Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Trump's State pick comes from "Exxon system" not Washington
• New war rules emphasize need to avoid civilian casualties
• Iraqi gains reveal huge scale of IS arms industry
• Syrian rebels prepare to withdraw from Aleppo as truce begins
• Islamic State made weapons in Mosul up to military standards: report
• Trump's pick of Tillerson evokes Cheney precedent
• AP Sources: Trump offers Montana's Zinke interior secretary
• Factbox: Trump fills top jobs for his administration
• Under IS rule, Mosul descended into darkness, dread, pain
• Islamic State turned Mosul into city of terror and darkness
• Status of main battle fronts in Syria and Iraq
• IS grabbed dumped regime gear as they retook Palmyra: Pentagon
• From Syria to North Korea, Tillerson would inherit a messy global situation
• Fears of chemical arms use against IS-held area in Syria
• US blacklists alleged IS backer, money exchanges
• The Latest: Syrian envoy at UN hails 'liberation of Aleppo'
• Drone strike kills IS figures in Syria, some with Paris attack ties
• Russia declares Aleppo offensive over, U.S. dubs it 'modern evil'
• Paris exhibit celebrates UNESCO heritage site of Palmyra
• Turkey detains pro-Kurdish MPs as crackdown continues
• Lutheran World Relief Issues its 2017 Early Warning Forecast
• U.S. sanctions money exchanges, Syrian man for financing Islamic State
• US sanctions exchange houses sending cash to Islamic State
• U.S. strike kills Islamic State militants linked to Paris attacks
• Finland tries twins over IS massacre in Iraq
• Syria’s civil war to mar Obama legacy
• Yazidi prize winners demand IS leaders face justice
• Lost treasures of Syria's Palmyra rise again in new 3D show
• EU slows Turkey membership talks over coup crackdown
• U.N. Security Council to meet on Aleppo amid atrocity accusations
• Carter says 3 key Islamic State militants killed in Syria
• Iraqi Shi'ite forces aim to clear border strip with Syria
• UN agency says 35,000 children have fled Iraq's Mosul
• Dutch detain man suspected of involvement in terror group
• Trump's cabinet picks so far -- a quick guide
• Mosul: images of war for a war of images
• 2 Yazidi women accept EU's Sakharov Prize for human rights
• Iran signs two oil deals with Russia's Gazprom
• Trump pick to lead State known to back free trade, Russia
• Trump 'shoot someone' boast tops 2016 list of notable quotes

Trump's State pick comes from "Exxon system" not Washington Posted: 13 Dec 2016 05:09 PM PST As Republicans in Washington bashed President Barack Obama's efforts to secure an Iran nuclear deal last year, Exxon Mobil was watching. The oil giant's European competitors were preparing to enter Iran's ...

New war rules emphasize need to avoid civilian casualties Posted: 13 Dec 2016 04:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has revised its rules of war to put more emphasis on the need to reduce civilian casualties and avoid "excessive harm" to people and property when planning and conducting attacks.

Iraqi gains reveal huge scale of IS arms industry Posted: 13 Dec 2016 04:26 PM PST Factories churning out tens of thousands of munitions and an entire street turned into a conveyor belt for car bombs: advances by Iraqi forces around Mosul have laid bare the scale of the Islamic State group's arms industry. In the more than two years since it seized control over swathes of the country, IS established a sprawling and highly organised system that experts say no other insurgent group has matched. The capability has seriously boosted the threat from the group as it battles ferociously to cling to territory in Iraq and Syria -- and the fresh intelligence could now prove vital in countering its plots to carry out attacks on the West.

Syrian rebels prepare to withdraw from Aleppo as truce begins Posted: 13 Dec 2016 04:22 PM PST By Laila Bassam and Angus McDowall ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels prepared to withdraw from Aleppo on Wednesday after a ceasefire agreement that ended years of fighting in the city and gave President Bashar al-Assad his biggest victory yet after more than five years of war. The agreement was a result of talks between Russia, Assad's main ally, and Turkey, a leading backer of the rebels, a Turkish government official said. The guns fell silent late on Tuesday in Aleppo.

