World Briefs

US Just hours before President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban was to take full effect, a federal judge in Hawaii blocked the revised order, saying the policy has the same problems as a previous version. It was the third set of travel restrictions issued by the president to be thwarted, in whole or in part, by the courts.

CAMBODIA Rights groups say foreign governments should refuse to recognize Cambodia’s next elections and consider sanctions on its leaders if the main opposition party is dissolved.

PHILIPPINES Four Islamic State-allied militants died and 10 government soldiers were injured in fighting that continued in the southern Philippine city of Marawi after the president declared it liberated from “terrorist influence,” military officials said yesterday.

IRAQ Turkey said yesterday that Iraq’s retaking of the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces earlier this week has rectified the Kurds’ “mistake” in holding a non-binding referendum on independence last month.

SYRIA U.S.-backed Syrian forces were removing land mines and clearing roads in the northern city of Raqqa yesterday, a day after commanders said they had driven the Islamic State group from its de facto capital.

KENYA It is “difficult to guarantee a free, fair and credible election” in Kenya’s fresh presidential vote just eight days away despite “full technical preparedness,” the head of the election commission said yesterday as another wave of uncertainty swept through East Africa’s largest economy.

UKRAINE Several thousand government protesters rallied outside Ukraine’s parliament and some urged President Petro Poroshenko to step down. Former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, who leads a Ukrainian opposition party, said at the rally that Poroshenko was responsible for “poverty and humiliation.”

SPAIN’s prime minister yesterday urged Catalonia’s leaders to back down from their bid to gain independence for the region, a day before a central government deadline that could significantly deepen the country’s political crisis.

NAFTA Talks to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement have stalled over tough American demands, dashing hopes that a deal can be reached this year. A fourth round of negotiations between the U.S., Mexico and Canada ended in mutual exasperation Tuesday. Talks will continue next month in Mexico City and will spill over into next year.