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page 33 IRAQ Suicide bombings kill at least 125 in Baghdad At least 125 people have been killed and about 150 injured in an explosion claimed by the so-called Islamic State group in Baghdad, Iraqi police say. A car bomb exploded on a busy street in the central district of Karrada late on Saturday. The […]

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IRAQ

Suicide bombings kill at least 125 in Baghdad

At least 125 people have been killed and about 150 injured in an explosion claimed by the so-called Islamic State group in Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

A car bomb exploded on a busy street in the central district of Karrada late on Saturday. The mainly Shia area was busy with shoppers late at night because it is the holy month of Ramadan.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was met by angry crowds while visiting the scene of the blast on Sunday.

A second bomb also exploded at about midnight in a predominantly Shia area north of the capital, killing another five people.

The bombing in Karrada is the deadliest in Iraq this year and comes a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured the city of Falluja from Islamic State (IS) militants.

Authorities said Falluja was used as a launch pad for attacks on Baghdad.

The US said on Sunday that the latest attack strengthened its resolve to support Iraqi forces in their fight against IS.

BANGLADESH

PM Hasina decrees mourning after cafe attack

Bangladesh has begun observing two days of national mourning after 20 hostages were slaughtered at a restaurant packed with foreigners in a major escalation of a campaign of attacks by armed groups.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decreed the mourning period, which began on Sunday, as she vowed to drag Bangladesh back from the brink, warning of a concerted bid to turn one of the world’s most populous nations into a failed state.

Amid mass condemnation of the Dhaka killings, victims of which included 18 foreigners, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) said it had targeted a gathering of “citizens of crusader states” on Friday night at a Western-style cafe.

As well as the 20 hostages whose bodies were found amid pools of blood after commandos stormed the cafe to end the siege, two policemen were killed in the deadly attack in a high security area.

SOUTH SUDAN

Dozens killed as violence flares in Wau

Dozens of people have been killed and more than 120,000 displaced from their homes in a wave of fighting in Wau, one of South Sudan’s largest cities, almost a year after a peace agreement was signed to bring an end to civil war in the country.

Clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and members of the Fertit tribe began on June 24, say sources in the city. The SPLA is predominantly made up of members of the Dinka tribe, the largest in the country.

At least 43 people were killed in the fighting, according to a government statement on June 28.

An independent count of casualties has not been done, and the actual figure could be much higher than the government estimate.

TURKEY

Erdogan: Syrian refugees could become Turkish citizens

Syrian refugees living in Turkey could eventually be granted Turkish citizenship, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signalled, a plan that has sparked controversy at home.

“I want to announce some good news,” media quoted Erdogan as saying late Saturday at a dinner to break the Ramadan fast in Kilis province, on the Syrian border.

“We are going to help our Syrian friends in offering them the chance, if they want it, to acquire Turkish nationality.”

The interior ministry will shortly announce how the citizenship procedure would work, Erdogan said.

He did not specify whether all of the 2.7 million Syrians that Turkey is hosting would be able to apply, and gave no details on eligibility criteria or how long the process would take.

“We regard you as our brothers and sisters – you are not far from your homeland, but only from your homes and your land,” Erdogan told a group of Syrian refugees in Kilis.

ZAMBIA

Police warn parties over violence ahead of polls

A Zambian police official says the police force will carry out its mandate to enforce the law irrespective of the political party supporters involved in violence during the ongoing campaigns before the August 11 polls.

Rae Hamonga, deputy spokesperson for the police, made his remarks after Zambians complained about the escalating violence allegedly carried out by supporters of the ruling Patriot Front party and partisans of the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND).

On March 29, religious leaders held a meeting with 19 political parties in Lusaka, with the main objective of curbing politically related violence as the groups intensify their campaigns in the upcoming presidential, legislative and local elections.

IVORY COAST

Aides to ousted leader return home after five-year exile

Four senior aides to former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo have returned home from exile in Ghana more than five years after his ouster in a war over a disputed election, a step the leader of his party said would aid reconciliation.

The four men, who included former Defence Minister Kadet Bertin, were persuaded to return following negotiations with the government and guarantees that they would not face charges related to the civil war.

Accompanying Bertin were Kacou Brou, leader of Gbagbo’s Fesci youth militia, Yaon Franck, a presidential bodyguard, and Watchard Kedjebo, another militia leader.

Five years after the conflict that killed 3,000 people, the country, the world’s leading cocoa producer, has been reborn as one of Africa’s economic stars, held up by many as a model of post-conflict reconstruction.

AUSTRALIA

Election: Tight vote could end in hung parliament

Australia will not know the result of its federal election for days as counting in tight seats continues.

Twelve out of 150 lower house seats remain in doubt, with counting of pre-poll, postal and absentee votes to resume on Tuesday.

The official Australian Electoral Commission tally has Labour on 71 seats and the ruling Liberal-National coalition on 67 seats.

Independents and minor parties gained an unprecedented share of the vote.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said early on Sunday morning he expected to get the 76 seats he needs to form a new administration. Postal votes are expected to favour his candidates.

Analysts are still predicting that Mr Turnbull’s coalition will come closest to forming a government, though a hung parliament, where neither party has an absolute majority, is likely.

In that case, both Mr Turnbull and Labour leader Bill Shorten will have the chance to form government by doing a deal with independents and minor parties.

CHINA

China to hold drills in S/China Sea ahead of court ruling

China will hold military drills around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the maritime safety administration said on Sunday, ahead of a decision by an international court in a dispute between China and the Philippines.

Tensions have been rising ahead of a July 12 ruling by an arbitration court hearing the dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea in the Dutch city of The Hague.

In a brief online statement, China’s maritime safety administration said the drills would take place from July 5-11, and gave coordinates for the drills that cover an area from the east of China’s Hainan island down to and including the Paracels.

PAKISTAN/INDIA

Dozens dead in Pakistan, India after floods, landslides

At least 55 people have been killed in northern Pakistan and India in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains.

Floods in the Chitral district of Pakistan damaged houses and a mosque killing at least 30, officials said.

Another 25 are now known to have died in floods and landslides in India’s Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh states in recent days.

Flash floods hit the village of Arsun, in Chitral, overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

Several people offering special Ramadan evening prayers in the local mosque were killed, local officials said, adding that women and children were among the dead.

UAE

Gov’t warns against wearing national dress abroad

United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals are being urged not to wear national dress outside the region, days after an Emirati man was detained in the US.

Ahmed al-Menhali, a businessman, was detained while wearing traditional robes in a hotel in Avon, Ohio.

Media in Ohio said a hotel employee feared he was pledging allegiance to so-called Islamic State group (IS).

The UAE’s ministry of interior issued advice on Saturday urging citizens to be careful about what they wear abroad.

UAE nationals should avoid wearing traditional costume “to preserve their safety”, the ministry said (in Arabic) without referencing the Ohio incident.