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A Palestinian fighter of the Al-Quds brigade in a military tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip last year. Overnight on Saturday, Israeli fighter planes struck 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said. The group’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, said in 2021 that there were 310 miles of tunnels in Gaza. Ben Milch, an Israeli American who cleared tunnels with the Israeli military during the 2014 Gaza War, said his unit came under fire repeatedly while working to destroy some 13 tunnels. After the Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had destroyed the tunnel to the sea, it released a video of another incident.

Persons: “, Israel, ”, Joseph L, Sergey Ponomarev, Yocheved, Daniel Hagari, Votel, Joel Roskin, Roskin, Ali Ali, Daphne Richemond, Barak, Yahya Sinwar, Yousef Masoud, ” Ms, Richemond, Ms, Amir Olo, Olo, Ben Milch, Milch, Uriel Sinai, Jeffrey Gettleman, Gal Koplewitz Organizations: Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, U.S, United States Central Command, The New York Times, Islamic, Iraqi, ISIS, Bar, Ilan University, European Pressphoto Agency, Reichman University, telltale, RAND Corporation, West Bank, Officials Locations: Al, Quds, Gaza, Israel, Israeli, Iraqi, Mosul, Al Shifa, Israel’s, Egypt, Northern Sinai, Khan Younis, Col, Israeli American, Kissufim, The, Zikim Beach, Jerusalem

☆ Opinion | Why Hamas Must Go
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Dennis B. Ross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

If Hamas persists as a military force and is still running Gaza after this war is over, it will attack Israel again. And whether or not Hezbollah opens a true second front from Lebanon during this conflict, it, too, will attack Israel in the future. As one commander in the Israeli military said, “If we do not defeat Hamas, we cannot survive here.”Israel is not alone in believing it must defeat Hamas. Only a few Arab states openly condemned the Hamas massacre of more than 1,400 people in Israel. An outcome that leaves Hamas in control will doom not just Gaza but also much of the rest of the Middle East.

Persons: I’ve, Israel —, it’s, Israel, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s, “, Al, Emmanuel Macron, —, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Soviet, Hezbollah, Israel, Hamas, United Arab Emirates, Ahli Baptist Hospital, West Bank, United Nations, Ad, Committee, ISIS, United Arab, Health Ministry Locations: Soviet Union, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Al, Ahli, Israeli, Hamas, Mosul, Raqqa, Syria, United States, Palestinian, United, France, Morocco, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Canada, Ukraine

A general view shows the interiors of what the Israeli military say is a cross-border attack tunnel dug from Gaza to Israel, on the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip border near Kissufim January 18, 2018. After the last round of hostilities in 2021, Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yehya Al-Sinwar, said: "They started saying they destroyed 100kms of Hamas tunnels. Tunneling became easier in 2005 when Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza, and when Hamas won power in a 2006 election. Although the military tunnels remained off-limits to outside eyes, during that era Gaza smugglers would show off their scarcely concealed commercial tunnels under the Rafah border. Israeli sources said what awaits them is formidable and they faced an enemy that has regrouped and learned from previous Israeli operations in 2014 and 2021.

Persons: Jack Guez, Lloyd Austin, Yehya Al, Sinwar, Lifshitz, Mahmoud Abbas, Amir Avivi, Abdel Fattah al, Sisi, Israel, Yasser Arafat's, Deen al, Gilad Shalit, Abu Qusay, Mohammed Deif, Deif, Joel Roskin, Ilan University, Benjamin Netanyahu, Amnon Sofrin, Daphne Richemond, Barak, Jonathan Saul, Stephen Farrell, Phil Stewart, Nafisa Eltahir, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Janet Lawrence Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, U.S . Defense, Israel, United Nations Security Council, LONG, Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization, West Bank, Hamas, Brigades, Arafat's, Israel's, Ilan, Israel's Combat Engineering, Combat Intelligence Corps, Israel's Reichman University, IDF, ISIS, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Kissufim, JERUSALEM, LONDON, Hamas, Palestinian, States, Mosul, Islamic, Egypt, Israeli, Viet, Israel's, Egyptian, El Arish, Suez, Yasser Arafat's Palestine, Jordan, Rafah, Syria, Iraq, State, Jerusalem, London, Washington, Cairo

☆ Analysis: Israel’s allies fear it could be walking into a trap in Gaza as Hamas and its backers seek a wider conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Jerome Taylor | Sam Kiley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The bomb-making skills of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and close ally of Hamas, have metastasized across the Middle East. In Gaza, Israeli troops will know they face improvised explosive devices built with charges that can cripple a tank. Hamas does hope to establish a Palestinian state based on the teachings of Islam. There have been pro-Palestinian marches throughout the world protesting at the level of destruction visited already on Gaza by Israel. They’ll be looking to exploit Israel’s next moves in Gaza as their own “phase two” of the October 7 attacks.

