Here is a round-up of global news developments:
- Bahrain intensifies its crackdown on protesters who are angry at Manama for revoking the citizenship of the country’s top Shia cleric Ayatollah Isa Qassim. Courts sentenced three Shia clerics and a TV producer to jail over charges related to a sit-in outside Ayatollah Qassim’s residence in Diraz.
- Nearly ten people have been killed in a Saudi airstrike in Yemen’s northern province of Hajjah. The warplanes targeted a residential area in Hajjah’s Hiran district. Over 9,600 Yemenis have been killed since Saudi Arabia invaded its southern neighbor in March last year.
- The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization says the country will build two new nuclear power stations with assistance from Russia. Ali Akbar Salehi said the operations to build the new power plants in Bushehr will start in September and will take 10 years to complete.
- A huge car bomb outside a government office in the Afghan province of Logar has killed two people. Officials blame the Taliban for the attack. Police and militants engaged in clashes following the blast. Taliban militants have intensified their attacks across Afghanistan in recent months.
- US Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has once again called for building a wall along the US-Mexico border. He was speaking during a visit to Mexico. Meanwhile, demonstrators in the Mexican capital, Mexico City, took to the streets to denounce Trump’s visit to their country.
- Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned about rising far-right extremism directed against Muslims in the country. Turnbull said fomenting distrust of Muslims will make violence even more likely. Australian lawmakers are seeking to ban Muslim immigration and water down anti-discrimination laws.
- Malaysia confirms its first case of Zika infection. A woman, who recently travelled to Singapore, has tested positive for the disease. Singapore announced the first locally contracted case of Zika on Saturday. The mosquito-borne disease, which exploded across Latin America last year, is particularly dangerous for pregnant women.
- At least two people have been killed in post-election violence in Gabon. The opposition said the government forces opened fire inside its headquarters. The opposition accuses the government of vote-rigging after President Ali Bongo was declared the winner of Saturday’s election in the central African country.