Islamic State made weapons in Mosul up to military standards: report Posted: 13 Dec 2016 04:06 PM PST Islamic State militants have been producing weapons on a scale and sophistication which matches national military forces and have standardized production across their self-styled caliphate, an arms monitoring group said on Wednesday. Conflict Armament Research (CAR) said the jihadist group had a "robust supply chain" of raw materials from Turkey, and the technical precision of its work meant that it could not be described as "improvised" weapons production. "Although production facilities employ a range of non-standard materials and chemical explosive precursors, the degree of organization, quality control, and inventory management indicates a complex, centrally controlled industrial production system," it said in a report following visits last month to six facilities once operated by Islamic State in eastern Mosul.

Trump's pick of Tillerson evokes Cheney precedent Posted: 13 Dec 2016 03:58 PM PST Donald Trump's pick of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state on Tuesday mirrors the case of Dick Cheney, another oil industry executive tapped for a top Republican administration post. When former president George W. Bush selected Cheney as his choice for running mate in 2000, the future vice president had spent five years as chairman and CEO of Halliburton, the world's second-largest oilfield services and infrastructure company. Cheney's role raised serious questions about conflicts of interest after the US-led invasion of Iraq, where the government granted Halliburton contracts worth billions of dollars, and there are fears Tillerson's four decades at ExxonMobil could cast a long shadow over his actions as top diplomat.

AP Sources: Trump offers Montana's Zinke interior secretary Posted: 13 Dec 2016 03:47 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has offered Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke the job of interior secretary, though it's unclear whether the congressman has accepted, two people with knowledge of the offer said Tuesday.

Factbox: Trump fills top jobs for his administration Posted: 13 Dec 2016 03:40 PM PST (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, a transition official said, putting him in charge of the agency he proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The following is a list of Republican Trump's selections for top jobs in his administration. All the posts but that of national security adviser, the White House chief of staff, White House director of the National Economic Council and White House strategist require Senate confirmation.

Under IS rule, Mosul descended into darkness, dread, pain Posted: 13 Dec 2016 02:55 PM PST MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — The first and second stones did not kill her. But the woman accused of adultery by Islamic State group extremists would not survive the third.

Islamic State turned Mosul into city of terror and darkness Posted: 13 Dec 2016 02:52 PM PST She survived the first stone that struck her, then the second. One of the Islamic State group's fighters bent down and pressed his fingers to the side of her neck to check her pulse. As her horrified neighbors ...

Status of main battle fronts in Syria and Iraq Posted: 13 Dec 2016 02:23 PM PST Fears grew for tens of thousands of civilians in a shrinking pocket of rebel-held eastern Aleppo Tuesday as the UN said it had received credible reports that pro-regime forces executed dozens of civilians. After weeks of heavy artillery fire and air strikes, regime forces control more than 90 percent of former opposition-held territory in Syria's second city. The UN said it had seen reports that at least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, were killed in recent days.

IS grabbed dumped regime gear as they retook Palmyra: Pentagon Posted: 13 Dec 2016 02:14 PM PST Islamic State jihadists seized abandoned war-fighting gear after they recaptured the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra from the Russia-backed Damascus regime, the Pentagon said Tuesday. IS overran Palmyra on Sunday, nine months after being expelled by Russian air strikes and forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad. It was "probably one of the most significant counter-attacks we've seen by ISIL," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said, using an IS acronym.

From Syria to North Korea, Tillerson would inherit a messy global situation Posted: 13 Dec 2016 02:02 PM PST From Syria's bloody civil war and the slow-burning crisis in eastern Ukraine to perennial diplomatic headaches such as the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, Rex Tillerson would face a messy, complex world as the chief U.S. diplomat. Below are brief descriptions of some of the problems that will land on his plate if he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 69th U.S. secretary of state after a career spent at Exxon Mobil Corp, where he rose to be chief executive. SYRIA Tillerson will inherit an increasingly complex conflict in Syria, where the rebel-held eastern portion of Aleppo is on the verge of falling to Syrian government forces backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias from Lebanon and Iraq.

