Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• UN chief: 130 million need assistance to survive
• AP Analysis: For at least this week, Trump playing to win
• Oil posts strong weekly gains; analysts say rally unjustified
• Libya's jihadist challenge to last beyond Sirte defeat
• Iraqi forces push Islamic State out of western Iraqi town
• Are Wildlife Trafficking Punishments Starting to Fit the Crimes?
• Brazil eye history not revenge in Germany Olympic football final
• War Dogs Is a Self-Satisfied Testosterone Fest
• Meet the robots that will help us win the wars of the future
• German conservatives call for partial ban on face veil
• Why Is America Still Saying ‘Never Again’?
• Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Russian traffic police
• Funding cuts, insurgency hamper Afghan goal to clear mines by 2023
• Trump says he regrets offending people with how he speaks
• Turkey's 007 to Take on Figures Behind Coup Attempt
• Box Office: 'War Dogs' Takes $1.3 Million, 'Ben-Hur' Rides to $900K Thursday
• Box Office: 'War Dogs' Takes $1.3 Million, 'Ben-Hur' Rides to $900,000 Thursday
• Rogic flourishing under Rodgers at Celtic
• Timbuktu attacks in focus as jihadist's ICC trial nears

UN chief: 130 million need assistance to survive Posted: 19 Aug 2016 05:27 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a message on World Humanitarian Day that a record 130 million people depend on assistance to survive, a staggering number that would comprise the tenth most populous nation on earth.

AP Analysis: For at least this week, Trump playing to win Posted: 19 Aug 2016 02:59 PM PDT Donald Trump's turbulent summer has been shadowed by a nagging question: Does the Republican nominee actually want to win the presidency? For at least this week, Trump answered with an emphatic yes. He ...

Oil posts strong weekly gains; analysts say rally unjustified Posted: 19 Aug 2016 12:58 PM PDT Oil prices settled steady to higher on Friday, with U.S. crude posting its biggest weekly gain since March after surging nearly 25 percent in a little over two weeks, a rally analysts cautioned was not justified by fundamentals. "We would argue that improved fundamentals are not a key reason for the recent price bounce," analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note. Brent rose 8 percent on the week, rising for a third week in a row.

Libya's jihadist challenge to last beyond Sirte defeat Posted: 19 Aug 2016 11:39 AM PDT By Aidan Lewis SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - The grand ambitions scrawled on a wall near the Libyan city of Sirte's Mediterranean sea front look fanciful now: "Islamic State's naval port, the departure point for Rome, with God's permission." Beaten back by local forces over three months and by U.S. air strikes since Aug. 1, Islamic State is on the verge of losing the city where it exerted absolute control since last year, its most important base outside Syria and Iraq. Some militants were able to flee Sirte before it was encircled and are likely to try to reactivate elsewhere in Libya, officials and fighters say. Militants may link up with existing cells and armed factions already operating in other regions, as the divisions that fueled extremism in Libya persist and even risk worsening as a result of the Sirte campaign.

Iraqi forces push Islamic State out of western Iraqi town Posted: 19 Aug 2016 10:19 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forces pushed Islamic State fighters out of a pocket of territory near the key western city of Ramadi on Friday evening, the military said, following a string of recent victories against the Sunni militant group in the sprawling western Anbar desert.

Are Wildlife Trafficking Punishments Starting to Fit the Crimes? Posted: 19 Aug 2016 10:13 AM PDT It's why wildlife crime has become a $10 billion–a–year industry: It's safer than robbing a bank. "This sentencing sends a strong message to illegal wildlife dealers that the punishment for these activities will fit the severity of the crime," said Brian D. Horne, a Wildlife Conservation Society herpetologist who provided expertise to the prosecution. The sentencing is the result of an investigation that began with the 2015 arrest at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport of an airport security worker toting two backpacks containing 316 juvenile tortoises.

Brazil eye history not revenge in Germany Olympic football final Posted: 19 Aug 2016 08:45 AM PDT The chance to make history by winning Brazil's long-awaited first football gold medal will override desire for revenge insists Brazil coach Rogerio Micale ahead of Saturday's final against Germany at Rio's Maracana. Germany inflicted the worst defeat in Brazil's history in a 7-1 World Cup semi-final mauling just two years ago.

War Dogs Is a Self-Satisfied Testosterone Fest Posted: 19 Aug 2016 08:43 AM PDT Maybe the only thing you need to hear about War Dogs, Todd Phillips's aggressive new comedy about two Miami stoners who became gun-runners and Iraq War profiteers, is the supreme lameness of its intertitles. For every act break, the film cuts to black and flashes a line of text on screen, something provocative like "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already," or, "That sounds illegal." Then, a few minutes later, someone will say that very line, and you can almost smell the self-satisfaction wafting from the screen.

