Syrian president hails liberation of Palmyra

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• A powerful bomb has gone off outside a public park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. Officials say at least 69 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the bomb attack. They say most of the victims are women and children. Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the attack.
   
• Belgian police have made fresh arrests in connection with Tuesday’s terror attacks in Brussels that killed 28 people. Four suspects were detained during 13 raids carried out across Brussels and two towns north of the capital. Authorities had earlier arrested six people and charged two of them with participation in terror activities.
   
• Police have used water-canon against far-right protesters at the Brussels memorial site. The protesters gathered at Place de la Bourse despite a peace march being cancelled due to security concerns. They chanted anti-immigrant slogans. Counter rallies have also been reported in the area.
   
• Pope Francis has lashed out at what he calls the rejection of the refugees by the countries which could offer them help. In his Easter message, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church lamented the inhospitable treatment of the refugees by Europe.
   
• Thousands of refugees at a makeshift camp on the Greece-Macedonia border have staged a protest demanding that the border with Macedonia be opened. The refugees at Greece’s Idomeni camp were hoping that international journalists and Red Cross officials would help them force their way across the border.
   
• The Syrian president has hailed the recapture of Palmyra from Daesh terrorists as an important achievement. Bashar al-Assad says the liberation of the ancient city indicates the success of the strategy pursued by Damascus and its allies. Assad added that the so-called US-led coalition against terrorists in Syria is not serious.
   
• Saudi Arabia launches fresh airstrikes against Yemen a day after the first anniversary of its war on the impoverished Arab state. The driver of a car in Dhubab district of Ta’izz province has been killed in the latest attack. The year-long aggression has left nearly 9,400 people dead.
   
• The Israeli prime minister has defended the Israeli troops after a soldier shot dead a wounded Palestinian lying on the ground. Benjamin Netanyahu says questioning the troops’ morality is outrageous and wrong. A military probe argues that the soldier should not have killed the wounded Palestinian.

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