SIx In The Morning Wednesday June 25

US military advisers set up base in Baghdad

First of 300 special forces troops in Iraqi capital to help government tackle Sunni rebellion led by ISIL fighters. Last updated: 25 Jun 2014 07:22 The first of 300 US military advisers are setting up in Baghdad to help the Iraqi army tackle a expanding Sunni rebellion that has swept the country's north and west. The special forces troops landed in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday and were beginning evaluations on Wednesday, as Pentagon officials said the US was also increasing surveillance operations in the north of Iraq.  Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said the soldiers would not be "rushing to the rescue" of Iraqi troops and would not be involved in combat. Kirby added that the US would carry out bombing raids if it was called upon and was already conducting "manned and unmanned" surveillance flights, the AFP news agency reported. Sykes-Picot drew Middle East's arbitrary borders ISIS militants in Iraq want to erase borders in the Middle East and create a regional caliphate. Their model is the Ottoman Empire - a historical imposition in its own right. The dramatic developments in Iraq have their underpinnings in a secret, nearly century-old accord between a British colonel and a French consul. In the Sykes-Picot Agreement, Mark Sykes of Britain and George-Picot France agreed upon the division of Ottoman Empire territories in 1916. The catch: At that time, the Ottoman Empire still existed. Its caliph, or spiritual-political leader, was at that time Sultan Mehmed V (1908-1918), followed by Mehmed VI (1918-1922). The political element of the Ottoman caliphate ended in November 1922 through the founding of Turkey by Kemal Ataturk; spiritually, the caliphate held on until March 1924, when, at Ataturk's initiative, Turkey's parliament formally abolished it. Le Pen fails to form new political group in European Parliament National Front leader unable to get necessary support from seven EU countries Suzanne Lynch National Front leader Marine Le Pen has failed in her bid to form a political group in the European Parliament, having been unable to gain the requisite support of MEPs from seven EU countries. Ms Le Pen, who had teamed up with Geert Wilders’s Dutch Freedom Party and three other right-wing parties, was unable to secure the support of two more parties over the past four weeks, leaving the National Front without access to funds from the European parliamentary budget and additional speaking time. Newly-elected MEPs had a deadline of midnight last night to form political groups ahead of next week’s plenary session in Strasbourg. U.N. report: Our oceans are trashed with plastic By Casey Tolan, for CNN June 24, 2014 -- Updated 1242 GMT  A series of new reports are raising concerns about the damage plastic waste is doing to oceans -- harming marine animals, destroying sensitive ecosystems, and contaminating the fish we eat. But experts say that the solution to the problem isn't in the ocean -- it's on land. The United Nations Environment Programme, as well as the NGOs Global Ocean Commission and Plastic Disclosure Project, released reports on Monday ringing the alarm bell about the environmental impact of debris on marine life. How Kenyans are reacting to legalised polygamy Last month a controversial bill legalising polygamy became law in Kenya. Yalda Hakim reports for BBC Our World on how it is being received. In the chilly dawn deep in Kenya's Rift Valley, three women make domestic preparations for the day. One cooks breakfast, another makes pancakes, the third fetches milk for tea. But Alice, 62, Mary, 56, and Joyce, 54, are doing this for the same man, the husband to whom all three are married. He is Isaya Ntokot, a 76-year-old with 15 children and 48 grandchildren. There is nothing unusual about this - in fact, three wives for a wealthy man like Mr Ntokot is considered not at all excessive, and unless you are Muslim, Kenyan men can marry as many women as they like. World Cup in the middle: Venezuelans use soccer to push political agendas Soccer has become the latest target for Venezuela's beleaguered political opposition as it tries to use the World Cup craze to keep pressure on embattled President Nicolás Maduro. By Andrew Rosati, Correspondent CARACAS — Soccer fans could certainly be forgiven for scratching their heads at the few hundred jersey-clad students taking to the streets of Caracas today, sporting Venezuela's national colors. Venezuela's World Cup dreams died months ago when the Vinotinto failed to qualify for this year's games in Brazil. But those at the opposition-organized rally today aren't rooting for their home team; rather, they're trying to jump-start the stalled protest movement by capitalizing on World Cup passions. "We didn't make it to Brazil, but we're representing Venezuela in the streets," says Samuel Ramirez, a political science student sporting the national soccer team jersey and waving the Venezuela flag. "We have to remind everyone that while they stay home watching the World Cup, things continue to get worse."