IRAQ

The statement Thursday from Secretary of State John Kerry regarding atrocities committed in the war-torn countries is the first time the U.S. has used the genocide designation since 2004.

The officer could face disciplinary action for a controversial Facebook post that was seen to incite violence against Muslims.

A petition argued that graduation speakers should be inspirational, and Kotb “spends her time sipping wine on talk shows.”

Bulgaria is worried an EU-Turkey deal will shift the illegal smuggling route onto its territory and do little to stem the influx of people fleeing conflict.

The six men were accused of handing over sensitive information to the Iraqi military, which has besieged the city in recent months.

A spokesperson for U.S. military operations said a very small number of Russian jets have withdrawn, while ground forces are still fighting.

Iraqi officials said the plane went down due to “technical problems,” but ISIS claims to have shot it down with an anti-aircraft missile.

With growing threats in the region and a shrinking population, Japan is expanding positions for women in the defense forces.

The move comes as Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries have been called upon to more actively take on the Islamic State group.

Recent instability in the country, including Sunday’s deadly bombing in Ankara, has some investors rethinking their plans.

Major oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela have proposed freezing their output to January levels, but the global excess is still at least 1 million barrels a day.

The Islamic State group has been losing its grip on territory and increasingly leaning on child soldiers, a U.S. spokesman said Monday.

Mohammad Javad Zarif defended the tests conducted last week, saying that the weapons were just for self-defense.

House representatives also voted for a resolution calling on the White House to urge the U.N. Security Council to set up a Syrian war crimes tribunal.

Nearly 500,000 people have been killed, and more than half the population of 22 million has been displaced.

The conflict in Syria, which has displaced millions and destabilized the Middle East, began in March 2011 after anti-government protests turned violent.

Despite the global oversupply, Iran has accelerated production as it seeks to recover the output it lost under Western sanctions.

Muhammad Jamal Amin, 27, reportedly said he was a defector from the Islamic State group.

The death toll from Sunday’s attack in Ankara rose to 37 and security officials said that one of the two suspected attackers was a female member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Yazidi women who escaped captivity told the New York Times that their captors used several forms of contraceptives to ensure they did not get pregnant.

Iran is negotiating with Germany’s Siemens and U.S. company General Electric over oil and gas equipment, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Sunday.