Fears of chemical arms use against IS-held area in Syria Posted: 13 Dec 2016 01:55 PM PST A global watchdog raised fears Tuesday that chemical weapons may have been used in air strikes by Syrian regime loyalists near Palmyra, in an area controlled by the Islamic State group. "The allegations regarding the use of chemical weapons in the area of (Oqayrabat), in the Hama governorate in Syria, reported by the media recently are of serious concern," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement. At least 53 civilians, including 16 children, were killed Monday in air strikes targeting IS-held Oqayrabat and a string of villages nearby, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

US blacklists alleged IS backer, money exchanges Posted: 13 Dec 2016 01:47 PM PST The United States on Tuesday announced financial sanctions against money exchanges in Iraq and Syria and an individual financier, all accused by US authorities of funneling cash to the Islamic State group. Iraqi authorities have also moved to freeze assets tied to the individual and two companies accused of moving large volumes of cash to the militant organization and its fighters, the US Treasury Department said in a statement. "These are the first US actions specifically targeting ISIL-affiliated money services businesses and we will continue to work aggressively to deny ISIL access to the international financial system," acting Under-Secretary Adam Szubin, the Treasury's top counter-terrorism official, said in the statement, using an acronym for IS.

The Latest: Syrian envoy at UN hails 'liberation of Aleppo' Posted: 13 Dec 2016 01:46 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — The latest on the Syrian conflict (all times local):

Drone strike kills IS figures in Syria, some with Paris attack ties Posted: 13 Dec 2016 12:09 PM PST A coalition drone strike in Syria killed three Islamic State group leaders involved in plotting foreign attacks, including two men who helped facilitate last year's attacks in Paris, the Pentagon said Tuesday. "The three were working together to plot and facilitate attacks against Western targets at the time of the strike," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. Two of those killed -- Salah-Eddine Gourmat and Sammy Djedou -- were involved in facilitating the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks, in which 130 people died, Cook said.

Russia declares Aleppo offensive over, U.S. dubs it 'modern evil' Posted: 13 Dec 2016 12:02 PM PST By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A Syrian government military offensive in Aleppo, backed by Russia and Iran, was over, Russia's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday as the United States described the violence in the besieged city as "modern evil." Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said an agreement had been struck for rebels to evacuate the north-western city and he said civilians would be unharmed, despite western and U.N. accusations of the intentional killing of civilians. "Over the last hour we have received information that the military activities in east Aleppo have stopped, it has stopped," Churkin told a heated U.N. Security Council meeting called by France and Britain. "The Syrian government has established control over east Aleppo." A surrender or withdrawal of the rebels from Aleppo would deliver Syrian President Bashar al-Assad his biggest battlefield victory in the nearly six year conflict.

Paris exhibit celebrates UNESCO heritage site of Palmyra Posted: 13 Dec 2016 11:29 AM PST PARIS (AP) — Days after the Islamic State group seized back control of the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra, a prescient exhibit was inaugurated in Paris on Tuesday that aims to educate the public on the wounded wonder that Syrians affectionately call the "Bride of the Desert."

Turkey detains pro-Kurdish MPs as crackdown continues Posted: 13 Dec 2016 11:28 AM PST Turkish police detained two female pro-Kurdish lawmakers Tuesday, as Ankara intensified its crackdown after twin bombings in Istanbul that killed 44 people. Saturday's bombings, which left 37 police officers among the dead and hundreds more injured, were claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), seen as a radical offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is itself considered a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. Police launched a vast operation on Monday rounding up people accused of PKK links or of producing propaganda for the group, whose three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

Lutheran World Relief Issues its 2017 Early Warning Forecast Posted: 13 Dec 2016 11:22 AM PST BALTIMORE, Dec. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The refugee crisis fueled by armed conflict in Syria and Iraq tops the list of humanitarian emergencies in Lutheran World Relief's 2017 Early Warning Forecast, an overview of global hot spots that will command the attention and resources of the international community over the next year. ...

