1. Israeli warplanes have bombed the besieged Gaza Strip, targeting an area in the city of Khan Yunis. There’s no word on possible casualties or damage. The Israeli army says the airstrikes followed a rocket attack from Gaza. Tel Aviv has stepped up its attacks amid flare-up of violence in the occupied West Bank.
2. Israeli forces have killed one more Palestinian bringing to 81 the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of October. Tel Aviv claims the man was involved in a car-ramming incident that wounded three Israelis. Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier has died of his wounds sustained days earlier during a car-ramming incident.
3. Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters and allied army units have made fresh gains in their fight against forces loyal to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. They have retaken strategic areas in a bid to advance on the port city of Aden. Separately, at least 16 pro-Hadi forces were killed in a bomb explosion in Ma’arib province.
4. A top UN official has called for a decent life for Syrian refugees living at camps in neighboring countries. The head of the UN Development Program, Helen Clark said international agencies must go beyond relief and help refugees make a living close to what they had in their own country.
5. Vote counting is underway in Myanmar’s first openly contested national election in 25 years. More than 80 percent of around 30-million eligible voters cast their ballots on Sunday. However, the elections were marred by the repression of the Rohingya Muslims whom the authorities had barred from either voting or contesting the polls.
6. Croatia’s anti-refugee conservatives are leading in parliamentary elections. Partial vote count shows the Croatian Democratic Union has won 61 seats in the 151-seat parliament. The ruling Social Democratic Party is trailing with 53 seats. However, the trend shows neither bloc will get an outright majority.
7. Germany says it is reaching its limits in dealing with Europe’s refugee crisis. The West European nation has been the most desired destination for refugees fleeing wars and violence in the Middle East and Africa. So far, Germany has received nearly eight hundred thousand asylum seekers this year.
8. Railway crews in the US have managed to stem the flow of ethanol from a derailed freight train in the state of Wisconsin. No fires or injuries were reported from the derailment on Saturday. The accident, however, leaked thousands of gallons of the denatured alcohol into the Mississippi River.