Persons: Israel’s, ”, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Joe Biden, Saddam Hussein, Benjamin Netanyahu, Rishi Sunak, “, Emmanuel Macron, ” Atatra, –, Hassan Nasrallah, Saleh Al, Ziad Al, Tehran’s, Quds, They’ll, John Kirby, Jalaa Marey, Biden, Islam, Iraq ’, Karin von Hippel, Martin Sherman, Israel Organizations: London CNN, Hamas, American, ISIS, Iran’s, British, Islam, Israel Defense Forces, UN, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Brigade, US, US National Security Council, Palestinian, Getty, Israel’s, Royal United Services Institute, Israel Institute for Strategic Studies Locations: Gaza, Tehran, Israel, Hamas, Mosul, Iraqi, Lebanese, Lebanon, Beit Hanoun, Washington, Iraq, realpolitik, Palestine, Iran, Baghdad, Iranian, Yemen, Israeli, AFP, United States, State, Afghanistan

☆ Long-lost Roman forts spotted in declassified spy satellite photos
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That survey was among the first to photograph archaeological sites from the air, and in 1934 Poidebard reported finding 116 Roman forts. But nearly a century later, mapping Poidebard’s forts to satellite photos was challenging. Those forts were aligned north to south along what was once the easternmost boundary of the Roman Empire, according to Poidebard. But Poidebard’s survey provided only a partial view of Rome’s ancient infrastructure, the researchers found. While Poidebard’s row of forts along the Roman Empire’s eastern front looked like a military fortification, this new evidence suggested that the forts collectively served a different purpose.

Persons: Rather, Jesse Casana, ” Casana, Casana, Father Antoine Poidebard, Poidebard, Father Antoine Poidebard's, —, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, United, Corona, Dartmouth College, Tell, Antiquity, Scientific Locations: United States, Iraq, Syria, New Hampshire, “, Iran, French, Qreiye, Roman, Birke, Mosul, Ninawa, ”, Rome

☆ Ex-SOCOM head warns an Israeli invasion of Gaza will be harder than even the toughest battle against ISIS
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

More than two weeks after the Hamas terror attacks, the Israeli ground invasion is yet to begin. A ground fight in Gaza would likely feature brutal urban combat, including surprise and guerilla tactics. Current and former US military leaders warn it will be harder than the toughest battle against ISIS. AdvertisementAdvertisementCurrent and former US military leaders are warning that an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, should the military go forward with it, will be more difficult than even the toughest battle against the Islamic State. There, in Gaza, Israeli soldiers could face a prolonged urban combat, brutal fighting which may feature heavy civilian casualties, booby traps, surprise attacks, and guerilla tactics.

Persons: —, Joseph Votel, Israel, Mostafa Alkharouf, Votel, ABC's Jonathan Karl, Lloyd Austin, we've, Austin, Hatem Ali Gaza, Biden, John Kirby Organizations: ISIS, Service, Islamic, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Army, Operations Command, Associated Press, Getty, US Central Command, US, AP, National Security Locations: Gaza, Islamic State, Syrian, Raqqa, Iraqi, Mosul, Israel, Sderot, Anadolu, Austin, Rafah, Iran

☆ Opinion: Israel ground attack on Gaza would be a long, deadly ordeal, say urban warfare experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

That’s the way two leading experts on urban warfare described the prospect of a ground attack by Israel on Hamas’ base in the streets and tunnels of Gaza. It’s in a body of knowledge on how to do this big of an urban operation as fast and effectively as possible. Israel continues to deploy soldiers and armored vehicles along the Gaza border in Zikim kibbutz of Ashkelon, Israel on October 14. In the concrete jungle of urban warfare, most of your weapons may not even penetrate the building the enemy is in. BERGEN: Doesn’t this have some implications for the “mass” involved when you launch a military operation in Gaza?

