IRAQ
Four killed in clashes
Two soldiers and two fighters of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces were on Sunday killed as the two sides clashed in a mountainous northern area, both sides’ security sources said. Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani ordered that a high-level committee be formed to investigate, a military spokesperson for Sudani said in a statement. Fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party had evacuated positions near the town of Makhmour on Saturday and handed them over to the Iraqi army, but Peshmerga fighters from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the ruling party in Iraqi Kurdistan, tried to retake the positions on Sunday, triggering the clashes, the sources said. Army and Peshmerga sources said earlier that two Iraqi army soldiers and one Peshmerga fighter were killed. Another Peshmerga lieutenant colonel died of his wounds, the sources said. Six Iraqi soldiers and five Peshmerga fighters were wounded. Two of the Iraqi soldiers were in critical condition, health service sources said. Iraqi army troops are still in control over the mountainous positions, three army sources said. However, both sides are sending reinforcements to the area, military sources said, calling the situation “fragile.”
SWITZERLAND
The right dominates vote
The right-wing People’s Party (SVP) scored one of its best results ever in national elections, reaping the rewards of a campaign that leveraged concerns over immigration. The SVP won 28.6 percent of votes, up from 25.6 percent four years ago. That is an even stronger win than anticipated in opinion polls and close to its 2015 record of 29.4 percent. The party has been Switzerland’s most popular for two decades, thanks to a focus largely on domestic issues such as immigration and the economy. The SVP wants to limit the country’s population to 10 million people, citing overstretched infrastructure and lack of housing. “The worry about an explosion of the population is big,” SVP lawmaker Thomas Matter told Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. “I do hope that the conservative parties now work together on immigration matters, so the SVP doesn’t have to tackle this alone.” The party also seeks to enshrine the country’s traditional neutrality — despite calls to respond more forcefully to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and to cap the costs of the switch to sustainable energy.
SPAIN
Sheep take over Madrid
Bleating sheep replaced beeping vehicles on the streets of Madrid on Sunday, as shepherds guided their flocks through the capital city center following ancient herding routes to southerly pastures for the winter. The annual event was revived in 1994 as part of Madrid’s annual Fiesta de la Trashumancia, after the Spanish parliament recognized the traditional routes used to herd livestock. Once they passed through quiet countryside, but on Sunday the shepherds, many of whom wore traditional dress, had to cross some of the busiest areas of the city, including the Puerta del Sol, one of Madrid’s main squares. Locals and tourists lined the way, snapping pictures of the sheep that wore tinkling bells around their necks. “I really didn’t expect this in the city, in the capital. This reminds me of my village,” said student Ana Sar, from Mallorca. “It’s amazing,” said Sandra Van Arkelem, 57, from the Netherlands. “So many people are joining and enjoying it.”
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS