Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Factbox: Trump fills top jobs for his administration
• Blunders behind botched U.S.-led strike in Syria in September: inquiry
• Oil markets remain jittery ahead of OPEC meeting later in day
• Factbox: Contenders, picks for key jobs in Trump's administration
• Trump mulls diplomat pick, plans victory tour
• US data boost stocks; oil falls on OPEC worries
• On edge of Mosul, shoppers savour market life again
• Oil tumbles nearly 4 percent on doubts over OPEC production cut
• Energy drags TSX lower ahead of OPEC, pipeline decisions
• Pentagon warns against impact of extending temporary U.S. funding bill
• Errors led to coalition strike on Syria forces: Pentagon
• Hundreds of mourners attend funeral for homeless veteran
• Oil 'heebie-jeebies' as prospects of OPEC deal dim
• Albright, Hadley urge U.S. to weigh using more force in Syria
• With Aleppo poised to fall, Syria's Assad is set to rise
• The Latest: Turkey says 2 soldiers missing in Syria
• Iran, Iraq at loggerheads with Saudis ahead of OPEC meeting
• Crisis looms as half of Iraq's Mosul goes without water
• Iraqi forces assault villages outside Mosul, face IS bombers
• Growing fears of IS use of weaponised drones
• Water cuts and rising food prices leave Mosul facing crisis
• Assad, allies aim to seize all Aleppo before Trump takes power: official
• Water cut off to 650,000 Mosul residents after pipeline hit: official
• U.S. coalition says Mosul battle 'very hard', hopes for north, south advances
• Factbox: Trump announces picks to fill two key healthcare posts
• Exclusive: Jailed Islamic State suspects recall path to jihad in Iraq
• Why Donald Trump Needs David Petraeus
• Turkish PM says finalizing constitutional change to bolster Erdogan powers
• Iraq prime minister says his country will cut oil production
• Key quotes of AP's interview with Iraq's prime minister
• 10 Things to Know for Today
• Factbox: OPEC oil cut, if it comes, more face-saver than meaningful - analysts
• Ransacked homes and little hope for returning Iraqi Christians
• Full transcript of the AP's interview with Iraq's PM
• Aides of Philippines' Duterte attacked in ambush: military
• Philippines slams UN's Khmer Rouge warning as 'irresponsible'
• Kazakhstan Energy Minister undecided on attending OPEC meeting
• AP Interview: Iraqi leader predicts IS collapse in Mosul
• Syrians' suffering fails to strike a chord in Europe
• Asian markets mixed amid fears over oil, Italy's referendum

Factbox: Trump fills top jobs for his administration Posted: 29 Nov 2016 05:33 PM PST (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name former Goldman Sachs partner and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury secretary and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to head the Commerce Department, according to Republican sources.

Blunders behind botched U.S.-led strike in Syria in September: inquiry Posted: 29 Nov 2016 05:24 PM PST By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military investigation has concluded that a series of "unintentional human errors" led to a Sept. 17 coalition air strike that killed fighters aligned with the Syrian government instead of the targeted Islamic State militants. The strike, which Moscow said killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers, prompted an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting as tensions between Russia and the United States spiked. Brigadier General Richard Coe, who led the investigation, told reporters at the Pentagon on a conference call on Tuesday that the major errors ranged from a basic misidentification of targets to "group think" during intelligence development and even a communications blunder on a hotline with Russia.

Oil markets remain jittery ahead of OPEC meeting later in day Posted: 29 Nov 2016 05:42 PM PST By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil markets were jittery on Wednesday ahead of an OPEC meeting later in the day, with members of the producer cartel trying to thrash out an output cut to curb oversupply that has seen prices more than halve since 2014. International Brent crude futures were trading at $46.55 per barrel at 0135 GMT, up 17 cents, or 0.37 percent from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $45.52 a barrel, up 29 percent or 0.64 percent from their last settlement.

Factbox: Contenders, picks for key jobs in Trump's administration Posted: 29 Nov 2016 03:46 PM PST (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Republican Representative Tom Price of Georgia as his pick to be health and human services secretary and Elaine Chao, a former labor secretary, to head the Transportation Department.

