NEWS OF THE DAY
Syria fighting: Israeli warplanes attacked military positions in central Syria early Monday, with a missile near Damascus killing four civilians and wounding 21, state media reported. The planes fired missiles from Lebanese airspace targeting military positions in the central province of Homs and suburbs of the capital, said state news agency SANA. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor, said 15 people were killed in the air strike, including six civilians and nine progovernment fighters. It said the dead fighters included one Syrian and the others were foreigners, most likely Iranians or members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Militant arrested: Indonesian police have arrested a man believed to be the leader of the al Qaedalinked Jemaah Islamiyah network who has eluded capture since 2003, authorities said Monday. National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said Para Wijayanto was arrested Saturday with his wife at a hotel in the Jakarta satellite city of Bekasi. Prasetyo said Wijayanto is suspected of being involved in the making of bombs used in a series of attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people and a 2004 attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta that killed nine.
Migrant deaths: The bodies of a man and his young daughter who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande into Texas were laid to rest Monday in their native El Salvador. About 50 people carried flowers and followed a hearse toward the burial site at a cemetery in southern San Salvador, the capital. Relatives and friends, many clad in black, arrived by bus from their hometown of Altavista. A heartbreaking photograph of the father and daughter that circled the globe last week underscored the perils faced by migrants and asylumseekers trying to reach the U.S. “They are good people, and I can’t believe they died this way.” said Berta Padilla, who said she knew the victims.
Sudan protests: Sudanese activists said Monday that at least 11 people were killed in clashes with security forces during mass demonstrations the day before demanding a transition to civilian rule. Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital, Khartoum, and other areas on Sunday in the biggest protests since security forces cleared a sitin last month. They called for the military to hand over power to civilians following the coup that ousted longtime autocrat Omar alBashir in April. The Sudan Doctors Committee, the medical arm of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which has spearheaded the demonstrations, confirmed the death toll. The ruling military council blamed protest leaders for the deaths after they diverted the routes of their marches.
EU management: Almost a full day after sitting down to pick candidates for the European Union’s prime political posts, weary EU leaders broke off their talks Monday amid deep divisions over who should run the European project for at least the next five years. After a full night of talks in Brussels, EU Council President Donald Tusk called a halt, and said the summit should reconvene Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron lamented the meeting as a “failure,” and said the summit “gives an image of Europe that is not serious” due to the stalemate. Already beset by crises over Brexit and damaging infighting over how best to manage migrant arrivals, the EU’s 28 leaders had been eager to show there is still life in the European project with quick decisions on a series of topnotch nominations for what are key portfolios.