Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Europeans look past Trump remarks to keep trans-Atlantic alliance alive
• Turkish police catch Istanbul nightclub attacker in city
• Saudi says Trump stance on Iran and IS cause for optimism
• Saudi 'optimistic' about Trump's rule: foreign minister
• Building torched as Bahrain Shiites protest executions
• IS claims responsibility for killing of Jordan army officer
• Air Force: PTSD, other factors led airman to kill commander
• Syrian rebels to attend Astana peace talks
• DeVos to face questions over schools, conservative activism
• Iraq forces retake IS-bombed 'Jonah's tomb' in Mosul
• Want to learn Arabic, Korean or Swahili? Refugee language tutors can help
• Bahrain summons Iraqi ambassador to protest VP remarks on executions
• Europe's fate 'in our own hands': Merkel after Trump barbs
• Iraqi troops advance in eastern Mosul amid fierce clashes
• Iraqi forces battle Islamic State near Tigris river in Mosul
• Iraqi artist recreates ancient works destroyed by Islamic State
• Pakistan villagers attack convoy of Qatar royal hunting rare bird
• Trapped by war, Mosul residents bury their dead wherever they can
• Civilian casualties mount as Iraqi forces advance in Mosul
• 'Yes we can': Obama's complex legacy
• Trump says Brexit to be 'a great thing', wants quick trade deal with UK

Europeans look past Trump remarks to keep trans-Atlantic alliance alive Posted: 16 Jan 2017 03:15 PM PST By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - If Washington's European allies had any hope that Donald Trump would sound less like Donald Trump now that he is days from the U.S. presidency, his first European newspaper interview quickly buried it. Trump declared the NATO alliance "obsolete", praised Britain's exit from the European Union and gave his clearest hint yet that he would consider lifting financial sanctions on Moscow, which the United States and EU both imposed after Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said they had led to "astonishment and agitation" in Brussels, where Steinmeier was meeting EU counterparts.

Turkish police catch Istanbul nightclub attacker in city Posted: 16 Jan 2017 03:07 PM PST Turkish police on Monday captured the suspected jihadist who slaughtered 39 people on New Year's night at an Istanbul nightclub, detaining him in a raid on a residential area of the city after a long manhunt. The alleged assailant was found along with his four-year-old son in an apartment in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul after a massive police operation, state-run TRT television reported. The attacker had been on the run for over two weeks, after slipping into the night following the attack on the glamorous Reina nightclub on the Bosphorus.

Saudi says Trump stance on Iran and IS cause for optimism Posted: 16 Jan 2017 12:03 PM PST By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday he was positive about the way the incoming U.S. administration wanted to restore American influence in the world, contain Iran and fight Islamic State. "We will look at the Trump administration's view as articulated. Wanting to defeat ISIS (Islamic State), absolutely.

Saudi 'optimistic' about Trump's rule: foreign minister Posted: 16 Jan 2017 11:55 AM PST Paris (AFP) - US ally Saudi Arabia is "optimistic" about Donald Trump's impending presidency, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Monday, hailing Trump's stern line on arch-Saudi rival Iran and promise to defeat the Islamic State group.

Building torched as Bahrain Shiites protest executions Posted: 16 Jan 2017 11:16 AM PST Authorities in Bahrain said Monday a municipal building was set ablaze as fresh violence erupted over the executions of three Shiites convicted of a deadly bomb attack on police. The Shiite majority in Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has long complained of marginalisation and the country has been rocked by sporadic unrest since 2011. A municipal building was torched overnight in Shamalia, south of the capital Manama, the interior ministry said, without explicitly linking the incident to the executions.

IS claims responsibility for killing of Jordan army officer Posted: 16 Jan 2017 11:07 AM PST AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility Monday for a shooting attack it said killed a Jordanian soldier earlier this month.

Air Force: PTSD, other factors led airman to kill commander Posted: 16 Jan 2017 10:44 AM PST SAN ANTONIO (AP) — U.S. Air Force investigators have determined that post-traumatic stress disorder and the unraveling of a distinguished military career led an airman to fatally shoot his commander last year at a San Antonio base before killing himself, according to Air Force documents.

Syrian rebels to attend Astana peace talks Posted: 16 Jan 2017 10:18 AM PST Syrian rebel groups said Monday they will attend peace talks next week, in a boost to efforts by rivals Turkey and Russia to put an end to the nearly six-year-old conflict. The pledges came as the Islamic State group, which is excluded from peace talks as well as a nationwide truce deal struck on December 30, advanced in oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, cutting off a key airport from government-held territory. The talks, beginning on January 23 in the Kazakh capital Astana, are designed to build on the truce that has largely held despite escalating violence across several battlefronts in recent days.

DeVos to face questions over schools, conservative activism Posted: 16 Jan 2017 08:49 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Charter school advocate Betsy DeVos is widely expected to push for expanding school choice programs if confirmed as education secretary, prompting pushback from teachers unions. But Democrats and activists also are raising concerns about how her conservative Christian beliefs and advocacy for family values might impact minority and LGBT students.

Iraq forces retake IS-bombed 'Jonah's tomb' in Mosul Posted: 16 Jan 2017 07:40 AM PST Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group in Mosul on Monday retook an area where the jihadists levelled one of the city's most well-known shrines in 2014, officials said. "We retook control of Nabi Yunus area... raised the Iraqi flag above the tomb," Sabah al-Noman, spokesman for the Counter-Terrorism Service spearheading the Mosul offensive, told AFP. The Nabi Yunus shrine -- which was built on the reputed burial site of a prophet known in the Koran as Yunus and in the Bible as Jonah -- was a popular pilgrimage site.

