AirSTrike killS dozenS of TurkiSh- backed Syrian fighTerS

BEIRUT » An airstrike on a rebel training camp in northwestern Syria on Monday killed more than 50 Turkish- backed fighters and wounded nearly as many, in one of the heaviest blows to the opposition’s strongest groups, a spokesman and a war monitor said. The opposition blamed Russia for the daytime strike and vowed to retaliate for the attack on Faylaq al- Sham.

Russia and Turkey, although they support opposite sides in Syria’s conflict, have worked together to maintain a cease- fire in the last enclave of Syria’s rebels, centered on the province of Idlib. But the attack comes as relations between the two countries have shown signs of strain over Turkey’s increased military involvement in a region stretching from Syria to the Caucasus and the Mediterranean.

There was no immediate comment from Russia or Turkey.

U. S. imposes sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.

WASHINGTON » The Trump administration imposed sweeping economic sanctions against Iran’s oil sector Monday as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum, the National Iranian Oil Co. and its oiltanker subsidiary for providing financial support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the elite military unit that is designated as a terrorist group by the U. S.. The sanctions are expected to create a new obstacle should any future president seek to open negotiations with Iran.

Zeta becomes a hurricane as it nears Yucatan, heading for U. S.

CANCUN, MEXICO » Zeta strengthened to a hurricane Monday afternoon as it continued on a track for Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula resorts and then likely will move on for a possible landfall on the central U. S. Gulf Coast at midweek.

Zeta — the earliest ever 27th named storm of the Atlantic season — was centered about 90 miles southeast of Cozumel island Monday afternoon, the U. S. National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

The hurricane was moving northwest at around 10 mph after being nearly stationary over the weekend. Forecasters said Zeta was expected to move over the Yucatan Peninsula late Monday before heading into the Gulf of Mexico and then approach the U. S. Gulf Coast by Wednesday, though it could weaken by then.

Japan’s new leader sets ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

TOKYO » Japan will be carbon neutral by 2050, its prime minister said Monday, making an ambitious pledge to sharply accelerate the country’s global warming targets, even as it plans to build more than a dozen coalburning power plants in the coming years.

Prime Minister Yoshihide

Suga laid out the goal during his first major policy speech since taking office in September, when Japan’s longest- serving leader, Shinzo Abe, abruptly resigned.

Head of Virginia Military Institute resigns amid review of racism on campus.

The Virginia Military Institute’s superintendent resigned Monday, a week after Virginia’s governor ordered an independent investigation into allegations of systemic racism at the state- supported military college.

Gen. J. H. Binford Peay III, 80, who has led the school since 2003, said in his resignation letter that the staff of Gov. Ralph Northam and members of the Virginia Legislature had “lost confidence in my leadership” and had asked him Friday to resign.

The governor said in a statement that change was overdue at VMI. “Diversity is a fundamental commitment,” he said.

Peay, a retired four- star Army general, led the 181- year- old school in Lexington, Va., through a stormy reexamination of its past and its culture, which for generations venerated Confederate leaders and slave owners.