Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• PJ Harvey, rock poet, turns journalist with eye on decay
• Kerry demands Russia rein in Syrian forces
• US Army approves first female officers for ground combat
• U.S. Army approves 22 women officer candidates for possible combat units
• Hillary and Bernie Mix It Up Over Guns, Goldman, and Gaza
• UN warns Iraq political crisis threat to fight against IS
• Iraqi PM Abadi warns political crisis could hamper war on Islamic State
• An App That Tracks the Police to Keep Them in Check
• Giant prison for Afghan militants aims to avoid pitfalls of past
• Aleppo: the main battleground in Syria war
• Islamic leaders pledge to combat terrorism, sectarianism
• Afghan air strike against Islamic State kills 40: official
• U.S., allies stage 36 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military
• Pope, Orthodox leaders to visit Greek front line of refugee crisis
• North Korean Ghost Ships and Iraqi Truffles: The Week in Global-Affairs Writing
• Blood sprayed into audience at Austria refugee protest
• Exclusive: U.S. considers supporting new U.A.E. push against al Qaeda in Yemen
• Debate Takeaways: Clinton, Sanders show their fighting side
• French youths learn to resist jihadi 'sellers of dreams'
• TV Ratings: New York Democratic Debate Draws 5.6 Million
• On the Waterfront
• Russia urges closing Turkey-Syria border to bar extremists
• Hundreds demonstrate against Trump in New York
• The Latest: Updates from the Democratic debate in New York
• Bitterly feuding, Clinton, Sanders clash in NY debate
• New York primary brings campaign tension to a boil _ again
• The Latest: Man stabbed at Greek port where migrants camped
• Iraqi forces rely on air power in battling IS for key town

PJ Harvey, rock poet, turns journalist with eye on decay Posted: 15 Apr 2016 02:37 PM PDT With a guitar in hand rather than a notebook, rocker PJ Harvey has taken on the role of a journalist on a forceful new album that crosses continents to explore modern-day destruction. Although Harvey traveled for the album to war-torn Afghanistan and Kosovo, much of the work explores Washington, where the rocker was interested not in the corridors of power but the poverty just a short distance away.

Kerry demands Russia rein in Syrian forces Posted: 15 Apr 2016 12:36 PM PDT US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday to demand that Moscow press its Syrian allies to respect a crumbling ceasefire. "Secretary Kerry said the United States expected Russia to urge the regime to comply with the cessation and that we would work with the opposition to do the same," US spokesman John Kirby said. Kerry's call came as a new round of fierce fighting around the northern city of Aleppo overshadowed peace talks aimed at ending Syria's five-year civil war.

US Army approves first female officers for ground combat Posted: 15 Apr 2016 12:28 PM PDT The US Army said Friday it will commission 22 women as infantry and armor officers under historic new rules allowing females to serve in ground combat roles. Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December announced a sweeping directive to open all military occupations to women this year, including front-line combat roles. The 22 women have almost finished their officer training, but must still "conduct branch-specific initial training for several months at Fort Benning, Georgia," the Army said in a statement.

U.S. Army approves 22 women officer candidates for possible combat units Posted: 15 Apr 2016 12:16 PM PDT Twenty-two women currently training to become U.S. Army officers will be allowed to enter the service as second lieutenants in the infantry and armor branches under historic new rules that allow women to serve in combat jobs, the Army said on Friday. The women, who are nearing the completion of officer training and will be commissioned in the coming weeks, had requested permission to serve in the newly opened roles upon entering the service, the Army said in a statement. Thirteen have been approved to enter the Army as armor officers and nine have been approved for the infantry.

Hillary and Bernie Mix It Up Over Guns, Goldman, and Gaza Posted: 15 Apr 2016 11:40 AM PDT With a lot on the line in the run-up to next Tuesday's New York Democratic primary, Sanders unleashed the heart of his critique – that Clinton was beholden to special interests on Wall Street and that she lacks the judgment to be the next commander in chief. Clinton fired back that Sanders was a liberal dreamer with no real grounding in practical politics and a naïf on foreign policy and national security. Clinton and Sanders barely made eye contact by the end of the two-hour clash hosted by CNN in Brooklyn NY, and parted more as political enemies than party rivals.

