News Wrap: Islamic State claims attack on Bangladesh cafe

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•  JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The Islamic State group is claiming responsibility for an attack tonight at an upscale restaurant in Bangladesh. Authorities say up to nine gunmen took at least 35 hostages in Dhaka, the capital, including some 20 foreigners. At least 26 people were wounded, and two police officers were killed.

  Security forces mounted a siege of the site as the night went on. The head of an elite anti-crime unit said they were working to save the hostages.

  Turkey's state-run news agency reports that police have identified two of the three suicide bombers in Tuesday's airport attack in Istanbul. The alleged mastermind of the plot, who remains at large, is described as an extremist from the Russian province of Chechnya. Meanwhile, security was heightened at the Istanbul Airport today, and officials from foreign consulates paid their respects to the 44 people who died in the attacks.

  A warning today from the leader of al-Qaida, Ayman Al-Zawahri. In an online video message, he threatens — quote — "the gravest consequences" if the surviving Boston Marathon bomber is executed. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced last year to death by lethal injection. The 2013 bombing left three people.

  U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch voiced regret today about a meeting earlier this week with former President Bill Clinton. They spoke Monday for about 30 minutes after his private plane landed near her government aircraft at the Phoenix Airport.

  It stoked criticism because the FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton's e-mail practices as secretary of state.

  Today, in Aspen, Colorado, Lynch repeated that she and the former president never discussed the investigation, but she said she understands the criticism.

• LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. Attorney General:

  I may have viewed it in a certain light, but the issue is, how does it impact the work that I do and the work the Department of Justice does? And I certainly wouldn't do it again, and — because I think it has cast a shadow over what it shouldn't, over what it will not touch.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Lynch also said she plans to accept whatever recommendations career FBI investigators make.

  Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign had no comment on the meeting. But in Denver today, Republican candidate Donald Trump hammered away at both Clinton and her husband, the former president.

• DONALD TRUMP, Presumptive Republican Nominee:

  I think he really opened it up. He opened up a Pandora's box, and it shows what's going on. And it shows what's happening with our laws and with our government.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  A spokesman for President Obama said today the Clinton e-mail investigation is entirely independent of the White House.

  Britain's prospects of a quick exit from the European Union grew cloudier today. A leader of the Brexit campaign said the process might not begin until next year if he's elected Conservative Party leader and prime minister. Michael Gove said it will take some time to invoke the E.U.'s Article 50, which formally begins a two-year exit process.

• MICHAEL GOVE, U.K. Parliament Member:

  I would only trigger it after extensive preliminary talks of the kind that I discussed earlier, so I have no expectation that Article 50 would be triggered in this calendar year. I argued for specific changes in the referendum campaign. I believe in those changes. I will deliver them.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Meanwhile, Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, announced that leaving the E.U. will cut government revenue, so he's giving up on the goal of reaching a budget surplus by 2020.

  Amid the Brexit fallout, Britain and France came together to mark 100 years since the Battle of the Somme in World War I. It was one of the bloodiest in history, as the armies of the British and French empires faced off against the Germans. One million died over five months. Leaders from both countries met today at a memorial in France. The ceremony included cannon fire and flowers laid at soldiers' graves.

  China today celebrated the 95th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party's birth. President Xi Jinping urged the party to return to its Marxist roots. He addressed party members in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, and said corruption is now the biggest threat the party faces.

• PRESIDENT XI JINPING, China (through interpreter):

  We must have a staunch will and not let up on our zero tolerance attitude. We must investigate all cases and punish those who are corrupt, to give corrupt elements no place to hide in the party.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Meanwhile, thousands turned out in Hong Kong on the 19th anniversary of that city's return to Chinese rule. They denounced Beijing for kidnapping local booksellers who sold critical works about Chinese leaders.

  A new Mississippi law involving gay marriage and transgender bathroom policy is now on hold. It was set to take effect today, but a federal judge blocked it. The statute allows businesses and government employees to cite religious objections in refusing services for same-sex marriages. It also could affect school bathroom policy. The state plans to appeal.

  On Wall Street, stocks managed modest gains, to keep up a four-day comeback from the Brexit meltdown. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 19 points to close at 17949. The Nasdaq rose nearly 20 points, and the S&P 500 added four.

  And a visibly cleaner Roman Coliseum was unveiled today, 2,000 years after it hosted gladiator fights. The ancient site had been covered with grime and pollution over the centuries. It took workers three years to remove the dirt, using water and brushes. The next phase involves restoring the Coliseum's interior.