Over 20 killed in multiple blasts targeting Baghdad

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Iraq's Special Forces have entered the Daesh-controlled city of Fallujah in an offensive to drive the terrorists from the city. According to an army spokesman, they've broken into the flashpoint city from three directions. Government forces have already recaptured 80 percent of the territory around Fallujah since a week ago.
• A top commander of Iraqi volunteer forces says thousands of Sunni fighters have joined a major operation to liberate Fallujah. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis made the comments in an exclusive interview with Press T-V. He also accused the U-S and some Persian Gulf Arab states of supporting the terrorists.
• More than 20 people have been killed in multiple bomb blasts targeting areas in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The deadliest attack took place in Sha’ab neighborhood where an assailant rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint. The Daesh Takfiri group has claimed responsibility for all the three attacks.
• Turkey has threatened to end a refugee deal with the E-U if the union does not grant its citizens visa-free entry into the bloc. Turkish officials say Ankara cannot meet Brussels’ demands. The E-U says Turkey must meet 72 conditions before the visa exemption is approved.
• A Bahraini court has extended the jail term of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman to nine years. Salman was detained in 2014 over allegations that he attempted to overthrow the Manama regime. He was initially sentenced to four years in jail. Salman and his bloc have been on the regime’s target list.
• Mohammed Alloush has resigned as the head of the Syrian opposition's delegation to the Geneva talks. Alloush has cited the failure of the peace talks as the reason. The Saudi-backed opposition withdrew from the UN-backed discussions in April. No date has been set for the resumption of the negotiations.
• Saudi Arabia’s foreign assets have fallen to their lowest level in four years. According to new data released by the Saudi Central Bank, net assets shrank over one percent to 572 billion dollars. Last year, a nearly 100-billion dollar budget deficit forced the kingdom to liquidate some of its financial holdings.
• Thousands of Italians have marched in the capital Rome to demand housing rights. Protesters also expressed their resentment over the current economic situation. The government has recently issued an order depriving squatters, who occupy abandoned government buildings, of their social rights.

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