Istanbul /AFP Turkey is heading to a referendum on granting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan new powers as early as next spring, ratcheting up tensions amid a crackdown on dissent and pro-Kurdish politicians, analysts say. The courts have arrested over 35,000 people under a state of emergency imposed in the wake of the failed July 15 coup aimed at unseating …

  Karbala / AP A rare suicide bombing in an oasis town south of Baghdad killed eight people on Monday, Iraqi officials said, an attack claimed by the IS group. The attack in Ain al-Tamer, which also wounded at least six people, involved multiple suicide bombers, some of whom may have been killed by security forces before they could blow themselves …

  Istanbul / AP Turkey on Monday closed a border crossing with Syria in the southeastern province of Kilis after violent clashes in the Syrian town of Azaz, a local official said. “The border gate remains open only for ambulances,” the official said. Turkish media reported that the closure of the Oncupinar border crossing, which faces Bab al-Salama inside Syria, was …