U.S. won’t recognize Kurdish independence vote

IRAQ: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced late last week the United States, despite a strong alliance with the Kurds, will not recognize Kurdistan’s vote for independence.

Meanwhile, Iran commenced military exercises at the Kurdish border on Monday.

ISIS: As authorities continue an investigation into the worst mass shooting in U.S. history—a Sunday night attack in Las Vegas—the assailant who fatally stabbed two women at a train station in Marseille, France, had a lengthy police record. ISIS claims responsibility for that attack, as well as the shooting in Vegas.

An ISIS video clip released in May included the Las Vegas Strip, and authorities issued warnings it represented a “credible threat.” ISIS news agency Amaq followed up its Las Vegas claim with a statement saying shooter Stephen Paddock converted to Islam. But FBI officials said Monday that Paddock did not have any ties to international terror groups.

So far, ISIS has not claimed responsibility for a police stabbing and truck ramming that injured pedestrians in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday. Authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack and have charged a Somali refugee with five counts of attempted murder.

CUBA: We don’t really know what’s causing American and Canadian diplomats in Havana to suffer serious health problems. The U.S. State Department ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats out of Cuba over mysterious ailments and issued a travel warning against Americans traveling to the island nation. But U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called it “weak, unacceptable, and outrageous” for the United States to take no steps to expel Cuban diplomats from Washington.

SPAIN: Leaders in Catalonia are trying to make a successful referendum vote for independence binding and have called for a general strike starting tomorrow.

PAKISTAN: Brick kiln workers, usually drawn from minority Christian communities, face mounting debt, unsanitary living conditions, and persecution. One Christian charity has launched a fund drive to support church leaders’ efforts to free 40 Christian families from that bondage.

HUNGARY this week welcomes 72 college-aged students from the Middle East who are part of a scholarship program the government has created to bring in nearly 7,000 students, including many Christian minorities living in Muslim countries.

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