Russia urges Turkey not to torpedo Syria peace talks

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Russia urges Turkey to stop actions that could torpedo the Syria peace talks and disrupt the ceasefire in the war-ravaged country. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov has criticized Ankara for shelling Syrian Kurds' positions and sending weapons across the border to aid foreign-backed militants.
  
• US Secretary of State John Kerry says the new round of Syria peace talks should go ahead next week as scheduled. Kerry who is in Saudi Arabia, says the level of violence has reduced by 80 to 90 percent following the secession of hostilities.
  
• Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has warned terrorist groups against attacks on Shia holy shrines in Syria and Iraq. Speaking at a conference commemorating Iranian martyrs, Rouhani said the holy shrines are Iran’s red lines and Tehran will not tolerate any aggression against them.
  
• At least five people have been killed as Saudi warplanes bombarded a district in Yemen’s Sana’a province. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters and allied army units launched a retaliatory attack against Saudi mercenaries in Lahij. The army also fired a ballistic missile at the command headquarters of mercenary forces.
  
• The French satellite provider Eutelsat has removed Palestinian channel al-Aqsa TV from its platform. No reason has been given. Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah has slammed the move as an attempt to silence Palestinian voices and stop the exposition of the Israeli aggression against them.
  
• US president Barack Obama has issued a fresh warning against encryption calling the data on electronic devices really dangerous. Obama called on tech companies to build a safe encryption key to assist in law enforcement investigations. He warned that a failure could see stringent measures by Congress.
  
• A nationwide opinion poll in the US suggests that Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are running neck-and-neck. The poll conducted by Reuters, shows Clinton has 42.8 percent support and Sanders 42.6 percent. The former secretary of state has the lead in the Democratic camp.
  
• Thousands of Peruvians have rallied in the capital against Presidential front-runner Keiko Fujimori. The protestors accuse Fujimori, daughter of imprisoned ex-President, of vote-buying and demand her disqualification. Elections are scheduled for April 10.

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