Reuters World News Summary

09/19/2016 8:56

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

India weighs response to deadly Kashmir attack it blames on Pakistan

India stepped up patrols along its de facto border with Pakistan on Monday after gunmen killed 18 soldiers at a nearby army base, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration weighed its response to an attack India blames on its neighbor. The assault, in which four commando-style gunmen burst into the brigade headquarters in Uri at 5.30 a.m. (midnight GMT) on Sunday, was among the deadliest in Kashmir and has sharply ratcheted up tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Pro-Putin party wins landslide victory in Russian election

Vladimir Putin's political allies won a landslide victory in a parliamentary election in Russia, near final results showed on Monday, paving the way for Putin to run for a fourth term as president in 18 months if, as expected, he chooses to do so. The ruling United Russia party, founded by Putin almost 16 years ago after he first became president, was on track to win 343 seats or 76 percent of 450 available seats in Russia's Duma, the lower house of parliament, the Central Election Commission said, after 93 percent of ballots had been counted.

Maduro revels in support from Zimbabwe, Iran as critics decry failed summit

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reveled in support from leftist allies during a summit of a Cold War-era bloc that wrapped up on Sunday, but critics pilloried him for hosting unpopular leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and for failing to draw many world leaders. It appears only around a dozen heads of state from the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement made it to the meeting held on the Caribbean island of Margarita, just off Venezuela's coast, in a blow for a government keen to bolster its international legitimacy.

Merkel says accepts share of responsibility for Berlin defeat

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she accepted her share of responsibility for her conservatives' drubbing in a Berlin state vote on Sunday when voters punished the party for her refugee-friendly migrant policy. Merkel said she would turn back time if she could to be better prepared for the influx of around one million migrants who flooded into Germany last year, adding that if she knew how people wanted her to change her migrant policy she would consider it.

China threatens countermeasures after Dalai Lama speaks at EU Parliament

China expressed anger on Monday and threatened countermeasures after exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama spoke at the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg and met its president, Martin Schulz. China regards the 80-year-old, Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk as a separatist, though he says he merely seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland, which Communist Chinese troops "peacefully liberated" in 1950.

Philippine drug killings probe in limbo after senators drop Duterte critic

Philippine senators on Monday ousted a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte from the leadership of a panel investigating an explosion of drug-related killings, squashing a rare domestic challenge to the bloody crackdown. Duterte's war on drugs, the key plank of a poll campaign likened to that of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, has claimed more than 3,800 lives from July 1 to Sept. 18.

U.S., Japan, South Korea ministers discuss tougher measures against North Korea

Foreign ministers for the United States, Japan and South Korea met in New York on Sunday, ahead of U.N. meetings, to discuss stepped-up measures against North Korea and expand collaboration with one another after Pyongyang's fifth and largest nuclear test. The Sept. 9 blast was in defiance of U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March.

China says Japan trying to 'confuse' South China Sea situation

China on Monday accused Japan of trying to "confuse" the situation in the South China Sea, after its neighbor said it would step up activity in the contested waters, through joint training patrols with the United States. Ties between Asia's two largest economies have long been overshadowed by arguments over their painful wartime history and a territorial spat in the East China Sea, among other issues.

Syria ceasefire seen near collapse

A Syrian ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia was in deep trouble on Monday as a rebel official said it had practically failed and signaled insurgents were preparing for a full resumption of fighting. Already widely violated since it took effect a week ago, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russia said jets from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian assailant, police say, as violence surges

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian assailant and wounded another in the West Bank on Monday, police said, and two police officers were stabbed in East Jerusalem in a resurgence of violence now in its fourth day. Palestinian street attacks that began nearly a year ago had largely waned in recent months, but a series of assaults since Friday have raised alarm in Israel of a new wave of bloodshed in the run-up to the Jewish New Year holiday next month.

09/19/2016 8:56