WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, September 30, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, October 1, 2017.

Marking Ashura

Mourning ceremonies are reaching their climax with millions of Muslims around the world preparing to mark Ashura. The day marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam and the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.

Huge crowds of Shia Muslims have thronged the Iraqi city of Karbala where Imam Hussein’s shrine is located to remember the occasion. Similar mourning ceremonies will be held on Sunday worldwide. Every year, Shia Muslims begin mourning Imam Hussein’s death on the onset of Muharram, which is the first month of the lunar calendar. Imam Hussein and 72 of his companions were brutally killed by the tyrant caliph of the time Yazid in 680 AD. 

Catalonia independence vote

The Catalan president has vowed that he and his supporters will not back down from the independence vote on the eve of the referendum.

Carles Puigdemont insists that his government has everything in place so that the process goes smoothly. However, Spain’s Interior Ministry earlier said it had sealed most of the 2,300 polling stations in the wealthy northeastern region in an effort to prevent Sunday's referendum. Teachers, students and activists have leaped into action, defying warnings of repercussions by occupying at least 160 schools designated as polling stations. Meanwhile, thousands have held rallies in support of Spanish unity in the country’s major cities including in Catalonia’s capital, Barcelona.

North Korea-US tensions

Washington says although it has opened communications channels with North Korea, Pyongyang has shown no interest in talks on giving up its nuclear weapons.

According to US State Department, this comes as Washington has given assurances that it is not pursuing a regime change in the North. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier said that Washington was using its own channels to probe North Korea’s interest in dialog. Tillerson who was in Beijing, made the remarks after a day of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top diplomats. However, soon after his comments, US forces carried out aerial and naval operations in the region in a show of force against Pyongyang. North Korea accuses Washington of having a hostile attitude toward the East Asian country and says its missile and nuclear programs are meant to deter US threats.

Damaging racial equality 

Thousands of US protesters have held a rally in the capital Washington DC, calling for racial justice and equality.

The crowd marched on the Justice Department and the National Mall to denounce racism, sexism, segregation, white supremacy and oppression. Supporters of Black Lives Matter and the anti-Trump group Resist also joined the march. Some carried signs with the names of black men shot to death in encounters with police. Demonstrators say they were motivated to rally by a resurgence of racial hatred in the United States. Similar rallies are also set to take place in other cities across the country.

Blow to terrorists in Syria

Syrian government forces have taken control of nine positions at the country's border with Jordan.

The positions are reportedly located to the southeast of the capital Damascus. The operation left a number of militants killed or wounded. Syria has been fighting different foreign-backed militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. Lately, the Syrian army has been making major progress in taking back the country’s territory from militants and terrorists.

Russian airstrikes on various terrorist positions in Syria have killed more than 2,300 militants and wounded about 27-hundred others since September 19. 

That's according to Russian Defense Ministry. It says sixteen militant field commanders were among the casualties. A ministry spokesman adds that militants have suffered serious losses and lots of their military vehicles have been destroyed. Major General Igor Kona-shenkov highlights that all attempts by Daesh and al-Qaida-linked militants to launch offensives in the provinces of Dayr al-Zawr and Idlib have been repelled in the period since September 19. Konashenkov notes that the Syrian army, under Russian air cover, is completing an operation in the east of Dayr al-Zawr to destroy a group of around 1,500 Daesh terrorists who have arrived from Iraq.

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