RECORD LOW TURNOUT IN IRAQ ELECTIONS

Iraq saw a record low turnout Saturday in its first elections since the collapse of the Islamic State, pointing to widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country under Prime Minister Haidar al-abadi and presaging a long period of deal-making as politicians squabble over posts in a new government.

There were no bombings at any polling stations — a first since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.

Al-abadi called it a “historic day, spent peacefully by all Iraqis.”

Riyadh al-badran, a member on Iraq’s national elections commission, said turnout was 44 percent.

Malaysia bars scandalridden ex-leader from leaving country.

KUALA MALAYSIA» Malaysia’s

LUMPUR, new leader, Mahathir Mohamad, said Saturday that defeated scandal-tainted Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife have been barred from leaving the country to prevent them from fleeing from possible prosecution over a massive corruption scandal.

A leaked flight manifesto showed that Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were due to leave on a private jet Saturday to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, fueling rumors that he was bolting the country days after a shocking electoral defeat that ended his coalition’s 60-year grip on power.

Najib had said on social media earlier in the day that he was planning to take a short vacation to spend time with his family

Official: 26 people killed in Burundi “terrorist” attack.

BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI» Twenty-six people were killed and seven others wounded in an attack by an unidentified “terrorist group” in rural Burundi, the country’s security minister said Saturday.

The attack came shortly before Burundians vote May 17 in a controversial referendum that could extend the president’s term. It was not immediately clear if the attack was related, although some activists said they believe it was.

Speaking at the scene, Security Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni told reporters that 24 people were killed in their homes Friday night and two others died of their wounds at a hospital.

He gave no further details about the attack in Ruhagarika community in the northwestern province of Cibitoke.

As Venezuela exodus swells, more migrants face removal.

CUCUTA,

As the exodus of Venezuelans fleeing their country’s economic and humanitarian crisis grows, neighboring Colombia is responding by tightening checks aimed at curbing the number of migrants in the country illegally.

But the removals, although often legal, raise a prickly question: Should migrants be sent back to a country the U.S. and others have condemned as a hunger-stricken “dictatorship?”

“We can’t tell everyone, ‘Come, stay here,’ ” Christian Kruger, the director of Colombia’s migration agency, said in a recent interview. “There is no country in the world that can support unlimited migration.”

Merkel decries U.S. pullout from Iran deal, gets peace prize.

ASSISI, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lamented Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the Iran nuclear accord was making the situation in the Middle East “even more difficult” and warned Europeans to be skeptical of “easy” solutions promised by populists.

Speaking while in Italy to receive a peace prize, Merkel cited the recent escalation of Israeli-iranian hostility that quickly followed Trump’s announcement about the Iran accord as a reason for concern.

— Denver Post wire services