WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, May 8, 2019 to 0800 GMT, May 9, 2019.

Iran warning  

Iran’s president has announced that the Islamic Republic will roll back some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear accord, in response to the US withdrawal a year ago. Hassan Rouhani warned that Iran will also enrich uranium at higher levels if the deal’s remaining signatories fail to secure Tehran’s interests.

Colombia-Venezuela tension

The Venezuelan president has warned of a possible military escalation with Colombia on the two countries’ border. Nicolas Maduro said such escalation is part of the plan of “US imperialism”. His remarks came after the Colombian Foreign Ministry blasted Venezuela for what it called repeated provocations. It claimed that 30 Venezuelan military personnel crossed into the Colombian territory. Colombia frequently complains of territorial incursions by the Venezuelan military. Caracas broke off diplomatic relations with Bogota in February after it recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president.

‘Politics at play’

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has defended its detained chief financial officer, saying the company will seek to prevent extradition proceedings against her. The company said Meng Wanzhou’s business activities were conducted with the full knowledge of banking officials. Huawei says the extradition case against its top executive is all about politics. The daughter of Huawei’s founder was arrested at Vancouver's airport in December 2018 on a US warrant. Meng is accused of misleading global banks by misrepresenting Huawei’s relationship with Skycom. Huawei has introduced Skycom as a local business partner in Iran. But the United States claims it is an unofficial subsidiary used to conceal Huawei’s Iran business. Washington accuses the two companies of bank and wire fraud, as well as violating US sanctions on Iran.

EU rejects Iran ‘ultimatums’

The European Union says it rejects any ultimatum from Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal, saying the bloc still backs the accord with Iran. That was announced in a statement by EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany. The European diplomats also said they will assess Iran's compliance on the basis of its performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments under the deal. This comes a day after Iran announced that it would scale down its obligations under the nuclear agreement in response to the US withdrawal from the deal and Europe’s failure to secure Iran’s interests. For now, Iran has given Europe 60 days to take practical steps to ensure the country’s rights and benefits under the nuclear deal.

Sinking stocks

Asian markets have plunged to weeks-long low amid tensions over the US threat to hike tariffs on Chinese imports and Beijing’s warning to take retaliatory measures. Chinese shares dived further, with the Shanghai Composite index tumbling over one percent and the blue-chip CSI 300 dipping 1.5 percent. Hong Kong's benchmark, Hang Seng fell 1.6 percent while Japan's Nikkei shed to a five-week low. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan also dropped one percent to its lowest level since March. South Korea's KOSPI was no exception with over one percent retreat. Experts said the uncertainty over the fate of Sino-American trade talks is the major reason behind the current market turmoil.

US immigration policy

A new report says US border officers detained nearly 100,000 immigrants crossing the country's southern border in April. According to official data, the figure is the highest monthly total since 2007 and is a seven-percent increase from the number apprehended in March. The rise in arrivals is being driven by a growing number of families mostly from Central America coming to US. Many of them request asylum in America because of violence and persecution in their home countries. The high numbers come despite President Donald Trump's zero tolerance approach toward immigration. The administration has repeatedly asked Congress to change immigration laws.

Attorney general in contempt

A US House panel has voted to recommend contempt citation against US Attorney General William Barr for refusing to hand over an un-redacted copy of the Mueller report on Russian election interference. The Democratic-led House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee made the move after Barr defied a subpoena for the complete report and underlying evidence. This is while President Donald Trump has invoked the legal principle of executive privilege to block the report’s disclosure. The US Justice Department also accused the House Judiciary Committee of engaging in politically motivated attacks. The full House will soon vote on holding Barr in contempt of Congress. The attorney general released a redacted version of the report on April 18 which found no evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign but did not exonerate the president on obstruction of justice.

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