1. Venezuela’s Maduro claims vote win Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory on Monday in an election to pick a new assembly to rewrite the constitution, but the opposition vowed to keep protesting despite deadly clashes. Ten people were killed in a wave of bloodshed* that swept Venezuela on Sunday as Maduro defied an opposition boycott and international condemnation — including the threat of new U.S. sanctions — to hold elections for a powerful new “Constituent Assembly.” Protesters attacked polling stations and barricaded* streets around the country, drawing a bloody response from security forces. 2. Pakistan set to elect new PM Pakistan’s lawmakers were set to elect a new prime minister on Tuesday to replace ousted* leader Nawaz Sharif, with ruling party stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expected to become interim leader until Sharif’s own brother is eligible. The confirmation from parliament came after Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain convened a special session after Sharif decided to put forward his ally Abbasi as interim leader and named his brother Shahbaz, 65, as long-term successor. A quick handover could ease the political upheaval sparked by a Supreme Court decision on Friday. 3. Police disrupt plot to ‘bring down a plane’ Police disrupted the first alleged plot in Australia to bring down an airplane and arrested four men in raids on Sydney homes, officials said on Sunday. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that security has been increased at Sydney Airport since Thursday because of the plot. The increased security measures also were extended to all major international and domestic terminals around Australia overnight. 4. Kenya police end siege Elite Kenyan security forces on Sunday killed a man at the home of Deputy President William Ruto, ending a 20-hour siege* that began with an attack in which a policeman was injured, police said. Ruto and his family were not at the vast property in the northwest of the country during Saturday’s attack, which came less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes* elections. Kenya’s police chief Joseph Boinnet said that the assailant had been shot and killed and “the situation is under control.” 5. Trump replaces chief of staff In a bombshell* announcement capping a week of brutal administration infighting*, President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had replaced embattled* White House chief of staff Reince Priebus with Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. Trump did not say whether he had fired Priebus or whether he had resigned. In just over six months in office, Trump has shed his first national security adviser (Michael Flynn), communications director (Mike Dubke), press secretary (Sean Spicer), deputy chief of staff (Katie Walsh), deputy national security adviser (K.T. McFarland) and now his chief of staff. 6. Death toll in Mumbai collapse rises The death toll from the collapse of a four-story building in the suburbs of India’s financial capital, Mumbai, more than doubled overnight to 17, a police official said on July 26. The 40-year-old building in Mumbai’s eastern suburb of Ghatkopar housed a nursing home on the ground floor and three to four families on each of the other floors. “The building wasn’t on the list of dilapidated* buildings,” said Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar. (SD-Agencies) | 