Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Oil prices rise from one-month lows after OPEC approves strategy
• Turkey wants Raqqa offensive to begin after Mosul campaign completed
• The Latest: Police weren't sure Pulse gunman was in the club
• Pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC accepted illegal contributions
• A Mideast beachhead for reconciliation
• Fallout from Kirk's comment weakens bid for 2nd Senate term
• Clinton campaign enlists girl from anti-Goldwater 'Daisy' ad
• Iraq's 'Mosul Regiment' wants its base and honour back
• Iraqi forces move within striking distance of Mosul
• Obama's consequential presidency draws to a close
• 2 billion children are breathing toxic air, UNICEF reports
• Turkey coup crackdown widens as government detains journalists
• Erdogan rides patriotic wave with crackdown at home, combative policy abroad
• UN extends Syria gas attacks probe
• Iraqi special forces poised on eastern edge of Mosul
• Bosnia jails seven jihadists for joining IS
• Rebel assault on Aleppo slows as UN slams civilian deaths
• From Floating Buildings to ‘Trail Rails,’ These Schools Are Designed With Learning in Mind
• Turkey says Raqa operation should start after Mosul operation ends
• U.N. Syria toxic gas inquiry extended 18 days to allow more talks
• Iraqi Shi'ite militia leader hopes Mosul won't be another Aleppo
• Fifth blood: 'Rambo' reboot is on the way, but Stallone decides to stay home
• Iraq TV call-in show gives glimpse inside IS-held Mosul
• UK has foiled 12 terror plots since June 2013: spy chief
• After Saudi halts oil shipments, Egypt turns to Iraq deal
• The Latest: Iraq premier urges IS in Mosul to surrender
• Iraqi in wheelchair makes risky escape from Islamic State
• Bosnian court jails 7 people for fighting in Syria
• Iraq's Hatra: Ancient city in crossfire of anti-IS war
• Iraqi forces make first push into Mosul as offensive enters third week
• Iraqi troops enter Karama, first district inside Mosul - officer
• Iraq's Tal Afar: Turkmen town in heart of anti-IS war
• Three Turkish soldiers, 13 PKK militants killed in clashes: sources
• United We Stand to Terminate ISIS
• Two years of fear: Christian widow survives Islamic State
• Is ISIS responsible for stabbing a German teen?
• Aoun vows to protect Lebanon from regional fires
• Mali Islamist militant leader announces unilateral cease-fire
• 10 Things to Know for Today
• The battle for Mosul: What we know so far

Oil prices rise from one-month lows after OPEC approves strategy Posted: 31 Oct 2016 05:25 PM PDT Oil prices edged higher from one-month lows in early trading in Asia on Tuesday after OPEC agreed on a long-term strategy that was seen as an indication the cartel was reaching a consensus on managing production. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 9 cents at $46.95 a barrel at 0008 GMT. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) approved a document on Monday outlining its long-term strategy, a sign its members are achieving consensus on managing production.

Turkey wants Raqqa offensive to begin after Mosul campaign completed Posted: 31 Oct 2016 03:06 PM PDT Turkey wants the operation on Raqqa, Islamic State's main stronghold in Syria, to start after Mosul and Euphrates Shield operations have been completed, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday. "Turkey's stance on the Raqqa operation is clear. It would be better both militarily and strategically to conduct this operation after the Mosul operation and Turkey's Euphrates Shield operation are completed," Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara.

The Latest: Police weren't sure Pulse gunman was in the club Posted: 31 Oct 2016 03:02 PM PDT ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the fight over the release of the Pulse nightclub 911 calls (all times local):

Pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC accepted illegal contributions Posted: 31 Oct 2016 02:19 PM PDT Charity run by a Boston-based construction firm gave $250,000 to Correct the Record.

A Mideast beachhead for reconciliation Posted: 31 Oct 2016 01:52 PM PDT With multiple wars being waged in the Middle East over religious differences, Lebanon has decided that it must hold even tighter to its constitutional democracy and especially its unique formula of peaceful coexistence between its many sects. On Monday, its parliament ended a long stalemate between the country's religious-based political factions and chose a new president, Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian. The post had been empty for more than two years, a result in large part of the regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia over which one represents Islam in the Middle East.

Fallout from Kirk's comment weakens bid for 2nd Senate term Posted: 31 Oct 2016 01:20 PM PDT CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, already facing an uphill battle for re-election, is entering the crucial final week before Election Day weakened by comments about his opponent that critics attacked as racist and "beyond reprehensible."

