WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, August 28, 2018 to 0800 GMT, August 29, 2018.

Israeli settlements

An Israeli court has for the first time recognized as legal a settlement established on privately-owned land in the occupied West Bank. The settlement, which is close to Ramallah, was established in the late 1990s on land owned by Palestinians. The owners had appealed to the Israeli court to have the settlers evicted from their land. But the court rejected their appeal on the basis that the settlers didn’t know the land was privately owned. The ruling has been slammed by rights groups. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Rohingya crisis

The United Nations secretary-general has expressed deep concern over the human rights situation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Antonio Guterres was addressing the Security Council a day after the release of a report by UN investigators on the issue. Guterres said the report requires serious consideration by all relevant UN bodies. He pointed out that conditions are not met for the safe return of those Rohingya Muslims who fled their country. The UN chief said accountability is essential for reconciliation between ethnic groups in Myanmar. The UN fact-finding mission report that was released on Monday has found that Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent”.

Hurricane Maria toll

Puerto Rican officials raise the death toll of last year’s Hurricane Maria from 64 to nearly 3,000. The updated figure came from an academic study commissioned by the Puerto Rican governor. The study calculated the number of deaths that could be directly or indirectly attributed to Maria from the time it struck in September 2017 to February 2018. Hurricane Maria was the most powerful storm to strike the Caribbean island in nearly 90 years. It caused property damage estimated at 90 billion dollars. The Donald Trump administration was criticized for being too slow to provide disaster relief to the US territory of more than three million residents.

Palestinians' right of return  

The United States ambassador to the United Nations has dismissed the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their homeland. Nikki Haley says the issue should be off the table in any future peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel. She says the matter should be looked at in the same way as Syrian and Venezuelan refugees. Palestinians say the issue must be part of any eventual peace settlement. Haley has also claimed the UN estimate for the number of Palestinian refugees is inaccurate. She says Washington will resume aid to the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees if it reduces the number of announced refugees. UNWRA says it provides services to about five million Palestinian refugees. The US has cut its aid to UNWRA from a promised 350-million dollars to 60-million dollars.

Myanmar rejects UN report

Myanmar rejects a probe by the United Nations that accuses its military of carrying out mass killings and gang rapes against Rohingya Muslims with genocidal intent. Myanmar’s government spokesman says since the authorities didn’t allow the UN fact-finding mission to enter the country, the resolution is unacceptable to the government. The UN mission released the report on Monday, a year after it launched an investigation into the situation of the Muslim minority group. It called for the prosecution of Myanmar’s army chief and five other top generals for committing genocide against the Rohingya.

Italy-EU refugee row

Italy has threatened to ban the European Union's naval force from bringing refugees picked up at sea to its ports. Rome says the bloc must share the burden of refugees being picked up in the Mediterranean. Diplomats have met in Brussels to discuss Italy's latest threat. EU officials say Rome has given the bloc until the end of August to come up with a clear relocation scheme. Italy's new government has already kept several rescue ships with hundreds of migrants on board stuck at sea. Human Rights groups have been alarmed at the stance.

Chemical attack warning

Syria’s UN ambassador has accused the West of planning a chemical attack against civilians in his country with the help of militants. Speaking at the UN Security Council, Bashar al-Ja’afari said the possible chemical attack in Idlib province will be used to blame the Syrian government. He warned that any western attack on Syria would undermine regional and international security. Russia has already warned about a false-flag chemical attack by militants in Idlib. It has said a private British contactor was helping the militants to stage the assault.

Yemen missile attack

Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters have launched a missile on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for Riyadh’s military aggression. Yemeni media say a ballistic missile was fired at Saudi Arabia’s southern border region. The Yemenis say the Badr-1 missile targeted a new military camp in Najran province. The Saudi military, however, says the rocket was intercepted by its air defenses without any casualties. The missile attacks are launched in response to deadly airstrikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition against Yemen. The military campaign against Yemen has claimed the lives of nearly 15,000 people since March 2015.

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