Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi has "retired" the army's chief of staff, the most senior officer removed since jihadists overran large parts of the country last year.
President Barack Obama appears poised to approve the deployment of hundreds more US training personnel to Iraq, in a bid to reverse gains by the Islamic State group.
US President Barack Obama has described the loss of key Iraqi territory to Islamic State as a tactical setback, while insisting the war against the jihadist group is not being lost.
UN culture chief Irina Bokova urged the Security Council to task peacekeepers with protecting cultural sites and to help prosecute those who destroy historical treasures.
President Barack Obama hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House and hailed the US-backed Iraqi forces' progress against the IS group.
Kazakhstani journalists have laid flowers near the French Consulate in Almaty to honor the victims of the terrorist attack at the French Charlie Hebdo newspaper.
Iraqi Prime Ministe asked Australian counterpart Tony Abott to step up military assistance to aid Baghdad's fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.
Professor at the University of Sofia and an expert in the field of counter-terrorism Tatiana Dronzina says that one of the fighters in the video of mass execution of Iraqi soldiers is a Kazakhstani national. She believes the problem has acquired such proportions, it is important to conduct targeted information campaigns showing truthfully the crimes of the organization, thereby stripping it of any possible connections to heroism and martyrdom they use for promotion of their lifestyles.