Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Gunman in worst U.S. massacre described as 'quiet' but grew hateful
• AP FACT CHECK: Trump's speech needs some asterisks
• Fiery Trump, sober Clinton at odds over Orlando attack
• U.S. appeals court voids Ventura award in 'Sniper' case
• Europeans view Islamic State as top threat: survey
• Iraq probes human rights violations in Fallujah offensive
• AP EXPLAINS: The Islamic State group's persecution of gays
• US Apache helicopters strike IS for first time in Iraq
• Orlando’s counternarrative to Islamic State
• IS suspects fleeing Iraq's Fallujah with civilians
• Libyan pro-govt advance slows as IS hits back in Sirte
• Court vacates $1.8M Ventura award in 'American Sniper' case
• Second U.S. aircraft carrier enters Mediterranean: U.S. Navy
• U.S. may not make Afghanistan troop decision by Warsaw summit
• 7,000 Iraqis flee Fallujah through safe corridor: UN
• Carter: at least 1 Apache helicopter used in combat in Iraq
• U.S. says Apache helicopter carries out strike in Iraq
• Orlando attack: 'I am the lone wolf that terrorizes the infidels'
• The Guns-Terrorism Nexus
• Gays a target for the Islamic State group
• Canadian hostage likely killed in Philippines: Trudeau
• Former US senator and Ohio governor Voinovich remembered as a 'unifier'
• Bosnian children with Islamic State are 'time bomb', study says
• Iraq makes arrests over reports of Sunnis executed in Falluja
• World in chaos, Israel gets singular focus at UN rights body
• Expatriate and Activist Jett Pence Urges Americans to Write-in Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski for President This November
• Morocco arrests Italian suspected of Islamic State ties
• Armed clashes in Iran kill 10 militants, policeman
• Orlando Shooting: ISIS Could Lose the Mideast and Win in the West
• IS suicide attack kills five in Iraq's Ramadi: officers
• MoMA celebrates architect Frank Lloyd Wright's 150th birthday
• Record number of refugees need to be resettled: UN
• A personal quest to document IS massacre of Iraqi Yazidis
• Iranian forces kill five Kurdish separatists, Revolutionary Guards say
• Today in History
• Court Vacates $1.8M Jesse Ventura Award in 'American Sniper' Case
• Trump says Florida massacre proves he's right on Islamist threat

Gunman in worst U.S. massacre described as 'quiet' but grew hateful Posted: 13 Jun 2016 04:40 PM PDT The photo from Omar Mateen's high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump's speech needs some asterisks Posted: 13 Jun 2016 03:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — An annotated version of Donald Trump's speech on combatting terrorism would be heavy with asterisks. The presumptive GOP nominee's speech Monday painted a picture of a nation overrun by terrorists and with cowed leaders — including the State Department under Hillary Clinton's leadership — doing little to keep them out. The reality is far more complex.

Fiery Trump, sober Clinton at odds over Orlando attack Posted: 13 Jun 2016 03:10 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump vowed Monday to impose a broad ban on immigration from areas of the world with a history of terrorism and suggested some Muslims in the United States are turning a blind eye to unfolding plots, as he outlined an aggressive response to the deadly attack in Orlando.

U.S. appeals court voids Ventura award in 'Sniper' case Posted: 13 Jun 2016 03:07 PM PDT The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voided a St. Paul, Minnesota jury's July 2014 award of $500,000 for defamation and about $1.35 million for unjust enrichment against the estate of former U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle. Kyle had been the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, responsible for 160 kills during his career. Ventura's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Europeans view Islamic State as top threat: survey Posted: 13 Jun 2016 03:02 PM PDT Europeans view the militant group Islamic State as the biggest threat facing their countries, ahead of climate change, economic instability and refugees, a survey by the Pew Research Center showed on Monday. Respondents in nine of 10 European countries surveyed said they saw IS, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL, as the greatest danger, with 93 percent of Spaniards and 91 percent of French describing the group as a "major threat". The Pew report was published a day after a gunman who had pledged allegiance to IS killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Iraq probes human rights violations in Fallujah offensive Posted: 13 Jun 2016 02:58 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq said Monday it had launched an investigation into possible human rights abuses against civilians fleeing the Islamic State-held city of Fallujah as a senior U.N. official said more than 7,300 people had left the city in the last two days.

AP EXPLAINS: The Islamic State group's persecution of gays Posted: 13 Jun 2016 02:12 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The gunman who attacked a gay nightclub in Orlando is said to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call, and on Monday the extremist group described the shooter as "one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America."

