WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, May 15, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, May 16, 2018.

Iran condemns US sanctions

Iran has condemned the United States for blacklisting the governor of Iran’s Central Bank, saying it shows Washington’s failure to achieve its goals from scrapping the nuclear deal. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi says the US has imposed new sanctions on Iran after its withdrawal from the nuclear deal faced a global outcry. Qassemi says such anti-Iran measures by the US are part of a long-running hostile policy against the Iranian nation. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has accused Iran’s top banker, Valiollah Seif, of helping transfer millions of dollars to Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. The US has also targeted another Iranian Central Bank official and Iraq’s Al-Bilad Islamic Bank for the same allegation.

Palestinians call for Israel's prosecution

Palestinians say they will refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Senior Palestinian official, Saeb Erekat, says the government has signed papers to refer Israel to the court, and will send them immediately. The papers call on the ICC to open a judicial investigation against Israeli officials for the brutal crackdown in Gaza. The ICC says it’s closely watching the situation there.

Malaysia’s Anwar released  

Jailed Malaysian reformist, Anwar Ibrahim, has been granted a full pardon by the king. It came just a week after his alliance scored a victory in a general election. The pardon allows Anwar to re-enter active politics immediately. Anwar’s freedom is expected to ease fears of a growing rift within the newly formed coalition government. Prime Minister-elect, Mahathir Mohammad, had pledged to secure Anwar’s release and eventually step aside for him to become premier. The volatile relationship between Mahathir and Anwar has dominated Malaysia’s political landscape for over three decades and is central to the future of the alliance between the two.

Anger at Israeli massacre

Israel’s massacre of peaceful protesters in the Gaza Strip has sent shockwaves across the world. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting where several countries reacted to the killings; the US of course backed the bloodshed.

EU Iran plan

The European Union has unveiled an economic plan to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after the US withdrawal. Federica Mogherini added that the normalization of economic and trade relations with Iran constitutes a central element of the agreement. Mogherini said the bloc’s sanctions-blocking measures will be discussed by European commissioners on Wednesday. She was speaking in Brussels after a meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Germany, France and Britain.

North Korea suspends high-level talks with South

North Korea has announced the suspension of high-level talks with South Korea, which were scheduled for Wednesday. Pyongyang says the talks are cancelled because of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. The North says the drills are a provocation and a rehearsal for invasion. Pyongyang has also threatened to scrap a planned summit between its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. But the US department of state says it will continue planning the summit, adding that it has received no notification of a change from the North. The developments come despite recent attempts by Pyongyang at reconciliation with Seoul and Washington.

Syria peace talks

Iran, Turkey, and Russia have concluded their latest round of talks on the crisis in Syria. They agreed that Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be preserved. Tehran, Ankara, and Moscow also agreed that anti-terror fighting must continue in Syria until groups like Daesh are fully eradicated. They stressed that the de-escalation zones agreed on during previous talks must be kept to help maintain a peace regime in Syria. Iran, Russia, and Turkey ended two days of Syria discussions in Kazakhstan on Tuesday. Syrian opposing sides attended as well. It was the ninth round of trilateral talks that Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara first held last January. The three countries are making efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

North Korea threatens to cancel summit with US

South Korea and the United States will press ahead with their joint drills as planned despite North Korea urging them not to do so. The South Korean Defense Ministry says Washington and Seoul have agreed, in an emergency meeting, on upholding the exercises. The ministry has defended the plan, saying the drills are “not an implementation of an operational plan or an attack maneuver”. North Korea announced the suspension of high-level talks with the South, saying the drills are a provocation and a rehearsal for invasion. Pyongyang also threatened to scrap a scheduled summit between its leader, Kim Jong-un, and US President Donald Trump. It says Washington plans to impose the destiny of Libya or Iraq on the North.

Bahrain revokes 115 citizenships

Bahrain has revoked the citizenship of 115 people and given 53 of them life sentences on terrorism charges. Manama has also handed down prison terms of up to 15 years to 62 other defendants. Rights activists say the harsh rulings set a new level of injustice in Bahrain. The mass trial is one of the most severe since pro-democracy protests started in the Arab kingdom in 2011. Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations on an almost daily basis since the beginning of the uprising. Manama has responded to the protests with a heavy-handed crackdown that has led to the deaths of dozens of people.

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