Persons: Peter Bergen, ”, Liam Collins, John Spencer, ” Collins, Spencer, ” PETER BERGEN, JOHN SPENCER, LIAM COLLINS, SPENCER, Mostafa Alkharouf, You’re, Liam Collins SPENCER, COLLINS, It’s, Nir Oz, David Kilcullen, you’ve, BERGEN, There’s, Yoav Gallant, Ronen Zvulun, We’re, Let’s, Liam, John Spencer BERGEN, Ukraine that’s Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Hamas ’, Warfare, Madison Policy, New America, US Army Special Forces, Modern, US Military Academy, West, Israel Defense Forces, Hamas, Getty, IDF, Israel's, ISIS, Twitter, Facebook Locations: New America, Israel, Gaza, US, Madison, Afghanistan, Iraq, United States, Jerusalem, BERGEN, Gaza . Israel, Zikim, Ashkelon, Anadolu, COLLINS, Palestinian, Hamas, Israel's, Mosul, That’s, Ukraine, Russia, Let’s, Berlin, SPENCER

☆ The ‘Devil’s Playground’ of Urban Combat That Israel Is Preparing to Enter
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Damien Cave | More About Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But Gaza, heavily urbanized, with Hamas deeply entrenched, is an especially complex battlefield. The LandscapeThe Gaza Strip is about 140 square miles, a narrow band slightly larger in area than Las Vegas, with a cluster of urban population centers. Gaza City, the capital, has around 700,000 people packed into around 20 square miles, with more tall buildings than U.S.-led forces faced in the battle for Mosul, creating a more dangerous three-dimensional front. Israel has destroyed hundreds of Gaza buildings in airstrikes. Hamas, long before its assault on Israel this month, had built hundreds of miles of tunnels under Gaza City that can be used to move between attack positions, hide hostages and protect supplies.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s, Biden, “ I’ve, Lloyd J, Austin III, —, ” John W, Spencer Organizations: ”, Modern, U.S . Military Academy Locations: Gaza, Israel, Iraq, Las Vegas, Gaza City, Mosul, Mariupol, Ukraine

[1/3] A U.S army soldier stands with his weapon at a military base in the Makhmour area near Mosul during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, October 18, 2016. A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not specifically say what might trigger the evacuation of U.S. military families, who are deployed to Middle East locations including Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. Senior Biden administration officials including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have warned of the risk of major escalation in attacks on American troops in the Middle East and that Iran could seek to widen the Israel-Hamas war. Austin has ordered new air defenses to the Middle East to safeguard troops, including a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Iranian security officials told Reuters Iran's strategy was for Middle East proxies like Hezbollah to pursue limited strikes on Israeli and U.S. targets but to avoid a major escalation that would draw in Tehran.

Persons: Alaa, Michael, Erik, Kurilla, Asad, Lloyd Austin, Austin, John Kirby, Kirby, Phil Stewart, Chizu Organizations: Islamic, REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Reuters, U.S . Army, U.S . Central Command, American, Navy's, Senior Biden, Defense, Pentagon, Area Defense, United, Thomson Locations: U.S, Makhmour, Mosul, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Israel, Gaza, Yemen, Iranian, Middle East, Bahrain, United States, Tehran

☆ US military advisers invoke lessons of Iraq in urging Israelis to avoid all-out ground assault in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Natasha Bertrand Oren Liebermann Mj Lee Katie Bo Lillis | Natasha Bertrand | Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“I don’t think Israel has a strategy for what they do next” in terms of executing a full-blown ground invasion, one source familiar with concerns within the Biden administration said. President Joe Biden greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. “We stand before the next stage, it is coming,” Netanyahu told the Israel Defence Forces’ Yahalom unit on Tuesday, according to a press release from Netanyahu’s office. “We will not stop until we complete it, with your help.”Military to military channelsIn 2014, Netanyahu set out to debilitate Hamas with the last ground invasion into Gaza. Despite numerous rounds of escalation and conflict with Gaza, Israel hasn’t attempted another incursion since.

Persons: Biden, James Glynn, Israel, Joe Biden, Bill Burns, Benjamin Netanyahu, Evan Vucci, Netanyahu, enflamed, ” Netanyahu, “, ”, Israel hasn’t, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Matthew Miller, “ We’ve, Defense Lloyd Austin, Yoav Gallant, ” Gallant, Emmanuel Macron, ” Macron, Obama, Gilad Erdan Organizations: Washington CNN — American, CNN, Israel Defense Forces, ISIS, Marine Corps, Marine Forces Special Operations Command, CIA, NATO, Israeli, Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel Defence Forces ’, ”, Pentagon, Defense, International Coalition Locations: Iraq, Gaza, Israel, Fallujah, US, Mosul, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom, Tel Aviv, United States, Western, Palestinian

Biden administration officials insisted that the United States had not told Israel what to do and still supported the ground invasion. General Glynn, the official said, would not be on the ground in Israel if an incursion into Gaza begins. But on Sunday, a diplomat from the Israeli Embassy denied that the U.S. government was advising the Israelis to delay the ground invasion. In conversations with Israeli officials since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, American officials said they have not yet seen an achievable plan of action. Like U.S. officials, Mr. Reed said he also still supports the ground invasion to destroy Hamas.