U.S. sanctions money exchanges, Syrian man for financing Islamic State Posted: 13 Dec 2016 11:13 AM PST The United States on Tuesday blacklisted two Iraqi and Syrian money service businesses for helping Islamic State move its money, along with a Syrian man it said was a financier for the jihadist group. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Selselat al Thahab Money Exchange based in Iraq, Hanifa Currency Exchange based in Syria, and Muhammad Jubayr al-Rawi, a Syrian man it said owned Hanifa Currency Exchange and has served as a senior Islamic State finance official, Treasury said in a statement. "These are the first U.S. actions specifically targeting ISIL-affiliated money services businesses, and we will continue to work aggressively to deny ISIL access to the international financial system," said Adam Szubin, the acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State.

US sanctions exchange houses sending cash to Islamic State Posted: 13 Dec 2016 11:07 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government says it is sanctioning two Middle Eastern exchange houses and an individual accused of helping to funnel cash to the Islamic State group.

U.S. strike kills Islamic State militants linked to Paris attacks Posted: 13 Dec 2016 11:05 AM PST A U.S. drone strike in Syria last week killed two Islamic State leaders linked to the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people as well as a third militant convicted in absentia in Belgium for a disrupted plot, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The U.S. military said the strike took place on Dec. 4 in Raqqa, the Islamic State's defacto capital in Syria. "They were working together to plot and facilitate attacks on Western targets at the time of the strike," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

Finland tries twins over IS massacre in Iraq Posted: 13 Dec 2016 10:30 AM PST Iraqi twin brothers went on trial Tuesday in Finland over their alleged role in a 2014 massacre of up to 1,700 unarmed recruits by the Islamic State group in Iraq. The 24-year-old brothers, who came to Finland as asylum seekers in September 2015 and were arrested a few months later, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. One of the two brothers is believed to appear in a propaganda video later released by the Islamic State group (IS), shooting dead at least 11 prisoners who had been forced to lay down in a hole on the ground for execution.

Syria’s civil war to mar Obama legacy Posted: 13 Dec 2016 10:12 AM PST By Matt Spetalnick and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fall of the last rebel-held areas in the Syrian city of Aleppo could seal the fate of the "Obama Doctrine," deepening the world's worst humanitarian crisis in decades and staining U.S. President Barack Obama's legacy. With the U.S.-aligned rebels facing defeat by government forces backed by Russia and Iran, Obama's light-footprint approach to the Syrian conflict will suffer a serious blow weeks before he hands power to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20. The rebel loss would underscore the failure of U.S. efforts to stem the carnage from Syria's nearly six-year-old civil war, leading some critics to predict that Obama's record will be tarnished just as President Bill Clinton's was by his refusal to intervene to halt the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Yazidi prize winners demand IS leaders face justice Posted: 13 Dec 2016 10:08 AM PST Two Yazidi women activists pleaded tearfully on Tuesday for Europe to bring Islamic State group leaders to justice for the crime of genocide, as they accepted the EU's Sakharov human rights prize. Nadia Murad and Lamia Haji Bashar also urged Europe to consider admitting 500,000 Yazidi refugees from Iraq, when the pair received the award from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Lost treasures of Syria's Palmyra rise again in new 3D show Posted: 13 Dec 2016 09:55 AM PST Palmyra may just have fallen yet again to the Islamic State group, but a new "immersive" 3D show in Paris lets you walk through the Syrian city's classical colonnades as they were before the jihadists blew them to bits. The "Eternal Sites" exhibition uses high-definition images often shot by drones to allow the public to visit four of the most threatened heritage sites in the world in war-torn Syria and Iraq. The eighth-century Umayyad Mosque in Damascus -- regarded by many as the fourth holiest place in Islam -- and the Krak des Chevaliers Crusader castle near the ravaged city of Homs have also been virtually recreated under the dome of the Grand Palais in Paris.

EU slows Turkey membership talks over coup crackdown Posted: 13 Dec 2016 09:12 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Tuesday expressed deep concern about Turkey's security crackdown since the failed coup in July but stopped short of officially freezing membership talks with the country.

