Yemen's deposed president Hadi sacks his PM

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• The Bahraini Institute for Rights and Democracy has criticized the Formula One’s governing body for holding car races in the kingdom over the past years despite human rights violations. Bahraini demonstrators have also held several protests across the country calling for the race to be canalled.
   
• Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi says cooperation between his country and Iran has made the anti-west and anti-Israeli resistance stronger in the region. He added that the Syrian army’s recent victories in the battle against terrorists are the result Tehran-Damascus strong ties.
   
• The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a senior leader of al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra front has been killed in airstrikes in Idlib province. It added that 20 other terrorists were also killed in the raids. It is not clear whether the attacks were carried out by Syrian forces or Russian jets.
   
• The Yemeni fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has fired his Prime Minister Khaled Bahah. Hadi said the decision was made due to the government’s failures in the fields of economy, services, and security. He also appointed Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr as new prime minister.
   
• The United Nations says some 400,000 people are in desperate need of food assistance across Sudan due to low rainfall. UN officials say nearly 12.5 million dollars are needed to fund the food aid. The country’s eastern regions of Darfur and the Kordofan are worst hit by the drought.
   
• The European Union is to send back the first group of refugees to Turkey amid growing humanitarian concerns. Under a February deal between the EU and Ankara, Syrians who are expelled from Greece will be sent to refugee camps inside Turkey, while other asylum seekers will be returned to their home countries.
   
• The International Monetary Fund has expressed discontent with Greece’s reform plan. The I-M-F says Greece is far from reaching a debt deal with its creditors. According to the body, only a program based on realistic assumptions can be supported. Athens has already received two EU bailouts to save its economy.
   
• Firefighters and rescue workers have saved several people from a burning Russian Defense Ministry building in central Moscow. There are reports the fire may have started as a result of a short circuit involving old electrical wiring. Around fifty people have been evacuated.

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