News in Brief - Tue, Aug, 04, 2015 - 04:30 GMT

1. The latest round of Saudi airstrikes on Yemen has left at least four civilians dead. Several others were injured in the air raids on a gas station and a residential area in the northern province of Jawf. The warplanes also targeted the capital Sana'a. There've been no reports of casualties there.

2. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the West is using the issue of human rights as a tool to pressure independent states. In a meeting with his visiting Serbian counterpart, Zarif rejected those methods as obsolete and unacceptable. He also called for enhanced bilateral cooperation between Tehran and Belgrade.

3. The United Nations has expressed concern over the continuing deterioration of security and human rights in Burundi. The world body has also renewed an appeal to all Burundians to resume an inclusive dialog without delay and peacefully settle their differences.

4. Supporters and opponents of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant groups, LEGIDA and PEGIDA, have held separate rallies in the German city of Leipzig. There was a large police presence to prevent the far-right groups clashing with counter-protesters. They're gradually losing popular appeal as several groups opposing them have emerged in Germany.

5. The leader of Spain’s Catalonia region has signed a decree calling early parliamentary elections on September 27. Artur Mas said the polls will act as a proxy vote on independence. The decree makes no reference to independence for the north-eastern region.

6. Puerto Rico has defaulted on a part of its 73 billion dollar debt, signaling a significant escalation of the debt crisis facing the US territory. The island was supposed to pay about 58 million dollars in interest and principal, but only made a partial payment. Puerto Rico is struggling with a nearly decade-long economic slump.

7. Amnesty International has slammed the police in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro for unnecessary and disproportional use of force. The rights organization said in a report that Rio police have killed more than 1,500 people in the past five years.

8. Britain's police watchdog says it will investigate whether police failed to pursue an allegation of child sexual abuse against the late Prime Minister Edward Heath during the 1990s. Also, Wiltshire county’s police force, where Heath was from, says it is trying to find witnesses or victims who support the allegations.

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