Globe Trot: MSF accuses U.S., allies of complicity in hospital attacks

UNITED NATIONS: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) accused four of five permanent members of the UN Security Council—Britain, France, Russia, and the United States—of either directly attacking medical workers or participating in coalitions that have done so. A 2015 U.S. strike on an MSF facility in Afghanistan killed 40 and resulted last month in the reprimand of 16 U.S. military personnel who mistakenly targeted the site.

“Stop these attacks!” said MSF head Joanne Liu. “You … must live up to your extraordinary responsibilities and set an example for all states.”

CANADA: A raging wildfire in Alberta forced the evacuation of more than 60,000—including the entire city of Fort McMurray, north of Edmonton. And it made for some harrowing, real-time posts on Twitter (#ymm).

IRAQ: A U.S. service member advising Kurdish forces was killed in combat near the Nineveh town of Telskuf yesterday, as several hundred ISIS militants crossed the front line three miles away to attack.

I visited Telskuf, a mostly Christian area north of Mosul captured by ISIS then retaken by the Kurds, a year ago in the company of Assyrian militia who patrolled there. “Kurdistan right here is fighting on behalf of the whole world,” said George Khamis, a member of the patrol.

If you’re in Washington, I’ll be speaking on Iraq today at the Heritage Foundation at noon, and this evening at an area book event.

UNITED STATES: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in its annual report found a rise of persecution and violence around the world, and recommended seven countries as perpetrators the Obama administration has yet to highlight.