SYRIA: Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said today that any dialogue between Syria and Turkey should only take place after Ankara announces that it will withdraw its troops from all territories in his country. 

This came during a joint news conference with Iran’s acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani after Turkey threatened in recent days to act against Kurdish-led authorities in Syria’s north-east .

CYPRUS: President Nikos Christodoulide said today that he won’t “open another route” for irregular migration by letting through more than two dozen asylum-seekers now stranded in a UN-controlled buffer zone that bisects the island.

Mr Christodoulides told reporters that the 120-mile buffer zone won’t become a new avenue for the passage of illegal migrants.

Turkey lets migrants pass through its territory and allows them to board aeroplanes and boats heading for the north of Cyprus.

UNITED STATES: Pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday night.

About 50 protesters with 20 tents were seen lined up on the pathways outside the building, KABC-TV reported. 

FRANCE: Paris is following a playbook used by other Olympic host cities by clamping down heavily on migrants, squatters, the homeless and people in prostitution, says a new report.

The report by The Other Side of the Medal Group into the Paris games, which will run from July 26-August 11, said: “Today we can state that Paris 2024 will be no different from previous editions and will truly accelerate the exclusion of the most vulnerable.”