Iraqi army advancing against Daesh in Ramadi

1. The Syrian army has liberated the village of Tel Hadya in the southern belt of Aleppo countryside. The gain comes one day after Syrian forces and Hezbollah fighters backed by Russian air cover liberated a string of villages and farmlands south of Aleppo. The strategic town of Hadir was among recaptured areas.

2. Iraq’s Peshmerga forces have secured several strategic facilities in Sinjar. Witnesses say Kurdish fighters are also in control of the central part of the strategic northern town. Kurdish forces have already cut Sinjar off from east and west. They have liberated the governor’s office and several villages around the town.

3. Iraqi army forces are advancing against Daesh terrorists in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Western Anbar province. Military officials say the troops are making gains on three fronts where they have long been deployed. The offensive has been prolonged due to ISIL’s heavy use of explosive devices around the city.

4. A bomb blast has killed at least 21 people in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The explosion ripped through a funeral procession for a soldier in a southwestern district of Baghdad. Over 40 people were also wounded. Another explosion killed at least five people and injured 15 others in Baghdad’s Sadr city.

5. A Palestinian protester has been shot dead during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of al-Khalil also known as Hebron. Earlier, a young Palestinian died of injuries he sustained in Thursday’s clashes. Two Israeli settlers were also shot dead and another injured in an attack near al-Khalil.

6. The party of Noble peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has won an absolute majority in Myanmar’s parliament. The Election Commission announced the opposition National League for Democracy has exceeded the 329-seat threshold it needs in both houses of the Parliament. This party can now pick Myanmar’s new president.

7. The British Medical Association says junior doctors will stage three days of industrial action next month to protest a planned new contract. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has condemned the move. Doctors say the proposed contract is aimed at cutting their pay and forcing them to work for more odd-hour shifts.

8. The Pentagon has confirmed that two US bombers have flown near artificial Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea. According to the US Defense Department, the bombers were contacted and warned by Chinese ground controllers but did not go within 12 nautical miles of any islands.

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