Lebanon’s Hezbollah Chief backs Michel Aoun presidency

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

Lebanon’s Hezbollah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has officially backed veteran politician Michel Aoun’s bid for presidency. Nasrallah called General Aoun a faithful ally of Hezbollah for more than a decade. Aoun has already garnered the support of his longtime rival Samir Geagea. 

The Saudi-backed coalition of Syrian opposition groups, known as the High Negotiations Committee, says it will attend UN-brokered peace talks that have opened in the Swiss city of Geneva. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has already met the Syrian government's delegation in the Swiss city. 

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansari has denounced a terror attack on a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province which killed four people. Jaberi-Ansari noted that the rise in targeting mosques in the kingdom shows the negligence of Saudi security forces in fulfilling their duties.

Iran’s navy has test-fired four cruise missiles on the third day of its drills in the southern region of Konarak. The new missiles have ranges of 150 to 300 kilometers. Navy commanders say the new missiles are more precise than their predecessors. 

Yemenis in Sana’a have rallied in support of the army and the Ansarullah Movement and to condemn Saudi attacks. Protesters chanted slogans against Al Saud, the US and Israel. They slammed the United States for supporting Saudi Arabia’s 10-month-long aggression against Yemen and vowed to continue their fight against the kingdom.

Commerce Department figures show the US economic growth has slowed down to point-seven percent in the last quarter of 2015. It is a sharp fall from a two-percent rate posted for the third quarter. Reduced consumer spending, business cutbacks in investments and global economic problems have been blamed for the slow rate. 

A court in Spain says Princess Cristina has lost her bid to avoid a tax fraud trial involving her husband and 18 others. It says a panel of judges has rejected Cristina's argument that she should not be tried because a prosecutor recommended she face administrative fines.

The United Nations has reported six more cases of sexual abuse of children by its peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says there are serious accusations that troops from Georgia, France and another unnamed country sexually abused children while deployed in the African country. 

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