CAIRO — Making his first official visit to Washington, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s meeting this week with President Donald Trump would be a significant step in the international rehabilitation of the general-turned-politician who was kept out of the Obama White House.

But, analysts caution, there may not be much more that Egypt’s president could take from Monday’s White House visit, branded as historic by pro-government media at home.

There has been no official word on the specifics of the wish list el-Sissi is taking to Washington, but expectations include more military aid, designating el-Sissi’s nemesis — the Muslim Brotherhood — as a terrorist group, and restoring the kind of strategic partnership Egypt enjoyed with the United States for more than 30 years.

Another issue that may arise is the Arab League’s territorial demands in exchange for peace with Israel, reaffirmed last week. El-Sissi may be in a position to help Trump push for a broad deal and gain points in Washington.

Admittedly, the Egyptian leader has reason to be optimistic about his relations with Trump.

Former President Barack Obama never invited el-Sissi to the White House, allowed his administration to repeatedly admonish his government over its human rights record and briefly suspended some U.S. military aid, which normally runs at $1.3 billion a year.

In contrast, Trump and el-Sissi hit it off from their first encounter in September, when the Republican nominee spoke of “good chemistry” between them after a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Police: Custodian of Pakistan shrine kills 20 in cult ritual

MULTAN, Pakistan — The custodian of a shrine and his accomplices murdered 20 devotees after intoxicating them in eastern Punjab province, police said Sunday, in what officials are calling a cult ritual.

Police said the shrine custodian in a village near the city of Sargodha, some 200 miles north of Multan, was arrested Sunday morning along with four others for killing worshippers with batons and knives. Police said another four people remain in critical condition.

Authorities said the custodian, Abdul Waheed, and his four alleged accomplices have been arrested and the matter is being investigated.

Officials said the custodian was allegedly in the practice of “beating and torturing” devotees to “cleanse” them and that Waheed had confessed to the murders.

Serbia’s pro-EU prime minister claims presidential victory

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s powerful Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic claimed victory Sunday in the presidential election that was a test of his authoritarian rule amid growing Russian influence in the Balkan region.

“A huge majority of people in Serbia support continuation of the reform process, continuation of the European path for Serbia along with preserving our traditionally good ties with Russia and China,” Vucic said at his right-wing party’s headquarters.

Different independent polling agencies had Vucic receiving more than 55 percent of the votes cast during Sunday’s election.

Vucic, a former ultranationalist who now declares support for Serbia joining the European Union, needed to win more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Severe storm kills 2 in La., causes damage in Texas

BREAUX BRIDGE, La. — A suspected tornado flipped a mobile home off its foundation Sunday in Louisiana, killing a mother and her 3-year-old daughter as a powerful storm system swept through the South, damaging a handful of homes and businesses in Texas.

Parts of Arkansas and Mississippi were also under a threat of tornadoes, thunderstorms, large hail and flash flooding through Sunday night as the severe weather pushed east, forecasters said. Alabama was expected to be the in path of the storms Monday.

An apparent tornado touched down in Breaux Bridge, about 50 miles west of Baton Rouge, St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Maj. Ginny Higgins said, adding that it touched down soon after a warning was issued.

Uruguay hunts for missing crew of S. Korean ship

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguay is looking for 22 missing crew members of a South Korean ship after finding two survivors, authorities said Sunday.

Two Filipino survivors in good health were found Saturday in a life boat by a commercial boat participating in the search. A Uruguayan navy spokesman said the survivors told officials the Stella Daisy split in two and sank.

A Brazilian navy plane joined the rescue team about 2,485 miles off Uruguay’s coast. Argentina’s navy has also been helping.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said the vessel’s shipping company lost contact with the boat on Friday after a crew member sent a text message saying it was taking on water.

It says there was a crew of 24 aboard — eight South Koreans and 16 Filipinos. The ship was registered in the Marshall Islands.

Large rally in Hungary for Soros-founded university

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Thousands of people marched in Hungary’s capital on Sunday to protest proposed legal changes that are seen as targeting a Budapest university founded by billionaire Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros.

Many Hungarian and international scholars have expressed support for Central European University, which was founded by Soros in 1991 and enrolls over 1,400 students from 108 nations.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban considers Soros an ideological foe whose “open society” ideal contrasts with his own efforts to turn Hungary into an “illiberal state.”

The draft law sets new conditions for foreign universities. One would force CEU to open a campus in the New York state, where it is accredited, while another could make it change its name.

Fearing violence, paper closes: Norte, a newspaper in the Mexican border city of Juarez, announced in a front-page letter to readers on Sunday that it is shutting down due to the climate of insecurity and impunity for killings of journalists in one of the world’s deadliest countries for media workers.

Facebook assault: Juvenile charges were filed against a 14-year-old boy for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in Chicago that was carried on Facebook Live, and authorities seek the arrest of a 15-year-old boy in connection with the crime, police said Sunday. Police are trying to identify others involved in the March assault.