News in Brief (10-09-2018)

Church abuse tribunal needed: Bannon

ROME, Sept 09: Pope Francis should not resign over allegations he mishandled a sexual abuse scandal, said Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former political strategist who is close to prominent Catholic conservatives. However, Bannon told Reuters he was working on setting up an independent, non-partisan tribunal to investigate decades of scandals within the US Church, warning that dioceses across the country faced financial ruin because of the wrongdoing. — Reuters

19 die as plane crashes into lake in S Sudan

JUBA, Sept 09: A local official says 19 people are dead after their aircraft crashed into a lake in South Sudan. The minister of information for the town of Yirol, Taban Abel Aguek, tells The Associated Press that the 19-seater commercial Baby Air plane had been traveling from the capital, Juba. Officials are investigating the cause of Sunday's crash. — Al Jazeera

Militant attack claims nine Afghan troops’ lives

KABUL, Sept 09: An Afghan official says insurgents have attacked a checkpoint in the western Herat province, killing nine Afghan security forces and wounding another six. Gelani Farhad, the provincial governor's spokesman, said the attack late Saturday ignited a gunbattle in which around 10 insurgents were killed and five wounded. — AP

Russians vote as police detain supporters of opposition leader

MOSCOW, Sept 09: Russians began voting in regional elections Sunday that Kremlin-loyal candidates are set to dominate, as police detained dozens of supporters of a jailed opposition leader who called for protests over pension reforms. Plans to hike the retirement age have led to a rare outburst of public anger and seen President Vladimir Putin's approval ratings take a hit, despite some efforts to water down the changes. But discontent is unlikely to translate into upsets at the ballot box, with serious opposition candidates in the highest-profile Moscow mayoral vote barred from standing. — AFP