AFP, New Delhi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence Wednesday over the lynching of a Muslim man suspected of eating beef, calling it “unfortunate”, after criticism over his failure to speak out.
Modi accused the opposition of trying to stir up controversy over the incident last month in which Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged from his home and beaten to death over rumours he had eaten beef.
US to raise Iranian missile test at UN Council
Reuters, Washington
A missile test announced by Iran over the weekend was an apparent violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution and Washington will raise it at the United Nations, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.
Iran said it tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile on Sunday, signaling an apparent advance in Iranian attempts to improve the accuracy of its missile arsenal.
7 killed in Pak lawmaker’s office bomb blast
AP, Multan
A bomb targeting the election office of a ruling party lawmaker killed seven people and wounded nine others in central Pakistan on Wednesday, police said.
Amjad Khosa wasn’t present at his election office in Taunsa city at the time of the blast, senior police officer Mubashar Mekan told reporters. He said some of the victims were listed in a critical condition and that police were investigating whether it was a suicide attack.
Support for Merkel’s bloc slips over refugee crisis
Reuters, Berlin
Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives has dropped to 38 percent, its lowest level since June 2014, as a dispute in her bloc over how to deal with a record inflow of refugees takes its toll, a poll showed on Wednesday.
Merkel and Horst Seehofer, the leader of her Bavarian sister party, have often been at odds over how Germany should react to an influx of refugees.
Nepal fuel crisis eases
AP, Kathmandu
Nepal’s fuel crisis eased slightly as the Himalayan nation began issuing gasoline for private vehicles while also reopening a northern border crossing with China that had been damaged by April’s devastating earthquake.
Lines of cars and motorcycles stretched for kilometers (miles) from gasoline pumps in Kathmandu on Tuesday, as people rushed to fill up before the Hindu festival of Dasain, the country’s biggest holiday.
IS urges Jihad on Russia, US
AFP, Beirut
The Islamic State group called on Muslims Tuesday to wage jihad on Russia and the United States, as Moscow announced it had intensified its air campaign against Islamic militants in Syria.
The call came as Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised Washington for refusing to cooperate with Moscow in its Syrian campaign, which is having an increasingly dramatic effect.
