WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 09:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT, September 28, 2017.

Iran mourning

The body of Iranian military advisor Mohsen Hojaji who was beheaded by Daesh terrorists has been laid to rest in his hometown of Najaf-abad. Thousands of people from all walks of life showed up for his funeral procession in the central town. High-ranking government and military officials also participated in the event. Commemoration ceremonies were earlier held for him in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Mashhad. The 25-year-old was captured by Daesh terrorists during an ambush while he was on an advisory mission in southwestern Syria. He was then transferred to Daesh-held areas in Iraq and decapitated by the terrorists on August 9th.

Reaction to secession vote

A referendum on secession in northern Iraq could cost an arm and a leg for the Kurdish region. That’s because Turkey says it will not do any business regarding oil exports with Iraq’s Kurdistan. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has assured his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi that Ankara will only deal with the government in Baghdad on crude exports. Yildirim has given the assurance during a telephone call with Abadi. The commodity is seen as the backbone of Kurdistan’s economy and its export is done through a pipeline in Turkey. Any hindrance in the process could deal a heavy blow to the Kurdish region. Meanwhile, the Erbil airport director has announced that all international flights to Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan, will halt as of Friday.

Trump Puerto Rico response

US President Donald Trump’s near-silence on humanitarian disaster in Puerto Rico has come under more criticism. US lawmakers say American lives are at stake on the hurricane-hit island. New Hampshire Democratic Senator Margaret Hassan said Puerto Rico’s governor sent her an email, calling the situation there critical, with hospitals on the verge of collapse and patients dying in their homes. After critics said Trump was slow to respond to the crisis, the president said he may temporarily suspend a law that restricts the use of foreign ships operating in US waters in a bid to accelerate the delivery of aid. A week after Hurricane Maria slammed into the US commonwealth, most of the island’s 3.4 million residents still lack power, and just 20 percent of hospitals have fuel or power. Hillary Clinton has said she is not sure Trump knows Puerto Ricans are Americans.

Amnesty UN call

Amnesty International has called on the UN Security Council to take necessary measure to end the crimes against humanity and ongoing ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The Amnesty has documented how Myanmar security forces have torched whole villages inside Muslim Rakhine state and fired on people fleeing. The UN Security Council is set to hold a meeting almost exactly a month after the Myanmar military launched a brutal operation against Rohingya Muslims. Almost half a million refugees have poured across the border into Bangladesh since then. Amnesty International says the crisis is far from over. International aid groups in Myanmar have also urged the government to allow free access to Rakhine State. Myanmar’s leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Chi has faced scathing criticism, amid calls for her Nobel Prize to be withdrawn.

Plight of Rohingya Muslims

The UN says over half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar government unleashed a deadly crackdown against the minority group in August. The new figure, up from around 480,000, has been announced following the counting of refugees not previously included in the tally. Meanwhile, at least fourteen Rohingya Muslims, all women and children, have been killed after their boat capsized off Bangladesh’s coast. This brings to 120 the total number of the Rohingya who have drowned while taking a perilous journey from Myanmar to Bangladesh. The Myanmar government continues to defy international calls to stop the violence against Rohingyas in Rakhine State.

Demanding EU support

Students have rallied in Catalonia to show their support for the region's upcoming referendum on independence from Spain. The students blocked the streets in downtown Barcelona for the third day in a row. They condemned the Spanish government’s crackdown on Catalonia over the vote which has been scheduled for Sunday. Prior to the protests, the Catalan foreign minister called on the EU to support Catalans in their bid for independence.

Kurdistan vote blowback

Iraq has announced a no-fly zone over Iraq's Kurdistan region as of Friday. This after Kurdish officials announced the halt of all international flights to Erbil at Baghdad's request amid tensions over the Kurdistan region’s secession vote. The move by Iraq’s central government marks the first major measure in response to Monday's vote. The suspension of flights will have massive ramifications for the Kurds, who have turned Erbil into a regional hub. Meanwhile, many foreigners in Erbil are heading to the airport to return home ahead of the ban.

Yemen cholera outbreak

Charity group Oxfam International says Yemen’s cholera outbreak further worsens as the number of suspected cases surpasses 755,000. Timmins also warned that the number of people who have contracted cholera could reach a million by November if the disease spreads at the current pace. More than two thousand Yemenis have already died from cholera. The Saudi war on Yemen has hampered efforts to contain the epidemic as over half of all health facilities in the Arab country have been destroyed or damaged in Riyadh’s airstrikes. According to Oxfam, seven million people in Yemen are a step away from famine and over 20 million need some level of humanitarian aid.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk