7 DEAD IN SOUTHERN MALI AFTER ATTACK

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Mali say at least seven people are dead after an attack in Koury, near the West African country’s troubled border with Burkina Faso. Amadou Sangho, spokesman for the Interior Security Ministry, said the dead include four civilians, two gendarmes and a customs official.

The attack took place Sunday night when gunmen on motorcycles opened fire, killing seven people. A similar attack happened in Boura, about 34 miles away but no one was killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility though Islamic extremists are known to be active along the porous border with Burkina Faso.

Sunday’s violence marked the first time that government buildings in the Sikasso region of southern Mail had been attacked in the last four years.

U.N. rejects Russian attempt to meet on Ukraine.

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» The U.N. Security Council has rejected a Russian attempt to hold a meeting on a new Ukrainian language law, with opponents saying Moscow wanted to upstage the inauguration of Ukraine’s new president.

Russia got just five of the required nine “yes” votes in the 15-member council to hold the meeting Monday. France, Germany, U.S., U.K., Belgium and Poland voted against. Four countries abstained.

Opponents say they asked to postpone the meeting until after Monday’s inauguration of Volodymyr Zelenskiy but Russia refused. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia sharply criticized the language law that requires the use of Ukrainian in the government and media. Russian is also widely spoken in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko said “this is not the best way to start contacts between Russia and Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, disbanded parliament on Monday minutes after his inauguration.

Venezuelan migrants missing after 2nd sea tragedy in a month.

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» A Venezuelan official confirmed Monday that a small boat carrying at least 20 people sank in Caribbean coastal waters last week, with most of its passengers missing in the second sea tragedy in a month involving Venezuelan migrants taking great risks to escape their country’s humanitarian crisis.

Earlier sketchy reports of an accident said as many as 32 people were on board the boat.

Last month, a boat carrying Venezuelans sank in the same area. More than 20 people remain missing from that accident.

Texas transgender woman who was beaten in video found dead.

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LLAS» A transgender woman was found slain in a Dallas street over the weekend, authorities said, a month after a cellphone video showed her being brutally beaten in a separate case police said they investigated as a hate crime.

Muhlaysia Booker, 23, was found face-down early Saturday after Dallas police officers were called following reports of shots being fired. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Booker died from “homicidal violence,” police Maj. Vincent Weddington said. He did not elaborate on her death. No suspect has been identified.

Democratic contenders for the 2020 presidential nomination mourned Booker’s death Monday. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke tweeted that “trans women of color across America deserve better” and said justice must be served.

Count shows Widodo reelected as Indonesian leader.

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The official count from last month’s Indonesian presidential election shows President Joko Widodo won 55.5 percent of the vote, the Election Commission said Tuesday, securing him a second term.

The formal result from the April 17 election was almost the same as the preliminary “quick count” results drawn from a sample of polling stations on election day. — Denver Post wire services