Al Qaeda chief urges kidnappings of Westerners for prisoner swaps: SITE
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has appeared in an audio interview calling on fighters to take Western hostages and exchange them for jailed jihadists, the monitoring service SITE Intelligence Group said on Sunday.
Mortar attack kills several people in old quarter of Damascus: monitor
AMMAN (Reuters) – Several people were killed when a mortar bomb hit a restaurant in the government-controlled ancient quarter of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, a monitor and a witness said.
Anger, mourning in Afghanistan after Kabul suicide attack
KABUL (Reuters) – Members of Afghanistan’s Hazara minority began the task of burying more than 80 people killed in Saturday’s suicide attack in Kabul with many blaming political leaders for security failures that led to the massacre.
Machete attacker kills one, wounds two in Germany: Bild newspaper
BERLIN (Reuters) – A man wielding a machete killed a woman and wounded two other people in the southern German city of Reutlingen on Sunday before being arrested, the Bild newspaper reported.
India urges security forces to exercise restraint in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – India has asked its security forces to exercise restraint in responding to protests in disputed Kashmir and replace pellet guns with non-lethal weapons, its home affairs minister said on Sunday.
Blast in northwest Baghdad claimed by Islamic State kills six
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – At least six people were killed and 20 wounded in a suicide bomb attack claimed by Islamic State in a mostly Shi’ite Muslim district of northwest Baghdad, police and medical sources said on Sunday.
ASEAN deadlocked on South China Sea, Cambodia blocks statement
VIENTIANE (Reuters) – Southeast Asian nations failed to agree on maritime disputes in the South China Sea on Sunday after Cambodia blocked any mention to an international court ruling against Beijing in their statement, diplomats said.
Nepal’s PM quits just before no confidence vote after allies depart
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Oli resigned on Sunday, nine months after coming to power, minutes before parliament was to vote on a no confidence motion he was likely to lose.
UK seeks to assuage global worries over path to Brexit
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) – Britain’s new finance minister Philip Hammond, under pressure from his peers from around the world, said on Sunday there could be more clarity later this year on how the country will exit the European Union.
Turkish president gains upper hand in power struggle
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – At the crossroads between a divided Europe and a convulsed Middle East, Turkey is caught in a power struggle between former Islamist allies which is shaking democratic institutions and raises questions about its future path.
