Iraq

The House speaker said Congress "ought to give the president what he's asking for" but also expressed skepticism, saying the White House plan to defeat Islamic State militants doesn't go far enough.

Editorials in major U.S. dailies signaled cautious backing of President Obama's plan to broaden an American-led offensive against the insurgency.

The former White House press secretary went toe to toe with the Republican senator after President Obama's address to the nation about the Islamic State.

Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO in Paris, calls for international help to protect Iraq's schoolchildren as they return to school.

Signaling a broadening of the American offensive to date, the president said he would not hesitate to order strikes inside Syria. "If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven," Obama warned.

The president has spent most of his tenure scaling back the U.S. military role in the Middle East. Now he appears poised to broaden an operation that will bring with it substantial risks.