Iraq
Special forces near Mosul
U.S.-backed Iraqi forces fought their way inside two villages Monday as they crept closer to Mosul a week into an offensive to retake the Islamic State-held city, but they also faced questions over a suspected airstrike on a mosque that killed 13 people. Iraqi special forces shelled militant positions before dawn near Bartella, a historically Christian town east of Mosul that they had retaken last week. With patriotic music blaring from loudspeakers on their Humvees, they then pushed into the village of Tob Zawa, 5½ miles from Mosul, amid heavy clashes.
UNITED NATIONS
Fund for families proposed
The United Nations says it is looking to raise $200 million from member states to compensate the families of people who have died from cholera in Haiti. David Nabarro, a special adviser to the secretary-general, said Monday that the money to “provide material assistance” was part of a new U.N. approach to dealing with the disease that is believed to have been introduced to Haiti by U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal. He denied, however, that the proposal amounted to acknowledgement of responsibility on the part of the U.N. for the disease which has sickened nearly 800,000 Haitians and killed some 9,300.
Poland
Rallies against abortion ban
Women gathered Monday in cities across the country to protest a proposal to ban abortions in cases where fetuses are badly damaged or have no chance of survival after birth. Many wore black, a symbol of mourning for the feared loss of reproductive rights, as they took to the streets of Warsaw, Gdansk, Lodz, Wroclaw, Poznan and other cities across the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. “Girls just want to have fundamental rights,” one banner proclaimed.
AUSTRIA
Merkel is called dangerous
The head of Austria’s right-wing party on Monday called German Chancellor Angela Merkel “the most dangerous woman in Europe” for her initially liberal migrant policies and warned of possible civil war if the influx of people seeking a better life within the European Union is not stopped. The comments by Freedom Party Chairman Heinz-Christian Strache stood in stark contrast to the more moderate views being expressed by Norbert Hofer, the party’s candidate for president. Hofer is seeking to appeal to Austrians who do not normally vote for the Freedom Party ahead of the Dec. 4 election.
Compiled from wire reports.