Kurdish city gassed by Saddam hopes referendum heralds better days
HALABJA, Iraq (Reuters) – When poison gas killed thousands of Kurds in Halabja in 1988, its residents never imagined they would ever escape Saddam Hussein’s grip, let alone vote one day in a referendum on secession from Iraq.
Yemen’s Hadi sees only a military solution to crisis: Arabiya TV
DUBAI (Reuters) – A solution in Yemen’s two and-a-half year-old civil war will likely come through military rather than political means, the country’s Saudi-backed president said, blaming the Iran-aligned Houthis of obstructing chances of peace.
Iran launches war games near Iraqi Kurdistan border
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian forces have launched war games in an area near the border with Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday, a day before an independence referendum is to be held in the region.
First refugees taken from offshore detention under U.S. refugee swap deal
Sydney (Reuters) – Refugees have left one of Australia’s offshore detention centers on Sunday for the United States, an asylum seeker and a refugee advocate said, as part of a swap brokered by former U.S. president Barack Obama last year.
UK’s Johnson opposes adopting any new EU rules during Brexit transition
LONDON (Reuters) – British foreign minister Boris Johnson will oppose any move to adopt European Union regulations made after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported, risking reigniting divisions over Brexit.
Trump cranks up North Korea threats as Pyongyang holds anti-U.S. rally
SEOUL/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump dialed up the rhetoric against North Korea again at the weekend, warning the country’s foreign minister that he and leader Kim Jong Un “won’t be around much longer”, as Pyongyang staged a maj…
U.S cautions citizens of possible unrest during Kurdish independence referendum
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. embassy in Iraq cautioned its citizens that there may be unrest during a referendum on independence planned by the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq, opposed by the central government in Baghdad.
Germans warned against apathy as Merkel heads for fourth term
BERLIN (Reuters) – Turnout slipped slightly in Germany’s election despite politicians warning that apathy could boost the far-right, expected to return to parliament after a half century’s absence, overshadowing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s expected vict…
France renews half of senate in test for Macron
PARIS (Reuters) – France on Sunday renews half of its senators’ seats, in a vote that is important for President Emmanuel Macron’s reform plans and will be a test of his declining popularity, just four months after his election in May.
U.N. medics see evidence of rape in Myanmar army ‘cleansing’ campaign
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Doctors treating some of the 429,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in recent weeks have seen dozens of women with injuries consistent with violent sexual attacks, U.N. clinicians and other…
