WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV Newsroom's headlines from 0900 GMT to 1700 GMT, December 2, 2018.

Iran missile program

Iran has rebuffed an accusation by the US secretary of state that it has tested a ballistic missile in breach of a UN Security Council resolution. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said no UNSC resolution bans Iran’s defensive missile program or its missile tests. Ghassemi also scoffed at Mike Pompeo’s reference to the Security Council resolution 2231 that endorses the Iran nuclear deal. The spokesman said it is the US that violated the resolution by its unilateral withdrawal from the accord. He said the US even threatens other countries with sanctions if they respect the UN document. Pomepo claimed on Sunday that Iran violated the nuclear deal by testing a ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads. He also called on Iran to end its “growing missile testing and proliferation”.

Netanyahu bribery case

Israeli police have recommended that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife be indicted for bribery and other offences. This is the third such recommendation against the premier in recent months. The attorney general will now decide whether to bring indictments or not. The case centers on regulatory benefits allegedly granted to telecommunications firm Bezeq in exchange for positive coverage from a related media company. Police in February recommended indicting Netanyahu in two other corruption investigations.

US Somalia airstrike

The US has carried out a fresh airstrike in Somalia, killing at least nine people. The US military says the air raid targeted members of the al-Shabab militant group in the southern Baay province. According to a statement, all those killed are militants. The statement gives no more details. The US mostly uses drones for airstrikes in Somalia and other Muslim countries like Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan. Rights groups say the drone attacks have claimed thousands of civilian lives in these countries. The US has conducted nearly 40 airstrikes in Somalia against al-Shabab this year. The al-Qaeda-linked group has been fighting Somalia’s UN-backed government for years.

Climate change concerns

Representatives from around the world are meeting in Poland to address threats posed by climate change amid protests that call for action against dire environmental warnings. Envoys from nearly 200 countries attended the event in the Polish city of Katowice to call on states to take a decisive measure against what they called urgent threats. The representatives argue that the impacts of climate change are increasingly hard to ignore. Meanwhile, thousands of people have rallied in the Belgian capital Brussels as well as the Polish city of Chorzow. In Brussels, ralliers demanded authorities to meet the commitments set in Paris in 2015. The Paris treaty urged member states to limit temperature rises to avert runaway global warming. But it also saw the United States leave the international accord.

US ‘heinous policy’

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has lashed out at the United States for what he called proliferating advanced weapons to extremist groups in Yemen. Zarif said the US was already complicit in war crimes by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen, by providing arms and intelligence to them. He said, the US was also proliferating advanced weapons to extremists like al-Qaeda and Daesh in Syria, and is now doing the same in Yemen. The top Iranian diplomat added that Washington seeks permanent instability to justify its heinous policies. Zarif made the comments in a tweet he posted about a report by the British daily, The Guardian. The report mentioned an investigation showing that arms supplied by the US and the UK to Saudi and its allies in Yemen end up in hands of militants liked to al-Qaeda and the Daesh terror group.

France crisis meeting  

French President Emmanuel Macron has held an emergency meeting on security issues, after anti-government protests turned into a riot in Paris. Macron discussed the necessary measures with the prime minister, interior minister and top security officials at the presidential palace. The president earlier visited the famous Arc de Triomphe monument, which was vandalized by the protesters last night. Saturday’s violent protests in Paris left hundreds injured. More than 200 were also arrested. This was the third weekend of anti-government protests in the country. The demonstrators are angry at the government’s economic reforms which they say have resulted in diesel tax hikes and high living costs.

Andalusia vote  

People in Spain’s autonomous Andalusia region are voting in local elections. Polling stations opened at 1000 GMT in the fiercely contested race. The campaign has focused in large part on national issues such as Catalan secession, budget deadlock and immigration. The vote is seen as a test for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his socialist party. Andalusia is the main arrival point in Spain for refugees crossing the Mediterranean, and has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe. Opinion polls suggest that no single party will gain majority. The far right is expected to win its first seats in the regional parliament since the 1970s. The elections were called after a pact between the Socialists and center-right Ciudadanos collapsed earlier this year.

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