Echoes of Iraq

August 06, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

President Obama sees the Iran nuclear deal as the most important decision since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

To read this post and thousands more articles, subscribe today!

A suspect wielding a hatchet, gun and pepper spray inside a Nashville-area movie theater died after exchanging gunshots with a SWAT team as he tried to escape through the theater's rear door, police said Wednesday. The suspect, whom police identified as a 51-year-old white local man, was armed with a gun and a hatchet or an ax during a showing of "Mad Max" at the Carmike Hickory 8 theater in Antioch, said Don Aaron, a spokesman for Metro Nashville police.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed on Wednesday that a Boeing 777 wing segment discovered on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is from the missing Flight MH370, the first real breakthrough in the search for the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared 17 months ago. "Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," Najib said in a televised statement.

Backed by the National Rifle Association, the Senate's No. 2 Republican leader introduced legislation Wednesday that would reward states for sending more information about residents with serious mental problems to the federal background check system for firearms purchasers. The bill by Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas would also bolster programs for treating mentally ill people and handling confrontations with them. The killings in a Louisiana movie theater last month by a gunman with mental problems put a fresh spotlight on holes in the background check system.

A fishing boat carrying an estimated 600 migrants capsized on Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya, and at least 150 people were spotted in the sea, Irish military officials said. The Irish naval vessel Le Niamh was one of several ships requested by the Italian coast guard to speed to the rescue of the overturned boat shortly before noon, Irish Capt. Donal Gallagher told the Associated Press. The distressed vessel was reported to be about 75 miles northwest of Tripoli, Libya's capital.

Two professional hunters appeared in a Zimbabwean court Wednesday, each accused in separate cases of helping Americans kill lions. A professional hunter who helped an American kill a popular lion named Cecil in an allegedly illegal hunt near Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe on Wednesday dismissed the case against him as "frivolous." Wearing sunglasses and a camouflage cap and jacket, Theo Bronkhorst appeared in a court in Hwange town, where he faces charges of failing to prevent an unlawful hunt. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

The 92-year-old widow of late South Korean President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung arrived in North Korea on Wednesday for a four-day visit. According to Lee's official itinerary, she will visit a maternity clinic, an orphanage, and a children's hospital. Aides say it is not clear if she will meet top North Korean officials, such as leader Kim Jong-un, before returning to Seoul on Saturday. Relations between the Koreas have been testy in recent months over the opening of a UN office in Seoul tasked with monitoring North Korea's human rights situation and the North's refusal to release several South Koreans detained there. There are hopes among some South Koreans that Lee Hee-ho's trip could help ease the tensions.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error