Briefly

SYRIA

25 killed in church suicide bombing

The death toll from a suicide bombing at a church in the Dweilaa neighborhood of Damascus on Sunday has risen to 25, Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Monday citing the country's health ministry. According to Syrian authorities, two attackers stormed Mar Elias Orthodox Church in the predominantly Christian neighborhood, opened fire on worshippers, and detonated explosive belts near the entrance. Interior officials said early evidence points to Islamic State sleeper cells, although no group has claimed responsibility.

JAPAN

Ruling party suffers blow ahead of polls

Voters in Tokyo knocked Japan's ruling party from its position as the largest group in the city assembly, results showed Monday, a warning sign for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government before the July elections. Japanese media said it was a record-low result in the key local ballot for the Liberal Democratic Party, which has led the country almost continuously since 1955. The LDP took 21 Tokyo assembly seats in Sunday's vote, including three won by candidates previously affiliated with the party but not officially endorsed following a political funding scandal. This breaks the party's previous record low of 23 seats from 2017, according to local media.

UKRAINE

10 dead in Russian attacks on Kyiv

Russia fired dozens of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, ripping open a housing bloc in Kyiv, killing 10 civilians and burying others beneath the rubble, Ukrainian officials said. At least 34 people including four children were wounded in the attacks, the emergencies service said. The Russian army said it has used precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles to strike Ukrainian military facilities and claimed that "all the designated targets were destroyed".

Agencies - Xinhua