WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, January 19, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, January 20, 2018.

NSA surveillance

The US president has signed into law a bill that renews broad surveillance powers of the National Security Agency. In a tweet, Donald Trump said the bill re-authorizes foreign intelligence collection and accused the previous administration of wrongly abusing the law. The announcement came days after the US Senate voted to give final congressional approval to the legislation which will be effective for six years. The program allows the NSA to gather private communications of foreign nationals for a variety of reasons. It also authorizes incidental surveillance of communications belonging to American citizens. The Trump administration says the program is necessary to protect Americans. But rights groups say it gives unconstitutional spying powers to the government.

Killing civilians in Syria, Iraq

A London-based monitoring group says up to six-thousand Syrian and Iraqi civilians were killed in US-led coalition airstrikes in 2017 alone. According to Airwars, the death toll is three times higher than figures in 2016. The monitoring group says the coalition’s air raids in the two countries were often devastating. The revelations contradict the US military figures that put the overall civilian death toll in US-led operations at just over 600 since late 2014. Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants, but reports on the ground indicate that many civilians have fallen victim to such attacks.

Egyptian election

Egypt's incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has announced that he will run again for president in the election scheduled for March. Sisi also urged the Egyptians to go to the polls on March 26 and cast their ballots. He is widely expected to win in the first round of the presidential election. The former army chief was elected in 2014, a year after leading the military to oust the country's first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi. Meanwhile Egypt’s ex-military chief of staff Sami Anan has announced his candidacy for president. Anan called on state institutions to maintain neutrality toward all candidates and refrain from taking sides.

US government shutdown

The US government shuts down as the Senate has failed to approve a bill to temporarily fund the federal spending from midnight following last-minute negotiations. The shutdown coincides with the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. The Senate Democrats and Republicans, however, blamed each other for falling short of reaching a deal to keep the federal government running. Democratic leaders accused Republicans of poisoning chances of a deal by opposing a program that protects undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children. Meanwhile, Trump has accused Democrats of putting American troops and border security at risk to score political points. The shutdown is the first since 2013, when some Republicans used a funding bill to force then-President Barack Obama into delaying implementation of his healthcare law. Due to the shutdown, federal agencies will have to temporarily cease many operations but essential services and military operations will continue.

Anger at Trump comments

Haitian immigrants have marched in the US city of New York to protest the vulgar language used by US President Donald Trump to describe immigrants from certain countries. Protesters carried Haitian flags and chanted slogans denouncing Trump over profane remarks about Haiti. The demonstrators walked past the building that houses the US Citizenship and Immigration Services offices in lower Manhattan. They ended their march in front of the Trump Building on Wall Street. During a meeting last week, Trump is said to have offensively labeled immigrants from Africa, Haiti and El Salvador. The remarks made by the US president drew worldwide condemnations.

Russia criticizes US plan in Syria

The Russian foreign minister says the US is trying to create alternative bodies of authority on vast parts of Syrian territory. Sergei Lavrov made the remark in a news conference at the United Nations in reaction to the US announcement that it will create a 30,000-strong force of local Kurds in northern Syria. He also criticized comments by the US defense secretary at John Hopkins University. There, James Mattis called Russia and China growing security threats.

IOC-Koreas meeting

North and South Korean officials are set to meet with the International Olympic Committee to discuss details of a deal for North Korean athletes to attend the upcoming Winter Games in the South. The meeting will be held in the Swiss city of Lausanne, where the IOC will try to implement the terms agreed by Seoul and Pyongyang without tarnishing Olympic rules. The two Koreas have agreed to march together at the opening ceremony under a unification flag and field a united women's hockey team. Pyongyang has also agreed to send a 550-member delegation to the Games. Meanwhile, North Korea has cancelled a weekend visit by an art troupe to the South to discuss performances during the Winter Olympics. Seoul has asked Pyongyang for an explanation and expressed hope to reschedule the visit soon.

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