Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Iraqi police battle suicide bombers, get glimpse of life under IS
• Iran-trained militias join U.S-backed campaign on Mosul, flying Shi'ite flags
• First mass in two years held in Iraq's main Christian town
• Stolen email offers unvarnished view of military leaders
• Iraq's Shiite militias join Mosul push; bombs rock Baghdad
• Mosul Today: Shiite militias say 1,000s join fight for Mosul
• In charred church near Mosul, Iraqi Christians pray once more
• In wake of Mosul offensive, a tale of two villages
• International court hit by planned exit of 3 African states
• Iraqi Shi'ite commander says Mosul battle 'no picnic' as troops advance
• Germany looking into claimed Islamic State link after fatal stabbing
• The Latest: Parked car bomb kills 10 in Baghdad neighborhood
• Saudi Arabia says arrests Islamic State suspects plotting attacks
• Car bomb kills at least eight in Baghdad market: police, medics
• Climate change, erasing student debt top policies for Stein
• Gary Johnson's main proposal: Shrink government
• Germany investigates IS link to Hamburg teen murder
• How Mylan Gouged the Pentagon on the Cost of Its Drug Dispenser
• Iran criticizes Saudi re-election to UN human rights council
• Non-OPEC yet to pledge concrete oil output steps after meeting OPEC
• HBO drama thrusts Minneapolis Somalis into unwanted spotlight
• Saudi security officer killed in drive-by shooting in Qatif: Arabiya
• Islamic State claims responsibility for attack outside U.S. embassy in Nairobi
• Jihadists storing loot at Swiss port? Geneva says no way
• Court bars pro-Kurdish party leader from leaving Turkey
• Boatpeople face lifetime ban from Australia
• Today in History
• Iraqi villagers escape Islamic State snipers, leave family behind

Iraqi police battle suicide bombers, get glimpse of life under IS Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:49 PM PDT Nearby policemen fired AK-47 assault rifles in the air to mark their victory in Shura, one of dozens of villages captured as Iraqi forces press on with an offensive toward the nearby city of Mosul, the militants' main stronghold in the country. "I shot two of the suicide bombers," said Ali Hashim.

Iran-trained militias join U.S-backed campaign on Mosul, flying Shi'ite flags Posted: 30 Oct 2016 12:39 PM PDT By Babak Dehghanpisheh AIN NASIR, Iraq (Reuters) - Gun trucks and humvees streamed north on a highway heading to Mosul on Sunday flying the banners of Shi'ite militias along with Iraqi flags while blaring religious songs. The convoys were the first clear sign of a new player on the battlefield in the U.S.-backed offensive to retake Mosul from Islamic State: Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of Shi'ite militias. Although it reports officially to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the coalition is mostly made up of groups trained by Iran and loyal to its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

First mass in two years held in Iraq's main Christian town Posted: 30 Oct 2016 12:24 PM PDT A handful of faithful gathered in a burnt out church Sunday for the first mass to be celebrated in two years in Qaraqosh, which was once Iraq's main Christian town. Iraqi forces retook Qaraqosh from the Islamic State group days earlier, as part of a massive offensive to wrest back the country's second city Mosul. "After two years and three months in exile, I just celebrated the Eucharist in the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception the Islamic State wanted to destroy," Yohanna Petros Mouche, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, said.

Stolen email offers unvarnished view of military leaders Posted: 30 Oct 2016 11:49 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, and the former uniformed leader of the Air Force were viewed as "great leaders but weak on strategic thinking," according to a Pentagon official detailed to the National Security Council.

Iraq's Shiite militias join Mosul push; bombs rock Baghdad Posted: 30 Oct 2016 11:46 AM PDT Thousands of fighters flocked to join Iraq's state-sanctioned, Iran-backed Shiite militias on Sunday, advancing to cut off Islamic State extremists holed up near Mosul in northern Iraq while bombers killed ...

Mosul Today: Shiite militias say 1,000s join fight for Mosul Posted: 30 Oct 2016 11:33 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's state-sanctioned Shiite militias said Sunday that some 5,000 fighters have joined their push to encircle the country's second-largest city of Mosul and cut off Islamic State fighters there, as bombers killed at least 17 people in residential Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad.

In charred church near Mosul, Iraqi Christians pray once more Posted: 30 Oct 2016 11:27 AM PDT By Mahdi Talat QARAQOSH, Iraq (Reuters) - Surrounded by charred walls and in front of a ruined altar, dozens of Iraqi Christians celebrated mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh on Sunday for the first time since it was recaptured from Islamic State. Church bells rang out in the town on the southeastern approaches to Mosul where Iraqi troops, backed by U.S.-led air and ground forces, have been driving back the Sunni Muslim jihadists ahead of a battle for the city itself. "Today Qaraqosh is free of Daesh (Islamic State)," Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Butrus Moshe told worshippers.