U.N. Security Council to meet on Aleppo amid atrocity accusations Posted: 13 Dec 2016 08:44 AM PST By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will brief the U.N. Security Council on Syria's under-siege city of Aleppo on Tuesday amid accusations by western countries of atrocities against civilians as the Syrian army advances. "In these darkest hours for Aleppo it's never too late to do anything we can to save lives," French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters. "We have credible reports of brutal murders of families and summary executions, including women and children." The United Nations said on Tuesday it had reports that Syrian soldiers and allied Iraqi fighters had summarily shot dead 82 civilians in recaptured districts of Aleppo, which was Syria's largest city before the civil war began nearly six years ago.

Carter says 3 key Islamic State militants killed in Syria Posted: 13 Dec 2016 08:24 AM PST AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy (AP) — U.S. airstrikes killed three key leaders of the Islamic State group in Syria, including two involved in last year's attacks in Paris, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday.

Iraqi Shi'ite forces aim to clear border strip with Syria Posted: 13 Dec 2016 07:55 AM PST By Ahmed Rasheed and Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite forces fighting Islamic State west of Mosul aim to clear a large strip of land on the border with Syria to prevent the militants melting into the remote desert region and using it as a base for counter attacks, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The Popular Mobilisation fighters - mainly Shi'ite, Iranian-backed paramilitary groups who form part of a wider Iraqi force waging the eight-week Mosul campaign - have deployed west of the city to cut the route to Islamic State-held territory in Syria. Jafaar Hussaini said the Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the Shi'ite armed groups, would advance further west to clear the border region where he said the militants had hidden many weapons stores for future use.

UN agency says 35,000 children have fled Iraq's Mosul Posted: 13 Dec 2016 07:55 AM PST MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — The U.N. children's agency said Tuesday that about 35,000 children have fled from Mosul since Iraqi forces and a U.S.-led coalition launched a massive operation in mid-October to retake the city from the Islamic State group.

Dutch detain man suspected of involvement in terror group Posted: 13 Dec 2016 07:54 AM PST THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch prosecutors say a 40-year-old man suspected of involvement in a terror organization in Syria or Iraq was arrested recently at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after earlier being detained in Turkey.

Trump's cabinet picks so far -- a quick guide Posted: 13 Dec 2016 07:20 AM PST US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state -- the most coveted cabinet position, and the one that generated the most contentious search. The silver-haired president and CEO of ExxonMobil, who has never worked in government, could face a difficult confirmation battle due to his close ties to Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Mosul: images of war for a war of images Posted: 13 Dec 2016 07:05 AM PST The battle is playing out not only on Mosul's streets but also in cyberspace, where both jihadist and Iraqi forces use online media and social networks to mobilise or demoralise. Many in the government camp feel that, in June 2014, Mosul was lost to the Islamic State group before a shot was even fired in anger, and they are keen not to lose the media war a second time. "The media and social networks announced the fall of Mosul before it even happened, and as result, well, it fell," said one fighter who had witnessed the debacle that saw IS seize Iraq's second city.

2 Yazidi women accept EU's Sakharov Prize for human rights Posted: 13 Dec 2016 05:53 AM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — Two Yazidi women who escaped sexual enslavement by the Islamic State group accepted the European Union's Sakharov Prize for human rights on Tuesday and said they would continue to be a voice for others suffering a similar fate.

Iran signs two oil deals with Russia's Gazprom Posted: 13 Dec 2016 01:30 AM PST Iran signed preliminary agreements with Russia's Gazprom on Tuesday to develop two major oil fields in the latest of a flurry of deals with foreign firms, local media reported. The deals open the way for Gazprom to carry out studies at the Cheshmekosh and Changouleh fields near the border with Iraq, according to the Shana news agency, which is linked to the oil ministry. The latest deal was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who is visiting Tehran with a 500-strong business delegation.

Trump pick to lead State known to back free trade, Russia Posted: 13 Dec 2016 12:32 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's choice to lead U.S. foreign policy is known for his longstanding support of free trade, international law and an expansive presence in the Middle East that doesn't fit with Trump's pitch to supporters.

Trump 'shoot someone' boast tops 2016 list of notable quotes Posted: 12 Dec 2016 10:09 PM PST NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Donald Trump's boast on the campaign trail that he could shoot somebody and not lose any voters tops a Yale Law School librarian's list of the most notable quotes of 2016.

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