shuja khanzada was the home minister for the province of punjab.a taliban-linked militant group has claimed responsibility, calling the attack retaliation for military efforts against the group. the syrian observatory for human rights says a syrian government airstrike northeast of damascus has killed 96 people, making it among the deadliest attacks in t$e four-year-long civil war. the strike hit a market in the rebel held area of douma. hundreds were reportedly wounded. italian and norwegian authorities have discovered the bodies of 49 migrants who appear to have asphyxiated to death in the hold of an overcrowded fishing boat as they tried to cross the mediterranean to europe. more than 300 people on deck were rescued, but those in the hold died amid exhaust fumes and heat. the war in syria has helped fuel the worst refugee crisis since world war ii. this year trying to reach europe by boat. in iraq, a parliamentary panel has called for former iraqi prime minister nouri al-maliki and dozens of other officials to face trial for the fall of the city