Reuters World News Summary

09/18/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pro-Putin party seen winning even greater sway in Russia's parliament

The ruling United Russia party is expected to win even greater dominance over Russia's lower house in a parliamentary election on Sunday, showing that support for President Vladimir Putin is holding up despite sanctions and a deep economic slowdown. The election for the Duma, or lower house, is being seen as a dry run for Putin's expected presidential campaign in 2018.

Brexit? What Brexit? EU on cruise control

The "Brexit cruise" didn't get very far. EU leaders drifted down the Danube for an hour, said little about Britain over a leisurely shipboard lunch, then circled back to Bratislava to resume Friday's summit. Beneath the surface, though, things have been stirring on Brexit. Summit chairman Donald Tusk later stirred them up more by saying Britain's poker-faced prime minister, Theresa May, had let him glimpse her cards, indicating divorce talks prompted by June's referendum may start in four to five months.

Just under 30 percent of French Muslims reject secular laws: poll

Just under 30 percent of France's 3 to 4 million Muslims reject the country's secular laws, according to an Ifop poll published by the French weekly Journal du Dimanche. When asked if they considered the Islamic legal and moral code of sharia to be more important than the French Republic's laws, 29 percent of respondents answered "yes."

India blames Pakistan as Kashmir attack kills 17 soldiers

India accused Pakistan of being behind Sunday's separatist attack on an army base near their disputed frontier that killed 17 soldiers, in one of the most deadly attacks in Kashmir in a quarter-century-old insurgency. Four commando-style gunmen, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, burst into the brigade headquarters in Uri at 5:30 a.m. (midnight GMT) and were killed after a three-hour gunfight, a senior Indian army officer said.

Swiss right-wing politician unhurt after knife attack

A senior official in the right-wing Swiss People's Party, Christoph Blocher, escaped unharmed after being attacked by a man carrying a knife after a political debate in Zurich on Saturday, Zurich police said. The 75-year-old is the party's strategy chief and head of the Committee Against a Creeping EU Entry, which opposes closer ties with the European Union. He was leaving a political debate about Switzerland's relationship with the EU at a Zurich hotel on Saturday afternoon when an unidentified man accosted him, the SonntagsBlick weekly reported earlier on Sunday.

Syrian warplane downed during operation against Islamic State: army

The Syrian military on Sunday said one of its war planes had been downed in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor during an operation against Islamic state, where the militant group has been under intense air strikes in the past 24 hours. The jet came down in the Jebel Tharda area which overlooks the government's Deir al Zor military airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict now in its sixth year, said.

In Hungary's migrant vote, only the turnout is in doubt

On a recent evening on Hungary's border with Serbia, a fleet of police trucks raced along the dusty boundary. A heat sensor trained on the razor wire fence had picked up migrants approaching, officers explained. The migrants, about two dozen in number, quickly split up and went back deep into Serbian territory, police said.

Syria truce 'will not hold out' says senior rebel source

Syria's ceasefire "will not hold out," a senior rebel official in Aleppo warned on Saturday, as air strikes and shelling continued in some places and promised aid deliveries failed to come through. The ceasefire is the result of an agreement between Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with air power, and the United States, which supports some rebel groups, and has cooled fighting since coming into effect last Monday.

Somali general, 7 bodyguards killed in suspected car bomb attack: police

A Somali general and at least seven of his bodyguards were killed on Sunday when their military convoy was hit by a suspected car bomb, a police officer said on Sunday. "Military General Mohamed Roble Jimale and at least seven of his bodyguards died," police colonel Abdikadir Farah told Reuters. The general was also known by the name Goobaanle. Many Somalis have a nickname often as commonly used as their proper name.

Arms for Houthis found in Yemen trucks with Oman plates: newspaper

Allies of Yemen's president found weapons bound for Iran-aligned Houthi forces on trucks with Omani license plates, although there was no evidence of any link to Omani authorities, who are neutral in Yemen's war, a Saudi-owned daily reported on Sunday. Al-Hayat newspaper quoted Marib governor Sultan al-Arada as saying the vehicles carrying "explosives and weapons" had been en route from the Yemeni province of Hadramout to the Houthi-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

09/18/2016 8:55