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The teenage girl from Germany who joined the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Iraq has appeared in a video uploaded to YouTube that shows the moment Iraqi forces captured her in the northern city of Mosul.

The mobile phone footage shows 16-year-old Linda W. surrounded by Iraqi soldiers who have battled to liberate the city from ISIS for nine months. Two of the soldiersareholding her arms, and she screams as they shout at her. Iraqi troopshave accused her of being a sniper for ISIS.

Newsweek is withholding the girl'sidentity on account ofher age.

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Iraqi troopsdiscovered Linda W.hiding in a tunnel in the Old City alongside other women who had joined ISIS, as well as an array of weapons.

The German press interviewed her after Iraqi forces transferred her to Baghdad for questioning, where she appeared to show regret for joining the group.

I just want to get away from here, she was quoted as saying by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which also said that she had married an ISIS fighter in Mosul. I want to get away from the war, from the many weapons, from the noise.

She added: I just want to go home to my family.

Images surfaced of the German 16-year-old in Mosuls Old City after she was captured by Iraqi security forces. She left home to join ISIS last year. Twitter

German officials have visited the girl and said they are providing consular assistance to her and another woman who is a German national. If she remains in Iraq, she could face trial on terrorism charges that carry a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

Martin Schafer told The Times that the teenager is doing well given the circumstances and that Berlin is trying to find a good solution that corresponds to their interests.

Linda fled her hometown of Pulsnitz near the eastern city of Dresden last summer, telling her family she was going to visit a friend. Before leaving for the Middle East, she converted to Islam and contacted ISIS fighters via Internet chat rooms in the region.

German security services say more than 900 German nationals have left the country to fight for ISIS in the Middle East, at least a fifth of whom arewomen.

Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in the city where ISIS implemented its brutal brand of Sharia law over more than a million residents for three years. It was from the pulpit of the citys famous Al-Nuri Mosque that the groups leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghadi, declared the creation of its de facto semi-state in July 2014.

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German Girl Who Joined ISIS in Iraq Shown Screaming in Footage of Capture - Newsweek

The Democrats are consumed by in-fighting, though this is masked by endless expressions of anxiety over their opponents policies. To the extent that Democrats have identified a way to recover from an election that saw so many of their core voters defect or decline to cast a ballot, it has been to again appeal to the labor voter who couldnt care less about the American lefts addiction to identity politics. But the liberal activist class is ready to bolt if Democrats become a party that welcomesyuck!social conservatives again. Bernie Sanders and his semi-socialist wing is trying to excise centrism from the party by making support for government-run health insurance programs a litmus test, much to the consternation of Democrats tasked with winning back control of Congress.

Among the few things Democrats seem to agree upon is that their core message must be an anti-Trump message. Its the execution thats been the problem. Democrats are pretty sure that they will benefit from frustration with an unpopular executive and his partys failure to govern effectively. Beyond the broadest strokes, however, there is confusion among Democrats as to how they should go about making themselves an anti-Trump vehicle. The opposition party is occasionally guilty of leaving observers with the impression that they resent even having to make an effort.

Take, for example, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuels attempt to crystallize Democratic antipathy toward the Trump administrations illegal immigration policies into some sort of coherent and actionable prescription. The city is suing the Justice Department in the effort to prevent law-enforcement officials from withholding federal grant money as a result of its status as a sanctuary city.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions attempt to compel sanctuary citiesmunicipalities in which illegal immigrants have some reassurance about their status as residents so that they can maintain a cooperative relationship with local law enforcementhas encountered resistance in the courts. But the Trump administration is its own worst enemy on this matter, as well as most others. Democrats barely register as a nuisance, and they only have themselves to blame for that condition.

Democrats have yet to find a smart way to concisely explain why cities that dont fully cooperate with federal law enforcement should still expect to get federal grant money, wrote Axios reporter Jonathan Swan. Emanuel is trying to lead the way here.

Is there a good messenger for this message? Its certainly not Rahm Emanuel, who is under fire for overseeing a police force mired in accusations of corruption and anti-minority bias. Maybe its not the messenger; maybe its the message. Perhaps Democrats have failed to craft a compelling case against the GOPs antipathy toward sanctuary cities because they resent having to make an argument at all.

It is a welcome mat to racism, said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal when an anti-sanctuary cities measure went before the House earlier this year. Amid debate in the House, Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch insisted that the GOPs proposed immigration plans were inhumane and un-American and merited no debate.

Surely these Democrats speak for many of their grassroots compatriots. If your opponents position is racist, it is also unthinking and, therefore, illegitimate. Why should anyone devote their time to crafting a compelling argument designed to counter a claim that is rooted in abject bigotry?

The idea that there is only one legitimate opinion on an issue is liberating. For those who convince themselves that theirs is the only righteous point of view, engaging their opponents would mean giving unacceptable opinions a platform they dont deserve.

There are not two sides of the issue of same-sex marriage rights, said BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith when defending his publications attack on two popular HGTV hosts on the mere suspicion they may harbor unspeakable opinions.

