WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 09:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT, August 28, 2017.

Iran nuclear deal

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization has warned that the US is trying to undermine Tehran’s nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of countries. Ali Akbar Salehi said the US is pressuring the International Atomic Energy Agency against Iran despite the Islamic Republic’s full compliance with the agreement. Salehi added that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has put the IAEA on notice about the US pressure. He said Tehran will not be the first to violate the nuclear deal, but it will make the necessary decisions if the accord is violated by other parties. Last week, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley held a meeting with the IAEA’s chief Yukiya Amano. Haley said she wanted to discuss Washington’s concerns on Iran. She later issued a statement accusing Tehran of non-compliance with the nuclear agreement. This is while the IAEA has consistently confirmed that Iran has fully stuck to the deal.

Qalamoun evacuation

Daesh terrorists and their families are set to be evacuated from Syria’s strategic and mountainous region of Qalamoun. Buses have been sent to the area close to the border with Lebanon to pick up the terrorists. The move is part of a deal between the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Daesh terror group. The deal was reached a week after the Syria army and Hezbollah fighters launched a joint offensive and made advances in Western Qalamoun.

Hurricane Harvey

US emergency officials say hundreds of thousands of people are likely to seek disaster assistance as Tropical Storm Harvey leaves a trail of destruction across Texas. Emergency management officials say they are committed to get federal resources as quickly as possible for at least 450,000 people. A federal administrator has also estimated that over 30,000 people affected by the extreme typhoon will be placed in temporary shelters. Five people have so far died and dozens injured in the aftermath of the hurricane that made landfall in Texas at the weekend. According to US weather officials, there is a lull in the flood-stricken city of Houston for now but they have warned of more rains in the coming hours that could affect more areas. The governor of Louisiana is also likely to issue disaster declaration in the state.

Baghdad bomb blast

At least twelve people have been killed in a car bomb attack in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. 28 others were wounded in the explosion which hit a busy market area in the Shia-majority district of Baghdad’s Sadr City. Officials say the death toll is expected to rise. Daesh Takfiri terrorists have claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorists have carried out many large-scale attacks on Baghdad’s Shia community in the past. The latest blast comes as Iraqi forces are in the final stages of recapturing Tal Afar from Daesh. The northern city is one of the last strongholds of the group in Iraq.

China-India border tensions

India and China have agreed to pull back their troops from a disputed region along their border. The troop re-alignment signals a thaw in the weeks-long stand-off over Doklam region. However, both India and China say their troops will continue to patrol in Doklam. The breakthrough comes just days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to travel to China for a summit of BRICS countries next month. BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. China and India have on several occasions come close to military confrontation over Doklam in recent years. The two once fought a deadly war in the 1960s over their territorial dispute.

Stranded Rohingya Muslims

Bangladesh border authorities have turned down a new wave of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution and suffering in Myanmar. Eyewitnesses say Bangladeshi border guards have asked the stranded refugees to pack up their belongings and go back. Rohingya refugees, already in Bangladeshi camps, have also been warned against assisting any new arrivals. On Sunday, troops forcibly returned some 70 Rohingya after detaining them four kilometers inside the Bangladeshi territory. The new wave of Rohingya fleeing followed the launch of a new crackdown in Rakhine state by the Myanmarese army. The onslaught marks a dramatic escalation in a conflict which has subjected the ethnic Muslim minority to a brutal ordeal.

Indian guru sentence

A court in India has given a ten-year jail sentence to a Hindu religious sect leader accused of raping two women. A senior court official announced the ruling for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as Indian authorities had beefed up security in two northern states, ahead of the court session. Troops were deployed at checkpoints and they cordoned off the jail where Singh was being kept to prevent any possible riot. On Friday, tens of thousands of the sect leader’s supporters went on a rampage, setting fire to cars, trains and fire stations. They also clashed with security forces in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana. The violence left at least 38 people dead. The rampage also caused travel disruptions across the northern Indian states.

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