US Apache helicopters strike IS for first time in Iraq Posted: 13 Jun 2016 01:28 PM PDT US Apache helicopters have struck an Islamic State target for the first time in Iraq, the Pentagon said Monday. The sophisticated attack choppers destroyed an IS car bomb Sunday near Qayyarah, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Mosul, the group's main stronghold in Iraq. "The government of Iraq approved the use of Apaches in support of ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) operations," Defense Department spokesman Christopher Sherwood said.

Orlando’s counternarrative to Islamic State Posted: 13 Jun 2016 01:11 PM PDT The people of Orlando, Fla., have sent an important message to Islamic State after a young shooter, Omar Mateen, killed or injured more than 100 in a nightclub in the name of the extremist group. Orlando's counternarrative of hope should serve as an example of what is still needed on a larger scale in the Middle East to bring about the crumbling of Islamic State's so-called caliphate. Since it took over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, the radical group has been losing followers.

IS suspects fleeing Iraq's Fallujah with civilians Posted: 13 Jun 2016 12:54 PM PDT Iraqi forces on Monday said jihadist fighters were attempting to flee Fallujah by blending in with civilians who have been escaping the besieged city in their thousands in recent days. The Pentagon said meanwhile that US Apache helicopters hit an Islamic State group target for the first time in Iraq, in the north of the country. More than 500 suspected IS members have been arrested trying to sneak out with civilians since forces ramped up efforts to retake Fallujah, one of the group's most emblematic bastions, two weeks ago.

Libyan pro-govt advance slows as IS hits back in Sirte Posted: 13 Jun 2016 12:17 PM PDT An intense fightback by the Islamic State group in Libya's Sirte slowed an advance by pro-government forces Monday into the jihadists' North African stronghold. Forces allied with Libya's unity government made rapid gains in Sirte last week, pushing IS out of the port and the airport on the edges of the coastal city, 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of the capital Tripoli. Most of Sirte's residents have fled, but officials have said some 30,000 civilians remain there.

Court vacates $1.8M Ventura award in 'American Sniper' case Posted: 13 Jun 2016 12:06 PM PDT MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday threw out $1.8 million in damages awarded to former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who said he was defamed by the late author Chris Kyle in the bestselling book "American Sniper."

Second U.S. aircraft carrier enters Mediterranean: U.S. Navy Posted: 13 Jun 2016 12:00 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) - The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the Mediterranean late on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, at a time when U.S. officials are raising alarm over Russia's maritime expansion. The Eisenhower, also known as the "Ike," will relieve the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group which later this month heads back to the United States after an extended eight-month deployment. The Eisenhower, which also leads a strike group of cruisers, destroyers and warplanes, is scheduled to continue on to the Gulf to participate in U.S. air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.

U.S. may not make Afghanistan troop decision by Warsaw summit Posted: 13 Jun 2016 11:34 AM PDT By Arshad Mohammed and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama may not decide before a NATO summit next month whether to alter plans to nearly halve America's forces in Afghanistan, a diplomat and a U.S. official said. A decision had been expected at or before the summit in Warsaw on July 8-9 on whether to stick to plans to slash the 9,800 troops to 5,500 before Obama leaves office next year. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter flies to Brussels on Monday to meet NATO counterparts, with Afghanistan expected to be high on the agenda.

7,000 Iraqis flee Fallujah through safe corridor: UN Posted: 13 Jun 2016 11:29 AM PDT More than 7,000 Iraqis have fled Fallujah in recent days through a safe corridor set up by Iraqi forces, who are working on opening a second protected route, a UN official said Monday. UN deputy representative to Iraq Lise Grande told reporters that camps set up outside Fallujah to provide shelter are now full and conditions in the city worse than anticipated. "The people coming out of Fallujah lost everything," she said.

Carter: at least 1 Apache helicopter used in combat in Iraq Posted: 13 Jun 2016 11:07 AM PDT BRUSSELS (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday that at least one U.S. Apache helicopter has been used for the first time in combat in Iraq.

U.S. says Apache helicopter carries out strike in Iraq Posted: 13 Jun 2016 11:04 AM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States carried out a strike in Iraq on Monday against an Islamic State target using an Apache attack helicopter for the first time since President Barack Obama authorized its use in offensive operations earlier this year. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter declined to disclose details of the operation, saying only that it was to support Iraqi forces positioning ahead of an operation to retake the city of Mosul from insurgents. A U.S. ...

Orlando attack: 'I am the lone wolf that terrorizes the infidels' Posted: 13 Jun 2016 10:43 AM PDT In the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, the self-declared Islamic State underscored once again its favored weapon in its war on the West: lone wolves. Recommended: How much do you know about the Islamic State? The manner in which Mr. Mateen pledged loyalty, or baya, points to him being a lone wolf, or at the very least, newly indoctrinated.

