WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom’s headlines from 18:00 GMT, July 4, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, July 5, 2017.

Russia deployment plan

A top Russian diplomat attending the new round of talks on Syria says an agreement could be reached which would see the Russian military deployed to Syrian buffer zones. Alexander Lavrentyev has hinted that if agreed, Russian forces would be sent to Syria’s borders within the next two or three weeks. Based on the new plan, two de-escalation zones would be created alongside Syria-Turkey and Syria-Jordan borders and the Russians would police them. There are no more details about the scheme which should be hammered out by Iranian, Russian and Turkish diplomats. The news comes as representatives of the three countries plus Syria are meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital to resolve the conflict in the Arab country that entered its seventh year in March.

Recipe for disaster

The United Nation’s Agency for Children has warned about the aggravating cholera outbreak in South Sudan. Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, UNICEF’s spokesperson Christoph Bouli-rah also pointed out that children suffering from acute malnutrition are 9 times more likely to lose their lives if exposed to cholera infection. He added that for first time since the start of the epidemic in 2016, it has lasted through the entire dry season. He warned the disease is bound to spread more in the rainy seasons. UNICEF says so far in 2017, cholera has claimed the lives of over 170 people in South Sudan with nearly 50 of being children.

Bahrain rights violations

Amnesty International has demanded the Bahraini regime release a detained human rights activist, saying she is at high risk of torture. Amnesty said Ebtisam al-Saegh was arrested at her home on Monday night and transferred to a prison in Manama. She was detained hours after retweeting a post which blamed the king for security forces' mistreatment of women. Amnesty says Saegh was beaten and sexually assaulted during a previous arrest in May and that Bahraini authorities have failed to investigate those claims. Bahrain has been hit by unrest since it launched a Saudi-backed campaign to crush a popular revolt that started in 2011. The Al Khalifah regime has since detained hundreds of activists and protesters and handed them lengthy jail terms despite an international outcry.

India-Israel ties

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Israel as part of a three-day visit aimed at celebrating 25 years of mutual diplomatic ties. Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Modi described his trip as a QUOTE groundbreaking first-ever visit by an Indian premier. Netanyahu also hailed close ties between India and Israel calling New Delhi and Tel Aviv QUOTE-“sister democracies”. The two leaders are expected to sign cooperation deals in various fields.

US Independence Day

Joyful Americans have poured into the streets across the country to celebrate Independence Day.  People from all walks of life stood on the sidewalks to watch parades or enjoy colorful fireworks. Americans are also practicing various other public and private events such as baseball games, family reunions, concerts and political speeches to mark the historic event. The 4th of July marks the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed 241 years ago. The adoption of the declaration gave Americans freedom from England.

Korean Peninsula tensions

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has confirmed North Korea has test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, and called for global action against Pyongyang. Tillerson described the missile test as new escalation of Pyongyang’s nuclear threat and insisted that the US would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. Meanwhile, Washington called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the test. The closed-door meeting is set to take place on Wednesday afternoon. North Korea earlier said it successfully tested the Hwasong-14 missile, which can carry a large nuclear warhead. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the move as a QUOTE brazen violation of Security Council resolutions and a dangerous escalation. The European Union also slammed the missile test and threatened punitive measures against Pyongyang. US president Donald Trump urged China to take action to end its ally’s missile activity.

Anti-G20 protest

Police in the German city of Hamburg use water cannons to disperse the people protesting against the upcoming G20 summit in the country. Clashes erupted when police forces began dismantling protest camps set up in the vicinity of the summit venue. Police have so far banned the majority of camps over fears that demonstrators might use them to prepare violent protests. In recent days, security forces have forcefully evacuated camps, while protesters set up spontaneous ones elsewhere. Some 20 thousand police officers will be deployed to ensure the security of the G20 summit which is due to kick off on Friday.

Den of Extremism

A UK-based think-thank has accused Saudi Arabia of being the chief source of foreign funding for British extremism. The Henry Jackson Society says there’s a growing and clear link between the foreign funding, mainly from Saudi Arabia, and the recent terror attacks in Europe and the UK. According to the think-tank, since the 1960s, Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars to export Wahhabism across the Islamic world, including the Muslim communities in the West. Labour MP Dan Jarvis has endorsed the report, saying it sheds light on worrying links between Riyadh and the funding of extremism. Meanwhile, the Saudi embassy in London has rejected the report as categorically false. The findings come amid increasing pressures on the UK government to publish its own report on foreign funding of terrorism.

Egypt state of emergency

Egypt's parliament has approved President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's decision to extend a nationwide state of emergency for an additional three months. Speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdel Aal says the reasons for which the state of emergency was declared are still in place. He says parliament unanimously approved a three-month state of emergency in April. It broadened the power of authorities to crack down on what he called enemies of the state. Egyptian officials say after two church bombings that killed at least 45 people, declaring the state of emergency is commonplace. The state of emergency will last at least until the end of September.

UN condemns Israel

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Council has passed a resolution describing Israel as an occupying power. The Jordanian-sponsored resolution reaffirmed previous UN resolutions denying Israel’s claims to East Jerusalem al-Quds. It also criticized archeological excavations in the city. Israeli authorities lashed out at UNESCO for approving the measure. The regime’s Foreign Ministry slammed the decision as bizarre and irrelevant. Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon condemned the vote outcome as disgraceful. Tel Aviv also said it would not halt excavation or other activities in Jerusalem al-Quds. Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of the city over the past decades by constructing settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population. Palestinians say the measures are aimed at paving the way for the Judaization of al-Quds.

Myanmar ethnic violence

Tensions are running high in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state in the wake of a deadly attack on a group of Muslims. Security forces have been put on alert in the state capital Site-tway, where a violent mob of one hundred Buddhists killed a Rohingya Muslim and wounded six others on Tuesday. The Muslims, guarded by police, had gone to the city from a nearby refugee camp to buy a boat when the Buddhists began to hurl bricks at them. Authorities are investigating the incident, but have not made any arrests yet. Communal violence launched by Buddhist extremists against Rohingyas have left hundreds of them killed and some 140 thousand displaced since 2012. The UN considers the Rohingya as one the world’s most persecuted communities.

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