Midday Roundup: Clinton used personal email for state business

Private or public? Hillary Clinton used only her personal email account during her tenure as secretary of state, The New York Times revealed, raising questions about whether her communications were archived according to federal law requirements. A Clinton representative said that Clinton’s emails were still preserved as required and that she followed the practices of her predecessors. John Kerry is the first secretary of state to have an official state.gov email address, according to the State Department. But lawyers and archiving experts told the Times that just because Clinton’s emails are still available doesn’t mean they were properly handled, and her exclusive use of personal email is unusual for an official in her position.

Serious leak. Former CIA Director David Petraeus has pleaded guilty to mishandling classified documents. Petraeus, a U.S. Army general who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq before taking the helm at the CIA, abruptly resigned in 2012 after news broke he had an affair with his biographer. He also allegedly gave her access to classified materials.

On the offensive. Today marks the second day of the Iraqi military’s attempt to retake the town of Tikrit from the terror group ISIS. Situated 80 miles north of Baghdad, Tikrit could serve as an important supply outpost for a future effort to oust ISIS from northern Iraq. Iranian troops are helping Iraq in the offensive, which so far is still bogged down outside the city. Roadside bombs and suicide attacks by ISIS are hampering the Iraqi forces’ approach to Tikrit.

Laid to rest. The assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov is driving a deeper wedge between the administration of Vladimir Putin and the European Union. Russia refused to allow lawmakers from Poland and Latvia into the country to attend Nemtsov’s funeral today. The lawmakers were banned from entering Russia in retaliation for EU sanctions on the country. The EU called the action a “high affront.” Nemtsov was gunned down early Saturday morning on a bridge outside the Kremlin. No suspects have been arrested. Hundreds of people who shared Nemtsov’s criticism of Putin lined up to pay their respects today.

Freed. It is still not clear why ISIS on Sunday released 19 of the more than 200 Assyrian Christians who were abducted in Syria last week. ISIS let 16 men and three women return to the town of Hassakeh by bus. All of the released captives were older than 50, suggesting age might have played a role. The fate of the other abductees is unknown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.