IRAQ
Residents jostle over food
Residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul fought each other around trucks delivering humanitarian aid as they jostled for scant supplies on Monday, while government troops fighting to retake the city from Islamic State militants inched closer toward the city center. The Iraqi government and various humanitarian organizations sent trucks loaded with food and clothes into liberated areas of Mosul, still home to more than 1 million people caught up in the ongoing, six-week-old operation to retake the northern Iraqi city.
MOROCCO
Show apologizes for advice
A makeup tutorial on a Moroccan TV show that offered tips on using cosmetics to disguise signs of domestic abuse has drawn sharp criticism, a petition from indignant women and, finally, a televised apology. The daily women’s show Sabahiyat apologized Monday for airing the segment last week and promised to “exercise more precision” in the future. The program featured a demonstration “to show you the makeup you can use to cover the bruises on your face” on Wednesday to mark to the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women. By Friday, a video of the tutorial posted on the internet had sparked outrage on social media.
YEMEN
New government formed
Yemen’s Houthi rebels and allies from the ousted president’s party have formed a new government, deepening divisions in the Arab world’s poorest nation. Houthis and their allies from ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress party announced late Monday the formation of the so-called National Salvation Government, the second in Yemen, based in the capital Sanaa. Yemen has an internationally recognized government based in the southern city of Aden. The announcement came at a time that U.S.-backed, U.N.-mediated peace efforts have faltered.
UNITED NATIONS
N. Korea to face sanctions
After months of wrangling, the U.N. Security Council is prepared to impose new, tougher sanctions on North Korea over its fifth and largest nuclear test yet, diplomats said Monday. U.S. officials who declined to be identified because the Security Council resolution has not yet been made public said if the text is adopted and fully implemented it would mark “a significant step forward,” in the sanctions regime against North Korea over its nuclear program.
Compiled from wire reports