Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Why Turkey's shelling of ISIS and Kurds in Syria is a big deal
• Oil up on Iran talk; stockpile build cited by API surprises
• Private lives are exposed as WikiLeaks spills its secrets
• With Biden visit, U.S. seeks balance with truculent Turkey
• Syria Kurds win battle with government, Turkey mobilizes against them
• In Turkey, Biden aims to mend wobbly ties to key NATO ally
• Fists not football: Brain injuries seen in domestic assaults
• Turkey's Erdogan, Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani discuss fight against militants
• Turkey strikes IS as Syria border tensions flare
• The Latest: UN says 65,000 fled fighting in Syria's Hasakeh
• Why peace is prevailing, for now, in south Lebanon
• UN: Over a million could be displaced by Mosul offensive
• Anti-Americanism surges in Turkey, fueled by politicians and a fervent press
• Rights groups condemn executions over Iraq massacre
• Portugal investigates Iraq ambassador's sons over beating
• Iraq executions carried out without proper trial, fueled by vengeance: U.N.
• Special Report: Massacre reports show U.S. inability to curb Iraq militias
• Iraq forces launch push to retake town south of Mosul
• U.N. braces for refugee exodus from Iraq's Mosul
• U.N. desperate to find land for new camps in Iraq ahead of Mosul assault
• Turkey vows 'all kinds of support' for anti-IS Jarabulus operation
• Morocco posts fall in foreign tourist arrivals
• As ISIS loses ground in Syria and Iraq, is it turning to more child bombers?
• The Twenty Years’ War
• Iraqi diplomat's sons suspected of attacking boy in Portugal
• World's largest cemetery grows bigger as Shi'ite militias bury their dead
• US, Biden face tough task to mend relations with Turkey
• 10 Things to Know for Today
• IS struggles to retain grip as it loses ground in Iraq
• In Iraq, Nigeria and now Turkey, child bombers strike

Why Turkey's shelling of ISIS and Kurds in Syria is a big deal Posted: 23 Aug 2016 03:21 PM PDT On Tuesday, Turkey entered its second consecutive day of shelling Islamic State and Kurdish YPG forces in Syria, amid reports that more than 1,500 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have gathered in Turkey to launch an offensive against Jarablus, the last town controlled by ISIS on the Turkish border. The Turkish offensive strategy may exacerbate political tensions in the region, even if ISIS forces are successfully driven out of Jarablus. Turkey is an important player in the Syrian conflict.

Oil up on Iran talk; stockpile build cited by API surprises Posted: 23 Aug 2016 02:32 PM PDT Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Reuters reported Iran was sending positive signals that it may support joint OPEC action to prop up the market, before the market pared gains on trade data showing a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks. Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, refused to join a previous attempt this year by the group and non-OPEC members led by Russia to stabilize production. "Iran is reaching its pre-sanctions production level soon and after that it can cooperate with the others," said a source familiar with Iranian thinking after a visit by Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino to Tehran as part of a tour to convince OPEC of a production freeze.

Private lives are exposed as WikiLeaks spills its secrets Posted: 23 Aug 2016 02:10 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — WikiLeaks' giant data dumps have rattled the National Security Agency, the U.S. Democratic Party, and the Saudi foreign ministry. But its spectacular mass-disclosures have also included the personal information of hundreds of people — including sick children, rape victims and mental health patients, The Associated Press has found.

With Biden visit, U.S. seeks balance with truculent Turkey Posted: 23 Aug 2016 01:22 PM PDT By Jeff Mason and Humeyra Pamuk RIGA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Turkey in January, he struck a difficult balance between showing support for a NATO ally faced with multiple security threats while criticizing its record on free speech and dissent. Now with relations between Washington and Ankara going through one of their testiest periods in recent memory, he may find it even tougher to get those dual messages across when he visits on Wednesday. Biden will be the most senior U.S. official to visit Turkey since the failed July 15 coup, when a group of rogue soldiers tried to overthrow the government and killed at least 240 people.

Syria Kurds win battle with government, Turkey mobilizes against them Posted: 23 Aug 2016 01:15 PM PDT By Rodi Said and Tom Perry HASAKA, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Kurdish forces took near complete control of Hasaka city on Tuesday as a ceasefire ended a week of fighting with the government, consolidating the Kurds' grip on Syria's northeast as Turkey increased its efforts to check their influence. The Kurdish YPG militia, a critical part of the U.S.-backed campaign against Islamic State, already controls swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish groups have established de facto autonomy since the start of the Syria war in 2011. Syrian rebels backed by Turkey said they were in the final stages of preparing an assault from Turkish territory on the Islamic State-held Syrian border town of Jarablus, aiming to preempt any YPG attempt to take it.

In Turkey, Biden aims to mend wobbly ties to key NATO ally Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:48 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — With suspicions on both sides mounting, the United States is struggling to preserve its wobbly partnership with Turkey as the Turks entertain closer relations with Russia and fume over a U.S.-based cleric blamed for orchestrating last month's failed coup.

