Editor’s Note: This listicle is part of a weekly series by The Ball State Daily News summarizing five stories from around the world. All summaries are based on stories published by The Associated Press.
U.S. troops pulling out of northeastern Syria ahead of an expected Turkish assault, protests in Iraq, Hong Kong’s mask-ban protests, climate protests in Europe and winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine make up this week’s five international stories.
US troops start pullout from along Turkey's border in Syria
Syria’s Kurds accused the U.S. of turning its back on its allies and risking gains made in the fight against the Islamic State group as American troops began pulling back on Monday from positions in northeastern Syria ahead of an expected Turkish assault. Syrian Kurdish fighters warned that Washington’s abrupt decision to stand aside — announced by the White House late Sunday — will overturn years of achievements in the battle against IS militants.
Read more: Syria
Iraq blames ‘malicious’ hands as toll from unrest tops 100
Twelve anti-government demonstrators were killed Sunday in ongoing protests in the capital Baghdad, the latest fatalities in six days of clashes that have left more than 100 dead and thousands wounded. Iraq’s government has tried containing the popular anger in Baghdad and a number of southern cities since Tuesday with security forces cracking down on demonstrators demanding jobs, better services and an end to endemic corruption in the oil-rich country.
Read more: Iraq
Protests, clashes as bid to block Hong Kong mask ban fails
Furiously yelling “Wearing a mask is not a crime,” tens of thousands of masked protesters hit Hong Kong’s rain-drenched streets Sunday in defiance of a new ban that criminalized the wearing of face masks at rallies. Riot police later swept in with volleys of tear gas and muscular arrests as peaceful rallies again degenerated into widespread violence and chaos. The ban redoubled the determination of both peaceful marchers and more radical black-clad youths.
Read more: Hong Kong
Climate protests block roads across Europe to demand action
Activists with the Extinction Rebellion movement blocked major roads in Berlin and Amsterdam on Monday at the beginning of what was billed as a wide-ranging series of protests demanding new climate policies. In the London demonstration, London police said some 135 climate activists had been arrested. In Madrid, the National Police said 33 activists were taken to their premises and three were arrested for resisting orders by anti-riot officers.
Read more: Climate
3 get Nobel Medicine prize for learning how cells use oxygen
Two Americans and a British scientist won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering how the body’s cells sense and react to oxygen levels, work that has paved the way for new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and other diseases. Drs. William Kaelin Jr. of Harvard University, Gregg Semenza of Johns Hopkins University and Peter Ratcliffe at the Francis Crick Institute in Britain and Oxford University will share equally the $918,000 award.
Read more: Nobel Prize