News in Brief - Wed, Oct, 07, 2015 - 04:30 GMT

1. Amnesty International has called for a suspension in transfers of certain arms to the countries involved in the Saudi war on Yemen. Amnesty says it has found evidence of unlawful Saudi airstrikes in Yemen which amount to war crimes. Saudi aggression against Yemen has left nearly 6,400 people dead.

2. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a transparent inquiry into the recent unrest in Jerusalem al-Quds after Israeli forces killed four Palestinians. Ban also slammed the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israel, saying the move could flare up tensions.

3. Former president of the UN General Assembly John Ashe has been arrested on charges of receiving one-point-three million dollars in bribes from a Chinese businessman. Ashe allegedly took bribes in exchange for backing a proposal to build a multi-billion dollar, UN-sponsored conference center in Macau.

4. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg has accused Russia of deliberately violating Turkish airspace during anti-terror operations in Syria. Turkish President Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan has warned that his country will not remain silent over the issue. Turkey says Russian fighter jets violated its airspace two times.

5. Syria’s army has thwarted a terror attempt in a village near the southwestern city of Suwayda. Government troops managed to capture all members of the terrorist group. A number of Western and regional states are accused of funding and supporting terrorist groups in Syria.

6. Oxfam says international efforts to help Syrians both inside and outside their country have been utterly inadequate. It says the problem stems from a lack of political will to loosen up adequate funds. It also blames rich nations for ignoring calls to help Syrian refugees.

7. In Guatemala, the death toll from a massive mudslide has risen to 171. Hundreds of people are still missing. The mudslide was triggered by torrential rains on Thursday and it buried scores of homes in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula, near the capital Guatemala City.

8. French unions say Air France may cut an extra 5,000 jobs as a second phase of its cost-reducing plan. This, only two days after it was revealed that the airline is going to cut nearly three-thousand jobs. The revelation sparked angry reactions from the company staff.

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