Baghdad / AFP One of the deadliest bombings to ever hit Iraq killed 323 people, two thirds of whom needed DNA testing to identify, the health minister said, raising an earlier toll from last month’s attack. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged minibus in a crowded shopping area in Baghdad’s Karrada district early on July 3, sparking infernos in …

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey summoned a senior German diplomat on Monday, a day after a rally in Cologne in support of the Turkish president who was not permitted to address the crowd by video link. The coup aimed to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has since launched a sweeping nationwide purge of suspected Gulen supporters, dismissing tens of …

  Kuala Lumpur / AFP Tough new security legislation came into force in Malaysia on Monday, with critics saying the “draconian” law threatens democracy and could be used against opponents of the scandal-tainted premier. The National Security Council Act was pushed through parliament in December by the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who for more than a year has …