The report says the Venezuelan Army Corps of Engineers is now studying construction of a highway between Puerto Cabezas in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) and Rio Blanco in the central department of Matagalpa, also to be integrated into the network linking to the Dry Canal.

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Iraq's largely autonomous northern Kurdish region, which comprises three provinces, will hold its own local elections in September.

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It accuses the PKK of launching attacks on Turkish targets from secret bases in the mountainous and semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

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Ms. MARCUS: No, the Kurdish government in Northern Iraq, which runs the autonomous Kurdistan region, is very much opposed to the PKK's presence on its territory.

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