Sydney / AFP Australia watered down plans for a “backpacker tax” on foreigners on working holidays on Tuesday, after an outcry from farmers and tourism operators. Canberra had been under increasing pressure to shelve the tax — 32.5 cents for every dollar earned — amid fears it would deter tourists from choosing the country as a destination. Some 600,000 …

  Riyadh / AFP Thousands of Saudis have signed a petition urging an end to the guardianship system giving men control over the work, study, marriage and travel of female relatives, activists said on Tuesday. The petition calls for the kingdom’s women to be treated “as a full citizen, and decide an age where she will be an adult and …

  Baghdad/ AFP Bombings targeting shopping areas in Shiite districts of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50, security and medical officials said. The IS extremist group claimed an attack in the Baghdad Jadida neighbourhood in the east of the city, saying it was carried out by a man wearing an explosive …