Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Syrian army presses offensive against Islamic State
• Muhammad Ali, who riveted the world as 'The Greatest,' dies
• Libyan brigades capture air base from Islamic State south of Sirte: spokesman
• U.S. Navy jets in Mediterranean launch second day of raids on Islamic State targets
• Syria army pushes into IS bastion as Kurds advance from north
• Muhammad Ali: 'Greatest' boxer, showman, ambassador
• Syrian troops reach Raqqa province, IS fighting on 4 fronts
• Shi'ite militia says it will storm Iraq's Falluja when families leave
• U.S. warns Islamist militants planning attacks in South Africa
• Muhammad Ali, Liberty Medal recipient, passes away at 74
• Turkey declares curfew in southeast in fight against Kurdish militants
• Readers write: North Korea a different situation?, Stephen Curry not alone
• Muhammad Ali: simply 'The Greatest'
• US now hitting Islamic State targets from Mediterranean Sea
• Exclusive: U.S. falters in campaign to revive Iraqi army, officials say
• Muhammad Ali, 'The Greatest' Boxing Legend, Dies at 74
• Iraq forces gain ground from IS west of Fallujah

Syrian army presses offensive against Islamic State Posted: 04 Jun 2016 03:18 PM PDT The offensive is the third big assault on the self-proclaimed caliphate in recent days after Iraqi forces attempted to storm Falluja in central Syria and a Syrian militia advanced with U.S. support towards Manbij in the north near the Turkish border. The offensives are some of the most aggressive campaigns against Islamic State since it declared its aim to rule over all Muslims from parts of Iraq and Syria two years ago. Friday's assault saw the army reach the edge of Syria's Raqqa province after heavy Russian air strikes hit Islamic State-held territory in eastern areas of neighboring Hama province.

Muhammad Ali, who riveted the world as 'The Greatest,' dies Posted: 04 Jun 2016 02:03 PM PDT He was fast of fist and foot — lip, too — a heavyweight champion who promised to shock the world and did. He floated. He stung. Mostly he thrilled, even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper.

Libyan brigades capture air base from Islamic State south of Sirte: spokesman Posted: 04 Jun 2016 01:06 PM PDT Brigades aligned with Libya's U.N.-backed government said on Saturday they had captured Ghardabiya air base from Islamic State to the south of the militant group's stronghold of Sirte. Spokesman Mohamed al-Gasri said the capture of the base, about 20 km (12 miles) from the center of Sirte, was strategically significant since it cut off supply routes for Islamic State and "trapped them further" within the city. Three fighters from the government-backed brigades were killed and around five wounded in Saturday's fighting, he said.

U.S. Navy jets in Mediterranean launch second day of raids on Islamic State targets Posted: 04 Jun 2016 12:25 PM PDT (Reuters) - U.S. fighter jets on Saturday launched a second day of air strikes against Islamic State targets from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, according to a U.S. Navy official. Four strikes executed by the jets on Friday targeted a building in Syria and a cave that was hit three times, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. No strikes were directed against targets in Iraq, the official said.

Syria army pushes into IS bastion as Kurds advance from north Posted: 04 Jun 2016 11:19 AM PDT Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into the Islamic State group's bastion province Raqa Saturday, threatening to catch the jihadists in a pincer movement as US-backed Kurdish-led fighters advance from the north. The lightning advance from the southwest with Russian air support brought the army to within dozens of kilometres (miles) of the Euphrates Valley town of Tabqa, site of the country's biggest dam, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said. The dam, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) upstream from the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital Raqa city, is also the target of the Washington-backed offensive which Kurdish-led fighters launched late last month.

Muhammad Ali: 'Greatest' boxer, showman, ambassador Posted: 04 Jun 2016 10:52 AM PDT An angry 12-year-old Cassius Clay went to a policeman on that day in 1954, vowing he would find the thief who took his bike and have his revenge. The policeman's advice was to learn to box first so Clay, who would later change his name to Muhammad Ali, went to a gym, where he learned quite well. Ali was handsome, bold and outspoken and became a symbol for black liberation as he stood up to the U.S. government by refusing to go into the Army for religious reasons.