Meet the robots that will help us win the wars of the future Posted: 19 Aug 2016 08:10 AM PDT If former Marine and entrepreneur Sean Bielat has his way, the law enforcement officer tentatively approaching a vehicle in the future after making a traffic stop won't be an officer at all. Rather, those are the kind of interactions — fraught with uncertainty, potentially dangerous — that seem to him to make perfect sense for one of his robots to deal with instead. DON'T MISS:  I built a Wi-Fi paradise and all I needed was one device Bielat is the CEO of Endeavor Robotics , a privately held ground robotics company that in April spun out of Mass.-based iRobot and is focused on the defense, public safety and energy and industrial markets. It's a young company, but already Endeavor has delivered some 6,000 robots to customers, everything from a roughly five-pound throwable robot perfect for surveillance and reconnaissance up to its 500-pound beast called the Kobra. The Kobra has a 12-foot arm and can lift loads of up to a couple hundred pounds. Endeavor sees it as ideal for helping resolve large threats or dealing with things like vehicle-born explosive devices. The company has also been involved in trials with the Army using this robot, positioning it as potentially able to carry a squad's equipment load. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7S7JLBpy3U Needless to say, a company narrowly focused on these specific kinds of machines -- and on a future that puts robots increasingly at the center of war and public safety -- is a company that'll no doubt be worth increasingly watching over time. Because of what Endeavor represents, and the product line it has on offer, the company also believes it has a massively lucrative future ahead of it. Bielat said the goal is for Endeavor "to be much larger than we are today." "Right now, it's an exciting time for us in that during the early part of the 2000s, the Department of Defense was buying a lot of robots," Bielat tells BGR. "They were buying them off the shelf, with contingency funds and very rapidly and in large numbers. After we pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the ground robotics space saw a big decline in revenue as a result of that. But the robots have proved their value to the DoD, which has gone back to traditional acquisition approaches through programs of record." A few weeks ago, Endeavor announced a partnership with New York City-based communications technology company Persistent Systems to integrate a new communications system into Endeavor's robots. Among other things, Endeavor says that new system will increase the operational range of its robots in urban areas and other "radio-challenged" environments. Longer term company targets include things like getting the price of robot units down so clients like cash-strapped police departments can more easily afford them. The robot on the low end of Endeavor's price scale costs about $19,000. One thing worth noting as the company is on the march to expand: not only does Endeavor have defense industry clients paying up for its robots, but so increasingly are law enforcement agencies. Like agencies in the greater Dallas area, where Endeavor has acknowledged selling its robots and where, last month, Dallas police used a robot to deliver and detonate an explosive that killed the shooter who murdered five police officers. (Endeavor says it isn't sure if the robot was one of theirs.) "In order to support the infantry, we're going to be making lighter-weight robots and lesser expensive robots," Bielat says. "Currently of the 6,000 or so we've fielded, a couple hundred have been to law enforcement -- and law enforcement really wants the technology, it's just a matter of the price point. "Currently, ours are out of the reach of the budgets of many law enforcement departments. As the military buys in bulk, that allows us to have a lower-priced robot that's easier for law enforcement to afford." Endeavor, Bielat went on, is also looking even beyond law enforcement uses cases. He said the company can foresee "broad applicability" for its robots, eventually putting them into use in commercial and industrial situations, as well. In addition to Endeavor's five-pound robot, it also has one that comes in at a little under 20 pounds. It can be used to manipulate things like improvised explosive devices. There's also a heavier one called the PackBot that weighs about 65 pounds. That one is used in counter-IED and explosive ordnance disposal roles. The largest robot above that is the Kobra. "We're really focused on technologies that save lives, that reduce harm to people," Bielat said. "We see all sorts of potential for robots taking people out of dangerous situations. You could imagine just like in San Diego recently, where you had two policemen shot at a traffic stop. You could imagine robots being used to approach a stopped vehicle and interact with the people inside, so the people inside aren't feeling threatened by an armed officer and the officer isn't feeling threatened by the people in the vehicle and not knowing what their intention is. You're defusing the situation." And, of course, also adding something to the situation - something profoundly new, that we as a society haven't begun to completely think through yet. It's somewhat parallel to the AI-run-amok debate. Autonomy isn't a feature of Endeavor's robots, but just like the cautionary notes being heard in some corners of the scientific and technology community about AI, the same thinking perhaps applies here. The implications of robot-led warfare and law enforcement raise questions about ethics, about where the line should be drawn and how far down this road we should continue. For now, Endeavor stresses that the benefits here are paramount -- its technology is in a unique position to save lives. Scholar Wendell Wallach takes the other side of the argument in his book A Dangerous Master: How to Keep Technology from Slipping Beyond our Control . "It is becoming increasingly difficult to comprehend the risks entailed in emerging forms of scientific research and in the adoption of innovative technologies," he writes. Later, he continues: "Our expanding reliance on complex systems whose risks we do not or cannot calculate is troubling."

