San Francisco police chief facing calls to resign

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Russia is reportedly set to add three new military divisions to counter the growing threat of NATO on its borders. Russian agencies quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying that the divisions will be deployed along Russia’s western and southern borders by the end of the year.
   
• Five American hunger strikers and their supporters protesting against police brutality have marched on San Francisco’s City Hall demanding the resignation of the police chief. Hunger strikers, calling themselves Frisco Five, have been camping outside the Mission Police Station since April, refusing to eat until their demands are met.
   
• The Israeli army has fired a tank shell at northern Gaza Strip. No word on possible casualties. Israel says it targeted Hamas security posts in response to a mortar shell fired at its forces. Israel often targets the coastal enclave despite signing a cease-fire following its 50-day war in 2014.
   
• Fresh fighting between Syrian government forces and foreign-backed militants has left dozens dead in the flashpoint city of Aleppo. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the fighting which began early on Tuesday is going on intermittently. The UK-based group says those killed were from both sides of the conflict.
   
• A Turkish soldier has been killed and six others have been wounded in a car bomb attack in the country’s southeastern Mardin province. The Turkish military has blamed the attack on militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Violence has surged in Kurdish-dominated areas in southeastern Turkey since July.
   
• Yemen’s warring sides have resumed talks in Kuwait. The negotiations were stalled since Sunday after the warring parties accused each other of breaking the UN-brokered ceasefire. Yemen’s Ansarullah movement says talks are meaningless while Saudi Arabia continues bombing innocent people across the country.
   
• A group of UK lawmakers says Britain’s multi-billion-dollar arms contracts with Saudi Arabia are undermining its efforts to tackle Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. Citing testimonies from aid groups, the lawmakers warned there’s growing evidence that Saudi Arabia is using UK-made arms to indiscriminately bomb Yemen.
   
• A top Iranian commander is warning that Iran will block the passage of ships belonging to the US or its regional allies in the Strait of Hormuz, if they make threats against Tehran. Brigadier General Hossein Salami says Iran’s measure will be in line with the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.

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