WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, August 29, 2018 to 0800 GMT, August 30, 2018.

US-North Korea relations

US President Donald Trump accuses China of complicating Washington’s relationship with North Korea. Trump said the US is doing very well with its diplomatic efforts to revitalize its ties with North Korea. China rejects US accusations that Beijing is derailing talks between Washington and Pyongyang. On Monday, the US president cancelled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned visit to North Korea for what he called insufficient progress in denuclearization negotiations with Pyongyang. Following Trump’s move, North Korea's state-controlled newspaper accused the United States of seeking to wage war on the North.

Puerto Rico blames Trump’s ‘neglect’

The mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital says the US president’s response to the last year’s hurricane on the island is a stain on his presidency. Yulin Cruz added, the Trump administration’s neglect was to blame for the death of nearly 3,000 Porto Ricans. Cruz said, Washington refrained from helping Puerto Rico and didn’t allow other countries to provide aid services. She noted, Trump must be ashamed of himself for not sympathizing with Porto Ricans even once. Cruz’s comments came a day after Proto Rican officials said almost 3,000 people were killed by Hurricane Maria last September. The Trump administration has been frequently blamed for being too slow to provide disaster relief to the US territory of more than three million residents.

Argentina economic crisis

Argentina’s president asks the International Monetary Fund for help as the country’s peso collapses to a record low. Mauricio Macri called for a 50-billion-dollar bailout package from the IMF to rescue his country’s economy. The argentine currency has lost more than 43.5 percent of its value in 2018. This has prompted Argentina’s central bank to sell 500 million dollars in reserves to prop up the peso. Macri was elected in 2015 on a free market platform. His victory came after eight years of deep government intervention in the economy under previous Argentine president Cristina Fernandez.

US pressure policy

Iran’s foreign minister says he had fruitful talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on bilateral ties and regional cooperation. In a tweet, Mohammad Javad Zarif also said, he held positive negotiations with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. Zarif noted, Iran’s neighbors are the country’s priority. Upon his arrival in the Turkish capital Ankara, the top Iranian diplomat noted, the US spares no effort to pressure other countries, including its own allies. He said many US allies in Europe as well as Turkey have realized Washington is not a trustworthy partner. Iran’s foreign minister is due to visit Pakistan on Friday to meet the country’s new prime minister.

Manafort hearing

In the US, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team wants more time to decide whether to retry President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager or not. Last week, a jury failed to deliver a verdict on ten counts of criminal charges against Paul Manafort. The judge had given Mueller’s prosecutors a deadline of Wednesday to decide whether they will continue with their case. But prosecutors now say they currently don’t have enough information to make a proper decision and want another week. Manafort has already been found guilty on eight charges of bank and tax fraud. The remaining ten include seven counts of bank fraud and three counts of failing to disclose his foreign bank accounts.

Israeli warmongering

Iran’s foreign minister has slammed the Israeli prime minister for threatening the Islamic Republic with destruction. Mohammad Javad Zarif hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu, branding him a warmonger. He said the Israeli premier’s threat against Iran is “beyond shameless in the gall”. The remarks came after Netanyahu said he has the means to “seriously hurt Iran”, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Israel’s nuclear arsenal. The Israeli prime minister made the threat during his visit to the Dimona nuclear facility in the Negev desert. This, a day after Iran lambasted nuclear-armed Israel and the US, and once again called for a nuke-free Middle East. Israel is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads. Tel Aviv has so far evaded signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the NPT, amid backing from the US and other Western allies.

Trump dismisses another aide

US President Donald Trump announces another dismissal in his team. White House counsel Don McGahn who was involved in a probe into Russia's alleged election interference, will leave the president’s legal team. Trump made the announcement on a twitter post, without first informing McGahn about his dismissal. The move comes days after U-S media revealed that McGahn had extensive interviews with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team that is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 US presidential election. His departure will affect both Trump’s legal team in facing Mueller as well as president's key allies in the Senate on their attempt to reshape federal courts.

Maduro calls for return of emigrants

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called on his countrymen who have crossed into neighboring states amidst the economic crisis to return home. Maduro branded the exodus as a right-wing campaign and said he's sure the migrants will return to take part in the country's rebuilding. Following his remarks, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez claimed that thousands of Venezuelans are clamoring to return. He said Venezuelan embassies around the world are inundated with requests from citizens to come home. He also called the migratory crisis fake news generated by the media. The UN says 2.3 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014. Venezuela has been facing an economic downward spiral for the fourth year, with double-digit contraction in gross domestic product, and inflation estimated to hit ONE million percent this year.

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