World Briefs

AFGHANISTAN  A suicide bomber in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province has killed 29 people, mainly members of illegal armed groups that have clashed with security forces and the insurgents in the past, an Afghan official said yesterday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

MYANMAR says the number of people affected by flooding nationwide is approaching 1 million, with waters in the low-lying southwestern region inundating homes and forcing villagers into temporary shelters. The death toll is about to top 100.

YEMEN  Yemeni security officials and pro-government fighters say a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit allied fighters in a friendly fire incident, killing at least 20. The officials said the strike late Saturday hit the fighters on a coastal road as they headed toward the embattled city of Zinjibar in southern Yemen.
MALI The first attack by Islamic extremists in Mali’s central town of Sevare that killed nine people shows that jihadist aggressions are spreading and neither the government nor the U.N. peacekeeping force can ensure safety.

IRAQ’s cabinet approved a wide-ranging reform plan yesterday that would abolish the three vice presidential posts as well as the office of deputy prime minister in order to slash spending and improve the government’s performance in the face of mass protests.

USA Eight people — including five children and three adults — were found dead inside a Houston-area home following the arrest of a man who exchanged gunfire with police, Texas authorities said yesterday.

ARGENTINA  President Cristina Fernandez and her late husband dominated Argentine politics for 12 years, focusing on social welfare programs for the poor at home while often employing combative rhetoric and protectionist policies with other nations. Voters are getting a chance Sunday to help decide whether those policies are likely to continue in the South American nation of 41 million as they cast ballots in open primaries for presidential candidates who have all but sealed the nominations in their respective parties.

UKRAINE says it has banned the screening of films featuring Russian actors included on a blacklist. It said this weekend the 14 Russian actors, singers and other cultural figures on the blacklist pose a threat to national security. Among those on the list is French-born actor Gerard Depardieu, who became a vocal supporter of Russia after taking citizenship in 2013 and last month was barred from entering Ukraine for five years.