Persons: Biden, Yoav Gallant, Lloyd J, Austin III, James Glynn, General Glynn, Axios, Gallant, Austin, “, Mr, ” Mr, Patrick S, Ryder, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, we’ve, Michael Knights, Knights, Jack Reed, Reed, ”, Michael Crowley Organizations: Israel Defense Forces, Biden, Pentagon, Israel, Embassy, Islamic, United States Central Command, ABC, American Marines, Associated Press, Islamic State, State, The Washington Institute, Hamas, Rhode Island Democrat, Armed Services Committee Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Washington, U.S, Mosul, Iraqi, Tel Aviv, Kurdish, Mosul —, British, Falluja, Iraq, Raqqa, Cairo, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, “, State

☆ US troops attacked in Iraq, Syria and on alert for more strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On Wednesday, a drone hit U.S. forces in Syria resulting in minor injuries, while another one was brought down. Earlier this week, U.S. forces thwarted multiple drones targeting troops in Iraq. At least 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and 12,493 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza, the health ministry in Gaza said. In past years, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq regularly targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and the U.S. embassy in Baghdad with rockets. Such attacks had abated under a truce in place since last year, and Iraq has had a period of relative calm.

Persons: Alaa, Joe Biden, Al, Asad, I'm, Patrick Ryder, Ryder, Ali al, Israel, Idrees Ali, Grant McCool Organizations: U.S, Islamic, REUTERS, Rights, Pentagon, U.S . Navy, Thursday, ISRAEL, Gaza, United, Hezbollah, Thomson Locations: Makhmour, Mosul, Iraq, Syria, Washington, Iran, Israel, U.S, Al Asad, Yemen, Gaza, United States, State, Baghdad

☆ As Turkey intensifies war on Kurdish militants, Iraqi civilians suffer
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Lena Masri | Amina Ismail | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

Seventeen-year-old Samir Saado was finishing his cleaning shift at the village medical centre when an airstrike hit the building. Four members of the PKK-allied Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), who were guards at the clinic, were killed, local officials said. All five said the medical centre was hit by at least three strikes about three minutes apart. Reuters showed Zwijnenburg the footage of the red crescent symbol on the wall of the medical centre. Across northern Iraq, local people say they are powerless to prevent armed groups setting up in their villages and districts.

Persons: Samir Saado, ” “, “, ACLED, Tayyip Erdogan, Iraq’s, Mustafa al, ”, Tatyana Eatwell, Jonathan Lord, ” Lord, Saeed Hasan, Isa Khoudeda, Turkey’s, wailed, Wim Zwijnenburg, Zwijnenburg, Saado, Yazidis, Saado’s, ” Saado, Schlier Namiq, Tuta Qal, Aram Kakakhan, Kakakhan, Ismail Ibrahim, Namiq, Saddam Hussein, Namiq’s, Ryam Ziad, Ziad Khedr, Hassan Kashmoula, Ryam, Mustafa Anwar, Khedr’s, ‘ neutralised, Nidal Mahmoud, Khedr's, ” Mahmoud Organizations: Turkish, Turkish Defence Ministry, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, European Union, Syrian Democratic Forces, Islamic, Turkey’s Defence Ministry, Reuters, Anadolu, Human Rights, Defence Ministry, Unit, Justice, United Nations Human, NATO, Pentagon, ISIS, ., Coalition, United Nations, Mission, Middle East Security, Center, New, New American Security, Military, Islamic State, Tuta, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, SDF, ” Reuters, International Crisis Group, Crisis, “ Locations: Iraq’s, Sinjar, Turkish, Saado, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Ankara, Northern Iraq, United States, PKK, U.S, Islamic State, Skeiniya, Germany, Turkish Government, Washington, New American, ”, Iran, Istanbul, Gaziantep province, Sabah, Europe, Greece, Iraq’s Sulaimaniya, Kurdish, Tuta, Ibrahim, Chamchamal, Chicago, Mosul, Iranian, Khedr

☆ A fire at a wedding hall in northern Iraq kills at least 100 people and injures 150, authorities say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