Fists not football: Brain injuries seen in domestic assaults Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:29 PM PDT CHICAGO (AP) — There are no bomb blasts or collisions with burly linemen in Susan Contreras' past. Her headaches, memory loss and bouts of confused thinking were a mystery until doctors suggested a probable cause: domestic violence.

Turkey's Erdogan, Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani discuss fight against militants Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:23 PM PDT Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday discussed strategy in fighting Islamic State and Kurdish PKK militants with visiting Iraqi Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani, sources at Erdogan's office said. The meeting in the Turkish capital comes as NATO member Turkey faces multiple threats from Islamic State at home and across the border with neighboring Syria as well as from the outlawed PKK militants whose bases are in Qandil mountains in northern Iraq.

Turkey strikes IS as Syria border tensions flare Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:12 PM PDT Turkey vowed Tuesday to give full support to efforts to free a key Syrian border town from the control of Islamic State (IS) jihadists as anticipation grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group. Activists have said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of the Syrian town of Jarabulus, which lies opposite the town of Karkamis in Turkey. Without confirming the operation, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged to give "all kinds of support" to push the jihadists out of Jarabulus.

The Latest: UN says 65,000 fled fighting in Syria's Hasakeh Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:05 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the Syrian civil war (all times local):

Why peace is prevailing, for now, in south Lebanon Posted: 23 Aug 2016 11:56 AM PDT South Lebanon has long been synonymous with occupation, violence, and conflict – a legacy of its proximity to Israel and the presence of militant groups dating back to the Palestinian armed factions that emerged here in the 1960s. In a Middle East that is beset with turmoil and instability, south Lebanon has become an "oasis of peace," says Maj.-Gen. Michael Beary, the newly appointed commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, which is known by the acronym UNIFIL. Recommended: How well do you understand the conflict in Syria?

UN: Over a million could be displaced by Mosul offensive Posted: 23 Aug 2016 11:39 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says more than a million people could soon be displaced as a result of the fighting in Iraq.

Anti-Americanism surges in Turkey, fueled by politicians and a fervent press Posted: 23 Aug 2016 11:35 AM PDT Just days after Turkey's failed coup attempt on July 15, pro-government newspapers splashed front page "news" that CIA agents had orchestrated the bid to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from a resort island near Istanbul. The luxury Splendid Palace Hotel, an Ottoman-era landmark with two silvery rooftop domes, may seem like an unlikely and high profile staging post for regime change – and in fact it is. Recommended: Think you know Turkey?

Rights groups condemn executions over Iraq massacre Posted: 23 Aug 2016 10:47 AM PDT Rights groups said Wednesday that the executions by the Iraqi state of 36 men over a 2014 massacre claimed by the Islamic State group were failing to deliver justice and security. Iraq on Sunday hanged 36 men found guilty of involvement in the killing of up to 1,700 military recruits who were captured by IS and allied militants from Camp Speicher, near the city of Tikrit. The executions came after trials that rights watchdogs and the United Nations said failed to meet most basic standards.

Portugal investigates Iraq ambassador's sons over beating Posted: 23 Aug 2016 10:45 AM PDT By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese police are investigating the beating of a local youth by two teenage sons of the Iraqi ambassador which landed the victim in intensive care and caused an uproar in Portugal. Media reports said the 17-year-old twin sons of Ambassador Saad Mohammed Ridha beat and kicked 15-year-old Ruben Cavaco in an incident on the night of Aug. 17 in a town in central Portugal after an earlier brush with a group of young men at a bar. The incident threatened to turn into a diplomatic row when Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva suggested it was so serious the Iraqi brothers might forfeit their diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

Iraq executions carried out without proper trial, fueled by vengeance: U.N. Posted: 23 Aug 2016 10:23 AM PDT Thirty-six men hanged in Iraq for a sectarian mass killing of soldiers were denied a proper legal defense at their trials and the executions appeared to have been "fueled by vengeance", the United Nations said on Tuesday. The hangings were carried out on Sunday at a prison in southern Iraq, state TV said. "The individuals who have been executed were convicted only on the basis of information provided by secret informants or by confessions allegedly extracted under duress," U.N. human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told reporters in Geneva.

Special Report: Massacre reports show U.S. inability to curb Iraq militias Posted: 23 Aug 2016 10:22 AM PDT By Ned Parker and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON(Reuters) - Shi'ite militias in Iraq detained, tortured and abused far more Sunni civilians during the American-backed capture of the town of Falluja in June than U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged, Reuters has found. More than 700 Sunni men and boys are still missing more than two months after the Islamic State stronghold fell. The abuses occurred despite U.S. efforts to restrict the militias' role in the operation, including threatening to withdraw American air support, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Iraq forces launch push to retake town south of Mosul Posted: 23 Aug 2016 10:02 AM PDT Iraqi special forces led an operation on Tuesday aimed at retaking the jihadist-held town of Qayyarah, a key staging base for operations to attack Mosul, military sources said. With the clock ticking down on what Iraq expects to be its biggest anti-IS operation yet, the UN warned of population displacement on a scale not seen in years. US-led coalition aircraft provided support, said Bashar, the spokesman for the operations command in Nineveh, the province in which Qayyarah and Mosul are located.

