World: Sunni militants in Iraq have taken over the northern city of Tikrit, the hometown of the late dictator Saddam Hussein, and are on the move toward Baghdad as government troops crumble in their path. Their aim is to establish an Islamic state. The government is controlled by the Shiite majority and the Sunni are the sect of Saddam Hussein. The militants are threatening to blow up a major Shiite shrine about 70 miles from Baghdad if the government troops don’t surrender the capital city.

Kurdish forces have stepped in and taken the oil producing city of Kirkuk, establishing a blocking position against the Islamists.

The attackers are part of a group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which is also fighting the regime in Syria. Their territorial grab in Iraq has turned it into a wider regional war. The US so far has refused to get involved, declining the Iraqi government’s appeal for air support.

Aftershocks: House Republican majority leader Eric Cantor announced he will step down from his position July 31 after his stunning defeat in the Virginia Republican primary. It gives the Republicans a chance to install new leadership before Cantor leaves Congress at the end of the year. Cantor was trounced by Tea Party economics professor Eric Brat, who convinced voters Cantor was ignoring his constituents while seeking more power in the big game.

Brat has the support of conservative radio hosts Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin, who together reach 10 million listeners a week. In a recent speech to Brat supporters, Ingraham suggested that instead of trading five Taliban for POW Bowe Bergdahl, President Obama should have traded Eric Cantor.

The fall matchup now pits professor against professor. Both Brat and his Democratic opponent Jack Trammell are professors at Virginia’s Randolph Macon-College. It could get nastier than a faculty meeting.

Nation: The gunman in Tuesday’s shooting at an Oregon high school was a 15-year-old armed with an assault rifle and semi-automatic handgun. He killed a 14-year-old freshman and wounded a teacher before killing himself.

> One priest was killed and another injured in an apparent burglary at the living quarters of a Catholic Church in Phoenix. A car stolen from church grounds was recovered later, but no arrests have been made.

Jet Lag Cup: The Los Angeles Kings march to a Stanley Cup sweep was stopped in New York last night as the Rangers won 2-1 at Madison Square Garden. The Kings lead the series 3-1 with the next game tomorrow in Los Angeles.

Oh God: New York Catholics have been presented with the revelation that the late Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor was Jewish. Born in 1920, O’Connor was Archbishop of New York from 1984 until he died in 2000. O’Connor’s mother was Jewish, the daughter of a rabbi, and under Jewish tradition that made the Catholic Cardinal Jewish as well. The family heritage was discovered by O’Connor’s 87-year-old sister. Their mother, a devout Catholic, apparently didn’t tell the kids much about the family lineage.

Late at the Office: The DEA and NYPD have busted a ring of strippers who drugged rich guys and ran up the tab on their credit cards. The strippers picked up men in bars, drugged them, then drove them to the NY clubs Scores in Manhattan and RoadHouse in Queens. Four victims were tapped for at least $200,000 for private rooms, meals, drinks and “other” services. When asked about it the victims said, “Don’t wait up for me, honey, I’m swamped with work.”

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