WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, September 17, 2018 to 0800 GMT, September 18, 2018.

Trump tariffs on Chinese imports

US President Donald Trump announces new punitive tariffs on Chinese imports over what he calls unfair trade practices by Beijing. Trump says he will slap additional duties on Chinese goods should Beijing decide to hit back. China has responded by threatening to take retaliatory measures. Starting from next week, 200 billion dollars worth of imports from China will face 10 percent tariffs through the end of the year. The rate will then jump to 25 percent. Wall Street stocks tumbled on Monday in anticipation of Trump’s announcement. Washington recently imposed tariffs on 50 billion dollars of imports from China, prompting Beijing to retaliate.

US refugee admissions

The United States says it will only receive up to thirty thousand refugees in the fiscal year 2019. The figure is 15,000 lower than the one announced in October last year. Pompeo said Washington will focus on offering humanitarian assistance to the refugees already living in the United States. He cited US national security interests and a need for restoring integrity to the country’s overwhelmed asylum system as the reasons behind limiting the refugee intake. He claimed the United States will continue to be the most generous country in terms of what he called protection-based immigration. He said there are currently over 800,000 asylum seekers inside the United States whose claims are being processed.

Inter-Korean summit

South Korean leader Moon Jae-in has traveled to Pyongyang to attend his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In their meeting, the two are expected to focus on hammering out a consensus on ending the 1950-53 Korean War. They will also discuss stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington. Kim and US President Donald Trump met for the first time three months ago in Singapore. The two issued a broad statement on working toward denuclearization. They, however, are still struggling to reach an agreement on ways to accomplish that goal. Pyongyang has put on hold its missile and nuclear programs. The North wants Washington to drop sanctions if it wants Pyongyang to keep moving forward with such measures.

Missing Russian jet in Syria

A Russian military plane has disappeared from radars during Israeli and French attacks on Syria’s northwest. The Russian Ministry of Defense says the aircraft with fourteen service members on board went off the radars during the attack of Israeli F16 fighter jets on Latakia province. The Ministry says the plane was 35 kilometers off the coast of Syria when it vanished. A search and rescue operation is underway in the area. Israeli warplanes began the attack around 10 pm local time, targeting a power station as well as two facilities belonging to the Syrian military. There was also a French missile attack when the Russian plane disappeared. Washington however says it believed the aircraft was accidentally shot down by the Syrian anti-aircraft artillery.

Israel kills 2 Palestinians

Two Palestinians have been killed by an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip. Gaza health officials said the deaths occurred by a missile fired overnight at Khan Yunis. Israeli authorities earlier said they had targeted two people allegedly for trying to cut the barbed wire at the so-called buffer zone bordering occupied territories. On Monday, Israeli forces also attacked Palestinian protesters in northern Gaza Strip, leaving scores of them wounded. The attack took place as Gazans were launching a fishing boat procession to protest the Israeli blockade as part of the Great March of Return Rallies.

Chinese response to US trade war

China says it’s unlikely it will send a trade delegation to the US after Washington announced more tariffs on Chinese goods. Sources in Beijing say although China has not made a final decision yet, a show of sufficient goodwill is a precondition for any talks. They say the prospect of a dialog is quite doubtful after US said the new tariffs will affect 200-billion dollars worth of Chinese goods. On Monday, China's commerce minister also slammed Washington’s tariffs move, saying the US unilateralism and protectionism will impact both countries and will also hurt the global economy. The new wave of US tariffs will take effect on September 24 at a rate of 10 percent and then will rise to 25 percent by the end of the year.

Typhoon aftermath in Philippines

Hundreds of rescuers in the Philippines are working round the clock looking for victims of super typhoon Mangkhut. Aid workers are using shovels and their bare hands to sift through a massive landslide in the northern Luzon Island. Authorities have been unable to bring heavy equipment into the area to accelerate the search due to damaged road infrastructure. As a result the teams are using human chains to extract the debris. The storm, the most powerful this year so far, smashed homes and flooded key agricultural regions in the northern Philippines before battering Hong Kong and southern China with fierce winds and heavy rain. It has left 74 people dead in the Philippines alone.

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