Midday Roundup: ISIS kills U.S. service member in Iraq

Combat death. Pentagon officials confirmed this morning that Islamic State militants killed a U.S. service member assisting Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq. The service member, who has not been identified, was less than 2 miles behind the front line, near Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The attack allegedly included small-arms fire, and a Defense Department official told Fox News the service member likely was shot with an AK-47 rifle. “It is a combat death, of course. And a very sad loss,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters. “It shows you the serious fight that we have to wage in Iraq.” Erbil is about 20 miles north of the ISIS stronghold in Mosul. U.S. forces are helping the Iraqi army and Kurdish militias prepare to take back the city, but analysts say hope for ousting ISIS from Mosul this year is fading.

Bad debt. The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is officially in default. Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla suspended millions of dollars in bond payments yesterday by executive action. He claims Puerto Rico cannot afford to make debt payments without sacrificing basics like hospitals and schools—something he’s not willing to do. The Obama administration wants to enable Chapter 9 bankruptcy debt restructuring for the island and blames Congress for not acting to avoid the crisis. But critics warn if Congress allows Puerto Rico to restructure its debt, other states would eventually be able to file for bankruptcy, too. Puerto Rico has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a law passed in 1984 that forbids the territory from declaring bankruptcy. A ruling is expected before the end of June.

Mistaken identity? The U.S. Marine Corps has opened an investigation into the identity of one of the serviceman pictured in the iconic World War II photo of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima, Japan. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the photo in Feb. 23, 1945, atop Mount Suribachi, but did not get the men’s names. After the photograph garnered so much attention, the Marines began an attempt to identify the six men pictured. Two historians recently began questioning the identity of the man named as Navy corpsman John Bradley based on details from his uniform and other photos taken later that day. Three of the Marines in the photo died during the fighting at Iwo Jima. Bradley and two other survivors returned to the United States to sell war bonds. His son, James Bradley, who wrote the book Flags of our Fathers, later made into a movie by Clint Eastwood, said he was shocked to learn about the investigation.

History-making musical. The Broadway smash hit Hamilton led this year’s Tony Award nominations, bagging 16 in today’s announcement. The hip-hop musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton was always expected to do well, but its dominance broke a record. Other nominees also had historical connections, including Shuffle Along, or the Making Of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a story set in the Jazz Age, and a new adaptation of Fiddler On the Roof. In contrast to Hollywood’s Academy Awards, the Tony nominations are much more diverse, with several African-American performers earning nods in the acting categories.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard contributed to this report.