WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, June 11, to 08:00 GMT, June 12, 2017.

Parliament's Post-Terror Session

Iran’s Parliament is back to work a few days after the Tehran terror attacks. Lawmakers, ministers and officials who attended Sunday morning’s open session paid tribute to the victims and reaffirmed Iran’s determination to crush terrorist groups.

UK Politics

The Irish prime minister has expressed concern over a proposed alliance between Britain’s ruling conservatives and Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party. Enda Kenny says such an alliance could pose a challenge to the peace process for the province. Speaking to British Prime Minister Theresa May, Kenny said nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk. The deal is known to be a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Meanwhile, Britain’s opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has described the situation following the elections resulting in a hung parliament as chaotic.

Rabat Rally

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of the Moroccan capital to protest corruption and express solidarity with ongoing anti-government rallies in the country's north. The demonstration in Rabat was one of the largest of its kind in several years. Participants called on the government to fight what they called rampant corruption and abuse of power. The march was also in support of the recent demonstrations in Morocco's northern Rif region. People in the impoverished region have been out on the streets since last October when the death of a fish vendor sparked anti-government protests. There have been several detentions and clashes with police.

Illegal Settlements

Israel has announced that its settlement building activity has been the highest in more than 20 years. This as many international organizations and rights groups describe settlement activity as an impediment to peace in the region.

France New Parliament

French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party has won the biggest share of the first round of legislative elections. Partial official results show “Republic on the Move” party and its small centrist ally “MoDem” are set to garner up to four-hundred forty-five seats in the five-hundred seventy-seven-member National Assembly. They are set to win over 32 percent of votes ahead of the second round next Sunday. The voter turnout is reported at a record low. However, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the strong performance by Macron's party showed the French support his first steps on the world stage and domestically. The voting is crucial for President Macron and his year-old party as he needs a majority to push through the changes he promised in his presidential campaign.

Egypt Islands Transfer

Egyptian parliament has begun reviewing a disputed 2016 agreement that allows the transfer of two Egyptian islands to Saudi Arabia. The meeting of the legislative and constitutional committee was held amid uproar from critics of the deal. They argue any review of the deal is inappropriate and unnecessary given a High Administrative Court ruling that had declared the agreement illegal and void in January. Meanwhile, the government issued a report saying Egypt will keep administrative control over the two Red Sea islands even after handing them over to Saudi Arabia. Cairo announced last year that it will cede control of Tiran and Sanafir to Riyadh, arguing that the two Red Sea islands originally belonged to the Kingdom. The move triggered nationwide protests with opponents accusing the president of treason.

Arab Diplomatic Row

Tensions continue to simmer in the Persian Gulf region; Bahrain’s central bank has ordered to freeze assets and bank accounts of Qatar-linked individuals and entities that the Saudi-led alliance of several Arab countries blacklisted as terrorists. The directive obliges all financial institutions of Bahrain to freeze accounts, cash, deposits and insurance policies of 59 individuals and 12 entities linked with Qatar. Last week, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt as well as Bahrain decided to sever diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar after accusing the gas-rich country of supporting terrorism. Doha rejects the allegations. The rift has disrupted travel, separated families and threatened food supplies in the Persian Gulf state.

G7 Division

Six states in the Group of Seven advanced economies vow to continue their efforts to curb climate change as the US withdrew from the 2015 Paris accord. Galletti stressed that Italy and the other countries regarded the Paris agreement as irreversible and non-negotiable. The UN official in charge of implementing the Paris accord also said the US withdrawal would not make any difference in the short-term. Patricia Espinosa said the US remained a party to the agreement because the deal foresaw a three-year period before any party could withdraw. The remarks follow the first day of a two-day gathering of G-7 environmental chiefs in Bologna, Italy. The summit was held against a backdrop of student protests.

US Somalia Airstrike

A US airstrike has claimed the lives of at least eight people in the south of Somalia. The Pentagon claims that the airstrike targeted the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants in Juba region. Washington has been carrying out air raids in several Muslim countries including Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen despite opposition from their governments and people. The US claims that its airstrikes target militants, but reports on the ground indicate that many civilians have fallen victim to such attacks.

