Saudi-backed delegation pull out from Yemen peace talks

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Representatives of former Yemeni regime have pulled out of direct talks with Ansarullah movement officials citing lack of progress in negotiations. The Saudi-backed delegation has repeatedly withdrawn from the negotiating table since the start of the UN-brokered talks in Kuwait on April 21.
• Saudi Arabia's King Salman has dismissed long-serving oil minister and the central bank governor in a major government shake-up. The oil-dependent kingdom announced last month an ambitious plan to transform its economy. Saudi Arabia is grappling with a slump in oil revenues.
• A court in Egypt has sentenced six people to death, among them two al-Jazeera journalists, accused of espionage during former president Mohamed Morsi’s rule. Al-Jazeera says it’s shocked by the verdict. A Jordanian journalist is also among the convicts. The sentence has been referred to the top religious authority for a non-binding opinion.
• Two members of a local police unit in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar fatally shoot two of their Romanian NATO trainers. Another Romanian was also injured in the incident. Both of the assailants were killed. Some six-hundred Romanians are among nearly 12000-strong NATO mission in Afghanistan.
• Iran’s defense minister has reiterated that Tehran will continue conducting military drills in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman with no limits. Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan played down the US and Saudi criticism of Tehran over the matter, saying it will not produce any results for them.
• President Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan has accused the EU of pressuring Turkey into making changes to Ankara’s anti-terror laws. That’s one of the requirements the bloc has asked Ankara to meet in order to gain visa-free travel for Turkish citizens within the Schengen area. Erdogan has rejected the idea.
• Rival protests have taken place in the German capital Berlin where police forces were deployed to quell possible clashes between opponents and proponents of refugees. Police arrested a number of demonstrators from the pro-refugee camp. Far right protesters demanded that Chancellor Angela Merkel step down.
• In Poland, thousands have flooded the streets of the capital Warsaw to protest against the government policies which they say would harm the country’s position in the EU. Poland slid into a political crisis after the right-wing government made controversial changes to the Constitutional Court.

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