"Iranian pilgrims unlikely to attend Hajj this year"

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• The Italian coastguard has rescued some four thousand refugees from dangerous boats in the Mediterranean Sea since Friday.
• Italian protesters have staged a rally in the capital Rome to criticize the austerity measures proposed by the government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
• Thousands of Spaniards flood the streets of Madrid in protest at what they call the neo-liberal policies imposed by the EU.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reaffirmed that Palestinians will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
• People in the occupied West Bank have held a funeral for Abdel-Fattah Sharif, the Palestinian man who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier while wounded.
• The Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization says it is unlikely to send pilgrims to this year's Hajj ceremonies as Saudi Arabia is not cooperating in making arrangements.
• Iraqi government forces have purged Daesh terrorists from two villages near the city of Fallujah during the operation aimed at the liberation of the ISIL-held city.
• Foreign-backed militants have carried out mortar attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least four people including two minors.