Erdogan says Obama spoke 'behind my back' on press freedom
• Training Religious Leaders to Promote Dialogue and Coexistence on Social Media
• EU set for new row over asylum rules overhaul
• Hundreds honor Temecula Marine killed in Iraq at memorial

Huge tax leak exposes Putin aides, world leaders, stars Posted: 03 Apr 2016 04:47 PM PDT A massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents on Sunday exposed the secret offshore dealings of aides to Russian president Vladimir Putin, world leaders and celebrities including Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. The vast stash of records was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media worldwide by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The documents, from around 214,000 offshore entities, came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm with offices in more than 35 countries.

Syrian Nusra Front's Abu Firas killed in suspected drone strike: rebels Posted: 03 Apr 2016 04:20 PM PDT By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - A prominent leader in Syrian al Qaeda offshoot Nusra Front was killed on Sunday in what rebel sources said appeared to be a U.S. drone strike in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence in the country, confirmed reports on websites by militant sympathizers that Abu Firas, "the Syrian", was killed along with a number of his companions. While the Observatory said he was killed in a suspected Syrian or Russian air raid on a village northwest of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, two rebel sources said the attack appeared to have the hallmarks of a U.S. drone strike.

Iraqi forces take northern edge of IS-held town Posted: 03 Apr 2016 02:28 PM PDT HIT, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces took the northern edge of the Islamic State-held town of Hit, west of Baghdad, on Sunday in an operation led by the country's elite counterterrorism forces, military officials said.

Islamic State affiliate claims Saudi police station bombing Posted: 03 Apr 2016 12:23 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — An Islamic State affiliate in Saudi Arabia claimed on Sunday that its militants detonated two explosive devices in front of a police station in the city of al-Dalam, setting fire to three police vehicles.

Structures of hope for a new Syria Posted: 03 Apr 2016 12:05 PM PDT The effort to end Syria's civil war may be at its most hopeful point in five years. The Islamic State appears weaker. The many countries that care about Syria are now asking how this shattered country can be reconstructed and its 22 million people healed of their divisions.

Turkey prepares for up to 500 migrants from Greece on Monday Posted: 03 Apr 2016 11:09 AM PDT Turkey has made preparations to take in up to 500 migrants from Greece on Monday under a plan agreed with the EU to reduce the flow of illegal migration, the Turkish interior minister said. Local authorities say the first wave of migrants sent back from Greece will arrive in the resort town of Dikili, just opposite the Greek island of Lesbos which has become a major hub for migration to the European Union. "We have been in touch with the Greek authorities and said we could take 500 people and they have given us 400 names.

Army seizes key IS bastion in central Syria: state TV Posted: 03 Apr 2016 08:27 AM PDT Syrian troops on Sunday seized the key Islamic State group bastion of Al-Qaryatain, dealing the jihadists a new blow in the country's centre a week after expelling them from Palmyra, state television said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group however said fighting was still raging in the east and southeast of the town, which is located in the desert in Homs province. "The army with backing from supporting forces (pro-regime militia) brings back complete security and stability to the town of Al-Qaryatain, after crushing Daesh terrorists' last remaining positions there," state television said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

Syrian forces seize Islamic State-held town near Palmyra Posted: 03 Apr 2016 08:25 AM PDT By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes drove Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain on Sunday after encircling it over the past few days, Syria's military command said. Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State last Sunday. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of Islamic State control to reduce the jihadist group's ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located.

Syria parliamentary vote campaign on war footing Posted: 03 Apr 2016 08:24 AM PDT The streets of Damascus are plastered with campaign posters and banners as President Bashar al-Assad's regime pushes ahead with parliamentary elections despite Syria's nearly five-year-old civil war. The war is dominating the campaign for the April 13 vote, which will see nearly 12,000 candidates vying for seats in Syria's 250-seat legislature. As with the 2012 parliamentary election and a 2014 presidential vote, only Syrians living in government-held areas will be able to cast their ballots.

U.S. says it killed ISIS militant who killed Marine in Iraq Posted: 03 Apr 2016 07:45 AM PDT The anti-Islamic State coalition conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria has killed the IS militant believed responsible for an attack on U.S. troops in northern Iraq last month that left a Marine dead, it said on Sunday. Militant Jasim Khadijah, a former Iraqi officer not considered a high-value target, was killed by a drone strike overnight in northern Iraq, coalition spokesman U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters in Baghdad. "We have information (that) he was a rocket expert, he controlled these attacks," said Warren, referring to the shelling of a base used by U.S. troops near the town of Makhmour, located between Mosul and Kirkuk.

Czechs to return Iraqi Christians who tried to move to Germany, interior minister says Posted: 03 Apr 2016 05:04 AM PDT The Czech Republic will send back to Iraq a group of Iraqi Christians who tried to move on to Germany instead of staying in the country, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Sunday. A group of 25 Iraqis took a bus on Saturday to Germany, where they were stopped immediately after crossing the border, CTK news agency reported. The Czech Republic agreed in December to accept 153 Christian refugees from Iraq who have fled areas controlled by Islamic State.

Iraqis displaced from western city of Ramadi begin to return home Posted: 03 Apr 2016 04:32 AM PDT The displaced population of Ramadi has started to return to the western Iraqi city that was recaptured from Islamic State militants in December, a provincial official said on Sunday. About 3,000 families have returned since Saturday to districts of Ramadi that have been cleared of mines and explosives, city governor Hameed Dulaymi told Reuters. Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Baghdad, is the first major success for Iraq's army since it collapsed in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance across the country's north and west about two years ago.

Turkey's Erdogan says Obama spoke 'behind my back' on press freedom Posted: 03 Apr 2016 03:25 AM PDT By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused U.S. counterpart Barack Obama of going behind his back for criticizing Turkey's press freedom record and linked it to efforts to "divide" Turkey, media reports said on Sunday. Obama said on Friday after meeting Erdogan on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in Washington that he was troubled by curbs on the press in Turkey and said he had urged Erdogan not to repress democratic debate in his country. Turkey has drawn international condemnation for charging two journalists with treason for publishing footage that purportedly showed the intelligence agency shipping truckloads of weapons to opposition fighters in Syria in early 2014.

Training Religious Leaders to Promote Dialogue and Coexistence on Social Media Posted: 03 Apr 2016 03:23 AM PDT AMMAN, Jordan, April 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 300 young religious leaders, and civil society representatives working with interreligious dialogue across the Middle East will be trained on the use of social media to promote respectful dialogue among followers of different religions. The first of the series of five trainings in a regional training program, organized by the Vienna-based International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), will be held in Amman, Jordan, from 3 to 5 April 2016. Social media is often used as a platform for misinformation, stereotyping and even recruitment by violent extremists.

EU set for new row over asylum rules overhaul Posted: 02 Apr 2016 10:59 PM PDT The EU will unveil plans to overhaul its asylum system this week following a controversial migrant deal with Turkey, but the proposals look set to trigger fresh rows in a bloc already deeply divided by the refugee crisis. The current "Dublin rules" place a huge burden on the main migrant entry points like Greece as they say refugees must claim asylum from the first country they arrive in, and should be returned there if they move on somewhere else. The system has been rendered effectively obsolete by the huge flow of humanity drawn to wealthy Germany by Chancellor Angela Merkel's open door policy for Syrian refugees.

Hundreds honor Temecula Marine killed in Iraq at memorial Posted: 01 Apr 2016 06:06 PM PDT A memorial service was held Friday for U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, a 27-year-old Temecula resident, who was killed in a rocket attack in Iraq last month.

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