In wake of Mosul offensive, a tale of two villages Posted: 30 Oct 2016 10:10 AM PDT Tal al-Lazzagah (Iraq) (AFP) - One rose up, the other was "abducted": as Iraqi forces launched their march on Mosul a fortnight ago, two neighbouring villages in their path experienced wildly contrasting fates. "We're the first village to free itself from the terrorists," said Yassin Ahmed Ali, pointing to the bullet holes in a car used by the jihadists who ruled his village for two years. With the people of Tal al-Lazzagah, which lies in the Tigris Valley between Mosul and the offensive's main staging base of Qayyarah, to the south, he chased the jihadists away before the security forces arrived.

International court hit by planned exit of 3 African states Posted: 30 Oct 2016 09:07 AM PDT THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — When the treaty creating the International Criminal Court was opened for signatories in 1998, Egyptian-born legal scholar Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni called it "a triumph for all peoples of the world."

Iraqi Shi'ite commander says Mosul battle 'no picnic' as troops advance Posted: 30 Oct 2016 08:23 AM PDT By Stephen Kalin and Michael Georgy SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi troops and security forces edged closer to Mosul on two southern fronts on Sunday but a leader of the Shi'ite militias newly participating in the offensive warned that the battle for Islamic State's Iraq stronghold would be long and grueling. A military statement said the army's Ninth Armoured Division raised the Iraqi flag in the village of Ali Rash, about 7 km (4 miles) southeast of Mosul, after recapturing it from the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militants. Further south, an Interior Ministry officer said security forces were advancing from the town of al-Shura, recaptured from Islamic State (IS) on Saturday, along the Tigris river valley towards Mosul 30 km (20 miles) to the north.

Germany looking into claimed Islamic State link after fatal stabbing Posted: 30 Oct 2016 08:14 AM PDT By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is looking into a claim by Islamic State that one of its followers was responsible for a fatal stabbing in the German city of Hamburg two weeks ago in which a young couple were attacked. The Islamist organization is increasingly under pressure from regional and international forces in its Middle East heartland of Syria and Iraq.

The Latest: Parked car bomb kills 10 in Baghdad neighborhood Posted: 30 Oct 2016 07:38 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in the Iraq and the battle to retake the IS-held city of Mosul (all times local):

Saudi Arabia says arrests Islamic State suspects plotting attacks Posted: 30 Oct 2016 06:59 AM PDT Saudi Arabia has arrested at least eight suspected militants plotting killings and a car bombing, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, and authorities were pursuing other accomplices. A ministry statement said those arrested included Islamic State suspects who had planned killings of security officials in the Shaqra district north of the capital Riyadh. Other militants had planned to attack civilians in the eastern city of Qatif and stage a car bomb attack on a visiting United Arab Emirates (UAE) football team at a stadium in the western port city of Jeddah, the statement said.

Car bomb kills at least eight in Baghdad market: police, medics Posted: 30 Oct 2016 06:58 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb parked in a shopping street of a Shi'ite district of Baghdad killed at least eight people and wounded more than 30 others on Sunday, police and medical staff said. The bombing, which hit the Hurriya district, came as Iraqi security forces are engaged in an offensive to take back Mosul, Islamic State's last major city stronghold in Iraq. It wasn't clear if there was a suicide driver in the car. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem and Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Climate change, erasing student debt top policies for Stein Posted: 30 Oct 2016 06:53 AM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Jill Stein says America is running out of time.

Gary Johnson's main proposal: Shrink government Posted: 30 Oct 2016 06:32 AM PDT DENVER (AP) — Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson has a big idea: smaller government.

Germany investigates IS link to Hamburg teen murder Posted: 30 Oct 2016 06:15 AM PDT German authorities are investigating a claim by jihadist group Islamic State to be behind the mid-October murder of a teenage boy in Hamburg, a police spokeswoman said on Sunday. IS-affiliated news agency Amaq reported on Saturday that the jihadist group had claimed responsibility for the October 16 knife attack. "A soldier of the Islamic State stabbed two individuals in Hamburg city on the 16th of this month," the release said, in response to "calls to target the citizens of coalition countries" that are fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.

How Mylan Gouged the Pentagon on the Cost of Its Drug Dispenser Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:30 AM PDT According to a report on Friday by Reuters, the Defense Department's spending on the drug dispenser rose from $9 million in 2008 to $57 million today, a remarkable surge in medical spending born of both the drug company's aggressive marketing strategy and a rising demand for the product within the military. Like the Veterans' Affairs Department and other major government agencies and programs, the Pentagon gets a government discount on EpiPen sets that are dispensed at military treatment facilities and by mail order.

