News Headlines - 13 June 2014

▽ISIL’s Rapid Advance Shocks Iraq, US

U.S. military planners are drawing up options to present to President Barack Obama to “break the momentum” of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL, as its fighters push toward Baghdad.

▽The Iraq-ISIS Conflict in Maps, Photos and Video - NYTimes.com

After sweeping across the porous border from Syria to overrun Mosul, insurgents aligned with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria continued to press south down the main north-south highway toward Baghdad.

▽Sunni Fighters Gain as They Battle 2 Governments, and Other Rebels - NYTimes.com

It has taken over oil fields in eastern Syria, for example, and according to several rebel commanders and aid workers, has resumed pumping. It has also secured revenue by selling electricity to the government from captured power plants. In Iraq on Wednesday, the militants seized control of Baiji, the site of Iraq’s largest oil refinery and power plant.

▽Exclusive: Alarmed by Iraq, Iran open to shared role with U.S. - Iran official | Reuters

Shi'te Muslim Iran is so alarmed by Sunni insurgent gains in Iraq that it may be willing to cooperate with Washington in helping Baghdad fight back, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

▽Jets in East China Sea: Japan and China blame each other for encounter - CSMonitor.com

China and Japan are blaming each other for a close encounter between military jets over the East China Sea.