The Guns-Terrorism Nexus Posted: 13 Jun 2016 10:41 AM PDT As of Monday morning, the death toll of Sunday's massacre at an Orlando nightclub stood at 50 including the assailant, making the attack not only the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, but also the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since September 11, 2001. The toll was more than triple that of the next-deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11, the San Bernardino shooting of December 2015, in which 14 people were killed. And the weapons used in Orlando, as in San Bernardino, were guns.

Gays a target for the Islamic State group Posted: 13 Jun 2016 10:35 AM PDT The Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for an attack on a gay nightclub on Sunday that left 49 revellers dead, has a history of extreme violence against gays. A bulletin from the group's Al-Bayan media outlet on Monday praised the shooter, Omar Mateen, for the attack in "a nightclub for followers of the people of Lot" -- a term it uses for gays. While there is no indication IS coordinated the attack, the worst mass shooting in modern US history, the group has killed dozens of gays in the areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.

Canadian hostage likely killed in Philippines: Trudeau Posted: 13 Jun 2016 10:15 AM PDT The Canadian government has "every reason to believe" that one of its citizens kidnapped by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines nearly nine months ago has been killed, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Members of the notorious kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf gang had said they would murder Robert Hall if they did not receive 300 million pesos ($6.5 million) ransom by Monday. Hall was among four people abducted in September last year from aboard yachts at a tourist resort on Samal island in the southern Philippines.

Former US senator and Ohio governor Voinovich remembered as a 'unifier' Posted: 13 Jun 2016 09:40 AM PDT Former US senator and Ohio governor George Voinovich is being remembered for his ability to unite conflicting sides, as well as his compassion, after the 79-year-old died overnight Sunday. "He was a unifier who thought outside the box, never gave up and worked hard for the ideas he believed in up until the very end of his life," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Bosnian children with Islamic State are 'time bomb', study says Posted: 13 Jun 2016 08:47 AM PDT By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - More than 80 Bosnian children are in Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq and represent a "time bomb" that could pose a major security risk when they return, a study said on Monday. Bosnian Muslims are the largest group from the Western Balkans fighting for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, alongside fighters from countries such as Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The study by the non-profit Sarajevo-based Atlantic Initiative, which made an advance copy available to Reuters, found that the number of adult male fighters, estimated at 188 in the three-year period to end-2015, had dropped to 91, after 47 returned to Bosnia and 50 had been killed.

Iraq makes arrests over reports of Sunnis executed in Falluja Posted: 13 Jun 2016 07:12 AM PDT By Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Monday it had made arrests as it investigates allegations that Shi'ite militiamen helping the army retake Falluja had executed dozens of Sunni Muslim men fleeing the city held by Islamic State. Iraqi authorities "are following up on the violations and a number of arrests have been made," government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said after a regional governor said 49 Sunni men had been executed after surrendering to a Shi'ite faction. Sohaib al-Rawi, governor of Anbar province where Falluja is located, said on Sunday that 643 men had gone missing between June 3 and June 5, and "all the surviving detainees were subjected to severe and collective torture by various means." The participation of militias in the battle of Falluja, just west of Baghdad, alongside the Iraqi army had already raised fears of sectarian killings.

World in chaos, Israel gets singular focus at UN rights body Posted: 13 Jun 2016 05:32 AM PDT GENEVA (AP) — Wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have killed hundreds of thousands of people. Enforced disappearances, torture and extremist attacks infringe on human rights worldwide. Tyrannical, autocratic leaders and their allies from Belarus to Burundi repel dissent with an iron fist.

Expatriate and Activist Jett Pence Urges Americans to Write-in Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski for President This November Posted: 13 Jun 2016 05:30 AM PDT OULU, Finland, June 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Retired Air Force Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski has the experience, perspective and grit to undo Washington's destructive status quo. Pence has created a Facebook page to serve as an advertisement and launch pad for The Black Widow Peace Party - a fledgling movement for women everywhere who desire world peace today. "I've been writing for many years about what I call 'Congressional Male Violence,'" explains Jett Pence, "and I was searching for the right person to lead a movement to restore sanity and peace.

Morocco arrests Italian suspected of Islamic State ties Posted: 13 Jun 2016 04:30 AM PDT Moroccan authorities have arrested an Italian national who was planning to carry out attacks on targets in the kingdom, the interior ministry said in a statement on Monday. Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, often announces it has broken up militant cells accused of plotting attacks inside and outside the kingdom. The suspected Italian militant, who lives in Belgium, was arrested on June 8 when landing in the eastern city of Oujda, based on intelligence showing that he had ties to the Islamic State group and was involved in a plan to attack targets in Morocco, the statement said.