Want to learn Arabic, Korean or Swahili? Refugee language tutors can help Posted: 16 Jan 2017 07:39 AM PST "It's an amazing thing to be able to teach your language to other people because it will help them understand you more," the 30-year-old said after the language class organized by UK social enterprise Chatterbox at the University of London. "Today I had students from Taiwan, England and Germany. Although he was a qualified dentist in Syria, Zinah is doing a postgraduate dentistry degree and English language tests so he can practice in Britain.

Bahrain summons Iraqi ambassador to protest VP remarks on executions Posted: 16 Jan 2017 07:34 AM PST Bahrain's foreign ministry summoned Iraq's ambassador in Manama to protest against remarks by Iraqi officials denouncing the execution of men convicted of a 2014 bomb attack, state news agency BNA said on Monday. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Britain opposes the death penalty and he "raised the issue with the Bahraini Government." Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki called the execution "an ugly crime" and said it put the Bahraini government in a position of being accused by the international community of systematic killing of its opponents. The Bahrain foreign ministry said Maliki's remarks and comments by the Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman amounted to an "unacceptable interference" in Manama's internal affairs.

Europe's fate 'in our own hands': Merkel after Trump barbs Posted: 16 Jan 2017 06:07 AM PST German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted on Monday that "we Europeans have our fate in our own hands", after Donald Trump criticised the EU and praised Britain's decision to leave the bloc. Merkel also told reporters that she would work towards getting the European Union's 27 remaining member states to strengthen their economies and meet future challenges, including the battle against terrorism. In an interview with two European newspapers, Trump also took aim at Merkel's decision to let in refugees fleeing war in mostly Muslim nations, including Syria and Iraq, insinuating that this posed a security risk.

Iraqi troops advance in eastern Mosul amid fierce clashes Posted: 16 Jan 2017 05:49 AM PST MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi special forces battled Islamic State militants on Monday in two key neighborhoods in the eastern half of Mosul, a senior commander said, advancing deeper after fully routing IS from the sprawling complex of the Mosul University, a major step in the massive operation to retake the city.

Iraqi forces battle Islamic State near Tigris river in Mosul Posted: 16 Jan 2017 05:06 AM PST By Isabel Coles MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi special forces battled Islamic State militants in districts near the Tigris river in Mosul on Monday as they sought to bring more of the east of the city back under government control. At least three Islamic State suicide car bombs targeted Iraqi forces in Andalus. In an online post, Islamic State said it had carried out a "martyrdom operation" in the area.

Iraqi artist recreates ancient works destroyed by Islamic State Posted: 16 Jan 2017 04:52 AM PST By Bushra Shakhshir ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - As Iraqi forces fight to retake the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State, an artist in nearby Erbil is chiseling at clay in a tiny, unheated studio to recreate historic Assyrian monuments destroyed by the group. Ninos Thabet, an 18-year-old Christian who studied art at Mosul University, is creating miniature replicas of statues the jihadists destroyed when they overran the 3,000-year-old Assyrian city of Nimrud, south of Mosul, 2-1/2 years ago. Once the capital of an empire stretching across the ancient Middle East, Nimrud is one of several historic sites that Islamic State looted and ransacked when they seized large swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014.

Pakistan villagers attack convoy of Qatar royal hunting rare bird Posted: 16 Jan 2017 03:39 AM PST QUETTA, Pakistan/DOHA (Reuters) - A group of Pakistani villagers brandishing guns and knives attacked the convoy of a Qatar royal family member on an expedition to hunt the houbara bustard, a rare bird whose meat is prized by Arab sheikhs, officials said on Monday. The hunting party was unhurt, but three security guards were wounded during the attack on Sunday evening in Musakhel, in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan, district deputy commissioner Muhammad Yasar said. "Qatari hunters apply and pay for government hunting permits and donate to local communities and wildlife conservation," the official said.

Trapped by war, Mosul residents bury their dead wherever they can Posted: 16 Jan 2017 02:18 AM PST By Stephen Kalin MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - When four rockets crashed into his east Mosul home in November, Abu Abdel Malik's 60-year-old step-mother was killed instantly. Among the dead is an elderly resident who had a heart attack and could not reach the hospital because of the fighting.

Civilian casualties mount as Iraqi forces advance in Mosul Posted: 15 Jan 2017 11:58 PM PST IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The mortar attack that left Um Yousef blind in one eye and killed two of her children came on the same day that Iraqi forces retook her neighborhood in eastern Mosul from the Islamic State group.

'Yes we can': Obama's complex legacy Posted: 15 Jan 2017 08:20 PM PST After winning the White House with a call to embrace "the audacity of hope," Barack Obama knows his place in the history books will be measured against the outsized hopes his 2008 election sparked in the United States and abroad. Will the son of an absent Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, who split his childhood years between the Aloha State and Indonesia, be lauded for bringing down unemployment, the raid that killed Obama bin Laden, or reforming the health care system? Whatever the historians write, Obama -- America's first black president -- can certainly claim some bona fide successes.

Trump says Brexit to be 'a great thing', wants quick trade deal with UK Posted: 15 Jan 2017 06:22 PM PST By William James LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said that Brexit would turn out to be a great thing and other countries would follow Britain out of the European Union but promised to strike a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom. Speaking in an interview with The Times of London newspaper five days before his inauguration, Trump described himself as a big fan of Britain and endorsed last year's vote to leave the European Union. "I think Brexit is going to end up being a great thing," Trump said.

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