IRAQI – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called for the arrests of protesters who stormed the parliament, clashed with police and broke the barricades of Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone.

Abadi’s statement on Sunday came a day after hundreds of followers of the influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tore down blast walls and poured into the parliament building, exacerbating a long-simmering political crisis. Videos on social media showed a group of young men surrounding and slapping two Iraqi legislators as they attempted to flee the crowd, while other protesters mobbed motorcades. Protesters were also seen jumping and dancing on the parliament’s meeting hall tables and chairs and waving Iraqi flags.”.(Al Jazeera)…[+]

USA – Supporters mourn Roman Catholic priest imprisoned for burning draft files in protest against Vietnam war. Daniel Berrigan, a Roman Catholic priest and prominent anti-war campaigner, has died at the age of 94.

Michael Benigno, a spokesman for the Jesuits USA Northeast Province, said Berrigan died on Saturday at a Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University. A peace activist, Berrigan authored more than 50 books, including several on religion and activism, as well as poetry collections. He won the prestigious Lamont Prize in 1957 for “Time Without Number”, a volume of his poetry. He and his younger brother, the Reverend Phillip Berrigan, in the 1960s became leaders of the anti-war movement against the US invasion of Vietnam. Berrigan was once imprisoned for burning draft files in a protest against the Vietnam war in 1968.(aljazeera.com)…[+]

USA – An antiseptic gel to help prevent umbilical cord infections in newborn babies, which was developed from a mouthwash, has been given the green light by European regulators.

GlaxoSmithKline developed the product, called Umbipro, with the charity Save the Children for use in developing countries. The gel will be sold at a not-for-profit price and could save 422,000 lives over five years, according to UN estimates. Scientists reformulated the chlorhexidine solution found in its Corsodyl mouthwash into a gel that can be applied to newly cut umbilical cords. There is a greater risk of infection – a major cause of newborn deaths – in developing countries across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where more births happen at home and unsterile materials such as dung and ash are traditionally used on the umbilical cord stump.(theguardian)…[+]