Clinton campaign enlists girl from anti-Goldwater 'Daisy' ad Posted: 31 Oct 2016 01:12 PM PDT "This was me in 1964," Luiz says in the new advertisement, which features video from the original 1964 ad and footage of Republican nominee Donald Trump talking about nuclear weapons. "The fear of nuclear war that we had as children, I never thought our children would ever have to deal with that again. Recommended: What do you know about Donald Trump?

Iraq's 'Mosul Regiment' wants its base and honour back Posted: 31 Oct 2016 12:44 PM PDT Iraq's elite "Mosul Regiment" was the last out when the jihadists overran the city, and now wants to be the first back in. "June 10, 2014, at exactly 10:00 am." The moment stayed etched in Lieutenant Colonel Muntadhar Salem's mind, and righting that wrong has been an obsession of his ever since. The men, from Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), set off at dawn from Bartalla, a town they retook last week.

Iraqi forces move within striking distance of Mosul Posted: 31 Oct 2016 12:27 PM PDT Iraqi forces advanced to within a few hundred metres of Mosul on Monday, moving within striking distance of a city they lost to the Islamic State group two years before. Forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) faced mortar fire as they pushed from the Christian town of Bartalla towards Mosul's eastern suburbs, AFP correspondents at the front said. Lieutenant Colonel Muntadhar Salem said the CTS had recaptured Bazwaya, one of two IS-held villages that had been standing between Iraqi forces and the eastern edges of Mosul.

Obama's consequential presidency draws to a close Posted: 31 Oct 2016 12:27 PM PDT History will remember Barack Obama as America's first black president. "How's that hopey-changey stuff working out for ya?" sneered Sarah Palin, the defeated 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. It was February 2010, scarcely a year after Obama swept into the White House.

2 billion children are breathing toxic air, UNICEF reports Posted: 31 Oct 2016 12:18 PM PDT Dharmendra rarely steps out into New Delhi's thick, smoggy air anymore. The 18-year-old says she feels safer indoors, protected from the toxic air pollution clouding India's capital city. "My eyes are irritated, I'm coughing and I find it difficult to breathe," Dharmendra, who uses only one name as is common in India, told the Associated Press. "I don't go out so much nowadays." India and its neighboring countries are home to about a third of the world's 2 billion children who are breathing toxic air, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a new report on Monday. SEE ALSO: Satellite images reveal toxic clouds enveloping northern Iraq Vehicle emissions, fossil fuel use, trash burning and dust in crowded cities all combine to make a dangerous chemical soup that can lead to health effects such as lung and brain damage.  But this is a solvable problem, UNICEF said.  PM2.5 is fine particulate matter with a median diameter of less than 2.5 microns Image: UNICEF Governments can reduce their use of coal-fired power plants and adopt cleaner electricity sources such as solar and wind power. They can limit the burning of trash inside communities and prohibit building factories near schools and playgrounds. "We protect our children when we protect the quality of our air," Anthony Lake, UNICEF's executive director, said in a press release. "Both are central to our future." UNICEF found that about 300 million children younger than 18 years old are exposed to pollution levels six or more times higher than the safety guidelines set by the World Health Organization. Of that total, 220 million children live in South Asia. For the study, the agency used satellite imagery of outdoor air pollution to create a first-of-its-kind analysis of children's exposure to sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other harmful pollutants. Indian boys sit around a small fire as the morning sun is enveloped by a blanket of smog, Nov. 7, 2012. Image: AP photo/altaf qadri Children are more vulnerable to the health risks from air pollution than adults. Kids breathe twice as quickly, so they inhale more air in relation to their body weight. Their brains and immune systems are also still developing, making them more vulnerable to toxic air. Every year, air pollution contributes to the deaths of around 600,000 children younger than 5 years old, UNICEF said. "Pollutants don't only harm children's developing lungs — they can actually cross the blood-brain barrier and permanently damage their developing brains — and, thus, their futures," Lake said in the press release. A woman and child wear masks during a hazy day in Beijing, China, Oct. 14, 2016. Image: AP photo/ng han guan "No society can afford to ignore air pollution," he said. UNICEF released the report a week before a U.N. climate change conference in Marrakesh, Morocco. The children's agency said it would call on government leaders at the conference to drastically reduce air pollution. A road in New Delhi, India is jammed with traffic, March 4, 2014. Image: Kyodo via AP images UNICEF outlined four basic ways to clean the air. First, transition power plants and vehicles away from coal, oil and natural gas toward renewable energy sources. Many countries, including India, are already moving in this direction. Second, improve children's access to healthcare, and third, minimize kids' exposure by not building factories near schools and playgrounds and reducing trash burning within communities. In addition, the report found that better monitoring of local air pollution could help communities identify exposure risks and take steps to reduce them. The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Turkey coup crackdown widens as government detains journalists Posted: 31 Oct 2016 12:06 PM PDT Recommended: Think you know Turkey? For President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it's a moment that goes to the heart of the Turkey he is building, and now – taking advantage of what he believes to be a democratic, post-coup mandate – is tapping to further reshape the nation such that his increasingly authoritarian, Islamist brand of rule faces no challenge.

