Bloomberg ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ North Korea rejected the latest round of United Nations sanctions on the isolated state, and vowed to accelerate its plans to acquire a nuclear weapon that can strike the US homeland. In its first official response to the new resolution, North Korea’s foreign ministry released a statement on state-run media saying the sanctions justified its nuclear push and …

BAGHDAD / ERBIL / Reuters Iraq’s Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani vowed to press ahead with a referendum on Kurdish independence on Sept. 25 despite a vote by Iraq’s parliament to reject the move. Earlier the parliament in Baghdad authorised the prime minister to “take all measures” to preserve Iraq’s unity. Kurdish lawmakers walked out of the session before the vote …

Bloomberg Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for Kurdish statehood, offering a lone source of backing for an autonomy referendum in Iraq this month that allies oppose. Israel “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday night during his visit in Latin America. His endorsement clashes with …