Iraq: Government forces appear to have at least temporarily blunted the march of Sunni Islamic militants headed toward Baghdad. Counter attacks by troops for the Shiite led government have actually reclaimed a little territory, the army claims. An Iraqi military spokesman said that government forces have retaken the initiative in the fight.

This crisis has been brewing for years. The group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria wants to carve a new Islamic state out of a portion of Iraq and neighboring Syria. They immediately executed some police and government workers in territory they took in northern Iraq as they imposed a brutal new Islamic regime. Photos posted online purport to show ISIS gunmen executing dozens of Iraqi soldiers.

Iran, an old enemy of Iraq, said it would send weapons, and advisors, but not troops, to help the Baghdad government. The US is moving an aircraft carrier, a guided-missile cruiser and a guided-missile destroyer, into the area, the Pentagon said.

Ukraine: Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko vowed to retaliate for the downing of a military transport by pro-Russia’s separatists that killed 49 people in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine. Poroshenko said in a statement, “Ukraine needs peace. However, the terrorists will receive an adequate response.”

At the same time, the war of words with Russia escalated. Russia claims Ukraine did nothing to stop a violent protest outside Russia’s embassy in Kiev. Windows were smashed and the Russian flag ripped down.

World: Three Israeli teenagers are believed to have been kidnapped from an area of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the prime minister has told security forces to use “all measures” to get them back. The government says it was members of that Palestinian group Hamas that may have snatched the kids. The Israelis have arrested at least 80 people in a broad sweep to recover the three teenagers.

The Obit Page: Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll, who created the famous “Steel Curtain” defense and led his team to four Super Bowl wins in six seasons, died at age 82. Under Noll, the Steelers won only one game in his first season, but he went on to become the only NFL coach to win four Super Bowls.

Free the Press: Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier serving 35 years for handing 70,000 secret documents to Wikileaks, writes in the NY Times that the American military has controlled news coverage of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance,” Manning writes. He says reporters are vetted and selected by the military for favorable coverage. Manning says, “Too often, this creates reporting that flatters senior decision makers. A result is that the American public’s access to the facts is gutted, which leaves them with no way to evaluate the conduct of American officials.”

The Ivory Trade: One of Kenya’s few legendary elephants, a “tusker” known as Satao, has been found dead and mutilated for his Ivory. A tusker is an elephant whose tusks are so long they almost reach the ground, and there are only about a dozen of them. Researchers say the 45-year-old Satao was killed with a poison arrow. He was a popular attraction at Tsavo National Park in the country’s southeast.As many as 20,000 African elephants were killed for their ivory last year.

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