UK Cabinet Reshuffle

The British prime minister says she has appointed ministers from across the Conservative Party in her cabinet as Tories are still reeling from the results of last week’s snap elections. Theresa May said the new appointments would help the government deliver successful Brexit talks and deal with social issues in the UK. May rejected speculations that she would be a caretaker premier saying she would serve a full-term. The prime minister called for snap elections in a bid to strengthen her mandate ahead of the European Union exit talks which will begin on June 19. However, Tories lost their majority and only won 318 seats. This has mounted pressure on May to step aside.

France Low Turnout

French far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenshon has denounced low voter turnout in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, saying it doesn't give the president's party a mandate to implement its reform program. Meanwhile, the head of the French Socialists Jean-Christophe Cambadelis admitted his party faced unprecedented losses in the vote. Projections showed the party falling to 15 to 40 seats in the assembly from 277. The far-right National Front party also underperformed. National Front’s leader Marine Le Pen blamed her party's poor showing on the low turnout, saying France's electoral system needed to be reformed. Around 49 percent of the electorate cast their ballot, the lowest level in such elections in decades. Le Pen said the abstention rate raised the question about the voting rules. She lost the presidential election to Emmanuel Macron in May.

Syria Deadly Infighting

Syria’s town of al-Bab has been the scene of deadly infighting among Turkish-backed militants. The conflict, which took place on Sunday, claimed the lives of several people and injured scores of others. The fighting marked the first of its kind since the liberation of the town from Daesh terrorists in February. It is unknown what sparked the clashes between the militants. Back in 2016, Ankara deployed warplanes, tanks and artillery to Syria to support militant groups under an operation dubbed Euphrates Shield. Ankara said the measure was aimed at pushing both Daesh terrorists and Kurdish militia away from Turkey’s border.

Fight against Terror

The chief of staff for the Iranian Armed Forces has pledged that the Islamic Republic will give new unforgettable lessons to terrorists and their sponsors. Major General Mohammad Baqeri was reacting to last week’s twin terror attacks in Tehran. The senior commander noted that the Iranian nation would uproot terrorism in cooperation with other Muslim countries. He said the US and Israel through the financial support of Saudi Arabia dispatched terrorists to carry out the attacks in the Iranian capital. Baqeri added these regimes would face no other fate but defeat and disgrace. At least 17 people were killed and over 50 others injured in Tehran on Wednesday when gunmen carried out almost simultaneous assaults on two targets.

Trauma of Being a Refugee

A top UN official has accused Australia of being responsible for inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and refugees held in offshore detention centers. The UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants said the abuse of refugees had tarnished Australia’s rights record. Francois Crepeau, in a report on his last visit to Australia, called the regime of offshore detentions unjustifiably punitive and unlawful. He said Canberra knew the cruel and inhumane treatment of people held in remote camps. According to the UN official, mental health issues are rife among detainees, with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression being the most common ailments. Australia has taken a tough stance in recent years on asylum seekers, detaining them on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean as well as on the impoverished Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Turkey’s War on PKK

Turkey says it has killed over one-thousand militants from Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the past nine months. Turkey’s media quoted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying that during operations against PKK militants, nearly 370 were also captured and almost 290 others surrendered. Soylu stressed that Turkey is going through a significant period in the fight against terrorism. He said a total of 360 terrorist attacks were also foiled. Ankara has been frequently conducting ground operations and airstrikes against PKK positions in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq since July 2015. The PKK is fighting for an independent Kurdish state.

Iran on Kurdish Referendum

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman says a planned referendum on the independence of Iraq’ Kurdistan region would be in violation of the country’s territorial integrity. He said Iraq’s territorial integrity, national sovereignty and constitution are very important. The spokesman further said Iran has had a good relationship with all Iraqi people since long ago. He urged all Iraqi ethnic and religious groups to live together peacefully in a united, stable and democratic Iraq. Qassemi also called on Iraqi people to work toward promoting the country’s security and development.

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