President Obama sent a letter to Congress formally requesting approval for a three year military campaign that “could include limited ground operations by American forces to hunt down enemy leaders or rescue American personnel.”

+ AP: “Foreign fighters are streaming into Syria and Iraq in unprecedented numbers to join the Islamic State or other extremist groups, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among 20,000 from around the world.”

+ Middle East conflicts could be one of the drivers behind the largest mass migration since WWII. Hundreds of migrants are believed to have died when their inflatable boats overturned on the way to Italy.