NATO chief accuses Russia of destabilizing region

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says tensions between Moscow and the West have plunged the world into a new Cold War. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Medvedev said his country is not pursuing any secret goals in Syria and rejected accusations that Russian airstrikes are killing civilians there.
   
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has once again accused Russia of destabilizing the region. He has called for more dialogue as well as defensive measures. The NATO chief also said Russia’s nuclear activities are aimed at intimidating its neighbors. Moscow has rejected the allegations.
   
• The head of the US National Intelligence says Daesh has access to the internationally-banned chemical weapons and has used them in the past. James Clapper says the terrorist group has probably used chemical weapons on numerous occasions in Syria and Iraq.
   
• Saudi warplanes drop bombs on the Yemeni capital as well as on residential areas in the provinces of Taiz and Sa’ada. At least one civilian has been killed in the air attacks. More than 8,300 Yemenis, most of them civilians, have been killed in Saudi air raids since late march.
   
• Bahrainis stage protests for a second consecutive day ahead of the fifth anniversary of the popular uprising in the Persian Gulf kingdom. Shops and businesses were shut down in solidarity with protesters. Clashes also erupted between regime forces and protesters who demanded the release of jailed opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman.
   
• The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees warns that hunger striking prisoner Muhammad al-Qiq is on the brink of death. It said Qiq who is in Israeli custody has repeatedly gone into convulsions and suffers from severe pains. It added that Qiq has largely lost his eye sight and hearing.
   
• Several Palestinian groups have presented the International Criminal Court with new evidence about Israel’s crimes during its latest war on Gaza in 2014. The Palestinian human rights organizations say Israel must be prosecuted over crimes against Palestinians. They say Tel Aviv has committed gross violations of international humanitarian law.
   
• The US deploys an additional missile system in South Korea. This, after Pyongyang launch a rocket which carried a satellite into the orbit. Washington says the deployment of patriot missiles is part of an emergency exercise in response to the North’s provocative activities. The missile deployment has angered China.

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