Muslims mark Intl. Quds Day in support of Palestinians

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• People around the world are holding demonstrations on international Quds Day in solidarity with Palestinians. The rallies coincide with the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan. Quds Day is an annual event to raise public awareness about the plight of Palestinians and their struggle against Israel.
• The leader of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah says the Israeli regime fears Daesh's defeat in Syria. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also slammed certain Arab governments for trying to normalize ties with Tel Aviv. He said Muslims will not abandon Palestinians despite all plots hatched by the enemies.
• A Palestinian man has died from inhalation of tear gas fired by Israeli troops in the occupied territories. Several other people were injured in the violence which broke out at the Qalandiya checkpoint. The death brings to three the number of Palestinians killed over the past 24 hours.
• Turkey’s foreign minister says Ankara and Moscow should work together to find a political solution to the Syria crisis. Mevlut Chavusoglu made the remark after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The two countries have normalized their ties which were strained after Turkey shot down a Russian jet last year.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the EU’s decision to extend anti-Russia sanctions as absurd and a continuation of Brussels’ short-sighted policy. Moscow says the punitive measures will not force it into changing course. The bloc has officially extended anti-Russia sanctions until the end of January 2017.
• The French President says Britain’s decision to leave the European Union cannot be cancelled or delayed. Francois Hollande added that Britons are now starting to understand that being in the bloc has its advantages. He also called for a speedy Brexit.
• Australians are preparing to vote in general elections on Saturday. Polls suggest a tight race between the ruling Conservative party and the opposition Labor. The early elections come after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dissolved both the Lower and Upper houses of parliament in May, hoping to have a more cooperative Senate.
• Austria’s Constitutional Court rules the May presidential election must be repeated. The ruling came after the far-right Freedom Party claimed irregularities in the election. The party’s leader, Norbert Hofer, lost the presidential election to former Green Party politician Alexander Van der Bellen by some 31-thousand votes.

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