[T]here are some stories which do not have two sides, wrote former CNN producer Hardy Spire. The climate change debate is one of them.This claim, written in 2014, was made to reinforce the notion that Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn had no business debating with scientist Bill Nye. Nye now hosts a ludicrous Netflix program promoting multifarious notions of social justice while Blackburn chairs the U.S. House Energy Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

The condescension that is now in vogue on the left that Trump voters must be convinced not to cast ballots against their interest (presuming their interests are best served by an ever-expanding welfare state and a crippling tax burden on their prospective employers) frees liberals from having to engage Trump supporters honestly. They have convinced themselves that anyone who doesnt share their point of view is the electoral equivalent of a pack mule.

For the left, this comforting contrivance has become a security blanket. Liberals have grown more convinced of the singular legitimacy of their beliefs even as they watch their works crumbling around them at an accelerating pace. Assuming bad faith in your political opponents is, though, a relatively painless way to go through life. Maybe thats all that really matters.

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Hold UNICEF Accountable for Falsehoods on Iraq | commentary - Commentary Magazine

BBC News

Iraq to hang 27 for IS Camp Speicher massacre BBC News An Iraqi court has sentenced to death 27 men for their involvement in the massacre of up to 1,700 soldiers by so-called Islamic State (IS) in June 2014. Twenty-five suspects were released because of a lack of evidence. It is the latest batch of death ... Iraq sentences 27 men to death for roles in 2014 Speicher massacreWENY-TV Iraq sentences 27 to death over Camp Speicher massacreDeutsche Welle Iraqi court sentences 27 men to death for involvement in Speicher massacrePress TV Xinhua -Kuwait News Agency -Business Standard all 12 news articles »

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Iraq to hang 27 for IS Camp Speicher massacre - BBC News

OPEC said Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan -- who have lagged in their implementation of a deal to cut production -- affirmed their commitment to the accord at a meeting in Abu Dhabi.

All expressed their full support for the system to monitor the cutbacks in order to achieve the goal of reaching full conformity, OPEC said in a statement on its website. Malaysia also attended and made the same pledge.

The meeting, co-chaired by Kuwait and Russia, was scheduled after several nations faltered in their pledges to reduce output. Twenty-four producers, from among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and beyond, agreed to cut production late last year to try to end a global glut.

Oil prices have lost 8 percent this year on concern the agreement is failing to drain the worlds bloated oil stockpiles. Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih promised last month to intensify pressure on cheating countries.

Iraq and the U.A.E. said at the meeting that OPECs estimates of their production -- based on data from external sources -- were at fault for any apparent failures to comply, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the discussion was confidential.

Iraqi compliance slumped to 29 percent in June, its lowest so far, while the U.A.E. made just 60 percent of its cuts, according to data from the International Energy Agency.Iraq has complained that the estimates OPEC uses to monitor compliance are inaccurate, and that it has actually made the full reduction required.

Kazakhstan, rather than reduce its output as promised, has steadily increased it, with the expansion of its Kashagan oilfield.

OPEC uses supply estimates compiled from six external entities, known as secondary sources, to monitor adherence to the deal. These include media outlets and institutions like the Paris-based IEA and the U.S. governments Energy Information Administration.

While the committee met, there were further signs of the diplomatic push to ensure full compliance.

Iraqs oil minister, Jabbar al-Luaibi, is flying to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of al-Falih, Iraqs oil ministry said on Tuesday. The two officials will discuss coordination to achieve OPECs goals, Asim Jihad, aspokesman for theIraqi oil ministry, said.

The agreement, which came into effect at the start of the year, brings together OPEC and non-OPEC nations in an effort to take as much as 1.8 million barrels of oil a day off the market.

Russia and Kuwait are two of the five nations that sit on the board that oversees the implementation of supply curbs. Saudi Arabia, which currently holds OPECs rotating presidency, also attended the meeting. The panels conclusions will be discussed when the full technical committee next meets, on Aug. 21 in Vienna, OPEC said.

With assistance by Angelina Rascouet, and Nayla Razzouk

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OPEC Says Iraq, UAE, Kazakhstan Affirm Commitment to Cuts - Bloomberg

Footage has emerged showing the capture of a German schoolgirl who joined Isis being captured in the ruins of Mosul.

Linda Wenzel, 16, ran away from the small town of Pulsnitz, near Dresen, to join the militants after she was groomed online by an Isis recruiter.

She then flew to Istanbul, where she was smuggled into Iraq. There, she married a Chechen fighter who was killed during the fight for Mosul.

In the film, she can be heard screaming and crying as she is dragged byIraqi soldiers.

She appears to stumble several times as she is escorted away.

It was reported she had suffered a gunshot wound to her left thigh and another injury to her right knee during a helicopter attack.

Wenzelcould theoretically face the death sentence under Iraq's counter-terrorism laws.

However, even if she were sentenced to death she would not be executed before the age of 22.

German authorities are trying to determine whether Wenzel and three other German women detainedin Iraq on allegations of sympathising with Isiscan return home.

Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards

A spokesman for Germany's Foreign Ministry said diplomats recently visited two of the women in Baghdad and determined they were "doing well given the circumstances."

Martin Schaefer Germany is obliged to provide the women with consular assistance and wants to "find a good solution that corresponds to their interests" including return home if they wish.

But he added that "we have to ensure that no threat is posed by the four after a possible return to Germany."

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German Isis bride's capture footage emerges as she now faces death penalty in Iraq - The Independent