News in Brief - Sun, Oct, 04, 2015 - 12:30 GMT

1. Over a week has passed since a deadly stampede in Saudi Arabia’s Mina. Iran, which lost hundreds of its nationals in the tragedy, is holding nationwide mourning ceremonies for the victims with coffins arriving home for funeral. The second flight carrying 114 bodies of Iranian Hajj pilgrims has arrived in Tehran.

2. Palestine has denounced what it calls Israel’s escalation of tensions. This, after Tel Aviv announced that it is restricting Palestinian access to the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds and the al-Aqsa Mosque. The restrictions come in the wake of fresh violence that has left several Israelis and Palestinians dead.

3. An Iranian parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the nuclear conclusion with the P5+1 group has published its assessment of the document. The report by the JCPOA Review Committee says the conclusion contains important strengths and weaknesses.

4. Iran’s parliament speaker says Europe’s refugee crisis requires a lasting solution. He says the crisis is rooted in the growth of terrorist groups in the region. Ali Larijani made the remarks in a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart Josip Leko in Tehran.

5. In Portugal, people head to the polls for a parliamentary election widely seen as a referendum on four years of austerity measures. Moderate mainstream parties are expected to emerge victorious. However, opinion polls suggest the center-right coalition government is close to re-election despite enacting tax increases and cutting pay and pension.

6. Saudi Arabia continues pounding its southern impoverished neighbor Yemen. Saudi warplanes hit a district in the northwestern province of Sa’ada. The attacks also targeted trucks carrying food supplies, killing at least three people. Saudi jets carried out multiple attacks against a presidential palace in the southwestern Ta'izz province.

7. The German chancellor says Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as Germany, France, and Britain can play an important role in resolving the Syrian crisis. Angela Merkel says military operations are necessary in Syria but they’re not enough to end the war.

8. People are voting in Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary elections. More than two thousand candidates from 14 different parties are contesting in the vote. Pro-Russian parties are expected to win the majority of the 120 seats. Kyrgyzstan’s constitution allows each party to take only a maximum of 65 seats.

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