WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, August 9, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, August 10, 2017.

Yemen's humanitarian crisis

Fifteen aid groups have called on warring sides in Yemen to reopen the country’s main airport. The aid groups say the year-long closure of the airport has hampered humanitarian aid delivery and prevented thousands of patients from seeking life-saving treatment abroad. The groups also warned of the current cholera outbreak and near-famine conditions in many parts of the impoverished country. Saudi Arabia launched a war against Yemen in 2015 and imposed an aerial embargo on the Arab country. Since then, thousands of Yemenis have lost their lives due to critical health conditions for which they were not able to get international medical treatment.

Kenya vote ‘not hacked’

Kenyan authorities reject claims of vote-hacking, as violence over the presidential election result kills three more people in the east African nation. The latest three fatalities took place in a machete attack in the coastal county of Tana. Earlier, at least two protesters died in the capital’s Mathare area, the scene of violent clashes between supporters and opponents of President Uhuru Kenyatta. Another protester was shot dead in Kisii County. Opposition leader, Raila Odinga says the results of Tuesday’s presidential vote are a complete fraud. With the majority of votes counted, incumbent President Kenyatta is ahead with 54.4 percent of the vote. Odinga has won 44.7 percent.

Refugees ‘deliberately drowned’

The UN says dozens of refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia have been “deliberately” drowned off the coast of Yemen after a smuggler pushed over 120 asylum seekers out of a boat. According to the International Organization for Migration, IOM, the agency’s staff have discovered bodies of 29 refugees on a beach in the Yemeni province of Shabwa during their routine patrol. The IOM also said food, water and other emergency relief has been given to 27 survivors, adding that 22 others remain missing. The UN migration agency estimated the average age of the refugees on the boat is around 16. Figures show that around 55,000 asylum seekers have left the Horn of Africa for war-torn Yemen since January 2017.

Saudi crackdown

Saudi Arabian security forces have flattened a Shia town in the Kingdom’s eastern province following a three-month military campaign that, Riyadh claims has targeted gunmen. Journalists escorted by military officials have described streets in Awamiyah’s old quarter as transformed into a war zone. Residential buildings have been bulldozed to the ground while others were pocked with hundreds of bullet holes. Residents have fled to nearby villages in their thousands while nine civilians have been killed in the past week alone. The dead include a five-year-old boy. He was shot in the abdomen two months ago and has now succumbed to his wounds. Since 2011, Awamiyah has been the epicenter of a protest movement against discrimination toward the Kingdom’s Shia Muslim minority. Riyadh claims gunmen used Awamiyah’s narrow alleyways to target security forces. Locals say authorities had been hunting down activists in the area.

Civilian casualties in Syria

Fresh air raids by the US-led coalition have killed nearly a dozen civilians in Syria. That’s according to pro-opposition monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK based group says US jets have bombed and killed eleven civilians in the province of Raqqah. The monitor noted that a father and his two children plus two women are among the dead. The US itself claims that since 2014, its airstrikes against purported Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq have killed over 600 civilians. But monitoring groups put the death toll at around 7,000.

US-North Korea tensions

North Korea says a plan to fire four intermediate range missiles near the US territory of Guam will be finalized in a matter of days. The planned strikes will be presented to leader Kim Jong-un for approval. A North Korean military official says the Hwasong-12 rockets will travel over 3,300 kilometers crossing the skies of Japan en route to their target. Pyongyang added that US President Donald Trump’s threats of fire and fury against the North are “a load of nonsense”. In a further escalation of the war of words between the two sides, the North said only “absolute force” can work with the US President. Meanwhile Russia’s envoy to the UN says military action is not an option to resolve the crisis.

Britain homelessness

A new analysis has found that the number of families declared homeless across Britain has tripled since 2011 when the Conservative Party took power. The report by the charity group Crisis shows that nearly 60,000 British families were homeless between April 2016 and March 2017. That was a 34-percent rise on the same period six year ago. A total of 159,000 households are sofa surfing, rough sleeping or living in unsustainable accommodation. The report says hostels, tents, cars, public transport, squats, women’s refuges or winter night shelters are the most common temporary places for the homeless to stay. The Crisis has warned that the number of rough sleepers would rise by 76 percent in the next decade unless the government takes long-term action to tackle the problem.

Venezuela slams US sanctions

Venezuela has slammed the United States over its recent sanctions against the South American country. The Venezuelan foreign minister describes Washington’s measures as an attack on democracy which is in breach of international law. Arreaza made the comments after the US Treasury Department blacklisted eight members of Venezuela’s recently-elected constituent assembly on Wednesday. On July 30, people in Venezuela went to the polls to elect the 545-member legislative body. President Nicolas Maduro devised the plan in a bid to rewrite the constitution. Venezuela’s opposition has fiercely opposed the creation of such an assembly which it believes would drag the country into a dictatorship. Scores of people have been killed in months of violent protests in Venezuela.

FBI probe

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided the house of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. The FBI agents seized files and financial documents from Paul Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Virginia. The investigation was part of a probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in last year's US presidential election, and any possible collusion with Trump's associates. Manafort's financial dealings have been the main part of the probe led by Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign last August over questions about his foreign ties. He was accused of accepting millions of dollars for representing Russia’s interests in the US and Ukraine.

NATO drills

NATO is conducting massive military exercises in Georgia amid Russia’s anger over the presence of the alliance forces in the region. Day 12 of the war games is underway at the Vaziani Military Base some 20 kilometers outside Tbilisi. Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization carried out defensive combat operations in a live-fire exercise on Wednesday. Georgia’s military officials are observing the drills. They say the exercises are important for Georgia to strengthen ties and the partnership with NATO. Members of the military alliance including the US, Armenia, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom are present in the war games. Georgia is not a member of the NATO but the presence of the military alliance in the country has already angered Russia as Moscow says it will spoil its security.

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