WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV Newsroom's headlines from 0900 GMT to 1700 GMT, August 26, 2018.

Supporting militants in Syria

The head of Lebanon’s resistance movement, Hezbollah, has accused the United States of supporting Daesh terrorists. Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah made the comments during the first anniversary of defeating Daesh in the Lebanese border areas. Nasrallah said Washington has always offered financial and weaponry support to the Takfiri group. He accused the U-S of preparing for a new chemical attack in Syria to justify its military aggression the Syrian government. Nasrallah also armed groups in northern Syria receive money from Israel and Saudi Arabia. He slammed Washington’s silence about Saudi Arabia’s crimes in Yemen. Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah said Israel cannot change the spirit of defeat among its forces. He pointed to the low level of motivation among the Israeli soldiers and said Tel Aviv is incapable of recruiting young generation.

‘Plot against Pyongyang’

North Korea's state-controlled newspaper accuses the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against Pyongyang. The newspaper also said the US aims to wage war on the North. The accusations came after U-S President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a planned visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea for denuclearization talks. Trump said he called off Pompeo’s trip due to insufficient progress in negotiations with North Korea. The US wants North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has shown no sign of readiness to do so as of yet.

Brennan on Trump

Former CIA chief John Brennan escalates his war of words with the U-S president, calling Donald Trump the third great crisis in American history. Speaking to Fox News, Brennan defended his criticism of Trump following the US president’s appearance at a news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin several weeks ago. Brennan said he had exhausted all the other adjectives in the English language to describe Donald Trump’s failures. The ex-CIA chief had described Trump’s remarks at the news briefing as treasonous. Trump revoked Brennan’s security clearance last week. The White House accused Brennan of using the clearance to attack the Trump administration.

Church sex abuse

The leader of the Catholic Church has called for God’s forgiveness following rampant sex abuses by clerics. Pope Francis made the comments while addressing a group of people in western Ireland. The pontiff had earlier expressed shame over the revelations of sexual abuse and cover-ups by the priests. However, abuse survivors still accuse him of failing to speak or act forcefully enough to expose and punish wrongdoing.

Iran minister fired

Iranian Finance Minister Masoud Karbasian has been impeached following a heated debate in parliament. Karbasian lost a confidence motion by 137 votes to 121 to become the second minister to be removed by lawmakers in less than three weeks. He got the thumbs-down after he failed to convince the legislators about his handling of Iran’s troubled economy. His impeachment is another setback to the government of President Hassan Rouhani. Earlier this month, then labor minister Ali Rabiei was toppled over economic issues. President Rouhani himself is set to appear in parliament next week to answer MPs’ questions. His government has criticized the move as politically-motivated.

India floods

The death toll from recent devastating floods in the southern Indian state of Kerala keeps rising. The government says rescue teams found 28 more bodies on Sunday. That pushed up the death toll to 445. Monsoon-triggered floods have battered Kerala since May but most victims died in mid-August. Authorities say more than a dozen people remain missing. They say around a million others are still packed into relief camps. Those returning to their homes have been cautioned against snakes left behind by receding waters. For now, operations are underway to clean up towns and villages from dirt and sand left by the floods. Authorities are also busy restoring power connections.

Zimbabwe president

Emmerson Mnangagwa takes the oath as Zimbabwe's president. Thousands of Mnangagwa’s supporters and some foreign leaders watched his inauguration in a soccer stadium in the capital Harare. He’s succeeding longtime leader Robert Mugabe who ruled the African country for decades. On Friday, the Constitutional Court confirmed Mnangagwa as president, rejecting a challenge by the opposition candidate. Zimbabwe’s recent elections were marred by violence and chaos. The opposition alleged massive fraud in the vote. Protesters took to the streets following the announcement of the results. The military was called in to crack down on the protesters, leading to the death of six of them.

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