WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV Newsroom's headlines from 0900 GMT to 1700 GMT, July 18, 2018.

Syria evacuation deal

The Syrian government has reached a deal with militants for the release of civilians from two towns and a village in the northwestern Idlib province. Under the deal, all people kidnapped from Ishtabraq village will be liberated. Also, thousands of locals from Foua and Kfarya towns will be evacuated. Syrian media say buses already entered in the two towns for the evacuation to start. News reports say, in exchange, more than 1500 people held in state prisons will be released. Foua and Kfarya have been under militants’ siege for several years now. Thousands of their residents were evacuated in previous months under similar deals. The current agreement reportedly calls for the evacuation of all remaining residents.

Plight of Rohingya

The UN migration chief has warned that Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh are in danger of becoming the wretched of the earth, homeless, and without a future. William Lacy Swing says a failure to remain focused on the Rohingya crisis would have tragic outcomes for the nearly one-million children, women and men living in Bangladesh. Swing warned that the humanitarian response in the Cox’s Bazar area is at serious risk of collapsing now as it is facing significant funding shortfalls. He made the comments after a week-long visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Rohingya refugees’ experience is becoming one of the worst cases of ethnic cleansing amid the continued international silence.

May Brexit tactic

Reports say British Prime Minister, Theresa May, had threatened rebel lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party with snap elections if they defeated her Brexit plans on customs. The Times newspaper reported that May’s threat was issued minutes before Tuesday’s crucial vote on customs. The UK premier narrowly survived an attempt by pro-European Union Conservative lawmakers to change her post-Brexit trade strategy. The pro-EU lawmakers wanted the government to join a customs union if it did not agree to a free-trade deal with Brussels. Britain is due to leave the EU in 2019. London and the bloc are struggling through various issues and have yet to agree how their final trading relationship will work.

Iran nuclear program

Iran has completed a factory that can produce rotors for modern centrifuges in order to increase the country’ uranium enrichment capacity. Salehi says the factory’s nominal and final production capacity is around 60 IR6 centrifuges per day. He said it means the plant’s uranium enrichment capacity can reach 180,000 Separative Work Units in ten months’ time. Salehi said the move is in line with an order, over a month ago, by Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, to pump up the country’s uranium enrichment capacity to 190,000 Separative Work Units. The Leader issued the order after the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

EU Google fine

The European Union has imposed a record-breaking penalty on Google for using its Android smart phone system to illegally boost its search engine. The American tech giant has been fined 4.3 billion euros for abusing its market dominance. EU's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says Google has forced major phone makers to pre-install its search engine and Google Chrome browser. The antitrust chief is also expected to order Google to make major changes to Android, which is used on around 80 percent of phones in Europe. Google says it will appeal against the fine.

Saudi war on Yemen

The Yemeni army backed by Ansarullah fighters has targeted oil facilities run by the Saudi oil giant, Aramco. According to Yemeni media, the country’s Air Force used long-range unmanned aircraft to target Aramco refinery in the capital Riyadh. Aramco has only confirmed a huge blaze without mentioning the cause of the fire. The Yemenis have repeatedly targeted Saudi military and oil facilities inside the kingdom in retaliation for the attacks by the Saudi-led coalition. Earlier on Wednesday, Ansarullah fired a missile towards the southern city of Najran.

Iran urges EU more action

Iran's foreign minister says the European Union needs to take more actions regarding its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Mohammad Javad Zarif said he believes Europe is selling itself short. Zarif also said the European Union can do more to promote regional and international stability and peace as well as a greater cooperation and dialogue. The top Iranian diplomat blamed the US for supporting the Daesh terrorist group, saying the fact that Daesh and other extremist organizations were armed by the United States has been documented by western sources. Zarif also said Iran has good communication and coordination with Russia and the Syrian government, stressing that such ties will continue. Iran's foreign minister noted that Syrian people and those who work with them are at the forefront of the fight against extremism.