Erdogan rides patriotic wave with crackdown at home, combative policy abroad Posted: 31 Oct 2016 12:04 PM PDT By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall ISTANBUL (Reuters) - In the three and half months since a failed military coup, Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 110,000 people, launched a military incursion into Syria, and repeatedly threatened to do the same in Iraq. To cheers from his supporters, President Tayyip Erdogan, evoking the glories of Turkey's Ottoman past, has vowed to root out enemies at home and abroad, from followers of the cleric he blames for the coup attempt, to Kurdish militants and Islamic State jihadists. In the latest purge, police on Monday detained the editor and senior staff of the Cumhuriyet newspaper - one of few outlets still critical of Erdogan - over its alleged support for the July putsch.

UN extends Syria gas attacks probe Posted: 31 Oct 2016 11:46 AM PDT The UN Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of a panel investigating chemical attacks in Syria until November 18 to allow time to negotiate a one-year renewal of the probe. The council unanimously backed a US-drafted resolution on the short extension as a bigger battle loomed over the findings of the one-year investigation, which showed Syria had used chemical weapons. The United Nations-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel has concluded that government forces carried out three chemical attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.

Iraqi special forces poised on eastern edge of Mosul Posted: 31 Oct 2016 11:40 AM PDT BAZWAYA, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi special forces stood poised to enter Mosul in an offensive to drive out Islamic State militants after sweeping into the last village on the city's eastern edge Monday while fending off suicide car bombs without losing a soldier.

Bosnia jails seven jihadists for joining IS Posted: 31 Oct 2016 11:34 AM PDT A Sarajevo court in charge of terrorism cases Monday sentenced seven Bosnian jihadists to up to three years in prison for having joined the Islamic State group in Syria. "These men were found guilty of having left Bosnia in 2013 and 2014 and joining the ranks of the Islamic State terrorist organisation," said judge Mirsad Strika, reading the verdict. "They participated in terrorist activities, they admitted to have been on Syria's territory and that their goal was to fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad," Strika said, referring to the Syrian president.

Rebel assault on Aleppo slows as UN slams civilian deaths Posted: 31 Oct 2016 11:15 AM PDT A rebel assault to break the siege of Syria's Aleppo slowed Monday amid fierce resistance from regime forces, as the UN said it was "appalled" by opposition fire on civilians. Rebels launched a major assault Friday, backed by car bombs and salvos of rockets, to break through government lines and reach the 250,000 people besieged in the city's east. Aleppo has been hit by some of the worst violence in Syria's five-year conflict, turning the once bustling economic hub into a divided and bombed-out symbol of the war.

From Floating Buildings to ‘Trail Rails,’ These Schools Are Designed With Learning in Mind Posted: 31 Oct 2016 10:51 AM PDT A 2015 study, titled Clever Classrooms, found that the physical characteristics of classrooms account for as much as 16 percent of what matters to student achievement. In other words, students need the right classrooms to thrive. "The classroom design should, whenever possible, feel like their space, like they have some ownership to it," said Peter Barrett, a professor of management in property and construction at the University of Salford at Manchester and lead researcher on the study.

Turkey says Raqa operation should start after Mosul operation ends Posted: 31 Oct 2016 10:22 AM PDT Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Monday Turkey wants the drive to oust Islamic State jihadists from the Syrian city of Raqa to begin after operations in Iraq's Mosul and a Turkish-backed mission in northern Syria are over. "It would be right, militarily and strategically, to conduct this Raqa operation after the Mosul operation and Turkey's Euphrates Shield operation have ended," he told reporters in Ankara. Last week US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said operations for the "isolation" of Raqa, the de-facto capital of IS' self-declared caliphate, should begin in conjunction with the assault on Mosul.