U.N. braces for refugee exodus from Iraq's Mosul Posted: 23 Aug 2016 09:54 AM PDT By Stephanie Nebehay and Stephen Kalin GENEVA/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in and around Mosul could be uprooted by the military assault to retake the city from Islamic State, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. "In Mosul we believe the displacement situation may be about to dramatically worsen," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a briefing in Geneva, saying the agency needed more land for camps. "The humanitarian impact of the military offensive is expected to be enormous, up to 1.2 million people could be affected." About 3.4 million people have already been forced by conflict to leave their homes across Iraq, taking refuge in areas controlled by the government or in the Kurdish autonomous region east of Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital.

U.N. desperate to find land for new camps in Iraq ahead of Mosul assault Posted: 23 Aug 2016 09:42 AM PDT By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - U.N. refugee officials bracing for an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the Iraqi city of Mosul said on Tuesday they were struggling to find land for camps to house them. Up to 1.2 million people could be affected by an expected military offensive to retake Iraq's second biggest city from Islamic State, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. The agency is planning to create camps in up to six locations across northern Iraq but said finding land had become a "critical issue" fraught with difficulties.

Turkey vows 'all kinds of support' for anti-IS Jarabulus operation Posted: 23 Aug 2016 09:24 AM PDT Turkey pledged Tuesday to give "all kinds of support" to push Islamic State (IS) jihadists out of the Syrian town of Jarabulus near the two countries' border. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the promise amid reports Ankara-backed rebels were massing on the border in anticipation of an impending operation against IS. "We do not want Daesh to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

Morocco posts fall in foreign tourist arrivals Posted: 23 Aug 2016 08:42 AM PDT Morocco has announced a 5.6 percent drop in foreign tourist arrivals for the first half of 2016, with holidaymakers apparently put off by unrest and attacks across the region. Morocco has been spared unrest triggered by the Arab Spring revolts that have rocked North Africa and the Middle East since 2011, as well as attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. The number of Moroccans living abroad who visited the country in the first half of the year was up by 1.7 percent, said the Moroccan Observatory for Tourism.

As ISIS loses ground in Syria and Iraq, is it turning to more child bombers? Posted: 23 Aug 2016 08:28 AM PDT As the self-declared Islamic State (ISIS) has lost stretches of territory in Iraq and Syria and tens of thousands of fighters, it is relying more on child bombers. On Sunday, security forces apprehended a 16-year-old with two kilograms of explosives underneath his Barcelona soccer jersey in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Earlier that day, a suicide bomber of about the same age killed themselves and six others outside a Shiite mosque in the northern Iraqi city.

The Twenty Years’ War Posted: 23 Aug 2016 08:27 AM PDT Exactly two decades ago, on August 23, 1996, Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States. At the time, few people paid much attention. But it was the start of what's now the Twenty Years' War between the United States and al-Qaeda—a conflict that both sides have ultimately lost.

Iraqi diplomat's sons suspected of attacking boy in Portugal Posted: 23 Aug 2016 08:22 AM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The twin sons of Iraq's ambassador to Portugal are suspected of leaving a teenager in a coma following an assault, and the government says it may ask Iraq to lift their diplomatic immunity from prosecution in a case that has provoked a national outcry.

World's largest cemetery grows bigger as Shi'ite militias bury their dead Posted: 23 Aug 2016 05:23 AM PDT By Alaa al-Marjani and Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The world's largest cemetery, in Iraq's Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, is expanding at double its usual rate as the nation's death rate increased with the war on Islamic State. The Wadi al-Salam cemetery, Arabic for "Peace Valley," has a special place in the hearts of Shi'ite Muslims as it surrounds the Mausoleum of their first imam, Ali Bin Abi Talib, a cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad. The pace of daily burials rose to 150-200 after Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group overran a third of the country in 2014, said Jihad Abu Saybi, a historian of the cemetery.

US, Biden face tough task to mend relations with Turkey Posted: 23 Aug 2016 05:22 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — With suspicions on both sides mounting, the United States is struggling to preserve its wobbly partnership with Turkey as the Turks entertain closer relations with Russia and fume over a U.S.-based cleric blamed for orchestrating last month's failed coup.

10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 23 Aug 2016 02:54 AM PDT Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. TRUMP'S STAMINA ATTACK ON CLINTON STIRS TALK OF GENDER BIAS There's little evidence such strategies ...

IS struggles to retain grip as it loses ground in Iraq Posted: 23 Aug 2016 02:11 AM PDT DIBAGA CAMP, Iraq (AP) — As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

In Iraq, Nigeria and now Turkey, child bombers strike Posted: 23 Aug 2016 01:48 AM PDT Less than a day earlier, Turkey was less fortunate: a teenage bomber detonated his suicide vest among dancing guests at a Turkish wedding party, officials say, killing 51 people, nearly half of them children themselves. Saturday's attack at the wedding in Gaziantep marked not only Turkey's deadliest this year, but also the first time in Turkey that militants may have deployed a child bomber in a way already used to deadly effect in wars from Africa to Syria. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has long used children.

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