WATCH: PRESS TV NEWSROOM HEADLINES, May 7

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom headlines from 00:00 GMT to 08:00 GMT, May 7.

US nukes expansion

Iran says Washington’s policy of expanding its nuclear arsenal is provocative and could trigger an arms race. The remark was made by head of the Iranian delegation Gholamhossein Dehqani in the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference which is underway in Vienna. He said the US plan to develop more nukes ran counter to the NPT. He further stressed that the biggest challenge to the implementation of the NPT was a lack of real progress in the field of denuclearization. The senior diplomat said nuclear-armed states have undertaken to dismantle their atomic arsenals under the NPT, and urged them to live up to their commitments.

Yemen cholera

Saudi Arabia’s crippling blockade on Yemen has caused a severe shortage of medicine and medical supplies in the country. Now a new wave of cholera outbreak is taking a toll on Yemeni patients across the country.

Battle for Mosul

Iraqi forces have launched a fresh operation to liberate the last remaining districts of the city of Mosul from Daesh terrorists. Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister has dismissed reports that his country has okayed a US proposal to dispatch a new group of forces to Iraq. Haider al-Abadi stressed that no US forces will remain in Iraq once the Daesh terror group is completely defeated.

Unpopular reforms

Thousands of people have gathered in the Italian capital Rome to call on the government to reform the country’s labor market legislation. Italy’s major trade union says the measure undermines the rights of workers.

Venezuela tension

Sporadic clashes have erupted in Venezuela as women across the country staged mass demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government. Police used tear gas to disperse pockets of violent protesters who hit the riot police with fire bombs and projectiles in the capital Caracas. A number of people were injured during the face-offs. This took place against the backdrop of largely peaceful demonstrations, held with the participation of opposition leaders.
A rival rally was also held in the capital by Maduro’s supporters. Clashes between police and protesters have left 37 people dead, including four police officers, over the past month. Venezuela suffers from serious shortages of medicine and essential consumer products. Maduro has dismissed the protests as an American-backed plot to overthrow his government.

Race for Elysee

French citizens have begun casting their votes in the final round of the country’s presidential election. Voters will choose between centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Voting will close at 17:00 GMT and the first estimate of the results will be published an hour later. The polling follows an unprecedented election campaign marked by scandals, and a last-minute hacking attack on Macron’s campaign. Le Pen and Macron emerged as the finalists after the first round of the vote held last month. According to opinion polls, Macron led his rival by around 62 to 38 percentage points before the hacking revelations on Friday.

Strike, Day 21

Palestinian prisoners on an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli jails are calling for a week of rage in the occupied territories and beyond.
The call comes amid reports that Israeli authorities are seeking to bring in foreign physicians to help them force-feed the strikers. The prisoners, who have been abstaining from food for 21 days, are warning that any such move will be treated as an attempt on their lives. They are urging Palestinians to carry on their protests and sit-ins until the inmates’ demands are met. More than 1,500 detainees are taking part in the mass hunger strike to protest their jail conditions and mistreatment by Israeli wardens. The collective action has triggered relentless street protests by Palestinians. On Saturday, demonstrators held a rally in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to show their solidarity with the prisoners.

Tense border

Pakistan has deployed additional troops to its border with Afghanistan, following deadly clashes and a significant escalation of hostilities between forces of the two countries. At least 15 people were killed and dozens of others wounded after Afghan and Pakistani forces traded fire in the two divided villages near the Chaman border crossing on Friday. The dead included nine from Pakistan and six from the Afghan side. Islamabad accused Afghan security forces of unprovoked firing on its census workers and troops escorting them. But Afghan officials claimed that the Pakistanis fired first. The incident was the latest escalation between the two neighbors, which share a volatile and porous boundary. Meanwhile, the Pakistani army has shut the border crossing in response to the attack, blocking all movement of people and supplies to its landlocked neighbor.

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