People look at the aftermath of a fire that broke out during a wedding at an event hall in Al-Hamdaniyah, Iraq on September 27, 2023. At least 100 people were killed and more than 150 injured when a fire broke out during a wedding at an event hall in the northern Iraqi town of Hamdaniyah, state media and health officials said. A fire that raced through a hall hosting a Christian wedding in northern Iraq killed at least 100 people and injured 150 others, authorities said Wednesday, warning the death toll could rise. Television footage showed flames rushing over the wedding hall as the fire took hold. Health Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr earlier put the number of injured at 150 via the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

Persons: That's, Saif al, Badr Organizations: Health, Iraqi News Agency Locations: Al, Hamdaniyah, Iraq, Iraq's Nineveh, Mosul, Baghdad, Nineveh

Then, they said, the voluminous bunting on the ceiling quickly caught fire, and the electricity almost immediately turned off, for reasons that were not clear. “When the lights went out, people didn’t know where to go and started hitting the chairs and tables and started falling on the ground,” said Ghazwan Ibrahim, one of the wedding guests. “I searched the hospitals in Mosul, I went to the forensic medicine center, and still I have not found them,” he said. “The roof caught fire within three seconds, and the fire was very big,” he said. “I helped, like, seven or eight people, but I couldn’t help more because I was choking from the smoke and my eyes were stinging and streaming.”

Persons: ”, Ghazwan Ibrahim, ” Mr, Ibrahim, “, Gorges Yohana Locations: Mosul

☆ Russia and Ukraine are fighting the kind of drone war the US military has been worrying about, and it's scrambling to prepare for a future that's already here
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Christopher Woody | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The scale of the drone war in Ukraine is one of the most striking features of the conflict. "ISIS figured out how to arm their drones and attack us either with 'kamikaze' explosive-laden drones or drones that dropped" modified munitions, Townsend said. Soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment train on an Avenger air-defense system in in July. In 2018, the Army reactivated the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, returning a short-range-air-defense capability to Europe. AdvertisementAdvertisement"The war is showing how much [drones are] here and are affecting the war every day.

Persons: Ukraine isn't, Mara Karlin, wasn't, Karlin, that's, John Moore, Stephen Townsend, Townsend, Frank McKenzie, MAHMOUD TAHA, I've, Syria —, Richard Clarke, Clarke, Tom Karako, " McKenzie, McKenzie, Maj, Sean Gainey, Gainey, FADEL SENNA, Douglas Bush, Bush, they've, Col, Michael Parent, Narciso Contreras, Parent Organizations: Pentagon, Service, Defense Writers, US Marine, US Army, US Africa Command, ISIS, Getty, Army, US Special, Command, Aspen Security Conference, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Patriot, —, US Air Force, Congressional Research Service, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Spc, Yesenia, Asymmetric Warfare Group, Battalion, Stryker, Washington DC, Marine Corps, US Army Yuma, US, Anadolu Agency, Pacific . The Defense Department Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mosul, Syria, Homs, Europe, Washington, Russian, Kyiv, Russia, Lviv Oblast, China, Pacific

[1/2] A view of rubble that remains at the site of the historic Siraji Mosque that was demolished for the expansion for a road in Basra, Iraq July 16, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed AtyBASRA, Iraq July 16 (Reuters) - The demolition on Friday of a 300-year-old minaret of a mosque in Iraq's southern city of Basra to make way for road expansion has enraged locals, religious and cultural authorities who condemned it as a further erosion of Iraq's cultural heritage. Built in 1727, the 11-metre (36 ft) Siraji minaret and its mosque were toppled by a bulldozer at dawn on Friday morning, its brown mud-brick spire with turquoise ornaments disappearing in a cloud of dust. Basra resident Majed al Husseini said, standing by the rubble of the mosque. The Sunni endowment did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment.

Persons: Mohammed Aty BASRA, Majed al Husseini, Ahmed al, Badrani, Mosul's Al, Nuri, Basra Governor Asaad Al Eidani, Mohammed Munla, Munla, Timour Azhari, Emelia Sithole Organizations: REUTERS, Islamic, Reuters, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Basra, Iraq, Iraq's, Mesopotamia, Islamic State, Baghdad, Basra Governor

"I was a little hesitant coming as a American, like 'Oh my god my government did really bad things here. Tourists "are messengers who tell these states that Iraq has returned to being a safe country and is not a red line as some say. 'DO NOT TRAVEL'The U.S. and European countries still warn against any travel to Iraq due to security concerns. The U.S. State Department website says: "Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest". Few of the ancient ruins that dot the country have signs describing their significance, nor accredited tour guides.