Iran criticizes Saudi re-election to UN human rights council Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:49 AM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has criticized the re-election of Saudi Arabia to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Non-OPEC yet to pledge concrete oil output steps after meeting OPEC Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:00 AM PDT Non-OPEC producers made no specific commitment on Saturday to join the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in limiting oil output levels to prop up prices - a stance that suggested they wanted OPEC to solve its differences first. Officials and experts from OPEC countries and non-OPEC nations including Azerbaijan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Oman and Russia met for consultations in Vienna on Saturday and only agreed to meet again in November before a scheduled regular OPEC meeting on Nov. 30, they said in a statement. A day earlier, OPEC members themselves were unable to agreed on how to implement a global deal to limit output after hours of talks amid objections by Iran which has been reluctant to even freeze its output levels, sources said.

HBO drama thrusts Minneapolis Somalis into unwanted spotlight Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:12 AM PDT Touted as a window into the lives of Somalis in Minneapolis adjusting to life in the U.S. Midwestern city, many community members instead fear "Mogadishu, Minnesota" will stoke Islamophobia if it airs. At a time when opposition to immigrants and anti-Muslim sentiment have featured heavily in rhetoric by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Minnesota's Somali community members, especially men, are worried the possible TV drama will brand them as potential terrorists.

Saudi security officer killed in drive-by shooting in Qatif: Arabiya Posted: 30 Oct 2016 02:20 AM PDT A Saudi security officer was killed and a second was wounded on Sunday in a drive-by shooting in the Eastern Province city of Qatif, state-owned Al Arabiya television reported. The shooting occurred while the security men were on patrol, Al Arabiya said. Eastern Province is home to much of Saudi Arabia's oil production as well as to many Shi'ite Muslims, who form a minority in the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom.

Islamic State claims responsibility for attack outside U.S. embassy in Nairobi Posted: 30 Oct 2016 12:22 AM PDT A follower of Islamic State was responsible for an attack last week on a Kenyan police officer outside a U.S. embassy in Nairobi, the group's Amaq news agency said on Saturday. A knife-wielding man whom police described as a criminal was shot dead outside the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi last Thursday after he attacked and injured a Kenyan police officer. "The person who carried out the stabbing of a guard outside the American embassy in Nairobi last Thursday was a soldier of Islamic State responding to calls to target coalition countries," Amaq said.

Jihadists storing loot at Swiss port? Geneva says no way Posted: 30 Oct 2016 12:17 AM PDT When a leading French politician said Switzerland's free ports were helping terrorists hide stolen assets, Swiss officials offered a blunt rebuke. In response to French finance minister Michel Sapin's charge, authorities in Geneva insisted they had cleaned up their act and suggested he come and check things out for himself. Today, they are simply unacceptable," Pierre Maudet, economics chief in Geneva's cantonal government, told Switzerland's One FM.

Court bars pro-Kurdish party leader from leaving Turkey Posted: 29 Oct 2016 11:09 PM PDT A Turkish court has barred a leader of the main pro-Kurdish party from leaving the country, accusing her of "belonging to an armed terrorist organisation," the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Saturday. Figen Yuksekdag, co-chair of the leftist People's Democratic Party (HDP), was also accused of "terrorist propaganda" and banned from leaving Turkey "because of activities that indicate she might flee" abroad, according to Anadolu. The HDP denounced the decision as "totally arbitrary" and said it would appeal.

Boatpeople face lifetime ban from Australia Posted: 29 Oct 2016 09:29 PM PDT Australia moved Sunday to bar any refugee or asylum-seeker who arrives in the country illegally by boat from ever being able to apply for a visa, even as tourists or for business. The lifetime ban will be put to parliament when it next sits, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying it was necessary to send an "absolutely, unflinching, unequivocal message" that boatpeople will never be allowed in Australia. Canberra currently sends all boatpeople to offshore processing camps on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus.

Today in History Posted: 29 Oct 2016 09:01 PM PDT Today in History

Iraqi villagers escape Islamic State snipers, leave family behind Posted: 29 Oct 2016 08:44 PM PDT By Michael Georgy NEAR BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - After two years of ruthless Islamic State rule, Ahmed finally decided to make a run for it, past some of the group's snipers in his village in northern Iraq. Ahmed had to leave his elderly parents behind when he sought refuge in a small makeshift base for Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who are vulnerable to attacks by suicide bombers in vehicles. "After Islamic State took over our village there were no jobs.

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