Indonesia church attackts kill 11
Reuters, Surabaya
Suicide bombers suspected to be from an Islamic State-inspired group killed at least 11 people and wounded 40 in attacks on Christians attending Sunday morning services at three churches in Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya, officials said.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, has seen a recent resurgence in homegrown militancy inspired in part by Islamic State.
Turkish President heads to UK visit
AP, Istanbul
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on his way to Britain where he’ll meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday.
Before leaving Istanbul for London on Sunday, Erdogan called the U.K. a “strategic partner and ally” and said he would be discussing bilateral, regional and international issues with May. They include the latest developments in Cyprus, where Turkey and Britain act as guarantors, and a “joint action plan” in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Iran court
sentences eight men to death
Reuters, Dubai
An Iranian court on Sunday sentenced eight men to death over attacks that killed 18 people at the parliament and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s mausoleum last year, in the first deadly operation by Islamic State in the country.
The sentence, issued by a Revolutionary Court after a seven-session hearing, can be appealed in Iran’s Supreme Court, Musa Ghazanfarabadi, head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, told state television.
Heavy rainstorms kill 15 in Pakistan
AP, Peshawar
Officials in Pakistan say violent rainstorms in the northwest have caused at least 15 deaths and injured dozens.
Latif Khan, a senior disaster management official, says Sunday that most of the deaths from the severe weather overnight were caused by the collapse of mud and stone walls and houses. He says the heavy rains also caused flash flooding in some places.
Another official, Inayatur Rehman, said the roof of a seminary collapsed in the Bajur tribal region, killing six children and injuring nine.
