WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, April 12, 2019 to 0800 GMT, April 13, 2019.

Syria missile attack

Syrian media say the country’s air defenses have intercepted Israeli missiles in the northwestern city of Masyaf, near Hama. We are now joined by our correspondent Mohamad Ali for more details.

Sudan developments

In Sudan, people are celebrating the resignation of the country’s head of transitional military council. Jubilation erupted in the capital Khartoum after defense minister Awad Ibn Auf announced his step-down in a televised interview. The cheerful crowd described his departure as the victory of people's will. Ibn Auf took the position a day after former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in an army coup. His successor, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan has now been sworn in as the new head of the council. The military take-over incited mass demonstrations, calling for an immediate transfer of power to a civilian government. According to police sources, 16 people have been killed during the protests in past two days.

North Korea warns US

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has called on the United States to change its stance toward Pyongyang. According to North Korean media, Kim warned that the collapse of the February summit in Vietnam has raised the risk of returning to past tensions between the two countries. However, Kim said that he will meet again with US president Donald Trump if Washington comes with the right attitude. The North Korean leader said that he would wait until the end of this year for the US to decide. Kim and Trump have met twice but failed to reach an agreement on lifting the US sanctions in exchange for the denuclearization of North Korea.

ICC decision to reject Afghanistan war crime probe slammed

Judges at the International Criminal Court have turned down a request by the court’s prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. ICC Judges said prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s case was not practical. They cited a failure to gather evidence at an early stage, a lack of cooperation from governments involved, and the likely costs as prohibitive. The United States, which has already revoked Bensouda’s visa over the issue, welcomed the decision as a victory. Bensouda said her office would consider all available legal channels to overturn the decision. The ICC’s move also angered human rights groups who slammed the decision as insane and politically motivated. Bensouda intends to open a probe into alleged war crimes committed by the Taliban, the Afghan government and US troops mostly between 2003 and 2004.

Assange extradition warning

A UN rights expert warns against extraditing WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange to the United States, saying he might not get a fair trial there. UN special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, said he is worried about the US detention practices which he labeled as problematic. He pointed to the past records of torture in the US. The UK's opposition Labour Party has also called on the government to halt the extradition of Assange. The US request for the extradition is set to be heard in a British court on May 2. Assange was arrested by British police on Thursday after he was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy following the revocation of his asylum there. He is wanted in the US for publishing classified documents that revealed how US-led forces killed Afghan civilians in unreported incidents. A huge cache of files also exposed Washington’s failure to investigate abuse, torture and rape by its forces in Iraq.

EU-US tariffs dispute

The French finance minister has warned that Europe is ready to hit back at any US tariffs over Airbus subsidies. Bruno Le Maire said Europe would be ready to respond in a united and strong way if faced with unjustifiable US sanctions. He was speaking after a meeting with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin. Le Maire said, such a move would be bad for growth and would harm both sides. The minister had earlier expressed hope that Washington and Europe would reach an amicable solution and avoid any such confrontation. US President Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with new tariffs if it did not end subsidies to Airbus. That was another step in a 14-year conflict between the American multinational corporation, Boeing and the European aerospace corporation, Airbus. The US and the EU accuse each other at the World Trade Organization of providing illegal state funding for their respective aircraft manufacturers.

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