Iraq Shiite militias parade in cities BAGHDAD, June 21, (Agencies): Thousands of heavily-armed Shiite militiamen paraded through several Iraqi cities Saturday as Sunni militants seized two strategically located towns in what appeared to be a new offensive in western Anbar province. The capture of the two towns — Qaim on …

KHAMENEI REJECTS U.S. HAND…ROUHANI WARNS GULF BAGHDAD, June 22, (Agencies): Sunni militants advanced through west Iraq after seizing a strategic Syria border crossing, as US Secretary of State John Kerry called Sunday for the country’s leaders to rise above sectarianism. The latest assaults saw the security forces making “tactical” withdrawals …

Statues of poets removed BAGHDAD, June 22, (AFP): In the two weeks since it was seized by Sunni militants, some residents of the northern Iraq city of Mosul feel the clock has been turned back hundreds of years. The militants, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant …