NEWS OF THE DAY

_1 Brazil politics: The largest left-leaning opposition parties say they will boycott Tuesday’s inauguration of far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro. The Workers’ Party, which governed from 2003 to 2016, and the Socialism and Liberty Party said their lawmakers and executives will not attend the ceremony in the capital city of Brasilia. Several members of the Communist Party of Brazil also said they will shun the inauguration of the former army captain who won 55 percent of the vote in the Oct. 28 presidential runoff. The Workers’ Party had fielded former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its candidate in the election and he was considered the front-runner until he was barred from running after being jailed for corruption and money laundering. _2 Mexico fire: Seven children died in a house fire in a poor neighborhood of Mexico City. The city prosecutors’ office said the fire erupted Friday in a wooden dwelling in the Iztapalapa district. Five of the children were younger than 10; the other two were 13 and 14. The children apparently were left alone while their parents worked. Local media said the parents earn money collecting plastic bottles. While the cause of the blaze remains under investigation, house fires in the city are often caused by attempts to heat dwellings using wood or charcoal fires or by faulty gas connections.

_3 Egypt crackdown: Security forces have killed 40 militants in raids on their hideouts in the Sinai Peninsula and the greater Cairo area, authorities said Saturday. The Interior Ministry said 10 of the militants were killed when the forces stormed their hideout in el-Arish, a coastal city in the turbulent north of Sinai. It said the militants were preparing for attacks on government and tourism facilities, army and police personnel as well as Christian churches. The announcement came a day after a bomb targeted a tourist bus in Cairo, killing three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide. _4 Thailand violence: Muslim separatists struck southern Thailand for the fourth day in a row Saturday, with three paramilitary soldiers wounded and a female civilian shot dead, authorities said. The soldiers in Narathiwat province were hurt in an ambush of their truck, while the woman was killed in Pattani province. Drive-by shootings, roadside ambushes and bombings have been common tactics used by Muslim separatists who since 2004 have been engaged in an insurgency in Thailand’s deep south that has killed about 7,000 people. _5 Kashmir clashes: Anti-India demonstrations erupted in disputed Kashmir on Saturday after a gunbattle between militants and government forces killed four rebels, police and residents said. Indian troops staged a siege early Saturday around a southern village in the Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, leading to an exchange of gunfire, police said. Four militants were killed, police said, adding that troops suffered no casualties. The fighting sparked protests after hundreds of residents tried to march to the site of the battle in an attempt to help the militants escape. India and Pakistan each claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. Most Kashmiris support the rebel cause that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.