WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV Newsroom's headlines from 09:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT, March 29, 2017.

Inter-Korean summit

North and South Korea have set a date for their leaders’ historic meeting. According to an official announcement, the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in will take place on April 27. This came after the two sides met for talks on the issue in the Demilitarized Zone along their border. Next month’s summit will be the first face-to-face meeting between a North Korean leader and a South Korean head of state in more than a decade. The two Koreas had agreed earlier this month to hold the summit at the border truce village of Panmunjom. The North Korean leader has pledged to denuclearize but says this depends on synchronous measures by the US and South Korea. Kim is also due to meet US President Donald Trump in May.

Spy poisoning probe

Russia says it has sent a request to Britain to help with an investigation into a poisoning saga which has brought their bilateral ties to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. A Russian law enforcement committee which is running an inquiry into the poisoning of the daughter of a former Russian spy, said it has requested the UK to provide Moscow with legal assistance. Yulia Skripal and his father Sergei were poisoned with a nerve toxin in the British city of Salisbury on March four. The UK has accused Russia of being behind the attack, a charge Moscow denies. The nerve agent attack has caused diplomatic tensions between Russia and the West. Over 100 Russian diplomats have been expelled by a number of Western countries. Russia has blamed the US over the matter, saying Washington has blackmailed its allies into the expulsions.

Iran diplomacy

President Rouhani says Iran seeks to strengthen its relations with neighboring states as he wraps up his visit to Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Rouhani made the remarks upon his return to Tehran from Baku. The president said he signed over a dozen agreements with the two countries to expand bilateral relations in various areas. The president noted that important decisions were made in the fields of energy, banking and industry. Rouhani said the Caspian Sea has now turned into a bond of unity between the three countries. Earlier, he, along with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, fielded questions at a press conference in Baku.

Egypt presidential election

Egyptian media say President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is set to be re-elected for a second term with over 90 percent of the votes counted so far. State-owned newspapers al-Ahram and Akhbar el-Youm as well as the official MENA news agency all confirmed the news, citing preliminary results. They added that some 23 out of 60 million registered voters turned out for the vote. Sisi's only rival was Moussa Mustafa Moussa who had pledged loyalty to the incumbent president before a last-minute decision to enter the race. Other potential candidates had either dropped out of the race or had been arrested. This prompted opposition figures to call for a boycott of the election. The authorities however threatened to fine citizens who would not participate in the vote. The official results will be announced on April the second.

Turkey arrests

Turkish prosecutors have ordered the detention of 70 serving army officers over alleged links to a suspected coup plotter. They are said to have ties with US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of having orchestrated the 2016 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish police have launched simultaneous operations in 38 provinces across Turkey as part of an investigation led by state prosecutors in the central province of Konya. The suspects have been targeted based on statements by soldiers previously detained over ties to Gulen. They are believed to have been responsible for recruiting students for Gulen's movement. The UN says Turkey has detained 160,000 people and dismissed nearly the same number of civil servants since the coup.

China Taiwan policy

China’s Ministry of National Defense has warned Beijing is firmly opposed to any official ties and military contacts between Taiwan and other countries. Ren Guoqiang made the remarks in response to a new law that was signed by US President Donald Trump about two weeks ago. The law, known as the Taiwan Travel Act, encourages more official visits between Taipei and Washington. China has repeatedly warned that Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in its ties with the US. After taking office last year, Trump started questioning his country’s commitment to the “One China” policy. He infuriated Beijing by speaking with the Taiwanese president on the phone shortly after winning the 2016 presidential election.

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