Turkey blames Kurds for Ankara blast

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara has evidence which indicate that Syrian Kurds have carried out Wednesday’s deadly bomb attack. He said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK has helped the Syrians. Erdogan added that 14 people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
• In Iraq, 40 men have been sentenced to death over their role in the mass execution of 1,7000 cadets in Tikrit in 2014. A court had ordered to hang 24 others for a similar charge in 2015. The massacre that occurred at the Speicher Airbase coincided with Daesh’s initial advances in Iraq.
• Iraqi Kurds say Daesh terrorists carried out chemical attacks against their fighters near the town of Sinjar. A Kurdish military officer and a medical official said 30 fighters were wounded after ISIL fired mortar shells, apparently filled with a chemical substance. Symptoms of the hospitalized Kurdish soldiers suggest that chlorine was used.
• Saudi Arabia says its military operations in Yemen will go on until Saudi-backed former president of Yemen, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, is restored to power. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir added that Saudi forces and their allies will sure succeed in controlling all Yemeni territories, but it may take some time.
• The detention of an Indian student over sedition charges continues to spark anger in India. Apart from the capital New Delhi, students and teachers in ten cities took to the streets to demand Kanhaiya Kumar's release. A video that showed Kumar being kicked on the way to the court infuriated the protesters.
• Ugandan police have fired tear gas at people angered by hours of delay in voting at some polling stations. The election commission has apologized for the delay in delivering the ballot papers, citing technical difficulties. The opposition supporters, however, believe the delay was aimed at manipulating the votes casted so far.
• British Prime Minister David Cameron says he’s ready for hard work to clinch a deal over the UK’s continued European Union membership, but not at any price. Cameron made the remark as EU leaders gather in Brussels to weigh the reforms the UK seeks to stay within the bloc.
• The US has quadrupled the number of troops it originally planned to dispatch to a military exercise with South Korea. 15,000 American soldiers are set to take part in the annual computer-simulated exercise next month. The decision follows North Korea’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

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