Reuters, Washington
Republicans in Washington struggled to fill a leadership void on Thursday as the front-runner to take control of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, quit the race in a surprise announcement that heightened concerns about the party’s ability to govern effectively.
Representative McCarthy, the No. 2 House Republican, had been expected to win Thursday’s contest for the nomination to succeed retiring Speaker John Boehner despite opposition from more conservative lawmakers demanding a harder line against Democratic President Barack Obama’s agenda.
Europe’s refugee crisis will last for years
AFP, Berlin
Europe’s refugee crisis is expected to rumble on “for years”, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday, following a visit to a migrant reception centre on Germany’s border with Austria.
“This refugee crisis will last a few years. I have no illusion that what we’re experiencing now will soon belong to the past,” Juncker told a conference at the border town of Passau.
Iraq mortar attack kills 35
AP, Baghdad
Iraqi police officials say at least 35 people were killed in a mortar attack on villages around the provincial capital of the country’s eastern Diyala province.
A police official from the city of Baquba told The Associated Press that at least 35 civilians were killed late Friday when the mortars landed on their villages in the nearby suburbs.
Outbreak of hepatitis C in Singapore
AFP, Singapore
A hepatitis C scare linked to four deaths so far in Singapore widened Friday after its largest hospital said nearly 1,000 patients and health staff need to be screened for the virus.
The state-run Singapore General Hospital said 678 patients as well as 273 medical workers were being contacted to be screened for the virus, local media reported, double the number initially estimated to be affected.
The hospital earlier said 22 kidney patients had been infected with hepatitis C between April and June.
Guatemala mudslide death toll climbs to 237
AFP, Guatemala City
Rescuers have recovered 237 bodies from the remains of a village near the Guatemalan capital that was buried under a landslide one week ago, an official said Thursday. About 150 other people are still missing in Santa Catarina Pinula, where houses were covered last Thursday by a mountain of mud and debris following heavy rains.
4 Arabs stabbed in southern Israel
Reuters, Jerusalem
Four Arabs were stabbed in a town in southern Israel on Friday and a Jewish suspect was arrested, police said. The attacks follow a surge in knife violence by Palestinians against Israelis.
The stabbings took place in the town of Dimona and were all were believed to have been carried out by the same suspect, police said.
