WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, December 19, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, December 20, 2017.

Iran dismisses US claims

Iran rejects Washington’s “fabricated” allegations against Tehran, after the US accused the Islamic Republic of violating the Yemen arms embargo. Tehran’s United Nations ambassador Gholam Ali Khoshroo dismissed the accusations that Washington made during a UN Security Council meeting on a resolution that endorsed Iran’s nuclear deal. Khoshroo said the US attempt to tie the landmark deal to irrelevant topics is aimed at undermining the agreement and concealing Washington’s hegemonic ambitions in the region. He recalled US “destabilizing” military intervention in the region and its role in the rise of Daesh terrorists. Khoshroo made the remarks in response to the US ambassador who accused Iran of supplying missiles used in attacks against Saudi Arabia.

Killing of disabled Palestinian ‘wanton’ act: UN

The United Nations human rights office says the killing of Palestinian wheelchair-bound protester Ibrahim Abu Thuraya by the Israeli military is “truly shocking and a wanton act”. Colville added that the death of the 29-year-old man is one of the sad results of the US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli capital. He stressed that Trump’s move breaks international consensus and is dangerously provocative. Thuraya was among hundreds of Palestinians who participated in protests after Trump’s controversial decision. He had lost both his legs in a 2008 Israeli missile strike on Gaza.

Myanmar ‘methodical’ massacre

A leading international rights group has released a report detailing the Myanmarese army's “systematic” killings and rape of hundreds of Rohingya Muslims in Tula Toli village in Rakhine in late August. Human Rights Watch stressed the “cruel efficiency” of the raid indicates that it could only come with advance planning. The rights group added that the crackdown was a new testimony to Myanmar’s military campaign of ethnic cleansing. As a result of the crackdown, more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Myanmar’s army still blocks the access of rights activists and journalists to the conflict zone in the country’s northern Rakhine state.

UN al-Quds meeting

The United Nations General Assembly is going to hold a rare emergency meeting Thursday on the US President’s decision regarding Jerusalem al-Quds. The emergency session of the 193-member council will be held at the request of Muslim and Arab countries. Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, has expressed hope that the General Assembly would vote on a draft resolution that urges Washington to withdraw its decision. Such a resolution would be non-binding but Palestinians consider it as a show of strong political support. Turkey’s President Erdogan says his country will take the resolution to the General Assembly on behalf of Muslim countries.

US war complicity

Leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has vowed that from now on the Yemenis will retaliate against the Saudi and Emirati aggression by targeting those countries. Abdul Malik al-Houthi made the remarks 1,000 days after the war was waged by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen. Al-Houthi says the Arab coalition should be mistaken if it thinks the Yemenis will sit idle and do nothing while witnessing the atrocities committed against their women and children. He pointed the finger of blame at the United States for being the main culprit in the war. Houthi noted that Riyadh has been using US and UK made weapons in the past three years. Ansarullah's leader says despite using all possible means, the Saudis and their allies have failed to reach their objectives in Yemen.

Unity with Palestine

The Iranian president says his US counterpart’s recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital has led to the formation of a united front in the Muslim world against Washington. Hassan Rouhani described Donald Trump’s decision to order the process of relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds a mistake and a plot against Palestinians and all Muslims. He said the move has backfired on the US and sparked a new Intifada, or uprising, in the Palestinian territories against Israel. Trump’s declaration about Jerusalem al-Quds on December 6 has triggered massive outcries from governments across the world and prompted global street protests.

Iraq Kurdistan unrest

The Iraqi prime minister has warned against attacking protesters in the Kurdistan region. Haider al-Abadi made the remarks after protesters took to the streets in the city of Sulaymaniyah on Tuesday in a second day of violent unrest. The clashes left at least five people dead and over 70 others wounded. Violence erupted after unpaid public sector workers attacked several ruling party offices, demanding their salaries and an end to years of austerity. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets against the protesting civil servants. The Iraqi Kurdistan region has been grappling with economic problems that have worsened since Baghdad stopped sending funds to the region. The region held a secession vote in September without the central government’s consent.

GOP controversial tax plan

The US Senate has narrowly passed a sweeping tax revamp, sending the Republican bill back to the House of Representatives for a final approval. The Republicans pushed the legislation through the chamber despite opposition from all Democrats. The one-and-a-half-trillion-dollar package is the biggest US tax overhaul in three decades. The bill is expected to comfortably make its way through the House where Republicans have the upper hand. The tax reform, if passed, will give President Donald Trump his first major legislative victory since taking office last year. A group of protesters chanted slogans against the bill from the Senate gallery when lawmakers began to vote on the package.

US-North Korea tensions

The United States has called on the UN Security Council to blacklist ten ships for allegedly circumventing sanctions on North Korea. The vessels are accused of conducting ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products to North Korean ships or transporting North Korean coal. The transfers are in violation of UN sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs. If approved by the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee, the ships would be blacklisted. It means countries would be required to ban the vessels from entering their ports. North Korea says Washington is seeking to impose a naval blockade on the country, calling it a step toward a nuclear war.

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