August 27, 2019 - Daily News Brief - a podcast by TRT World

TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Tuesday, August 27th:

*) Iran's Rouhani says no talks with US until sanctions lifted

Iran's President Hasan Rouhani says Tehran will only scale back its nuclear production if Washington agrees to lift its sanctions.

This comes after US President Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart under the right circumstances to try to end a nuclear standoff.

Iran has cut back its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with six other world powers in retaliation to US sanctions.

*) Brazil rejects G7 aid to fight Amazon fires

Brazil rejected aid from G7 countries to fight wildfires in the Amazon, telling French President Macron to take care of "his home and his colonies."

G7 countries made a $20 million pledge to fight the blazes at a summit hosted by Macron who insisted the fires should be a top priority.

Almost 80,000 forest fires have broken out in Brazil since the beginning of the year, with over half of them in the Amazon basin.

*) Hong Kong leader says escalation of violence becoming more serious

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam says her government is open to dialogue with protesters but will not condone violence.

Police deployed water cannons and fired a warning gunshot into the air on Sunday while protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs at officers.

Activists have condemned what they see as police brutality, but Lam says the time isn't right to have an independent inquiry into the crisis.

*) Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new indictment

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to two new charges of predatory sexual assault.

Weinstein has already pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in 2013 and a forcible sex act on another in 2006.

Prosecutors filed the new indictment to allow jurors to hear testimony from a third accuser, “The Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra.

*) US judge orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $572M

And finally,

A US judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its part in fueling an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers.

Johnson & Johnson is the first pharmaceutical company tried over the US opioid crisis.

Opioids were involved in almost 400,000 overdose deaths from 1999 to 2017, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Further episodes of Daily News Brief

Further podcasts by TRT World

Website of TRT World