'Iran missile tests do not breach UN resolution'

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• The Iranian foreign ministry’s international security director says the United Nations Security Council has concluded that the country’s recent missile tests do not violate UN resolutions. Hamid Baidinejad said the council ended the closed-door discussion on the issue without a press conference.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of main part of Russian military force from Syria. Kremlin says Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has been informed about the planned pullout. This, on the same day that the new round of Syria peace talks kicked off in Geneva.
• The Syrian president has rejected the reports that Russia’s decision is due to differences between Moscow and Damascus. Bashar al-Assad said in a statement that Russia’s move has been coordinated, adding the two sides had been discussing the decision for some time.
• Amnesty International has called on the Bahraini regime to immediately release rights activist, Zainab al-Khawaja who was detained along with her one-year-old son on Monday. The rights group denounced the Bahraini authorities for relentlessly targeting Zainab and her family for speaking out against human rights violations.
• Turkey's president says it is necessary to expand the legal scope of terrorism, so that it also includes anyone supporting terror. Speaking at a presser, Receb Tayyip Erdogan branded the pro-Kurdish political party or HDP as the political arm of the outlawed group of Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
• The United Nations refugee agency has called on Turkey to ensure that all asylum claims are efficiently assessed within a fair period of time. The agency also said any EU-Turkey agreement should be driven by international and regional obligations, to ensure respect for the rights of the refugees.
• In Germany, thousands of people have taken part in a rally in the city of Dresden in support of the anti-Islam and anti-immigration movement PEGIDA. The demonstrators also celebrated the victory of the right-wing Alternative for Germany known as the AFD party in regional elections.
• North Korea’s leader says his country will soon carry out tests of a nuclear warhead and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. Kim Jong-un said the launches are meant to improve Pyongyang's military capability. The tests come amid tensions on the Korean peninsula following earlier missile launches by the North.

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