1. US, Russia trade blows

    The United States accused Russia of “barbarism*” in Syria on Sunday as warplanes supporting Syrian Government forces pounded Aleppo and Moscow said ending the civil war was almost “impossible.”

    A diplomatic solution to the fighting looked unlikely as U.S. and Russian diplomats disagreed at a U.N. Security Council meeting called to discuss the violence, which has escalated since a cease-fire collapsed last week.

    Rebels, who are battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces for control of Aleppo, said any peace process would be futile unless the “scorched* earth bombing” stopped immediately.

    2. Boko Haram leader reappears

    Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram*, made an appearance in a video released by the militant group on Sunday. In the video, he mocked* the Nigerian military and spoke about the Chibok girls, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014.

    The Nigerian military reported that they had fatally wounded Shekau in August.

    Shekau has survived many supposed assassinations* since the Chibok kidnappings caught the world’s attention over two years ago. Sources have prematurely* claimed the leader dead up to five times previously.

    3. Corbyn wins UK Labor Party’s leadership

    Jeremy Corbyn has won a decisive victory as leader of Britain’s opposition Labor Party after he fended off* a challenge from Owen Smith in a nationwide membership vote.

    Corbyn won 61.8 percent of the votes of more than half a million party members and affiliated* supporters. The results were announced on Saturday in Liverpool.

    But even though grass-roots activists gave Corbyn a resounding stamp of approval, Labor’s troubles are far from over as it struggles to convince more centrist voters it can win power.

    4. Germany’s ‘James Bond’ goes on trial

    Germany’s former top spy, Werner Mauss, went on trial on Monday accused of hiding millions of euros from authorities.

    The 76-year-old, dubbed “the German James Bond,” had often been sent on classified* operations abroad, but his secret financial dealings are now under scrutiny. He risks up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of shortchanging the state out of a total of 14.45 million euros (US$16 million) in taxes from 2002 to 2013.

    Prosecutors are accusing Mauss of placing large sums of undeclared funds in offshore accounts, including in the Bahamas, national news agency DPA said.

    5. Fire breaks out on Mexican oil tanker

    A fire broke out on an oil tanker of Mexican state oil company Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, forcing all the crew to be evacuated in the latest accident to plague* the struggling firm.

    The blaze on the tanker Burgos occurred off the coast of Boca del Rio in Veracruz state and all the crew were safe, Pemex said in a tweet. Mexico’s Navy said there were 31 crew members and that all had returned to port.

    Images tweeted by Pemex showed the vessel giving off plumes* of smoke as another boat hosed* the tanker.

    6. Migrant boat capsizes off Egypt

    A boat carrying up to 450 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean off Egypt’s north coast on September 21, drowning 42 people and prompting a search operation that rescued 163 passengers, officials said.

    The vessel overturned off the port city of Rosetta, police and health officials said. Five survivors, handcuffed* to beds in a Rosetta hospital room, said up to 450 people were on board.

    “We were 450 people on board. We left at 2 a.m. An hour and half later, it capsized. Whoever knew how to swim, swam. We even abandoned women and children,” said Ahmed Mohamed, 27.(SD-Agencies)