In brief: Egypt summons British ambassador

CAIRO – Egypt’s Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador Sunday in Cairo to protest comments he made after a judge sentenced three Al-Jazeera English journalists to three years in prison each for reporting “false news.”

The ministry said in a statement that John Casson’s comments were “unacceptable interference” in the country’s judiciary, and “incompatible with diplomatic norms and practices.” In a post on Twitter, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Egypt “rejects any foreign criticism of judicial verdicts.”

The court sentenced Canadian Mohammed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohammed on Saturday, highlighting authorities’ crackdown on free speech.

Speaking to television cameras in Arabic after the verdict, Casson said he was “shocked and concerned by the sentences,” in a case that is of “profound interest to Egyptians because it has become a symbol of the basis for stability in the new Egypt.”

Several other foreign diplomats at the trial also condemned the verdict, but Casson may have been the only one to speak in Arabic to domestic television stations. The United States, the European Union, the United Nations and human rights advocacy groups and press freedom organizations also sharply criticized it.

Bull gores man, 66, to death in Spain

MADRID – A Spanish mayor says a man has died after being charged down and gored by a bull that was being herded into a northern village as part of annual celebrations to honor its patron saint.

Jesus Garcia Pastor said the 66-year-old man had wandered into an area of the town of Cuellar that was forbidden to revelers and was struck as the bull ran.

The victim was identified as a visitor from the Basque town of Errenteria. His was the 12th death by goring in town festivals so far this year in Spain.

Bull runs are a traditional part of summer festivals across Spain, the most famous being San Fermin in Pamplona.

Airstrike kills 35 at Yemen factory

SANAA, Yemen – Thirty-five workers were killed in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike Sunday on a factory in a northern Yemeni town, medical officials said.

The airstrike hit a drinking water factory in Abas, in the northwestern Hajja province, which is controlled by Houthi rebels, the officials said.

Coalition airstrikes also hit a military base and a technical school in the town, the officials said, but all those present in the factory were civilians.

Saudi Arabia and mainly Gulf Arab allies have been attacking the Houthis by air since March in support of President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who is in exile in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Egypt announces parliamentary vote

CAIRO – Egypt has announced that parliamentary elections will take place in two stages in October and November.

Ayman Abbas, head of the Supreme Election Committee, said Sunday that half the governorates will vote Oct. 18-19. The second stage will take place for the remaining governorates Nov. 22-23.

Egypt has been without a legislature for three years. In its absence, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi holds legislative authority. In just over a year of his tenure, he has passed dozens of laws by decree.

As army chief, el-Sissi led the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Officials confirm new Ebola death

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Health officials in Sierra Leone say tests on the body of a 67-year-old woman who died recently have come back positive for Ebola.

Dr. Brima Kargbo, chief medical officer, on Sunday confirmed the positive test results from the woman from Kambia district in northern Sierra Leone.

Last Monday, Sierra Leone’s last known Ebola patient was released from a hospital, a milestone that allowed the West African nation to begin a 42-day countdown toward being declared free of Ebola transmission.

Kargbo said authorities are trying to determine whether the woman in Kambia died before or after that countdown began.