From Washington, this is VOA News.
I’m Michael Brown reporting.
U.S. President Barack Obama says the fight to defeat the Islamic State has to be waged beyond the battlefield. Mr. Obama briefed reporters on the campaign against the militant group after meeting with his top military and national security advisors.
“ISIL (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has not had a major, successful offensive operation in either Syria or Iraq in a full year. Even ISIL’s leaders know they are going to keep losing. In their message to followers, they are increasingly acknowledging that they may lose Mosul and Raqqa, and ISIL is right. They will lose them.”
Mr. Obama's meeting came as the U.S. launches more air strikes in and around an Islamic State stronghold in Libya.
The U.S. military says the operation in Libya will probably last weeks, rather than months.
Gunmen fired on a busy marketplace in northeastern India Friday, killing at least 12 people. Officials say 15 others were wounded in the attack in the Assam area. Authorities say one gunman was killed, and security forces are searching for other suspects.
U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is denouncing the arrest warrant issued by Turkey, accusing him of masterminding the failed coup in Turkey last month.
Gulen said, in a statement, the arrest warrant from the Turkish court changes nothing about his status or views.
The Turkish government has said Gulen, a former ally of President Erdogan, orchestrated the coup by renegade officers in the military and has called on the U.S. to extradite him to Turkey. Ankara, however, has not filed a formal extradition paper.
And, people in Russia are welcoming news that dozens of the country’s athletes will be allowed to participate in this summer’s Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee reached the decision to admit more than 270 Russian athletes amid a scandal involving state-sponsored doping by Russia.
This is VOA News.
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