Bloomberg The Scottish Labour Party will seek a fourth leader in less than three years after the incumbent quit following a turbulent period for the movement that once dominated politics in Scotland. Kezia Dugdale, 36, said she’s stepping down to allow someone else to drive Labour toward elections to the Scottish Parliament in 2021. She was elected leader in August …

KIRKUK / Reuters Iraq’s oil-producing region of Kirkuk will vote in a referendum on Kurdish independence on Sept. 25, its provisional council decided, a move that could increase tension with Arab and Turkmen residents. The ethnically mixed region is claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. The vote is …

BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraqi forces backed by Shi’ite paramilitaries began fighting house-by-house in the one town left to take from IS before they can declare complete victory over the group’s former stronghold of Tal Afar, military commanders said. Hundreds of battle-hardened IS militants are defending al-Ayadiya, a small town outside Tal Afar which itself is about 80 km (50 miles) …