News in Brief - Sun, Aug, 02, 2015 - 20:30 GMT

1. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says the country has never sought to build nuclear weapons. Rouhani also said the recent nuclear agreement, reached with the P5+1 group, is a great victory for the Iranians. He added that Iran will not allow any of its national secrets to be revealed through inspections.

2. The Leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement says Saudi Arabia is committing unprecedented crimes in Yemen using American weapons. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said Israelis, ISIL terrorists and al-Qaeda are also involved in the ongoing war against Yemen. He said Riyadh is seeking to occupy Yemen to take control of the country.

3. In Syria, more than 70 foreign-backed militants have been killed by government forces and Hezbollah fighters in Hama province. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the militants were killed while trying to take control of the Sahl al-Ghab region. The offensive was repelled by the government forces and Hezbollah.

4. An airstrike by Turkish warplanes has left ten civilians dead in the village of Zarkel in northern Iraq. That’s according to Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, HDP. Ankara has denied the report, saying its warplanes targeted a PKK camp on Qandil Mountain, not a nearby village.

5. A US drone strike kills five people in Afghanistan’s southeastern province of Logan. Local officials say the victims were Taliban militants including a commander. One militant was also injured. Such attacks have usually claimed the lives of Afghan civilians.

6. Washington and Cairo are moving towards deeper military and economic cooperation despite differences over some issues. That’s according to US Secretary of State John Kerry who’s in Cairo as part of his Middle East tour. Egypt has been intensifying crackdown on opposition groups particularly Muslim Brotherhood.

7. The United Nations has warned of increasing death toll from flash floods in Myanmar. Heavy floods, triggered by monsoon rains, have left at least 27 people dead in the country. Rescue teams are yet to reach many of the affected regions. Four western regions have been declared as disaster zones.

8. Wildfires rage in forests and woodlands across California that has been witnessing historic drought conditions. The flames have claimed the life of a firefighter and prompted a state of emergency. Hundreds have been forced to flee their homes. Firefighters are battling to contain the blazes.

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