U.N. Syria toxic gas inquiry extended 18 days to allow more talks Posted: 31 Oct 2016 10:03 AM PDT The U.N. Security Council on Monday extended for 18 days the mandate of an international inquiry charged with laying blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria as Western states on the 15-member council attempt to negotiate a longer renewal. The year-long inquiry by the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas.

Iraqi Shi'ite militia leader hopes Mosul won't be another Aleppo Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:51 AM PDT The leader of Iraq's largest Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia expressed hope on Monday that the battle of Mosul would not be as protracted and devastating as in the one that allied Shi'ite militias are fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo. "We are afraid that Mosul could be another Aleppo, but we hope that will not happen," Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organisation, told reporters in Zarqa, south of Mosul. Badr and other Shi'ite paramilitary groups on Saturday joined a U.S.-backed campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State's last major city stronghold in Iraq.

Fifth blood: 'Rambo' reboot is on the way, but Stallone decides to stay home Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:47 AM PDT John Rambo will reportedly return to the big screen in a reboot movie planned by Nu Image and Millennium Films that will feature a new star and continue the story of the series' troubled war hero.

Iraq TV call-in show gives glimpse inside IS-held Mosul Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:46 AM PDT IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — As evening approaches in Iraq's northern city of Irbil, TV presenter Bakr Mahmoud Mahdi prepares to go live with a show called "Freedom Studio," which he says allows victims of war to vent.

UK has foiled 12 terror plots since June 2013: spy chief Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:40 AM PDT Police and intelligence services have disrupted 12 plots to attack Britain since June 2013, Andrew Parker, director general of the MI5 domestic intelligence agency, said on Monday. "Today the most visible threat is from terrorism and in particular that posed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - ISIL - or Daesh in Syria," Parker said, according to a text of his remarks posted on the agency's website.

After Saudi halts oil shipments, Egypt turns to Iraq deal Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:38 AM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's state news agency says the country's oil ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Iraqi counterpart to pave the way for Egypt to import oil from Iraq.

The Latest: Iraq premier urges IS in Mosul to surrender Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:36 AM PDT BAZWAYA, Iraq (AP) — The Latest on developments in Iraq, where the offensive to take the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group is now in its third week (all times local):

Iraqi in wheelchair makes risky escape from Islamic State Posted: 31 Oct 2016 09:29 AM PDT By Michael Georgy BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - Abbas Ali wept as his wife slowly pushed him in his wheelchair out of their village in northern Iraq, a risky escape along a route where Islamic State snipers three days earlier had shot dead a couple seeking freedom from their rule. Flanked by their four children, they looked behind them to see if any jihadists were still around to carry out their threats of shooting anyone who tried to flee Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate. "A nearby village held by Daesh was attacked.

Bosnian court jails 7 people for fighting in Syria Posted: 31 Oct 2016 08:38 AM PDT SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A Bosnian court has sentenced seven people to a total of more than 12 years in jail for joining the Islamic State group in Syria and for illegally owning weapons.

Iraq's Hatra: Ancient city in crossfire of anti-IS war Posted: 31 Oct 2016 08:15 AM PDT The ancient city of Hatra withstood Roman invasions nearly 2,000 years ago and decades of more recent war and instability in Iraq, but then jihadists marked it for destruction. The Islamic State group vandalised Hatra and is reported to still have a presence in the area, which may again put the famed archaeological site in the line of fire as Iraqi forces fight to drive the jihadists back. Hatra, known as Al-Hadhr in Arabic, was established in the 3rd or 2nd century BC and became a religious and trading centre under the Parthian empire.

Iraqi forces make first push into Mosul as offensive enters third week Posted: 31 Oct 2016 07:27 AM PDT By Stephen Kalin and Maher Chmaytelli EAST OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Advancing Iraq troops broke through Islamic State defense lines in an eastern suburb of Mosul on Monday, taking the battle for the insurgent stronghold to inside the city limits for the first time, a force commander said. Commanders had warned earlier that the battle for the city, the hardline militants' de facto capital in Iraq, could take weeks and possibly months. "They have entered Mosul," he said.

Iraqi troops enter Karama, first district inside Mosul - officer Posted: 31 Oct 2016 07:27 AM PDT Iraqi troops entered the Karama district of the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul on Monday, their first advance into the city itself after two weeks of fighting in the surrounding area to dislodge the militants, an officer said. "They have entered Mosul," General Wissam Araji of the U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service told Reuters. Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters started the offensive on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition against the hardline Sunni group.