Trump mulls diplomat pick, plans victory tour Posted: 29 Nov 2016 03:30 PM PST Donald Trump stepped up his contentious search for a secretary of state on Tuesday before he ditches cabinet interviews later this week to lead a victory tour kicking off in the swing state of Ohio. The billionaire's nominee for the job will be America's public face to the rest of the world, the person who will succeed John Kerry, head up a department of 70,000 staff and lead the largest diplomatic operation in the world. The prospective candidates touted most frequently have been erstwhile Trump critic and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, celebrated general yet scandal-clad former CIA director David Petraeus, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker and outspoken former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

US data boost stocks; oil falls on OPEC worries Posted: 29 Nov 2016 02:36 PM PST New York (AFP) - Strong US economic data provided support to global stocks Tuesday despite worries about OPEC talks and a weekend referendum in Italy that could inject more uncertainty into the eurozone.

On edge of Mosul, shoppers savour market life again Posted: 29 Nov 2016 02:28 PM PST A lively market has sprung up here on the eastern edge of Mosul, where just a few kilometres (miles) away Iraqi forces are fighting street by street with the Islamic State group. Elite Iraqi forces reclaimed control of Gogjali in the early days of the offensive they launched to retake Mosul on October 17, more than two years after IS seized Iraq's second largest city.

Oil tumbles nearly 4 percent on doubts over OPEC production cut Posted: 29 Nov 2016 02:17 PM PST By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil slumped by roughly 4 percent on Tuesday as OPEC's leading oil exporters struggled to agree on a deal to cut production to reduce global oversupply and boost prices, with Iran and Iraq at loggerheads with Saudi Arabia a day ahead of meeting. Documents prepared for the meeting propose OPEC cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day from October levels, a source familiar with the talks said, slightly more than the 1 million bpd the group discussed at a meeting in September.

Energy drags TSX lower ahead of OPEC, pipeline decisions Posted: 29 Nov 2016 01:35 PM PST By Fergal Smith TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell to a new one-week low on Tuesday as energy stocks slumped due to major oil exporters' struggle to agree on terms of a planned production cut, while Bank of Nova Scotia gained after a solid earnings report. The pullback in energy stocks is a "buying opportunity," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at Manulife Asset Management. "We have seen a real shift in mindset out of OPEC ... that something needs to be done to support oil prices and if it (a deal) is not done at this meeting then it will be done the next time they get together." Energy investors are also awaiting Canadian government decisions on two major Enbridge Inc pipeline projects that are expected on Tuesday.

Pentagon warns against impact of extending temporary U.S. funding bill Posted: 29 Nov 2016 01:05 PM PST U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter voiced opposition to extending a temporary government funding bill well into next year, saying it would negatively impact the military, including in the fight against Islamic State. Washington has been operating since Oct. 1 under a stopgap spending bill, known as a "continuing resolution," to keep most federal programs running. House and Senate leaders are negotiating the end date for a new temporary funding bill.

Errors led to coalition strike on Syria forces: Pentagon Posted: 29 Nov 2016 12:42 PM PST A string of miscommunications, intelligence shortcomings and human errors resulted in a US-led coalition air strike in Syria in September that reportedly killed around 90 regime forces, the Pentagon said Tuesday. American, Australian, British and Danish planes all took part in the massive air strike, which saw a total of 34 guided bombs and hundreds of rounds of high-caliber ammunition blasted at what were believed to be Islamic State targets. There were "errors in the development of intelligence, as well as missed opportunities for coalition members on duty to recognize and voice contrary evidence to decision makers," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

Hundreds of mourners attend funeral for homeless veteran Posted: 29 Nov 2016 12:42 PM PST EVANSVILLE, Wyo. (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered at the Wyoming Veterans Cemetery for the funeral of a homeless U.S. Navy veteran that most of them had never met.

Oil 'heebie-jeebies' as prospects of OPEC deal dim Posted: 29 Nov 2016 12:15 PM PST Oil prices slumped by nearly two dollars Tuesday as expectations dimmed of an OPEC agreement to reduce the cartel's crude output into the massively saturated global market by around a million barrels per day. Prices were also hit as non-OPEC Russia confirmed it would not send a delegation to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' meeting in Vienna on Wednesday. "There is no need (to attend the meeting), OPEC should hold its meeting first," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.