German conservatives call for partial ban on face veil Posted: 19 Aug 2016 06:21 AM PDT By Caroline Copley and Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have agreed that women should be banned from wearing the face veil in schools and universities and while driving, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Friday. Regional interior ministers belonging to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and her Christian Social Union (CSU) allies presented a declaration in Berlin on tougher security measures, including more police and greater surveillance in public areas. Lorenz Caffier, interior minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, said the full body veil is a barrier to integration, encourages parallel societies and suggests women are inferior.

Why Is America Still Saying ‘Never Again’? Posted: 19 Aug 2016 05:00 AM PDT The turbulent months after the 9/11 attacks were notable for something that did not happen. Even though al-Qaeda had killed thousands of people and scored a direct hit on the Pentagon, hardly anyone in either political party blamed the Bush Administration for failing to defend the homeland. In the burst of patriotism that followed the assaults, President Bush and his aides essentially got a free pass from the voting public. This consensus held even after it emerged that government officials had fumbled numerous clues that might have prevented the attacks. (The Central Intelligence Agency knew two al-Qaeda operatives had entered the U.S. in 2000, but never told the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No one tracked their movements and phone calls, a notable lapse since both men ended up among the 19 hijackers.) Voters had no problem reelecting a president who did nothing after receiving an intelligence briefing weeks before 9/11 headlined "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S.''

Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Russian traffic police Posted: 19 Aug 2016 02:34 AM PDT Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on a traffic police post outside Moscow on Wednesday in which both attackers were killed, calling it revenge for Russia's aerial bombing campaign in Syria. The militant group made the claim via the Amaq news agency, which it regularly uses to issue statements, and released a video in which the purported attackers said they wanted to take revenge for Russia killing Muslims in the Middle East. Russia has been bombing militants in Syria since September last year, part of a military campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Funding cuts, insurgency hamper Afghan goal to clear mines by 2023 Posted: 18 Aug 2016 11:26 PM PDT By Josh Smith and Mirwais Harooni SALANG PASS, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's campaign to clear millions of landmines left by the Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war is in danger of stalling, as international aid slumps and militant violence makes more of the country inaccessible. "The longer these minefields last, the higher the human cost," said Mohammad Shafiq Yosufi, chief of the Afghan government's Directorate of Mine Action Coordination. "They kill and maim people, prevent economic growth, investment, and tourism, hurt livelihoods and cause psychological fear that cannot end until they are gone." Nearly 600 square km of old minefields and battlefields remain to be cleared, encompassing more than 3,000 known sites and affecting 1,570 communities, according to the United Nations.

Trump says he regrets offending people with how he speaks Posted: 18 Aug 2016 09:27 PM PDT Donald Trump made a rare act of contrition, saying he regretted offending people with his harsh way of speaking. The Republican nominee made the gesture at his first rally since ordering a shakeup in his campaign to save his struggling White House bid. "Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing," Trump told a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Turkey's 007 to Take on Figures Behind Coup Attempt Posted: 18 Aug 2016 09:00 PM PDT With nationalistic sentiment running high, 'Valley of the Wolves: Coup,' the latest installment of the controversial Turkish action franchise, has been announced.

Box Office: 'War Dogs' Takes $1.3 Million, 'Ben-Hur' Rides to $900K Thursday Posted: 18 Aug 2016 09:00 PM PDT Todd Phillips' 'War Dogs' earned $1.3 million while Focus Features' animated 'Kubo and the Two Strings' took in $515,000 on Thursday.

Box Office: 'War Dogs' Takes $1.3 Million, 'Ben-Hur' Rides to $900,000 Thursday Posted: 18 Aug 2016 09:00 PM PDT Focus Features' animated 'Kubo and the Two Strings' took in $515,000 on Thursday.

Rogic flourishing under Rodgers at Celtic Posted: 18 Aug 2016 07:30 PM PDT This time last year, Tom Rogic's career at Celtic was at a crossroads. The Australian international had endured a frustrating time at Celtic Park following his arrival from A-League side Central Coast Mariners in January 2013. The Socceroo star suffered several injury problems and found his game time limited before being shipped back to Australia for a loan spell with Melbourne Victory.

Timbuktu attacks in focus as jihadist's ICC trial nears Posted: 18 Aug 2016 05:50 PM PDT An unprecedented case opens Monday at the International Criminal Court when an alleged Malian jihadist is set to plead guilty to the war crime of destroying the UNESCO world heritage site of Timbuktu. Some 55 sites around the world, including the Bamiyan valley where the Taliban blew up ancient giant Buddhas in 2001 and Palmyra in Syria vandalised by the Islamic State group in the past two years, remain on UNESCO's endangered list. Al-Mahdi is expected to become the first person to confess his guilt at the tribunal as well as the first to face a single war crime charge of destroying cultural heritage.

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