WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, August 17, 2018 to 0800 GMT, August 18, 2018.

China stance on Iran

The Chinese government has once again put its weight behind the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as an important achievement in terms of multilateralism. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Mohammd Javad Zarif, said Beijing valued its relations with Tehran. The top Chinese diplomat also rejected the extra-territorial sanctions the US had imposed on Iran after Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Wang said Beijing opposed Washington's "wrong practices" of unilateral sanctions. Zarif, in turn, called for stronger coordination with the remaining parties to the nuclear deal, including China, and said the new situation concerning the accord needed to be properly tackled.

Immigrant children still in US custody

Three weeks after a US court-ordered deadline, 565 immigrant children who were separated from their families at the border with Mexico are still in government custody. Among those, two dozen are five years old and younger. Earlier this year, the US government separated more than 2,500 children from their parents after families crossed the US border with Mexico illegally. The separations were part of the US president’s so-called zero-tolerance policy. Donald Trump was forced to end the controversial practice in June and order the reunification of the families.

Death threats for US judge

The judge presiding over the Paul Manafort trial says he’s received death threats. Manafort is US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chief and is on trial for fraud. District judge T.S. Ellis said he traveled with US marshals after receiving the threats. He also refused to release information on the jurors of the trial, citing their safety. Ellis added that the amount of criticism and threats he had received during the trial had been unprecedented. Day two of jury deliberations in the trial came to an end without jurors reaching a verdict. Deliberations will continue on Monday.  

Guterres’ proposal for Palestine

The United Nations Secretary-General has called for the deployment of UN-mandated armed forces or unarmed observers in the Israeli occupied territories to protect Palestinians. Antonio Guterres made the proposals in a report in response to a surge of violence in Gaza, where 170 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers since March. The UN chief said a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was needed to address the safety of Palestinians. He also said the targeting of civilians, especially children, is unacceptable. Guterres added that those responsible for such violations of international humanitarian law must be held accountable.

Defying US anti-Iran push 

After China refreshed its full support for the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Russia also vowed to take measures to keep the deal alive. Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying Moscow continued to consistently implement its commitments under the deal, known as the JCPOA. China and Russia, together with three European signatories, have been fully supportive of the accord following the US pullout. They’ve so far defied Washington’s calls to ditch the agreement and join the sanctions regime against Tehran.

German-Greek deal

German officials say they have reached a deal with Greece to send back refugees to the Mediterranean country if they have already applied for asylum there. German Interior Ministry described the measure as “a further step on the way to more orderly conditions in European migration policy.” In exchange, Germany agreed to deal with family reunification applications by the end of 2018 and to reconsider disputed cases. Last week, Germany and Spain signed a similar deal. Both agreements come after a dispute between Chancellor Angela Merkel's party and its allies over returning refugees. The ministry said Germany was also talking over a similar deal with the Italian government.

US Saudi war complicity

Experts say a Saudi bomb that recently killed dozens of school children in Yemen was supplied to Riyadh by the United States. Munitions experts have been quoted by US media as saying that the bomb was a 500-pound laser guided MK-82 ordnance. The weapon is manufactured by top US military contractor Lockheed Martin. It is not the first time US weapons supplied to Saudi Arabia have caused mass casualties in Yemen. In October 2016, an attack on a funeral hall by a similar American bomb left more than 150 Yemenis dead. In March 2016, another US-supplied precision-guided bomb killed 97 civilians at a market.

Pakistan new PM

Pakistan’s cricket legend Imran Khan has taken the oath of office to become the country’s new prime minister. His swearing in ceremony at the President's House in Islamabad marked the end to decades of rotating leadership between Pakistan's two establishment parties. The 65-year-old Khan shed tears during the oath administered to him by President Mamnoon Hussain. The charismatic sports star was elected by lawmakers at the National Assembly as premier on Friday. He is expected to form a coalition government with the help of small parties. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party won general elections in July on a platform of fighting corruption. 

US Russia probe

US prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of up to six months for former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos was the first defendant to cooperate in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He pleaded guilty last October to lying to the FBI about Russian contacts during the campaign. Papadopoulos is scheduled to be sentenced on September 7.  

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