Albright, Hadley urge U.S. to weigh using more force in Syria Posted: 29 Nov 2016 11:54 AM PST By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should prepare to use greater military power and covert action in Syria to help forge a political settlement to end the country's civil war, according to a bipartisan report to be released on Wednesday. Produced by a task force led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and former U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, a Republican, the report amounts to a bipartisan rejection of President Barack Obama's decision to limit U.S. military engagement in the nearly six-year civil war. Largely drafted before Republican Donald Trump's victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, the paper, which has not been presented to Trump, makes a case for deeper U.S. involvement in the Middle East.

With Aleppo poised to fall, Syria's Assad is set to rise Posted: 29 Nov 2016 11:38 AM PST The expected fall of Aleppo to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could prove a decisive moment in Syria's grueling civil war, granting potential momentum for the Syrian Army and its multinational allies to roll back rebel forces from other areas of the war-torn country. The Syrian Army has been dogged by manpower shortages from early on in the war due to casualties, defections, and desertions. More than once, those have threatened doom for the Assad regime.

The Latest: Turkey says 2 soldiers missing in Syria Posted: 29 Nov 2016 11:37 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):

Iran, Iraq at loggerheads with Saudis ahead of OPEC meeting Posted: 29 Nov 2016 11:34 AM PST By Ahmad Ghaddar and Vladimir Soldatkin VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and Iraq are resisting pressure from Saudi Arabia to curtail oil production, making it hard for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to reach a deal to limit output and boost the price of crude when it meets on Wednesday. OPEC sources told Reuters a meeting of experts in Vienna on Monday failed to bridge differences between OPEC's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, and the group's second- and third-largest producers over the mechanics of output cuts. On Tuesday, tensions rose further after Iran wrote to OPEC saying it wanted Saudi Arabia to cut production by as much as 1 million barrels per day (bpd), much more than Riyadh is willing to offer, OPEC sources who saw the letter told Reuters.

Crisis looms as half of Iraq's Mosul goes without water Posted: 29 Nov 2016 11:00 AM PST Hundreds of thousands of people were without water in eastern Mosul Tuesday, residents and officials said, raising fears of a major health crisis in the war-torn Iraqi city. It was not immediately clear what caused the disruption, but residents on the eastern side of Mosul said they had not had any water supplies for days and were pumping water from wells. "There is a major shortage of water in many districts on the eastern side," said Basma Basseem, from Mosul municipality.

Iraqi forces assault villages outside Mosul, face IS bombers Posted: 29 Nov 2016 10:31 AM PST HAJ ALI, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces assaulted Islamic State-held villages across dusty fields south of Mosul on Tuesday, where suicide car bombers and snipers caused some two dozen casualties in a blatant reminder that militants still hold ground far from the main battlefield.

Growing fears of IS use of weaponised drones Posted: 29 Nov 2016 09:49 AM PST The Mosul battle in Iraq has seen the Islamic State group increasingly resort to weaponised drones, which Western governments fear could lead to a new type of attack at home. France issued an internal note to its security forces last week warning that "this threat is to be taken into account nationwide" and ordering any drone be treated as a "suspicious package". The first record of a deadly IS drone attack was in October when two Iraqi Kurdish fighters were killed and two French special forces soldiers wounded.

Water cuts and rising food prices leave Mosul facing crisis Posted: 29 Nov 2016 09:32 AM PST By Ulf Laessing and Maher Chmaytelli MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Fighting between Iraqi troops and Islamic State militants has cut water supplies across a large part of Mosul, where poorer families are already struggling to feed themselves, and a local official said the increasingly encircled city was in crisis. Water was cut to 650,000 people - or 40 percent of residents - when a pipeline was hit during fighting between the jihadists and U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces trying to crush them in their northern Iraq stronghold, a local official said. "We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe," said Hussam al-Abar, a member of Mosul's Nineveh provincial council, adding that 1.5 million people were still inside Mosul.

Assad, allies aim to seize all Aleppo before Trump takes power: official Posted: 29 Nov 2016 09:00 AM PST By Laila Bassam and Ellen Francis BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria and its allies aim to drive rebels from Aleppo before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. President, a senior official in the pro-Damascus military alliance said, as pro-government forces surged to their biggest victories in the city for years. Government forces backed by Shi'ite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week.

