Eurozone economic growth slows down

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Syria is calling for an end to the killing of civilians in airstrikes launched by the so-called US-led coalition against Daesh. Damascus urged the UN to help stop the assaults and bring the perpetrators to justice. On Thursday, a US air raid targeted a village near Manbij city, killing 45 civilians.
   
• China and Russia have once again expressed their deep concern over the US deployment of the THAAD missile system in South Korea. In separate statements, the two countries have cast doubt on the US claims of the system's defensive nature, arguing that it would undermine the region’s stability.
   
• Hundreds of Muslims and Christians in the northern French region of Normandy have denounced the beheading of a French priest this week by two men linked to ISIL terrorists. They joined Friday prayers at a mosque and expressed their solidarity with the slain priest.
   
• A row between Ankara and Washington over the mid-July failed coup in Turkey intensifies. President Rejeb Tayyip Erdogan has accused a top US general of siding with the country’s coup plotters. The high-ranking US army general, however, has dismissed the Turkish government’s accusation.
   
• At least five Turkish soldiers have been killed in an attack by Kurdish militants in the country’s restive southeastern region. Eight others were also wounded in the assault that took place in Hakkari province. The soldiers were carrying out a security check when the Kurdish militants opened fire on them.
   
• There is no end in sight to eurozone economic troubles as official figures show a 0.3 percent slowdown in growth in the second quarter of 2016. The data indicate that the growth in the bloc halved in the April to June period. Youth unemployment also continues to run at very high levels.
   
• Leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement Abdulmalik al-Houthi rejects giving in to the demands of the Saudi-led delegation in the UN-mediated peace negotiations in Kuwait. Houthi says Yemen will not surrender to the demands by the Saudi-backed party. He has called for a resolution to the conflict based on justice.
   
• In an exclusive interview with Press TV, Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi takes a jab at Turkey for sending its troops to northern Iraq. Al-Obeidi said Ankara’s intervention in Iraq worsens the conflict. Turkey has remained defiant despite calls by the Iraqi officials to withdraw its troops from the country's north.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk