From Washington, this is VOA news. Hello, I'm Steve Miller.

Iraq's Kurds have voted to create an independent state in a referendum that has angered the Baghdad government and regional powers Turkey and Iran.

Reuters Emily Wither has the story.

Iraq's Kurds have voted overwhelmingly in favor of creating an independent state.

The electoral commission on Wednesday announcing that more than 90 percent want to break away from Iraq.

The Kurdish president, Masoud Barzani, warning citizens they might face hardships but remain united.

Down in Irbil's main market, people are defiant and nervous.

Kurds have an old saying -- they have "no friends but the mountains."

As pressure mounts around them to abandon this bid, they may be hoping for a fried to step in.

There was Reuters Emily Wither.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis traveled to Afghanistan. VOA's Bill Gallo is traveling with the Pentagon chief and filed this report.

Just hours after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in the Afghan capital, a reminder of the instability that plagues the country, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in which several rockets were fired toward the Kabul international airport.

Mattis's visit was meant to highlight unity in the face of the continued unrest.

Coalition leaders were upbeat, saying President Donald Trump's new strategy is already having positive effects.

The U.S. is sending 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total number of U.S. forces here to over 14,000.

Trump says they won't come home until conditions on the ground warrant it.

Bill Gallo, VOA news, Kabul.

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The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees warns of a high risk of terrorism in Myanmar and the region if Rohingya crisis remains unresolved. Lisa Schlein reports from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The U.N.'s refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, has just returned from a visit to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, which now is home to some 800,000 Rohingya refugees. They include some 450,000 refugees who recently fled violence and persecution in Myanmar.

He says most of the refugees are women and children, and that many are deeply traumatized. Grandi says he spoke to women who had been raped and children who had seen their families and friends killed.

The U.N. official says he was struck by how little the refugees had and how vulnerable they were to multiple risks.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.

Kenya's electoral commission remains in the hot seat as the country heads to a re-run of the presidential poll on October 26. Jill Craig reports from Nairobi.

Kenya's opposition says it will boycott the re-run of the presidential election if officials from the electoral commission, or IEBC, are not replaced.

"IEBC cannot begin the process of ensuring an honest election, as long as those responsible for the irregularities and illegalities are still lurking in its corridors."

Confidence in the IEBC hit a new low with the nullification of the August 8th presidential election results.

Meanwhile, President Uhuru Kenyatta has taken aim at the Supreme Court justices, calling them "thugs" and accusing them of a judicial coup after it annulled his win. Yet he is still pledging to comply with the judgment.

In that ruling, the Supreme Court highlighted the IEBC's refusal of a court order to open its computer servers.

Jill Craig, VOA news, Nairobi.

The leader of Catalonia has accused the European Union on Wednesday of "turning its back" on the Spanish region in its conflict with the central government over a disputed independence vote planned for Sunday that Spanish authorities have vowed to prevent.

He told the AP he intends to make the divisive matter of Catalonia's independence into a European affair rather than just a domestic issue.

The Central African Republic's president said he has no doubt about what must be done to create a better peaceful future for his country.

President Touadéra says those who have caused the death of more than 4,000 people and displacement of hundreds of thousands since a conflict erupted in 2013 must be punished.

He says the grave human rights situation in his country has weakened the authority of the state and the independence of the judiciary.



From Washington, I'm Steve Miller.

That's the latest world news from VOA.