Water cut off to 650,000 Mosul residents after pipeline hit: official Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:16 AM PST By Ulf Laessing MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Water supplies to about 650,000 residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul have been cut off after a pipeline was hit during fighting between the army and Islamic State militants, a local official said on Tuesday. "The maintenance team cannot reach the pipeline because it lies in an area being fought over," Hussam al-Abar, a member of Mosul's Nineveh provincial council, told Reuters in one of the 15 districts and suburbs of the city where running water ceased. The news is a blow to authorities hoping that residents will stay in Mosul while U.S.-backed troops try to crush Islamic State in northern Iraq's largest city, which the militants seized in 2014.

U.S. coalition says Mosul battle 'very hard', hopes for north, south advances Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:16 AM PST The battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State has become "very hard" in recent weeks but the pace will quicken once Iraqi forces manage to push in from the north and south of the city, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said on Tuesday. Iraqi government forces quickly recaptured outlying towns and villages when the Mosul campaign began last month, but have become bogged down in fierce street fighting since entering the city's eastern neighborhoods. "Right now it's very hard," U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition supporting Iraqi forces, told Reuters by telephone.

Factbox: Trump announces picks to fill two key healthcare posts Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:09 AM PST (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named a vociferous Obamacare critic and a consultant to help him overhaul the nation's healthcare system. Republican Representative Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, will be Health and Human Services secretary, and consultant Seema Verma will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a powerful agency that oversees government health programs and insurance standards, Trump said in a statement. Below are details about his selections: SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TOM PRICE Price, 62, is an orthopedic surgeon who heads the House of Representatives' Budget Committee.

Exclusive: Jailed Islamic State suspects recall path to jihad in Iraq Posted: 29 Nov 2016 07:57 AM PST By Michael Georgy ERBIL (Reuters) - When Kurdish forces began firing rockets at a suspected Islamic State hideout in northern Iraq, one of those inside, former bakery worker Walid Ismail, said he tried to persuade the others to surrender. Ismail said the others were then killed by the Kurds and he only made it out by shouting that he had no bombs. An online video shows him looking terrified as he emerges from the house in the town of Bashiqa near Mosul with an injured hand, to be arrested by Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

Why Donald Trump Needs David Petraeus Posted: 29 Nov 2016 07:35 AM PST "Just met with General Petraeus—was very impressed!" tweeted President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Petraeus described his conversation to reporters. "[Trump] basically walked us around the world, showed a great grasp of a variety of the challenges that are out there and some of the opportunities as well. Very good conversation, and we'll see where it goes from here." In a process not entirely dissimilar to that of the hit show The Apprentice, Trump is currently finalizing his Cabinet selections, including the prize role of secretary of state. The finalists appear to include Petraeus, Mitt Romney, and Senator Bob Corker. Petraeus is a controversial and flawed selection, but if chosen he could also be an essential part of Trump's White House.

Turkish PM says finalizing constitutional change to bolster Erdogan powers Posted: 29 Nov 2016 06:01 AM PST Turkey's ruling AK Party is finalizing plans to formally cement President Tayyip Erdogan's powers by creation of an executive presidency and will meet the nationalist opposition to iron out details, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday. Erdogan has long sought constitutional change to strengthen what had been in the past a largely ceremonial position. "We will meet one more time with (MHP leader Devlet) Bahceli and give this (constitutional) change its final shape," Yildirim told a parliamentary meeting of his party.

Iraq prime minister says his country will cut oil production Posted: 29 Nov 2016 05:57 AM PST Iraq's prime minister says his country will agree to cut its own oil production as part of a plan by OPEC to push crude prices higher.

Key quotes of AP's interview with Iraq's prime minister Posted: 29 Nov 2016 05:42 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister Haider al-Abadi says Islamic State militants lack the courage to put up long-term resistance to his government's campaign to retake Mosul, despite unleashing hundreds of car bombs that have killed and maimed Iraqi soldiers and civilians. He tells The Associated Press in an interview Monday that Mosul is completely encircled and that the speed with which the area has been secured surpassed his expectations.

10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 29 Nov 2016 04:39 AM PST Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. CHARTERED AIRCRAFT CRASHES IN COLOMBIA; 5 SURVIVE The British Aerospace 146 jet operated by LaMia ...