Iraq's Tal Afar: Turkmen town in heart of anti-IS war Posted: 31 Oct 2016 07:25 AM PDT Tal Afar, on which Iraq's controversial Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force launched an offensive at the weekend, used to be the main Turkmen town in the country. A key hub between Mosul and the Syrian border in the Islamic State group's shrinking "caliphate", Tal Afar is now at the heart of a battle for influence between Iraq's powerful neighbours Turkey and Iran. Before the Islamic State group took it over in the early days of its June 2014 offensive in Iraq, the town had an estimated population of around 200,000.

Three Turkish soldiers, 13 PKK militants killed in clashes: sources Posted: 31 Oct 2016 07:00 AM PDT Three Turkish soldiers and 13 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were killed on Monday during clashes in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast, security sources said. Turkish soldiers were on an operation in the Daglica district of Hakkari province, which borders Iraq, when clashes broke out, leaving three of the soldiers and four militants dead, the sources said. One Turkish soldier was also wounded, they added.

United We Stand to Terminate ISIS Posted: 31 Oct 2016 07:00 AM PDT WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Alliance for Terminating Al-Qaeda/ISIS is sponsoring a conference that aims to establish international unity, which will assist in GAFTA's goal of terminating ISIS/Al-Qaeda.The meeting will take place on the 1st of November, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.The event will be held at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, in the Murrow Room, Washington D.C. ...

Two years of fear: Christian widow survives Islamic State Posted: 31 Oct 2016 06:56 AM PDT By Stephen Kalin ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - An elderly Christian widow who survived two years of Islamic State rule over her northern Iraqi town said the jihadists threatened to kill her, forced her to spit on a crucifix and made her stamp on an image of the Virgin Mary. Zarifa Badoos Daddo, 77, was reunited with her family on Sunday after Iraqi forces drove Islamic State from Qaraqosh as they advanced on Mosul, the militants' last major urban bastion in the country. Most residents of Qaraqosh - Iraq's largest Christian town - had fled toward the country's autonomous Kurdish region more than two years ago as the jihadists approached, but Daddo stayed on with another elderly woman.

Is ISIS responsible for stabbing a German teen? Posted: 31 Oct 2016 05:39 AM PDT Germany is investigating claims that the self-proclaimed Islamic State militant group is responsible for a fatal stabbing that killed a 16-year-old boy earlier this month in Hamburg. Fears of IS-driven attacks in Europe have plagued nations across the continent as attacks on the group's strongholds in Iraq and Syria intensify. While Germany has not suffered any large-scale attacks like those seen in France and Belgium over the past year, authorities have opened investigations into several smaller incidents in which IS has claimed a role.

Aoun vows to protect Lebanon from regional fires Posted: 31 Oct 2016 05:33 AM PDT Former Lebanese army commander Michel Aoun was sworn in as the country's elected president on Monday, and vowed to fight terrorism and to prevent regional "fires" spreading to Lebanon. Aoun, who is in his 80s, was referring to the civil war in neighboring Syria and ongoing conflict in Iraq. Aoun also said that any solution to the war in neighboring Syria must guarantee the return of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who Lebanese officials say number 1.5 million.

Mali Islamist militant leader announces unilateral cease-fire Posted: 31 Oct 2016 05:21 AM PDT The leader of the Islamist militant group Ansar Dine has agreed to cease attacks in Mali that have killed dozens of civilians, soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers this year, the president of the West African nation's top Islamic body said on Monday. Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups hijacked a Tuareg rebel uprising in 2012 to seize Mali's desert north, but they were pushed out by a French-led military operation a year later. "I confirm having received from (Ansar Dine leader) Iyad Ag Ghali the cessation of hostilities throughout the country," Mahmoud Dicko, president of the High Islamic Council, told Reuters, adding that he would soon brief Malian authorities.

10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 31 Oct 2016 04:03 AM PDT Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

The battle for Mosul: What we know so far Posted: 31 Oct 2016 03:38 AM PDT Iraq launched an offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group two weeks ago. Which Iraqi forces are involved? Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service and Rapid Response Division -- two of its most elite special forces units, are fighting in the Mosul area, as are the army, federal and local police, Kurdish regional peshmerga and pro-government paramilitary forces.

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