ISIS is making a play to oust al Qaeda. “The group, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and also known as ISIS, has renamed itself “Islamic State” and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “Caliph” – the head of the state, the statement said.”He is the imam and khalifah (Caliph) for the Muslims everywhere,” the group’s spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in the statement, which was translated into several languages and read out in an Arabic audio speech…The move poses a direct challenge to the central leadership of al Qaeda, which has already disowned it, and to conservative Gulf Arab rulers” (Reuters http://reut.rs/THZXtr)
Afghan Election Crisis Grows Deeper…The first post-Karzai election is not going well. “After a potential opening last week to ease Afghanistan’s political crisis, the presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah signaled on Sunday that more deadlock was ahead, promising again that he would not accept any decisions made by the country’s election commission after the panel rejected a list of his demands…In the two weeks since the presidential runoff vote, the election process has been shadowed by accusations of fraud and conspiracy, with the Abdullah campaign accusing a range of officials all the way to the presidential palace of rigging the vote against him. There have been dramatic protests flooding the streets of Kabul, and secretly captured phone calls that allegedly show election officials conspiring to rig the race.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/THZO9z)
Africa
Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 10 people on Sunday in an attack on a Nigerian village less than 3 miles from Chibok, the scene of a mass abduction of more than 200 school girls in April, survivors said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1x0ck2J)
Sudanese authorities and U.S. officials in Khartoum are negotiating to allow a Sudanese woman, who married an American and was recently spared the death penalty for converting to Christianity, to leave Sudan, sources close to the case said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1rM6uiA)
The latest World Bank review of government policies and institutions in Africa shows that 20 percent of countries improved their policy environment to boost growth and cut poverty in 2013. (Ghana Chronicle http://bit.ly/1iITwlM)
The Ebola outbreak in three West African countries is already the deadliest to date with 635 cases and 367 fatalities, and is expected to be the longest on record, as some of the poorest countries in the world scramble to confront the fatal disease. (AP http://yhoo.it/1iITJ8N)
The United Nations is determined to help Kenya and other countries in Africa fight “terrorism” following a series of deadly attacks, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1rM7R0M)
A Darfur rebel leader, who experts said was responsible for some of the deadliest attacks against Sudanese forces, has been killed in action, state-linked media said on Sunday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1x0dsn0)
MENA
Egypt’s military said Saturday that devices it claimed it invented to detect and cure AIDS and hepatitis C need six more months of testing. (AP http://yhoo.it/1rM84Bc)
About 1,000 African migrants have marched out of an Israeli detention center in protest at their treatment and are camped out by the border after Israel’s army prevented them from crossing into Egypt, migrant activists said Sunday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1iIWDdx)
Up to 7,000 people, mostly rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad, have been killed in infighting among rival Islamic groups in Syria across opposition-held territory in the north, an activist group said in a report Sunday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1qo9lAC)
Asia
As Pakistani forces target Islamist militants in the volatile northwest, the government faces a huge challenge to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people displaced because of the military operation. (VOA http://bit.ly/1rM5CdW)
A shortage of brides in China is putting young women in neighbouring countries at risk of being trafficked. (AFP http://bit.ly/1iIStCp)
A dilapidated building collapsed in the Indian capital on Saturday, killing at least 11 people as rescuers searched for others feared trapped, a fire service official said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1rM75kj)
The Americas
Rights advocates and lawmakers are expressing increased concern over the United States’ handling of the sudden influx of tens of thousands of undocumented child and female migrants from Central America. (IPS http://bit.ly/1iIRhyY)
Banks and car dealerships near the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte had their windows boarded up in fear of protests before Brazil’s match against Chile in the second round of the World Cup on Saturday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1rM7K5n)
Nearly a week of torrential rain has triggered widespread floods in southern Brazil that have forced 6,000 people from their homes, officials said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1rM82Jj)
More than 125,000 people are in need of food assistance in Paraguay. (WFP http://bit.ly/1rM9f3p)
Opinion/Blogs
What do we know about poverty and violence? (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/1yZDwka)
Impact Investment: The Movement Is Growing (CGD http://bit.ly/1pMINFE)
Postcards from reality: send us your photographs (Guardian http://bit.ly/1yZDOr6)
Disability is finally being included in debates about aid. About time too. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1yZDQiL)
Encouraging informality (Cherokee Gothic http://bit.ly/1yZE4GH)
Why is the UN raising concerns about Detroit? (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1pMJv5J)
How not to improve education in India (Roving Bandit http://bit.ly/1yZEdtH)