U.S. holding American in Iraq
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government acknowledged Thursday that it has detained an American citizen for more than two months in Iraq who is accused of fighting with the Islamic State group and has not granted his request to see a lawyer.
Responding to a court order, the government said the man picked up on the Syrian battlefield indicated he was willing to talk to FBI agents but “felt he should have an attorney present.”
The unidentified American, who has not been charged, surrendered to U.S.-backed fighters in Syria around Sept. 12 and is being held in Iraq as an unlawful enemy combatant. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a court petition challenging his detention and asking to provide him access to legal counsel.
Unrest in Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Tension was building in the Honduran capital Thursday as residents awaited the final results of vote counting that has dragged on for days, and supporters of a political newcomer who challenged the incumbent president clashed with police.
The election pitted Salvador Nasralla, a television personality with no prior political experience, against President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
On Monday, Mr. Nasralla appeared to have pulled off a stunning victory, but in the following days, his 5 percentage-point advantage melted.
Mr. Nasralla said he believes the election is being stolen and he won’t respect official results.
The country’s electoral tribunal, which administers elections and is allied with the president, has said it is not manipulating the vote in favor of Mr. Hernandez.
Ex-oil officials arrested
CARACAS, Venezuela — Masked government agents stormed the homes of two former top officials of Venezuela’s state oil company and arrested them Thursday, a move the prosecutor said was a blow against corruption but others saw as a political purge to strengthen the country’s president.
The accused men, Nelson Martínez and Eulogio del Pino, are the highest-level officials detained in a string of arrests that have shaken the country’s troubled oil giant, Petróleos de Venezuela, and its U.S. refiner, Citgo. More than 50 people so far have been detained in a widening net of charges from corruption to sabotage.
Walking for hours to vote
TEMPATHANG, Nepal — The treacherous trail that connects this remote Sherpa village in the Himalayas to the rest of the world was unusually crowded over the weekend as scores of voters walked for hours to vote in Nepal’s first parliamentary elections since 2006.
While its neighbors in Asia have experienced decades of rapid growth, Nepal’s development has been stalled by corruption and instability, leaving the country’s Sherpas — skilled mountaineers famous for guiding Western adventurers to difficult summits — with limited access to electrical power, health care and education.
Now many hope Nepal’s transition from a monarchy to a federalized republic will bring with it modern basics. “Democracy is happiness,” one voter said, “and happiness is roads.”
Also in the world …
Israel said it bombed six targets in Gaza on Thursday in response to mortar fire from Palestinian militants at Israeli army forces that resulted in no casualties.