News in Brief - Fri, July, 03, 2015 - 13:30 GMT

1. New documents released by Foreign Office show that the UK government turned a blind eye to Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons in the 1980s. The secret papers say at the height of Saddam Hussein’s war on Iran in 1983, London ignored reports by the UK ambassador which said the Iraqi army was producing poisonous gas in Samarra.

2. Nearly two dozen people have been killed in Saudi airstrikes conducted on different parts of Yemen. Saudi warplanes attacked the capital Sana’a and destroyed the ministry of communication along with some nearby buildings. The southern province of Aden was also targeted by Saudi fighter jets.

3. The Greek finance minister says he’s confident that Athens will reach a deal with creditors over its debt crisis soon. Yanis Varoufakis said that a deal is in the offing regardless of the outcome of an upcoming referendum on the creditors’ demands. Latest opinion polls shows the Yes camp has a slight lead.

4. Just two days before Greece’s key referendum, campaigns are gaining momentum for and against bailout proposals put forward by international lenders. ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ supporters now plan to hold more rival demonstrations in the capital Athens. There have already been rallies and counter-rallies in Greece.

5. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned about a cholera outbreak in South Sudan. The UN body has reported 484 cases including 29 deaths in the country until the end of June. It also called for immediate measures to be taken to contain the disease.

6. Palestinians in the occupied West bank have held a funeral ceremony for a 17-year-old boy who was shot and killed earlier in the day by Israeli forces. Mohammad Kosba was shot by two bullets south of Ramallah for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli forces’ vehicles near the Qalandia checkpoint.

7. The head of International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran and the IAEA have reached better understanding over Tehran's nuclear energy program. Yukia Amano however says more work needs to be done to resolve all issues. Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi has called Amano's visit to Tehran a good opportunity to remove mis-understandings.

8. Human Rights Watch strongly criticizes the US decision to lift a ban on arms sales to Bahrain. The rights group says the move will encourage what it calls Bahraini authorities’ unrelenting repression of dissent. It also says Manama has held no senior official to account for the 2011 killing of peaceful protesters.  

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