WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, June 13, to 08:00 GMT, June 14, 2017.

Qatar diplomatic crisis

The UAE ambassador to the US says Washington should consider moving its airbase out of Qatar. Speaking to reporters in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba suggested that the US military base could be moved to his country, instead. Qatar hosts 11,000 American military personnel at its al-Udeid airbase. Further in his remarks, Otaiba said the UAE and the US had allowed “bad behavior” by Qatar to continue for a long time. He added that several Arab nations which had isolated Qatar did not intend to take military actions against Doha. Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is heading to Qatar to hold talks with the country’s officials. The Saudi-led Arab countries accuse Doha of supporting terrorist groups.

Brexit talks

The European Parliament's Brexit point man says Britain must quickly end the uncertainty over exit talks caused by a chaotic election result. Guy Verhofstadt says years of uncertainty over Britain’s membership in the EU have paralyzed the union. He says they are eagerly waiting to know the British government’s position on the negotiations. He urged the British prime minister to avoid a hard Brexit following last week’s general election results. Brexit talks were initially due to begin next Monday, but last Thursday’s election has thrown the timetable into doubt.

Trump-Russia ties

The US attorney general has strongly rejected any collusion with the Russian government to undermine the 2016 US presidential election. Jeff Sessions made the comments as he was testifying before the senate intelligence committee investigating links between the US president and Russia. Sessions insisted that nothing improper occurred during his two meetings in 2016 with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The attorney general defended the decision to recuse himself from the investigation saying the department of justice rules required him to do so. However Sessions said recusing himself did not limit his powers to recommend the firing of former FBI chief James Comey.

Food poisoning in Iraq

The United Nations’ refugee and migration agencies have reacted to a mass outbreak of food poisoning that has affected a camp for displaced people in Iraq. The spokesman of the International Organization for Migration also voiced concern about the incident. The number of people affected at the Khazir U2 camp near Mosul was over 850 of whom two have died and some 300 have been hospitalized. The food is said to have been donated by a non-governmental organization for the camp’s Iftar meal. Further investigations into the case are underway. The camp houses more than 6,200 individuals who have been displaced after the Iraqi forces started the offensive to liberate Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

Macron-May meeting

The French president says the door of the European Union remains open to the UK until Brexit talks come to an end. Emmanuel Macron was speaking in a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Paris. The French president said Brexit negotiations should be launched as soon as possible and future relationship with Britain should be determined. The British premier, for her part, said the timetable for Brexit remained on course adding that the talks would begin next week. This was May’s first foreign trip since last week’s snap elections in the UK. The premier called for the elections in a bid to strengthen her mandate ahead of the EU exit talks which will begin on June 19. However, Tories lost their majority and only won 318 seats.

Egypt-Saudi island deal

An Egyptian parliamentary committee has voted in favor of the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. 35 members of the legislative and constitutional committee voted for the move while eight voted against it. The vote came on the third day of an often raucous debate by committee members. The committee’s green light paves the way for the approval by the parliament of the surrender of Sanafir and Tiran islands to the Saudis. The committee’s approval sparked a protest in Cairo.

Deadly floods in Bangladesh

The death toll from seemingly unending floods in Bangladesh has risen to 134, with over a dozen people missing. Days of heavy rains and landslides have also displaced thousands of people and damaged homes in the southeast of the country. Officials say that the death toll will likely rise as downpours are expected to continue. Emergency workers have been dispatched to remote parts of the affected area, where telephone and transport links have been cut.

London tower block fire

A massive fire has engulfed a 27-storey apartment block in Britain’s capital London, with about 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control. Police and 40 fire engines have rushed to the tower in West London. The Metropolitan Police say an evacuation process is still underway. There are fears that a number of people are still trapped inside the high-rise. A number of people have also been treated for a range of injuries and medical conditions, including smoke inhalation. There are reports saying panicked residents in the tower were jumping out of the building. The fire department says the cause of the fire is not known at this stage. Over 200 people are believed to have been living in the tower.

Yemen's cholera outbreak

The cholera outbreak is getting out of control in Yemen as around one child is falling sick every minute. According to aid agency Save the Children, up to 300,000 people could die in the coming months as the infection rate has recently tripled. The agency says malnutrition across the nation is making over two million children vulnerable to the disease. It has also voiced concern about the Saudi blockade that has led to shortage of medical supplies in the war-ravaged country. Save the Children has also called for an increase in emergency funding to tackle the epidemic as over 900 people have died from the disease since late April. Saudi Arabia launched an assault on Yemen in March 2015.

Trump sued

In the US, more than 190 Democratic lawmakers have sued President Donald Trump in federal court for accepting funds from foreign governments without congressional consent. The complaint says that the US Constitution requires an officeholder to seek congressional approval for accepting funds from foreign governments. The lawmakers say Trump has not sought such approval and hundreds of his businesses have received the funds since he took office in January. The plaintiffs also say that Trump has conflicts of interest in more than two dozen countries, and have accused him of using his presidency to maximize profits. The White House has not shown any reactions yet. It had previously said that Trump's business interests do not violate the Constitution. Other parties, including a restaurant trade group, have filed similar lawsuits against Trump in recent months.

EU refugee plan

The European Union’s move to impose sanctions on three member states over a controversial refugee plan has sparked fury. Poland has slammed the decision as illegal, while Hungary and the Czech Republic have yet to react. The possible legal action comes over the trio’s refusal to take in their share of refugees under an EU scheme. The plan, drawn up in 2015, aims to relocate some 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has rejected the plan, saying relocation or forced re-settlement cannot be linked to any European policy. The bloc has been grappling with a massive refugee crisis since two years ago, when over a million asylum seekers arrived in Europe. The refugees are mainly from the Middle East and North Africa.

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