Cholera kills 124 in Yemen
SANAA,Yemen — The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen says a cholera outbreak has killed 124 people over the past two weeks.
Jamie McGoldrick told reporters Monday that another 11,100 people were believed to have been infected, and that medicine was arriving. But he also urged donor countries to fulfill more than $1 billion in aid pledges made in Geneva last month.
A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015, in a war that has killed more than 10,000 civilians. The World Health Organization said last month that fewer than 45 percent of health facilities in Yemen are now fully functioning, and that the flow of “essential medicines” has fallen by nearly 70 percent.
Iran presidential election
TEHRAN — Iran’s presidential election shifted toward a straight fight between moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani and a leading conservative cleric, a contest that polls suggest is too close to call.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the55-year-old mayor of Tehran who lost to Mr. Rouhani in2013, withdrew his candidacy on Monday and called on his backers to switch allegiance to Ebrahim Raisi. A survey by the state-affiliated Iranian Students Polling Agency last week showed the potential implications: support for Mr. Rouhani was at 42 percent, with Mr. Raisi on 27 percent and Mr. Qalibaf at 25 percent.
A victory by Mr. Raisi could put Iran on a more confrontational course with the West— and in particular U.S. President Donald Trump, who visits Iran’s chief regional rival, Saudi Arabia, this week.
Impeachment complaint
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers in the Philippines on Monday threw out an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte that accused him of orchestrating the mass murder of thousands of people in his crackdown on drug use.
The Justice Committee of the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Duterte backers, reviewed the complaint and declared it insufficient.
Venezuela deaths
CARACAS, Venezuela — A day that began with largely peaceful protests against Venezuela’s socialist government tooka violent turn Monday as fierce clashes between state security and demonstrators killed at least two people.
Thousands hauled chairs, beach umbrellas and protest signs on to main roads for a “sit-in against the dictatorship, ”the latest in weeks of street protests that have resulted in dozens of deaths.
Protests in Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro remained mostly tranquil, but outside the capital demonstrators clashed with police and national guards men.
Also in the world …
A mutiny over pay in Ivory Coast disrupted activities in several cities for a fourth day as the government said it was still in talks with some soldiers in a bid to end the unrest. … Demonstrators packed a downtown Moscow avenue Sunday, angered by plans for the mass demolition and replacement of huge apartment blocks and by what they called the highhanded way that City Hall, and by extension the federal government, trampled on their basic rights. … South African opposition party lawyers urged the nation’s top court to order parliament to hold a secret vote on a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. … Austria appeared headed toward early elections after a breakdown of its coalition government, potentially paving a path to power for the far-right Freedom Party.