Briefly

UNITED KINGDOM

Johnson facing no-confidence vote

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was facing a no-confidence vote on Monday that could oust him from power, as discontent with his rule finally threatens to topple a politician who has often seemed invincible despite many scandals. If Johnson loses the vote among the 359 Conservative lawmakers, the party will choose a new leader, who will also become prime minister. If he wins, as seems more likely, he can't face another challenge for a year under current party rules－though a narrow victory would leave him a hobbled leader whose days are likely numbered.

NIGERIA

Gunmen kill 'many' in church attack

Gunmen with explosives stormed a Catholic church and opened fire in southwest Nigeria on Sunday, killing "many" worshippers and wounding others, the government and police said. The violence at St Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo state erupted during the morning service in a rare attack in the southwest state, where extremist and criminal gangs operate in other regions. President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the "heinous killing of worshippers". No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The motives and the exact death toll were not immediately clear.

INDIA

26 people die after bus falls into gorge

The death toll has risen to 26 after a bus, carrying around 30 passengers, fell into a gorge in India's northern state of Uttarakhand. Four of those rescued are in critical condition, a police official said on Monday. Arpan Yaduvanshi, a police superintendent in the state's Uttarkashi district, where the accident took place on Sunday, provided the updated toll. Home Minister Amit Shah wrote in a tweet that the national disaster response force had been dispatched.

Muslim rage over insulting remarks

India is facing major diplomatic outrage from Muslim countries after top officials in the ruling Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet, drawing accusations of blasphemy across some Arab nations that have left New Delhi struggling to contain the damaging fallout. At least five Arab nations have lodged official protests against India, and Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly on Monday to the comments made by two prominent spokespeople from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. Anger has poured out on social media, and calls for a boycott on Indian goods have surfaced in some Arab nations. New Delhi has made no comment so far over the protests lodged by Muslim nations. On Sunday, India's embassy in Qatar said the views expressed against the Prophet and Islam were not that of the Indian government but made by "fringe elements".

KOREAN PENINSULA

Allies fire missiles after DPRK's tests

The Republic of Korea and the United States fired eight ballistic missiles on Monday, Seoul's military said. The ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the allies launched the ground-to-ground Army Tactical Missile System missile at targets in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in the early morning. The 10-minute volley came a day after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched eight short-range ballistic missiles following a ROK-US joint military exercise involving a US aircraft carrier. The DPRK has carried out projectile launches 18 times this year.

Agencies - Xinhua