Persons: Anna Nikolaevna, Jacob Nemec, Imam Ali, Alaa, Marjani, Jacob Nemec's, Nemec, Ahmed Fakak Al, Badrani, Al, General Abdel, Karim Sudani, Ali Hilal, Hilal, Timour Azhari, Maher Nazeh, Ahmed Saeed, Khalid al, Ros Russell Organizations: REUTERS, Islamic, Tourism, Reuters, Foreign, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Russian, American, Najaf, Iraq, Marjani BAGHDAD, Reno , Nevada, Iran, U.S, Baghdad, Europe, United States, British, Babylon, Mosul, West, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Ali, Canada, Babil, Mousily

☆ Iraq invites foreign bids for 11 gas blocks in new areas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 18 (Reuters) - Iraq on Sunday invited foreign companies to bid for contracts to explore and develop natural gas reserves in 11 new blocks as the OPEC member seeks to produce much-needed natural gas for power stations and cut imports that weigh on the country's budget. Iraq's oil ministry has ended preparation to launch a sixth bidding round to auction off the gas blocks, the ministry said, without setting a date for the bidding process. Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, flares much of its own gas, extracted alongside crude oil at its fields, because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel and instead uses Iranian power imports to generate electricity. Baghdad has been under pressure from the United States to reduce its reliance on gas imports from Iran. Reporting by Hatem Maher and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: OPEC’s, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Sunday, OPEC, Thomson Locations: Iraq, Anbar, Mosul, Naja, Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, United States, Iran

☆ Opinion | Who Should We Honor on Memorial Day?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Kayla M. Williams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

While I worked in signals intelligence in Iraq, my friend Alyssa Peterson worked in human intelligence. In 2020, more than 6,100 veterans died by suicide. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, better known as the Wall, is inscribed with over 58,000 names of Americans who died in or supporting combat, or within 120 days of injuries or illnesses incurred in the combat zone. Their names will not be inscribed on the Wall, though the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is seeking to memorialize them in other ways. I will forever mourn and honor her, too, among our war dead this and every Memorial Day, whether or not her name is ever inscribed on a list of those killed in the global war on terrorism.

☆ ‘Antigone in the Amazon’ Review: The Drama Is Brazil’s Land War
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Laura Cappelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Arriving after so much political action, the play feels like an afterthought. In “Antigone in the Amazon,” two Flemish actors from NTGent, Sara De Bosschere and Arne De Tremerie, address the audience at regular intervals, explaining the tricky process of making the show and the ethical issues it raised. At one point, they are shown onscreen performing a scene from “Antigone” for the residents of a remote Amazonian village, who sit in a circle around them. I occasionally wondered the same thing about “Antigone in the Amazon.” Still, it is a more balanced, effective production than “Orestes.” Two Brazilian performers, Frederico Araujo and Pablo Casella, join the Flemish cast onstage. A third, the Indigenous activist Kay Sara, was supposed to join them and play Antigone, but we are told early in the show that she had “decided to go back home, with her people.”

☆ Factbox: Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

BAGHDAD, March 15 (Reuters) - Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. - U.S. President George W. Bush referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his State of the Union Address. - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly. - Saddam Hussein on first day of invasion. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," - Bush.

☆ U.S.-led Iraq war ushered in years of chaos and conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A general view of Tahrir square as demonstrators take part during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 5, 2019. Here is a look at some of the violence, including suicide bombings and beheadings, that has plagued Iraq, a major OPEC oil producer and key U.S. ally, since the 2003 war. * March 20, 2003 - U.S.-led forces invade Iraq from Kuwait to oust Saddam Hussein. * October 2004 - Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi starts waging bloody attacks designed to turn majority Shi’ite Muslims against minority Sunnis in a civil war. * January 2007 - Bush announces a new war strategy including a “surge” of U.S. troops into Iraq to combat the insurgency.

☆ Ericsson pleads guilty in U.S. to federal bribery violations, agrees to pay $206 million penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson agreed to pay a $206 million penalty and pleaded guilty to violating the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday evening. Additionally, the company paid about $540 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also allegedly failed to disclose possible evidence of a similar scheme in Iraq. "Instead of honoring that commitment, Ericsson repeatedly failed to fully cooperate and failed to disclose evidence and allegations of misconduct in breach of the agreement." In a release, Ericsson said its own internal investigation "did not conclude that Ericsson made or was responsible for any payments to any terrorist organization."

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