Iraq won’t join the boycott against Qatar as it refused to give in to pressure from Bahrain to join the Saudi-led diplomatic embargo. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi reportedly turned down an invitation from Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa to boycott Qatar when the two met in Baghdad on Sunday. In early June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and other nations severed diplomatic and economic ties with Doha who was accused of supporting terrorist groups in the region.
Over in Baghdad, Iraqi and Kurdish security forces rescued a Kurdish man seven days after he was kidnapped by a group of unknown armed men. Iraqi Intelligence Service released a statement on Monday saying the Directorate-General of Intelligence and Iraqi Asayish in cooperation with Kurdish Intelligence and security forces rescued a Kurdish man from a number of armed men at 4 a.m. on Monday. Two of the kidnappers have been detained.
Lastly, the number of suspected cases of cholera resulting from an epidemic in war-torn Yemen has reached 500,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. At least 1,975 people have died since the waterborne disease began to spread rapidly at the end of April. The WHO said the overall caseload had declined since July, but that 5,000 people a day were still being infected.
