The Latest: Pope meets father of drowned Syrian refugee boy
Following a Mass on Sunday in the Iraqi city of Irbil, Francis met with Abdullah Kurdi and spent a long time with him, the Vatican said. Through an interpreter, the pope listened to Kurdiโs story and expressed sympathy for the loss of his family. Francis issued the appeal during a joyful visit to the Christian community of Qaraqosh, on the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq. Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako said Francisโ visit to Iraq was โmiraculousโ and had already borne fruits. AdChristian and Muslim leaders in Mosul have welcomed Pope Francis' visit to the Iraqi city devastated by war and are calling on Christians who fled the Islamic State group's onslaught to return.
Bloomberg, Trump detail campaign ads to air on Super Bowl
Trump and Bloomberg will broadcast dueling ads during Sunday's NFL championship game, with each campaign spending an estimated $10 million on 60 seconds of airtime. Trump's campaign will air two ads during the game, both 30 seconds long. One, released Thursday, highlights Trump's record, especially on the economy, citing continued wage growth and the record low unemployment rate. โJust as the Super Bowl crowns the greatest football team, nothing says โwinningโ like President Donald Trump and his stellar record of accomplishment for all Americans,โ Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. Trumpโs campaign has set fundraising records, with $46 million raised in the last quarter of 2019 alone.
Wife of dead ISIS leader Baghdadi captured by Turkey
(CNN) - A wife and daughter of former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were among a group of ISIS suspects detained by Turkish police in June 2018, after weeks of round-the-clock surveillance, a senior Turkish official has said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan first announced Wednesday that Baghdadi's wife had been captured. The senior Turkish official said the woman was Asma Fawzi Muhammad Al-Qubaysi, Baghdadi's first wife. At that point, she volunteered a lot of information about Baghdadi and the inner workings of ISIS," the senior official said. A senior Turkish official shared an image of Awad's falsified identity card exclusively with CNN.
ISIS names new leader as it confirms Baghdadi's death
(CNN) - ISIS confirmed the death of former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and named his replacement in an audio message on Thursday. In the recording, published on the terrorist group's media wing al-Furqan, ISIS announced its new leader as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. Thursday's message was voiced by ISIS' new spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qarshi. Baghdadi's death marked the end of a years-long hunt to find one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. In April, a video published by the ISIS media wing al-Furqan showed a man purporting to be Baghdadi.
Dogs have been in military since 600 BC
Although details about the K-9 aren't public -- the Pentagon has said the dog's name needs to remain classified due to their affiliation with a classified unit -- it's a welcome reminder that military working dogs are an important and ever-present thread throughout America's military history. That's definitely one facet of the job, but it's far from the only task military working dogs perform, and far from the only kind of military working dog to lend their services. The 341 TRS operates the Department of Defense's Military Working Dog Program, which is overseen by the United States Air Force. From time to time, military working dogs are even trained to be able to skydive with paratroopers. In recent years, the sacrifices and heroism of military working dogs have gained more attention, and several memorials have been erected to memorialize them.
Parents of ISIS Hostage Say They Cried When Raid to Kill Group's Leader Was Named for Her
The parents of the American hostage murdered by ISIS are talking to Inside Edition after the operation to kill the leader of the terrorist organization was named for her. Kayla Mueller went to Syria to help refugees in 2013. While there, she was kidnapped during a tour of a Doctors Without Boarders hospital, and she was repeatedly raped and tortured by ISIS members. They were handcuffed, they slept in handcuffs at night, her father, Carl Mueller, said of Kayla's time there. Then, President Trump announced al-Baghdadi had died in a raid of northwestern Syria,a raid that had been code-named for Kayla.
Inside the dramatic US military raid that killed ISIS leader Baghdadi
We wanted an identical -- we took an identical route," Trump told reporters on Sunday while providing a detailed account of the secret mission. While clearing the compound, US forces killed a "large number" of ISIS fighters during a gun battle without suffering casualties, according to Trump. Mazloum Abdi, the commander in chief of the Kurdish forces in Syria, said in a tweet the intelligence operations that led to the US military raid in Syria that killed Baghdadi began five months ago. White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday that the US military operation was named after American Kayla Mueller who was held hostage by ISIS and killed in 2015. We really had great cooperation," the President told reporters Sunday.
Political leaders unite praising death of ISIS leader
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi believed to have been killed in a US military raid, sources say. The world has spent the day reacting to the news that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. President Trump then spoke to the nation Sunday morning. "I am grateful for the skill and courage of our special operations and intelligence professionals," she said. "So they naturally and rightfully will praise the military and special operations and the intelligence community.
Trump: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead
(CNN) - President Donald Trump declared Sunday morning that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was dead after a US military raid in northwest Syria over the weekend. "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead," Trump said at the White House, calling the ISIS leader's removal "the top national security priority of my administration." Trump described the situation, saying the ISIS leader "spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him." Esper described the death of the ISIS leader as a "devastating blow" to ISIS. The CIA assisted in locating the ISIS leader, the defense official said.
President Trump: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader ISIS, had been in hiding for the last five years. (CNN) - President Donald Trump declared Sunday morning that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was dead after a US military raid in northwest Syria over the weekend. "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead," Trump said at the White House, calling the ISIS leader's removal "the top national security priority of my administration." The President said a US special operations forces mission went after the ISIS leader and there were no US deaths during the operation. Esper described the death of the ISIS leader as a "devastating blow" to ISIS.
ISIS leader believed to have been killed in a US military raid
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi believed to have been killed in a US military raid, sources say. WASHINGTON, D.C. - ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have been killed in a raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria on Saturday, according to a senior US defense official and a source with knowledge. The raid was carried out by special operations commandos, a source familiar with the operation told CNN. The CIA assisted in locating the ISIS leader, the defense official said. Feared preacher of hateBaghdadi, the leader of the terror group, is believed to have been in hiding for the last five years.
How ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became feared preacher of hate
MOSUL, Iraq - A preacher of hate. In its geographical scope, ISIS was the candle that burned twice as bright and burned half as long. ISIS' control of Mosul officially crumbled in July 2017, when Iraqi Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi declared that troops had recaptured the metropolis. Observing Baghdadi's ISIS, it was easy to imagine that somewhere, some time, they sat in meetings imagining ways in which to out-do their latest, most gut-wrenching atrocity. More reports suggested he was wounded again in 2017, as US-backed and other forces closed in on ISIS' territory in Syria.