• News Wrap: Iraqi parliament delays session amid political impasse

    News Wrap: Iraqi parliament delays session amid political impasse

    Jul 07, 2014 11:11 PM EDT

    ... bombed as a cargo train passed over. Amid the fighting, Russia pressed again today for a new cease-fire in Ukraine. The political stalemate in Iraq will go on, as the government battles Islamist militants who've seized a large portion of the country. The new parliament today delayed its ...

  • Islamic State militant leader makes apparent rare appearance in Iraq

    Islamic State militant leader makes apparent rare appearance in Iraq

    Jul 05, 2014 10:25 PM EDT

    ... JOHN LARSON: From Iraq tonight, word of the first public appearance by the man behind the recent offensive by Islamic extremists who have captured towns in northern Iraq and western Iraq and declared a caliphate, or Islamic state. For more about that and the counteroffensive by Iraqi government forces ...

  • News Wrap: Iraqi government reports gains against ISIL

    News Wrap: Iraqi government reports gains against ISIL

    Jul 04, 2014 11:17 PM EDT

    ... today on two battlefields. They recaptured the village of Awja, the birthplace of the former dictator Saddam Hussein. And they made headway in taking back Iraq's largest oil refinery in Baiji. Government airstrikes there killed up to 30 insurgents. Also today, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to ...

  • News Wrap: Gen. Dempsey plays down prospects for major U.S. action in Iraq

    News Wrap: Gen. Dempsey plays down prospects for major U.S. action in Iraq

    Jul 03, 2014 11:16 PM EDT

    ... storm warnings were posted for Nantucket Island and Cape Cod. The top U.S. military commander played down prospects today for major American action in Iraq. Several hundred U.S. advisers have deployed to help Iraqi forces fight Sunni militants of the Islamic State, or ISIL. But the chairman of ...

  • Dempsey: Iraqi forces can defend Baghdad

    Dempsey: Iraqi forces can defend Baghdad

    Jul 03, 2014 05:29 PM EDT

    WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Iraqi security forces are capable of defending Baghdad but are unable to act unilaterally to launch an offensive to seize back territory occupied by a Sunni insurgent group. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey tells reporters the Iraqi forces are stronger around ...

  • Kurdish official: ‘We don’t want to stay within an Iraq that has failed’

    Kurdish official: ‘We don’t want to stay within an Iraq that has failed’

    Jul 02, 2014 07:27 PM EDT

    ... Bakir. The full interview will air on Wednesday’s PBS NewsHour. Kurdish Foreign Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir said Wednesday that the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq is "determined to go ahead with the referendum" for independence because Iraq has failed politically. “We don’t want to stay within an Iraq ...

  • Seeking unity amid crisis, Iraqi parliament fails to agree on Maliki replacement

    Seeking unity amid crisis, Iraqi parliament fails to agree on Maliki replacement

    Jul 01, 2014 11:50 PM EDT

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: The United Nations reported today that 2,400 Iraqis were killed in the month of June, making it the deadliest month in that country since 2007. Meanwhile, in Baghdad today, desperate hopes for political unity were dashed, as there more signs throughout Iraq showing a nation pulling ...

  • No image

    More US troops to Iraq, raising total to about 750

    Jul 01, 2014 01:30 PM EDT

    ... deployment to Iraq earlier in June. Of those 300, about 180 had arrived as of Monday, the Pentagon said. They are assessing the state of Iraqi security forces and coordinating with Iraqi authorities. The U.S. also has a permanent group of about 100 military personnel in the Office of ...

  • News Wrap: Sunni extremists declare new Islamic state in Iraq and Syria

    News Wrap: Sunni extremists declare new Islamic state in Iraq and Syria

    Jun 30, 2014 11:18 PM EDT

    ... Militants in Gaza struck back by firing rockets. There was celebration and condemnation today after Sunni extremists declared a new Muslim state, or caliphate, in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, also known as ISIS, made the announcement on Sunday. Jonathan Rugman of ...

  • Will an alternative to prime minister Maliki emerge in Iraq?

    Will an alternative to prime minister Maliki emerge in Iraq?

    Jun 27, 2014 11:41 PM EDT

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: Earlier today, Iraq's top Shiite cleric stepped up pressure on politicians to agree on the Iraq's next prime minister by Tuesday, as Nouri al-Maliki continues to lose the confidence of former allies in the fight against ISIL militants. Rod Nordland has been reporting on ...