UN warns Iraq political crisis threat to fight against IS Posted: 15 Apr 2016 10:59 AM PDT The United Nations warned Friday that political turmoil that has repeatedly delayed efforts to change the Iraqi cabinet is a threat to the country's war against the Islamic State group. Iraq is battling to retake more ground from IS, which seized large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, and Washington has also expressed concern that political disputes could distract from efforts to combat the jihadists. Instead of voting on a new cabinet lineup, lawmakers tried to sack the parliament speaker and his deputies on Thursday, while the two previous sessions ended in a sit-in and a fistfight among MPs.

Iraqi PM Abadi warns political crisis could hamper war on Islamic State Posted: 15 Apr 2016 10:11 AM PDT By Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned that a political crisis engulfing his country over anti-graft reforms could hamper the war against Islamic State militants. The United Nations issued a similar assessment, saying the militants would gain from any weakening of Iraq's state institutions.The crisis escalated this week with the cancellation of two voting sessions in parliament over a planned cabinet reshuffle sought by Abadi as part of his anti-corruption drive. Tussles between lawmakers broke out on Wednesday, a day after the first attempted vote.

An App That Tracks the Police to Keep Them in Check Posted: 15 Apr 2016 08:52 AM PDT New software will help low-income people and communities of color to record their experiences with law enforcement—in order to create a crowdsourced map of their behavior.

Giant prison for Afghan militants aims to avoid pitfalls of past Posted: 15 Apr 2016 08:44 AM PDT Now run by Afghan security forces, the facility is touted by U.S. commanders as a potential model for counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. To do so, it will have to avoid past prisoner abuse scandals that have damaged the reputation of the U.S. military and its allies, including in Afghanistan and Iraq. "It will be an essential part of a future counter-terrorism platform in Afghanistan," General John Nicholson, the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told Reuters on a visit to the Parwan facility.

Aleppo: the main battleground in Syria war Posted: 15 Apr 2016 08:15 AM PDT The city of Aleppo is key to all sides fighting in Syria's five-year civil war and holds "the key to war and peace", according to a monitor. The northern city -- once Syria's economic capital -- and its surrounding province have since mid-2012 seen some of the worst fighting in a war that erupted on the heels of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The countryside is now scene of the worst fighting to erupt in Syria since a truce began on February 27.

Islamic leaders pledge to combat terrorism, sectarianism Posted: 15 Apr 2016 07:54 AM PDT ISTANBUL (AP) — A two-day summit bringing together leaders of the Islamic world concluded in the Turkish city of Istanbul with a pledge to combat terrorism and overcome sectarian divide.

Afghan air strike against Islamic State kills 40: official Posted: 15 Apr 2016 07:52 AM PDT Afghan aircraft killed more than 40 fighters loyal to Islamic State in a raid in the eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said on Friday. Although casualty claims by all sides are difficult to verify, Thursday's operation appears to have been an unusually large strike by Afghanistan's fledgling air force, which has been building up its capacity since the withdrawal of the NATO-led coalition from most combat operations in 2014. "Based on our intelligence, the Afghan air force carried out the strike and killed more than 40 Daesh fighters," Khogyani told Reuters, using a common Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

U.S., allies stage 36 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military Posted: 15 Apr 2016 06:45 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies conducted 36 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Thursday, the coalition leading the operations said. In a statement released on Friday, the Combined Joint Task Force said six strikes in Syria, five of them near Mar'a, hit five tactical units and destroyed four vehicles, two fighting positions and a bulldozer. In Iraq, 30 strikes near six cities, 21 of them near Mosul, hit several tactical units, 18 modular oil refineries, two crude oil stills and destroyed 51 boats among other targets, the statement said. ...

Pope, Orthodox leaders to visit Greek front line of refugee crisis Posted: 15 Apr 2016 05:46 AM PDT By Karolina Tagaris and Philip Pullella LESBOS, Greece/VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis and the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians will set aside centuries of dispute on Saturday when they visit a Greek island on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis to highlight the plight of refugees. Nearly a million people, many fleeing war, persecution and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have risked their lives in rickety boats from Turkey, crossing to Lesbos before heading to the Greek mainland and onwards to western Europe. In a lightning trip, the pope will meet refugees along with Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based spiritual head of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians, and Ieronymos II, head of the Greek Orthodox Church.

