WATCH PRESS TV NEWS HEADLINES

Here is a brief look at Press TV newsroom's headlines from 1800 GMT, February 26, 2019 to 0800 GMT, February 27, 2019.

Rejecting Trump emergency

The US House of Representatives has voted to revoke the president's national emergency declaration over his Mexico border wall. The vote falls short of overriding the possibility a presidential veto. The bill also blocks Donald Trump from obtaining funding for his wall through the emergency declaration. It will now go to the Republican-led Senate. Trump had already vowed to veto the measure should it reach the White House. Meanwhile, speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, says no president, Republican or Democrat, should get a blank check to shred the US constitution.

US Venezuela intervention

The Venezuelan foreign minister says a US-led coup against the Latin American nation has been foiled. Jorge Arreaza was speaking at a UN Security Council meeting. He accused the US of trying to militarily intervene in Venezuela. The top Venezuelan diplomat called on the Security Council to reject any use of force against his country. Speaking at the meeting, Russia’s UN envoy accused Washington of seeking to topple President Nicolas Maduro through military intervention. Vassily Nebenzia said the White House’s policy toward Venezuela is tantamount to violating international law. US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams urged the Security Council to exert pressure on Maduro to step aside. The two sides also clashed over the delivery of American-supplied humanitarian assistance.

Nigeria election

Nigeria's electoral commission has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari has won a second term in office. With all ballots counted across the country's 36 states, the All Progressives Congress party leader has won 56 percent of the votes. That compares to 41 percent for opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar. Election turnout stood at 33-percent. The main opposition party had earlier called on the commission to stop counting votes cast in last weekend's presidential election. The People's Democratic Party alleges electoral fraud, claiming hand-held machines that check voter identity cards had been tampered with.

India-Pakistan tension

Pakistan’s military says it has shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft inside its airspace in Kashmir and captured one pilot. Media reports also suggest Pakistani fighter jets violated airspace over Indian Kashmir, but were forced back. Meanwhile, the Indian foreign minister said his country wants to avoid any further escalation of tension with Islamabad. Sushma Swaraj made the comment after India conducted airstrikes against alleged militant positions in Pakistan. She said the operation was a preemptive strike to prevent further attacks in India by Pakistan-based militants. The air raid was followed by Indian shelling in the disputed Kashmir region, which left four Pakistani civilians dead. Meanwhile, Pakistan denies India's claim that the aerial attack inflicted casualties on militants.

US-North Korea summit

The US president and the North Korean leader are set to hold their second summit in Vietnam. According to the White House, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are scheduled to meet for a one-on-one conversation. They will also hold a series of back-and-forth meetings on Thursday. The two leaders signed a broad agreement last June in Singapore when they met for the first time. However, since then Washington has maintained its strict sanction regime on Pyongyang. The US has insisted on complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization to remove the measures. North Korea, in return, has vowed to keep its nuclear arsenal as long as US sanctions and security threats remain in place.

Ukraine politics

In Ukraine, opposition lawmakers have launched an impeachment process against President Petro Poroshenko over a corruption scandal disclosed by investigative journalists. Tymoshenko, the opposition leader and a former prime minister, accused Poroshenko of committing high treason. The procedure was initiated after an investigation linked the president to a money laundering and smuggling scheme. The probe alleges that people close to Poroshenko have smuggled military parts from Russia and sold them to state defense companies at high prices. Opposition MPs say the president has ignored the scheme to protect his associates. Both Poroshenko and Tymoshenko are gearing up to run for the presidential election set for March 31.

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