Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Vestavia Hills, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore is denying the allegations. (AP Photo/Hal Yeager)
Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at the Vestavia Hills Public library, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Vestavia Hills, Ala. According to a Thursday, Nov. 9 Washington Post story an Alabama woman said Moore made inappropriate advances and had sexual contact with her when she was 14. Moore is denying the allegations. (AP Photo/Hal Yeager) Credit: ap — Hal Yeager

Iranians Report at Least 61 Dead, 300 Injured From Quake

Tehran, Iran — A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the region along the border between Iran and Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 61 people and injuring 300 in Iran, an Iranian official said.

Iranian state TV said Iraqi officials had reported six deaths and 200 injuries inside Iraq, though there was no official comment from Iraq’s government. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 19 miles outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja. Iranian state TV also said Iraqi officials reported at least six people dead inside Iraq, along with more than 50 people injured in Sulaymaniyah province and about 150 in Khanaquin city. No reports were immediately available from Iraq’s government.

Lebanon PM Says He Will Return To Seek Settlement

Beirut — In his first TV interview since he announced his surprise resignation last weekend, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Sunday he will return to his country from Saudi Arabia “within days” to seek a settlement with the militant group Hezbollah, his rivals in his coalition government. Hariri, looking downcast and tired, denied he was being held against his will in the kingdom and said he was compelled to resign to save Lebanon from imminent dangers, which he didn’t specify.

He held back tears at one point and repeated several times that he resigned to create a “positive shock” and draw attention to the danger of siding with Iran, Hezbollah’s main patron, in regional conflicts.

A political crisis has gripped Lebanon since Hariri read his televised resignation from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4 in which he accused Iran of meddling in his country in a vicious tirade that was uncharacteristic of the usually soft-spoken 47-year old premier.

Poll: Repupublican Moore Trails In Alabama Senate Race.

Republican Roy Moore trails his Democratic opponent for the first time in polling for the Alabama Senate race, days after accusations surfaced that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl almost four decades ago.

Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones, 63, a former U.S. attorney, in a special election on Dec. 12 to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, now the U.S. attorney general. Alabama is typically considered a safe Republican seat.

A poll published Sunday by JMC Analytics and Polling showed Jones with 46 percent to Moore’s 42 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

The survey was conducted Nov. 9 and Nov. 11, and with a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points, it suggests the race is a toss-up one month from the election.

Two conservative Republican Senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Steve Daines of Montana, pulled their endorsements late Friday.

On Saturday, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee tweeted that, “I’m sorry, but even before these reports surfaced, Roy Moore’s nomination was a bridge too far.”

Turkey Denies Report of Plan To Kidnap Cleric Gulen From U.S.

Istanbul — Turkey has dismissed as “utterly false, ludicrous and groundless” a report that Turkish officials may have discussed paying millions of dollars to have a U.S.-based Muslim cleric kidnapped.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating an alleged plot involving former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his son to hand Fethullah Gulen over to Ankara for as much as $15 million.

Turkey blames the cleric and his supporters for a July 2016 military coup attempt that killed 250 people. Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has denied being behind it.

The Turkish Embassy in Washington reiterated demands late Saturday for the United States to extradite Gulen so he can stand trial.

The embassy in a statement rejected “all allegations that Turkey would resort to means external to the rule of law” to get Gulen back on Turkish soil.

Flynn’s lawyers also have disputed the Journal report saying Mueller was looking into a meeting where Flynn allegedly discussed a plan that would pay him and his son “to forcibly remove” Gulen.

— Wire reports