North Korean Ghost Ships and Iraqi Truffles: The Week in Global-Affairs Writing Posted: 15 Apr 2016 05:00 AM PDT The World Looks Away As Blood Flows in Burundi Emma Graham-Harrison | The Guardian "'I want to forget everything about Burundi, even our names,' said another young man, who has collapsed at a refugee registration post after carrying his 16-year-old sister, pregnant after rape, across a river to safety. They left behind the grave of another sister, killed last year by a government bullet."

Blood sprayed into audience at Austria refugee protest Posted: 15 Apr 2016 04:28 AM PDT VIENNA (AP) — Austrian police say they have laid assault charges against eight suspects after a scuffle with audience members at a play sympathetic to refugees.

Exclusive: U.S. considers supporting new U.A.E. push against al Qaeda in Yemen Posted: 15 Apr 2016 04:22 AM PDT By Phil Stewart and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering a request from the United Arab Emirates for military support to assist a new offensive in Yemen against al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate, U.S. officials tell Reuters. A U.S.-backed military push by the Gulf ally could allow the administration of President Barack Obama to help strike a fresh blow against a group that has plotted to down U.S. airliners and claimed responsibility for last year's attacks on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the chaos of Yemen's year-old civil war to become more powerful than any time in its history, and now controls a swathe of the country.

Debate Takeaways: Clinton, Sanders show their fighting side Posted: 15 Apr 2016 12:49 AM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders let loose with a series of combative accusations on Wall Street, the minimum wage and guns in a rough-and-tumble debate Thursday at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

French youths learn to resist jihadi 'sellers of dreams' Posted: 14 Apr 2016 09:22 PM PDT Noisy-le-Sec (France) (AFP) - The first time jihadi recruiters approached 16-year-old Yacine outside his mosque in a rundown Paris suburb, they got right to the point. Now Yacine, who assumes he was targeted because he is a devout Muslim, has started going to a different mosque. The attacks in Paris and Brussels of November and March have thrown a spotlight on poor mainly immigrant neighbourhoods as targets for jihadist recruiters.

TV Ratings: New York Democratic Debate Draws 5.6 Million Posted: 14 Apr 2016 09:00 PM PDT The final face-off between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders before the April 19 New York primary was marked by jabs about Wall Street, gun control and the Iraq War.

On the Waterfront Posted: 14 Apr 2016 08:55 PM PDT The Democratic candidates for president hadn't faced off on a debate stage for more than a month before they stepped on to a stage in Brooklyn Thursday night. And by all indications, they'd both been holding back a number of punches they were itching to throw.

Russia urges closing Turkey-Syria border to bar extremists Posted: 14 Apr 2016 08:21 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia called Thursday for the closing of the Turkey-Syrian border to prevent the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front extremist groups from receiving foreign fighters and weapons into Syria — and from exporting oil, artifacts and other goods.

Hundreds demonstrate against Trump in New York Posted: 14 Apr 2016 08:16 PM PDT The crowd held up posters comparing the Republican presidential frontrunner to Adolf Hitler and accused him of being racist and anti-immigration amid a heavy police presence. "No Trump, no racism, immigrants are welcome here!" members of the gathering shouted. "New York is a no hate zone!" another slogan said.

The Latest: Updates from the Democratic debate in New York Posted: 14 Apr 2016 07:53 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on campaign 2016 in the lead up to Tuesday's New York primary (all times Eastern Daylight Time):

Bitterly feuding, Clinton, Sanders clash in NY debate Posted: 14 Apr 2016 07:44 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Deepening their increasingly bitter feud, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders aggressively challenged each other's judgment to be president in Thursday night's Democratic debate, sparring over Wall Street banks, how high to raise the minimum wage and gun control.

New York primary brings campaign tension to a boil _ again Posted: 14 Apr 2016 07:29 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats clashed on a Brooklyn debate stage while Republicans courted donors in Manhattan as "New York values" framed the 2016 race for the White House Thursday night, just days before the state's high-stakes presidential primaries in both parties.

The Latest: Man stabbed at Greek port where migrants camped Posted: 14 Apr 2016 12:35 PM PDT BERLIN (AP) — The Latest on European efforts to respond to the wave of migration (all times local):

Iraqi forces rely on air power in battling IS for key town Posted: 14 Apr 2016 12:30 PM PDT HIT, Iraq (AP) — Iraq's counterterrorism forces are increasingly relying on air power in the battle to take full control of a key town in western Anbar desert from Islamic State militants, the elite force's commander said Thursday.

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