WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, December 15, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, December 16, 2017.

UN warns about poverty in US

United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, has warned that US President Donald Trump and his party are turning the country into the world champion of extreme inequality. Philip Alston stressed Trump and the congressional republicans are consciously distorting the shape of American society in a bid to make it the most unequal society in the world. Alston’s report comes after he completed a two-week official tour of the US. The UN official warned that Trump’s tax plan would further increase already large disparities between rich and poor and could cost American lives.

Saudi slaughter in Yemen

Dozens of Yemeni civilians have died in fresh Saudi airstrikes across the country, as Riyadh steps up its bombing campaign. At least 28 people died south of the port city of Hudaydah, while eight were killed in Ta’izz province. 23 more people were slain after Saudi warplanes bombed a busy marketplace in the northern province of Sa'ada. Two others died in a separate attack in the same province. Over 13,000 Yemenis, mostly civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies waged a devastating war against the country back in March 2015. The attacks and the Saudi-led blockade on Yemen have pushed nearly seven million people to the brink of starvation. The UN has described the situation in Yemen as the world’s number one humanitarian crisis.

Austrian political agreement

Austrian conservatives and far-right anti-immigration freedom party have reached a coalition agreement. Under the deal, the far-right party will be part of the government for the first time in more than a decade. The developments will pave the way for Austria to become the only western European country with a far-right party in power. It is expected that Vienna would adopt harsher anti-immigration policies under the coalition government. Conflicts in the Middle East and Africa are blamed for the mass refugee influx into Europe.

Syria stance

Syria has strongly condemned statements by the United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura and the French Foreign Ministry that blame Damascus for the collapse of the latest round of Geneva peace talks. A Syrian Foreign Ministry official said the anti-Damascus comments are part of a campaign of lies against the country. The official added that Geneva talks failed because the opposition insisted on Riyadh-2 declaration that allows no role for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s future. The official said the preconditions are the real hurdles to the Geneva process and de Mistura should work to remove them. Syria’s top negotiator Bashar al-Ja’afari has already said any preconditions go against the terms of the UN resolution that set off the Geneva process.

Post-election violence in Honduras

In Honduras, 27 people have been injured during clashes between security forces and supporters of opposition presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla. Demonstrators, who demanded a vote recount for the November 26 presidential election, blocked major highways. Protestors also threw rocks at security forces, who responded with tear gas. The Honduran human rights commission says 16 people have died and almost 2,000 have been arrested in post-election chaos. Supporters of Salvador Nasralla reject the election results and the slim lead held by incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been accused of electoral fraud.

Catalonia crisis

The former Catalan president has called on people of the Spanish territory to fight for independence in the next week’s snap elections. Carles Puigdemont addressed Catalans via a satellite link from Belgium. He said Catalans should use the vote to send a clear message to the world about what they desire. The local elections come after Spain’s constitutional court annulled the October declaration of independence by Catalan parliament. Madrid then took control of Catalonia’s government and parliament, arresting top officials and issuing arrest warrants for those who fled the country. Madrid hopes next week’s elections will help settle the political crisis. But opinion polls show supporters of neither side of the dispute would get an absolute majority to bring an end to the political crisis.

Israeli settlements

The Office of the European Union Representative has published a report over Israel’s increasing settlement activities in the occupied West Bank. According to the report, a total of 8,000 settlement units were advanced in different stages in the first half of 2017. It says that some 5-thousand units were promoted through plans while 3,000 others were advanced through tenders. These units would enable over 30,000 Israeli settlers to move to the occupied West Bank in the coming years. The report further says the settlements expansion occurred through a variety of methods, including the approval of a new settlement and declaration of Palestinian territory as Israeli land. Tel Aviv has particularly increased its settlement activities in the occupied territories after US President Donald Trump took office in January.

Pro-Palestine rallies

Protests continue across the world over last week’s decision by the US president to declare Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital. In Jordan, protesters took to the streets of the capital Amman to condemn Donald Trump's move. They chanted anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, and called on Washington to reverse its decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds. In the German capital Berlin, demonstrators slammed Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians. Elsewhere, in the Greek capital Athens, protesters gathered outside the US embassy and chanted anti-Trump slogans. They also condemned the growing ties between Athens and Tel Aviv. A similar anti-US rally was held outside the American Embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Many countries have witnessed such protest rallies since December the sixth when Trump announced his pro-Israeli plan.

Anti-US protest in Honduras

Honduran protesters have gathered outside the US embassy in the capital to denounce what they say Washington’s interference in the country’s contested presidential election. The demonstrators were mainly the supporters of opposition presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla. The protest comes amid demand for a recount of the November 26 election. They chanted slogans against the US saying it has intervened in the disputed election.

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