WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 18:00 GMT, August 26, 2017 to 08:00 GMT, August 27, 2017.

Daesh driven out 

The Syrian army and its allies have captured a wide area from the Daesh terrorist group in the Syrian Desert in the center of the country.

The capture of the area, which totals two-thousand square kilometers, comes two days after the Syrian forces besieged the territory. Earlier this week, the army and its allies encircled Daesh terrorists after advancing southward to join up with their forces near al-Sukhna town in Homs province. The Syrian army secured al-Sukhna earlier this month. It was the last major town in Homs province held by Daesh. The takfiris have lost ground to Syrian troops on several fronts since the start of this year.

Hurricane Harvey

The tropical storm Harvey is battering the US State of Texas, wreaking havoc and leaving a trail of destruction.

The Texas governor said his primary concern was dramatic flooding in the state. Harvey made landfall early on Saturday as a Category 4 hurricane but was gradually weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 112 kilometers per hour. At least one person has been killed. About 25 percent of US Gulf of Mexico oil production is offline due to the harsh weather. The seaside town of Rockport is hit hard by the storm. Several houses collapsed while many more buildings suffered damages. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency says it will take cities and towns in the path of the storm years to recover from the devastation.

No to refugee evictions

Thousands of people have rallied in central Rome to protest against last week’s violent eviction of hundreds of refugees from a building where they lived in for years. On that occasion, nasty scuffles erupted between the Italian police and the evicted asylum seekers. A vast majority of them are now left stranded in the streets. 

Pause in offensive 

The Lebanese army, Hezbollah fighters and Syrian government forces have announced a unilateral ceasefire in their offensive against Daesh terrorists along the Syria-Lebanon border.

A Lebanese military statement says the ceasefire that took effect at 400 GMT Sunday is aimed at paving the way for negotiations over the fate of the Lebanese soldiers in Daesh captivity. The move comes a week after the Lebanese military as well as Hezbollah fighters and the Syrian army launched simultaneous offensives to flush out terrorists on both sides of the border. Northeast Lebanon suffered from one of the worst spillovers of the Syria war in 2014, with Daesh terrorists and other militant groups overrunning the border areas. The fate of nine Lebanese soldiers, who were kidnapped by the Takfiri group at the time, remains unknown.

Anti-racism rally 

Hundreds of people have rallied in the US city of San Francisco to condemn white supremacists. 

The rally was held as the planned gathering of a right-wing extremist group was cancelled amid fears of fresh clashes. Earlier, white supremacists and counter-protesters faced off in rival rallies in the state of Tennessee over the removal of a confederate monument. The new demonstrations come after deadly clashes erupted between the two groups in Charlottesville, Virginia two weeks ago. 

Anger at US sanctions

Thousands of Venezuelans have come out to vent their anger at the US over a fresh set of sanctions imposed on their country. 

Beating drums and waving Venezuela’s national flag, the red-clad demonstrators rallied in the capital Caracas along with soldiers and civilian militias. The marchers carried signs with anti-US slogans. The rally comes on the sidelines of a two-day military exercise called by President Nicolas Maduro in response to the recent US threat of invasion. Nearly one million people are taking part in the drills. The new sanctions ban US financial institutions from providing money to Venezuela's government or the state oil company.

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