Guilty of Journalism: Three journalists working for the Al-Jazeera English news network today were convicted by an Egyptian court of terrorism related charges and sentenced to seven years in prison. The three, including an Australian, a Canadian Egyptian, and an Egyptian, were arrested last December in the hotel room they were using as a base to cover political protests in the streets. Reporters who attended the trial said no evidence was presented to support the charges. The managing director of Al-Jazeera English said, “To have detained them for 177 days is an outrage. To have sentenced them defies logic, sense, and any semblance of justice.”

The Caliphate: Sunni militants took two more border crossings yesterday, one into Syria and one to Jordan. They have also captured the strategically important airport in the northern town of Tal Afar. The militants now control a lacework of territory from the far north of Iraq to south of Baghdad. They surround Baghdad itself. Like-minded militants also control a portion of neighboring Syria, allowing passage of fighters and weapons through the newly captured border posts. Secy. of State John Kerry is in Iraq pressuring Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to form a more inclusive government.

World at War: BokoHaram militants have struck again, raiding two villages in northern Nigeria over the weekend and killing dozens of people. Witnesses said the Islamic militants went on a six hour shooting spree, setting fire to homes and hunting down people who fled into the bush.

> Israel struck nine Syrian military targets yesterday in retaliation for a cross-border attack that that killed an Arab-Israeli teenager and wounded two others. The incident happened in the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria in 1973.

Beaver Tales: Three Canadian jail inmates who escaped by helicopter this month have been re-captured at a house in Montreal. The three had been awaiting trial on murder and drug charges when they were picked up June 7 by a helicopter that landed in the prison yard. Police say more arrests are expected.

Futebol: The US was on the brink of an upset and advancing to the next round of the World Cup soccer tournament when Portugal scored with seconds on the clock, tying the game 2-2. The US is part of the first round “Group of Death,” named for its stiff competition. The game was four and a half minutes into added time when Portugal’s brilliant Christiano Ronaldo fired a setup to Silvestre Varelo, who scored with a header.The Americans must now beat or at least tie Germany to advance.

Fire in a Crowded Theater: The St. Louis Post Dispatch has dropped conservative writer George Will after publishing his column in which he described sexual victimhood as “a coveted status” on college campuses. His essay raised an uproar and the paper decided to drop him. Will said college campuses are “making everyone hypersensitive, even delusional, about victimizations.” He should not have been dumped for asking questions, which is what a journalist should do. But by some tortured logic Will draws a line between sexual assault and “the regulatory state that progressivism celebrates.” If for no other reason, he should have been fired for using the word “progressivism” in an essay about rape.

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