Syrian troops reach Raqqa province, IS fighting on 4 fronts Posted: 04 Jun 2016 10:23 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops reached the edge of the northern province of Raqqa on Saturday, home to the de facto capital of the Islamic State group's self-styled caliphate, in a push that leaves the extremists fighting fierce battles on four fronts in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

Shi'ite militia says it will storm Iraq's Falluja when families leave Posted: 04 Jun 2016 09:34 AM PDT An Iranian-backed Sh'ite Iraqi militia said on Saturday it planned to storm Falluja, Islamic State's stronghold near Baghdad, once civilians left the city, backtracking on earlier statements that it would leave this task to the Iraqi army. "We will not enter Falluja as long as there are families inside," said Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization, the largest component of the Shi'ite paramilitary coalition known as Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization. "Of course, we will go in and rid the city from the evil of this cancerous gland, with nobody preventing us," he said, when asked what would happen if civilians managed to flee the Sunni city that lies 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.

U.S. warns Islamist militants planning attacks in South Africa Posted: 04 Jun 2016 08:08 AM PDT The United States warned its citizens on Saturday of possible attacks by Islamist militants on U.S. facilities or shopping malls in South Africa during the upcoming month of Ramadan, but the South African government said the country was safe. The U.S. embassy said up-market shopping areas and malls in the commercial hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town, widely regarded as South Africa's tourism capital, were the main target areas in the suspected planned attacks.

Muhammad Ali, Liberty Medal recipient, passes away at 74 Posted: 04 Jun 2016 06:56 AM PDT Boxing legend and humanitarian Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74 in Arizona. Ali was awarded the Liberty Medal in September 2012 to a huge ovation in front of Philadelphia's National Constitution Center.

Turkey declares curfew in southeast in fight against Kurdish militants Posted: 04 Jun 2016 04:02 AM PDT Turkey declared a round-the-clock curfew in rural areas near the city of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey on Saturday, ahead of a planned military operation targeting Kurdish militants, the provincial governor's office said. The move came a day after Turkish security forces called an end to operations targeting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border and in Sirnak near the border with Iraq. More than 1,000 people, mostly PKK fighters, have been killed in three months of clashes in those areas, security sources say.

Readers write: North Korea a different situation?, Stephen Curry not alone Posted: 04 Jun 2016 03:00 AM PDT Regarding the April 23 online article "North Korea tests submarine-launched ballistic missile: Is that unusual?" (CSMonitor.com): The United States claimed that it attacked Iraq because of the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein denied that Iraq had such weapons. In addition, there was no clear evidence that Iraq was preparing for war.

Muhammad Ali: simply 'The Greatest' Posted: 04 Jun 2016 02:13 AM PDT Ali, who came of age amid the turmoil of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, dazzled the boxing world as a youngster with his speed, never before seen in his weight class. The legendary fighter spent his last years ravaged by Parkinson's disease but never retreated from public view. The rise of Ali -- born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942 -- to the status of sports icon was not a smooth one.

US now hitting Islamic State targets from Mediterranean Sea Posted: 03 Jun 2016 11:02 PM PDT SINGAPORE (AP) — The U.S. Navy's top admiral says the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman has begun launching airstrikes against the Islamic State group from the Mediterranean Sea.

Exclusive: U.S. falters in campaign to revive Iraqi army, officials say Posted: 03 Jun 2016 10:07 PM PDT A 17-month U.S. effort to retrain and reunify Iraq's regular army has failed to create a large number of effective Iraqi combat units or limit the power of sectarian militias, according to current and former U.S. military and civilian officials. Concern about the shortcomings of the American attempt to strengthen the Iraqi military comes as Iraqi government forces and Shi'ite militias have launched an offensive to retake the city of Falluja from Islamic State. The continued weakness of regular Iraqi army units and reliance on Shi'ite militias, current and former U.S. military officials said, could impede Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's broader effort to defeat Islamic State and win the long-term support of Iraqi Sunnis.

Muhammad Ali, 'The Greatest' Boxing Legend, Dies at 74 Posted: 03 Jun 2016 09:00 PM PDT The most recognizable person on the planet gained fans in Hollywood and around the world for his exploits in and out of the boxing ring.

Iraq forces gain ground from IS west of Fallujah Posted: 03 Jun 2016 05:33 PM PDT Iraqi forces gained new ground from the Islamic State group Saturday in a key area west of the jihadist bastion of Fallujah, security sources said. Fighters from the army, the police and from the Hashed al-Shaabi -- a paramilitary organisation dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias -- entered the centre of Saqlawiya. The town lies around 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Fallujah and control of the rural area around it is key to cutting off the city which Iraqi forces are trying to retake.

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