World
French President Francois Hollande says France will supply arms to Iraq's Kurds "in the coming hours." The BBC reports:
France has received approval from authorities in Baghdad for the decision, French media reports say. Kurdish forces have been fighting militants from the Islamic State (IS) group. The conflict has displaced thousands of people.
The U.S. has also reportedly begun supplying weapons to the Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga.
A statement from Mr Hollande's office said the move was "in response to the urgent need expressed by the regional authorities in Kurdistan."
The United States has sent 130 additional advisers to northern Iraq to plan for the evacuation of refugees under siege by Islamist militants. USA Today writes:
The Marines and special operations forces have been sent to the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq to assess the humanitarian crisis in the Sinjar Mountains and ways to end it, said a senior Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about the mission.
There were about 300 U.S. military advisers already in Iraq, as well as other troops there to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s defiant fight to retain power in Iraq appeared to collapse as his supporters withdrew. The New York Times states:
The shift came after Mr. Maliki made several last-ditch efforts to shore up support, only to be confronted late Monday night with delegations of officials, all pleading with him to back down for the good of the country.
The next morning, an important Iraqi Army general in Baghdad reached out to Iraq’s new president, Fuad Masum, and the man he nominated to be the next prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, and delivered the message that the military would not stand by Mr. Maliki, according to a senior Iraqi official.
