Islamic State

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Syria Likely Gassed Civilians 8 Times in April: UN

Independent commission also says country is plagued by 'crimes against humanity'

(Newser) - The Assad regime likely used chlorine gas eight times on its own people in northern Syria villages in April, according to a report released today by an independent UN commission, the AP reports. The report also indicates that the Syrian people have been besieged by crimes against humanity at the...

ISIS Holding American Woman, 26

Islamic State demands $7M ransom

(Newser) - The same militants who beheaded James Foley are holding a 26-year-old American woman hostage and demanding $6.6 million for her freedom, reports ABC News . The woman has not been identified at the request of her family and US officials, reports AP . She is identified only as a humanitarian relief...

American Killed Fighting for ISIS: Report

NBC: Douglas McCain, 33, of San Diego died in Syria battle

(Newser) - A 33-year-old American has reportedly been killed while fighting for Islamic State militants over the weekend in Syria, reports NBC News , citing photos of the man's passport and body—which has a distinctive tattoo—and confirmation via an activist with the Free Syrian Army. The man in question is...

Eye on ISIS, US Begins Flights Over Syria

Regime warns against striking ISIS without its consent

(Newser) - Less than a year after President Obama made the case for striking Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria , the US now appears poised for strikes on one of the regime's opponents. Obama authorized manned and unmanned surveillance flights over Syria over the weekend to gather intelligence on ISIS militants,...

PlayStation, XBox Services Hacked; Tweet Points to ISIS

Sony exec's plane diverted over threat

(Newser) - Multiple major gaming networks faced technical trouble this weekend, and reports suggest hackers are to blame. Sony's PlayStation Network was down yesterday; Microsoft's Xbox Live and Blizzard's Battle.net were among other services apparently affected, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, a Sony executive was threatened in the air:...

Rapper Eyed in Beheading of James Foley

UK intelligence said to have found a suspect

(Newser) - British officials say they've identified the ex-pat who beheaded James Foley but won't yet release his name, the Sunday Times reports. Investigators narrowed the case down to four suspects—including a British doctor's brother and an ex-gang member who went to Syria—but UK rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel...

Kidnapped US Journalist Freed: Report

Peter Theo Curtis was taken in Turkey in 2012

(Newser) - American journalist Peter Theo Curtis, who was kidnapped in Turkey the month before James Foley went missing in 2012, has been released and is currently in the custody of United Nations representatives. Curtis, a Boston native abducted as he prepared to cross the border into Syria, was set free today...

Rogers: ISIS a 'Plane Ticket Away' From US Attack

Graham: Militants aren't 'the JV team anymore'

(Newser) - Mike Rogers dropped a dire prediction this morning, contending that the Islamic State militants currently rampaging through Iraq "are one plane ticket away from US shores " and that an attack "is a very real threat." Continued the House Intelligence Committee chair: "There’s no mulligans...

US Considers Military Action in Syria

White House signals that a range of options being considered

(Newser) - The first signal came earlier this week, in the wake of the James Foley execution , when Joint Chiefs chairman Martin Dempsey said Islamic State militants could not be defeated without taking the fight to them in Syria . Now the White House is considering doing exactly that, according to reports in...

Foley's Dad: 'Did Not Realize How Brutal They Were'

Parents still had hope even after last email

(Newser) - The last email that the captors of James Foley sent to his parents condemned the US airstrikes in Iraq and said Foley would be executed in retaliation. But his parents were actually happy to get the message on Aug. 12 because they had heard nothing at all in eight months...

Foley's Parents Release Last Email From Captors

Pope Francis calls to console family

(Newser) - James Foley's Catholic parents received a call from Pope Francis himself yesterday to console them on the gruesome death of their son. The pontiff was "very compassionate, very loving," and spoke to the New Hampshire couple through a translator for around 20 minutes, a family friend tells...

Ex-Hostage: 'John' the Jihadist Beheaded James Foley

Hostages dubbed captors 'the Beatles' because of UK accents

(Newser) - A former hostage says he went by the name "John." Now the FBI and British intelligence are trying to identify the UK-born jihadist who led a group of captors in Syria and likely beheaded James Foley. "John" was a smart, educated, fervent believer in radical Islam, an...

Pentagon: To Get ISIS, We'd Have to Strike Syria

Chuck Hagel calls Islamic State 'beyond anything we've seen'

(Newser) - In a Pentagon briefing today, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said US airstrikes have helped Iraqi and Kurdish forces regain their footing in Iraq, but he expects Islamic State militants will regroup and stage a new offensive. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said it's possible to contain the Islamic...

Coming to Netflix: Documentary Filmed by James Foley

He shot scenes for E-Team before disappearance

(Newser) - Before disappearing in Syria in 2012, American journalist James Foley wrapped filming on a documentary called E-Team, which earned rave reviews at this year's Sundance Film Festival, reports the Daily Beast . The film focuses on Human Rights Watch's Emergencies Team, which documents war crimes firsthand. Rolling after the...

Special Forces Tried to Rescue Foley

US troops landed in Syria, but hostages weren't there

(Newser) - It was nearly a happy ending for James Foley . US special forces mounted a secret rescue mission in Syria this summer to free Foley and other Americans, but the hostages were nowhere to be found, reports the Washington Post . Several dozen US troops landed at the unspecified location and engaged...

Obama on Foley: We Will 'See That Justice Is Done'

Visibly angry, president vows Islamic State 'has no place in 21st century'

(Newser) - The "entire world is appalled" by Jim Foley's execution at the hands of the Islamic State, President Obama said today in a seething statement in which he vowed to "do what is necessary to see that justice is done." He took square aim at the terror...

Beheaded US Journalist 'Drawn Back to' Conflict

James Foley's mother begs ISIS to free other hostages

(Newser) - The mother of the American journalist beheaded by ISIS has urged the militant group to free other Americans it has threatened to kill. "We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people,"...

Islamic State Says It Executed US Journalist

American James Foley is reportedly beheaded

(Newser) - The terror group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, claims to have beheaded American photojournalist James Foley in retaliation for US airstrikes in Iraq, reports the Washington Post and NBC News . A graphic video purports to show Foley, 40, being executed after reciting a statement in which he refers...

US Hit 90 Targets in Mosul Dam Fight: Pentagon

President calls recapture of dam a 'major step forward'

(Newser) - President Obama hailed the recapture of Mosul dam today as a "major step forward" as a barrage of US airstrikes helped Kurdish and Iraqi forces score the biggest victory of its counteroffensive against the Islamic State militants. Obama also urged the badly fractured and largely dysfunctional Iraqi government to...

Pope Backs Action in Iraq, Wants UN OK

Pontiff says Islamic State militants must be stopped

(Newser) - Pope Francis, the guy probably least likely on the planet to come out in favor of military action, today did precisely that, telling reporters aboard his plane that he had no problem with the use of force to stop Islamic State militants in Iraq from slaughtering the Yazidi minority. "...

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