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Someone calling themselves "Pro_Mast3r" managed to deface a server associated with President Donald Trump's presidential campaign fundraising on Sunday, The server, secure2.donaldjtrump.com, is behind Cloudflare's content management and security platform, and does not appear to be directly linked from the Trump Pence campaign's home page. But it does appear to be an actual Trump campaign serverits certificate is legitimate, but a reference to an image on another site is insecure, prompting a warning on Chrome and Firefox that the connection is not secure.

The page, now displaying an image of a man in a fedora, displays the following text:

Hacked By Pro_Mast3r ~ Attacker Gov Nothing Is Impossible Peace From Iraq

The source code contains a link to javascript on a now-nonexistent Google Code account, masterendi, previously associated with the hacking of at least three other websites. As Italian IT journalist Paolo Attivissimo pointed out,an archive of the script shows it to be a snow animation script, not malware.

Ars reached out to both Cloudflare and the Trump-Pence campaign team for comment. As more information becomes available, we'll update this report.

[Update 4:00 pm Eastern Time] The server is now offline.

Originally posted here:
Secure Trump website defaced by hacker claiming to be from Iraq ... - Ars Technica

Erbil, 19 February 2017 Youth are key to the future of coexistence in Iraq and reconciliation would be incomplete without their input into the process, the United Nations stressed at the itinerary youth forum Iraq: Youth and Coexistence which stopped in Erbil on Saturday, 18 February 2017 on the second of a series of cross-country events.

About 140 youth in the age group of 18-35 hailing from the governorates of Ninewa, Dohouk and Erbil participated in the Erbil leg of the forum, which was organized by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) with the collaboration of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association. The aim of the series of forums is to give a voice to youth for its crucial role in charting the road to peaceful co-existence in a future Iraq. It is also significant opportunity for the young generation of Iraqis across different backgrounds to deliberate post-conflict issues, engage on national reconciliation and voice their opinion.

The Erbil forum represented added value for including the displaced from Ninewa.

This meeting carries deep significance, as it denotes fraternity among people in Iraqs cities and regions, and it represents an important indication that the youth of Ninewa and its population, who have fallen under the cruelty of extremism and terrorism, actually have a desire to live in co-existence and peace, said Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Iraq for Political and Electoral Affairs, Mr. Gyrgy Busztin, in the opening remarks.

The significance of input from the youth, who constitute the majority of Iraqs population, was stressed again.

You are the future of this country and the ones who are responsible for formulating its image in the days to come, therefore, any initiative for reconciliation and coexistence should include your view points. Otherwise, such initiatives would be deficient.

Mr. Busztin went on to present the significance of the participation of the youth in nation-building. As the beating heart, spirit and conscience of the nation, he added, youth are the guarantee for engendering and maintaining co-existence in this country.

The Erbil forum is the second of eight cross-country forums. The first was launched in Basra on 28 January 2017 and brought together about 120 participants from the four southern governorates of Basra, Missan, Dhi Qar and Muthanna. Other conferences are to follow in the governorates of Salaheddin, Najaf, Diyala, Kirkuk, Suleimaniyah and Baghdad, culminating in an overarching national conference in Baghdad in May to be attended by representatives of the youth to incorporate recommendations from these forums in the decisions that support the process of reconciliation and coexistence.

As with the format for all the conferences, the participants in the Erbil forum broke up into working groups to deliberate and respond to questions about what they would like to see in a future Iraq and how they can contribute. At the end of the meeting, the participants debated their responses and adopted a set of recommendations.

For more information, please contact: Mr. Samir Ghattas, Director of Public Information/Spokesperson United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Phone: +964 790 193 1281, Email: ghattass@un.org or the UNAMI Public Information Office: unami-information@un.org

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UN Says Iraq Youth Key to Future Reconciliation, as Iraq: Youth and Coexistence Cross-Country Forum Makes Stop ... - ReliefWeb

Los Angeles Times

Iraq begins battle to free western Mosul from IS BBC News The men of Iraq's Emergency Response Division, police special forces are leading the attack. Their targets are three IS held villages to the south of west Mosul. They are trying to gain the high ground from IS, which will give them sight of the city's ... Iraq launches offensive to recapture western Mosul from Islamic StateLos Angeles Times Iraq launches offensive on last Islamic State stronghold in MosulReuters Iraq Starts Offensive to Retake Western Mosul From ISISNew York Times The Guardian -Washington Post all 324 news articles »

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Iraq begins battle to free western Mosul from IS - BBC News

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 18, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes consisting of 19 engagements against ISIS targets in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

-- Near Bab, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Shadaddi, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a tactical vehicle and a weapons cache.

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; damaged a bridge , and destroyed 70 oil barrels, three oil storage tanks, three fighting positions, two oil refinement stills and a weapons storage area.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed five oil wellheads.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 35 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building and a fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; damaged 11 supply routes; suppressed five mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit; and destroyed eight front-end loaders, four excavators, three watercraft, an ISIS-held building and a barge.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is a strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIS to use.

Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIS terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIS' ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq > U.S. ... - Department of Defense

BAGHDAD Iraq's oil reserves have increased to 153 billion barrels, from a previous estimate of 143 billion barrels, Oil Minister Jabal al-Luaibi said on Sunday.

Iraq will ask the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to adopt the new figure as the official estimate for its reserves, he said in a statement.

The increased estimate is the result of appraisals and exploration carried out at seven oil fields in central and southern Iraq, he said.

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Potter)

MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will review his minister's order to close more than half the country's mines for environmental violations, following an outcry from affected producers.

DUBAI Iran expects its oil production to reach 4 million barrels per day by mid-April, and plans to drill 500 new wells over the next five years to raise output to 4.7 million bpd, a senior oil official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

SHANGHAI China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea starting Feb. 19, the country's commerce ministry said in a notice posted on its website on Saturday, as part of its efforts to implement United Nations sanctions against the country.

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Iraq's oil reserves increase to 153 billion barrels, oil minister says - Reuters