Factbox: OPEC oil cut, if it comes, more face-saver than meaningful - analysts Posted: 29 Nov 2016 04:23 AM PST Analysts' belief that the group would finalize a deal, if only to save face, has been eroded in recent days after Saudi Arabia said oil markets would balance next year even without an OPEC output cut, sparking a last-ditch attempt to clinch a deal at Wednesday's Vienna gathering. Forecasts for oil prices now vary widely. With a realistic but significant deal, prices could reach $60 a barrel, according to the most optimistic forecast, or barely hit $50, according to the most bearish predictions.

Ransacked homes and little hope for returning Iraqi Christians Posted: 29 Nov 2016 04:01 AM PST By Isabel Coles QARAQOSH, Iraq (Reuters) - A strip of negatives lying in the rubble of a home in northern Iraq contains snapshots of life as it was before Islamic State overran the area two years ago and purged its Christian community.     In some of the frames, a woman barbecues meat on a skewer surrounded by friends or family, perhaps celebrating a birthday or engagement. Iraqi forces retook Qaraqosh about a month ago in the early stages of their campaign to drive Islamic State out of Mosul and terminate the group's self-styled caliphate, but it may be too late to reverse the decline of Iraq's Christian minority.      Displaced residents venturing back to assess the damage say they will not live in Qaraqosh again unless they get compensation and guarantees of protection from the international community.

Full transcript of the AP's interview with Iraq's PM Posted: 29 Nov 2016 01:46 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Following is a full transcript of The Associated Press interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad:

Aides of Philippines' Duterte attacked in ambush: military Posted: 29 Nov 2016 01:26 AM PST Seven military bodyguards of President Rodrigo Duterte and two other soldiers were wounded Tuesday in an ambush by suspected Islamic militants on the eve of his planned visit to the southern Philippines, the military and president said. Military spokesmen said a bomb hit the soldiers' convoy as it drove on a road in a southern region where an armed group which had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group operated, wounding nine. The Presidential Security Group was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device)," Duterte said in a speech during a visit to a northern Philippines military camp.

Philippines slams UN's Khmer Rouge warning as 'irresponsible' Posted: 29 Nov 2016 12:14 AM PST The Philippines criticised Tuesday as "irresponsible and alarming" a UN envoy's warning that life sentences meted out to two ex-Khmer Rouge leaders should serve as a warning to Manila over human rights abuses. Last week, a United Nations-backed court in Cambodia upheld life sentences for crimes against humanity for two senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, which was responsible for the death of up to two million Cambodians from 1975-1979. David Scheffer, the UN Secretary-General's envoy to the tribunal, said leaders in countries such as the Philippines, as well as the Islamic State (IS) group, must "take note" of the verdict.

Kazakhstan Energy Minister undecided on attending OPEC meeting Posted: 28 Nov 2016 10:50 PM PST Kazakhstan's Energy Minister, Kanat Bozumbayev, has not yet decided whether to attend the meeting of OPEC members and other oil producers in Vienna, he told Reuters on Tuesday. Bozumbayev said Kazakhstan - along with Russia, Azerbaijan and Mexico - was waiting for members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to agree among themselves on proposed output cuts. OPEC said in September it would limit output in an effort to boost prices, which have languished at less than half of their mid-2014 levels due to a persistent supply glut.

AP Interview: Iraqi leader predicts IS collapse in Mosul Posted: 28 Nov 2016 09:36 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says Islamic State group fighters lack the courage to put up long-term resistance in Mosul, despite unleashing hundreds of car bombs that have killed and maimed Iraqi soldiers and civilians as the fight for Iraq's second-largest city appears set to extend well into next year.

Syrians' suffering fails to strike a chord in Europe Posted: 28 Nov 2016 08:18 PM PST As the bombs rain down on the besieged city of Aleppo the scenes of suffering are horrific, yet the Syrian war fails to move people to protest in the way that the US intervention in Iraq or the siege of Sarajevo did. In Paris' traditional place of protest, Place de la Republique, demonstrators spelled out "Free Syria" in candles last Friday as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad increased their control of rebel-held areas of Aleppo. This is a cause which people should rally around," said one of the participants, Ahmad Darkazanli, who originally comes from Aleppo but has lived in France for half a century.

Asian markets mixed amid fears over oil, Italy's referendum Posted: 28 Nov 2016 07:39 PM PST Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday as concerns over an OPEC oil production cut and Italy's constitutional referendum cast a pall on the markets. KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4 percent ...

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