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Uprising’s guest expert Rahul Mahajan, sociologist and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq and beyond, analyzes today’s news headlines.

Iraqi officials announced yesterday that the leader of the Islamic State militant group, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, had been injured in Anbar province. The US has not yet confirmed the report. American airstrikes targeting ISIS-held regions escalated over the weekend since the stated expansion of the war by President Obama but it was an Iraqi airstrike that apparently wounded the ISIS leader. Meanwhile, a group in Egypt called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has pledged its allegiance to ISIS. A spokesperson for the Egyptian group announced in a recording that Al Baghdadi was “chosen by God” to establish a new Islamic caliphate after “Muslims suffered decades of humiliation.” Click here for a CBC article and here for a CTV article about the story.

Anger in Mexico fueled by the disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero, continues to rise. As part of nation-wide protests over the weekend, the doors of the National Palace in Mexico City were set ablaze. Protesters in Guerrero also expressed their ire by launching firebombs at government buildings and burning cars. The actions come just after three members of a gang confessed on Friday to killing the students and disposing their bodies in a landfill. Mexicans have also launched a firestorm on social media, posting tens of thousands of sarcastic tweets based on an off-the-cuff remark by Mexico’s Attorney General to the press: Enough, I’m tired. Twitter users furiously responded saying they were tired of government corruption, mass graves and more. The public anger represents the biggest challenge faced by President Enrique Pena Nieto. Click here for an Al Jazeera article and here for an IB Times article about the story.

Finally here in the US, President Obama is set to make history again with his nomination of New York Federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch as US Attorney General. Lynch, who is African American, is best known for her work on the case of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was brutally raped while in police custody. If she is confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first Black woman to be Attorney General and the second African American, following Eric Holder. On another front, Obama disappointed progressives with his comments today in support of a controversial trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The President made remarks during his trip to China, where he is attending the APEC forum. Click here for a Huffington Post article about Lynch, and here for a Commondreams article about the TPP.