Armed clashes in Iran kill 10 militants, policeman Posted: 13 Jun 2016 04:16 AM PDT Ten militants and a police officer have been killed in separate armed clashes in Iran, local media reported Monday. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards killed five Kurdish rebels near the country's northwestern border with Iraq, an official statement said. "A team of five from the PJAK terrorist splinter group... has been identified and destroyed in the Sardasht region" on the Iraqi border, a Guards statement said on its official website.

Orlando Shooting: ISIS Could Lose the Mideast and Win in the West Posted: 13 Jun 2016 03:45 AM PDT As the death toll rises from the Orlando mass shooting that left at least 50 people dead and 53 more injured, the usually quiet Sunday for Americans has turned into a nightmare. Americans are now facing a situation similar to that of the Paris attacks seven months ago. The shooter, Omar Mateen's known information and the circumstances of the massacre provide unmistakable elements of security failure for the local, federal and private security authorities.

IS suicide attack kills five in Iraq's Ramadi: officers Posted: 13 Jun 2016 02:43 AM PDT A suicide attack carried out by Islamic State group fighters killed at least five members of the Iraqi security forces on Monday in the city of Ramadi, army officers said. The Iraqi army earlier this year regained control of Ramadi, the capital of the country's vast Anbar province, and in recent weeks has been battling to retake Fallujah, another city in the province, from IS jihadists. Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi said the IS attack targeted an army base in Ramadi with several explosives-laden vehicles driven by suicide bombers and gunmen who fired on soldiers.

MoMA celebrates architect Frank Lloyd Wright's 150th birthday Posted: 13 Jun 2016 02:25 AM PDT The Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA, is paying homage next year to one of the most important figures of 20th century architecture with a major exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of his birth. "Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive" will run from June 12 - October 1, 2017. As well as being one of the most renowned and prolific architects of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright was a radical designer and intellectual who embraced cutting-edge materials and new technologies.

Record number of refugees need to be resettled: UN Posted: 13 Jun 2016 01:18 AM PDT The United Nations said Monday it will try to resettle a record 170,000 refugees urgently in need of a new home next year as it grapples with an unprecedented displacement crisis. The projected resettlement figure from the UN refugee agency represents an increase of nearly 30,000 people compared with this year. The agency therefore expects to recommend that the 170,000 people most in need of resettlement should be moved to third countries.

A personal quest to document IS massacre of Iraqi Yazidis Posted: 13 Jun 2016 12:36 AM PDT DOHUK, Iraq (AP) — The walls and even the windows of Bahzad Farhan Murad's office are covered with lists. They name the thousands of people who were killed or are still missing after the Islamic State group launched an attack on unarmed Yazidi communities in northwestern Iraq nearly two years ago.

Iranian forces kill five Kurdish separatists, Revolutionary Guards say Posted: 13 Jun 2016 12:07 AM PDT Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed five members of a Kurdish separatist group involved in assaults last month in the northwest of the country, state media said on Monday. The five were responsible for the killings of two members of the Revolutionary Guards in Sardasht last month and an engineer working there, the Guards said in the statement. "A five-member team of the terrorist group PJAK were identified in a region near Sardasht ... and were all killed by the Revolutionary Guards army," Tasnim news agency reported, citing the Guards' statement.

Today in History Posted: 12 Jun 2016 09:01 PM PDT Today is Monday, June 13, the 165th day of 2016. There are 201 days left in the year.

Court Vacates $1.8M Jesse Ventura Award in 'American Sniper' Case Posted: 12 Jun 2016 09:00 PM PDT Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said he was defamed by a claim in the Navy SEAL's book.

Trump says Florida massacre proves he's right on Islamist threat Posted: 12 Jun 2016 08:08 PM PDT By James Oliphant and Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gave an aggressive response to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, quickly claiming the attack was the work of an Islamist militant while calling on President Barack Obama to resign and for Democrat Hillary Clinton to exit the presidential race. For Trump, it was an attempt to frame the attack in Orlando in a light favorable to his campaign for the Nov. 8 presidential election. Early on Sunday, when few facts were known about the shooting, he boasted on Twitter that it proved he had been right about his warnings over "radical Islamic terrorism." Trump canceled a planned Monday evening rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire late on Sunday, because of the shooting, but will go ahead with a major speech at St. Anselm's College on Monday afternoon.

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