News in Brief - Sat, Aug, 29, 2015 - 12:30 GMT

1. Tens of thousands of Malaysians have taken to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib has been struggling to stay in power after leaked documents in July allegedly showed he transferred some seven-hundred million dollars to his private accounts.

2. The UN Security Council has condemned the use of sexual violence in Syria and Iraq. The Council says all forms of sexual violence in armed conflicts are against the Geneva Conventions and constitute war crimes. Many women have been raped or sold as sex slaves by the ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

3. Clashes have resumed between the Syrian army and foreign-backed militants in a key town and two villages after a 48-hour truce expired. Heavy fighting broke out in the militant-held town of Zabadani and the Shia villages of Fuaa and Kafraya which are the army’s last strongholds in the northwestern Idlib province.

4. Myanmar’s President Thein Sein has signed a bill that makes religious conversion a lengthy process of strict interviews and scrutiny. The move proposed by hard-line Buddhist monks, runs counter to the constitution. Activists say the new law could further stoke communal tensions and mount pressure on Muslims.

5. A new poll shows over half of Americans think the US is vulnerable to natural disasters ten years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast. The poll also indicates that US citizens believe the country hasn't learned its lessons from the devastating tragedy and isn't better prepared for future natural catastrophes.

6. The United Nations refugee agency is warning that over 300,000 migrants have traveled across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe this year. The UN body says 200,000 of them arrived in Greece and 110,000 in Italy. The figures represent a major increase from last year when around 219,000 took the risky journey.

7. Brazil has plunged into recession. Official data indicate that the country's economy contracted nearly two percent between April and June compared to the previous quarter. Brazil has the world’s seventh largest economy. But it has been adversely affected by corruption scandals and falling commodity prices.

8. Thousands of Hondurans have staged an anti-corruption protest in the capital Tegu-cigalpa. The demonstrators called for the immediate resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez. They accuse Hernandez and his ruling party of receiving 90 million dollars of embezzled money to fund the 2013 election campaign.

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