News in English

9. April 2017, 17:52

S Korean president removed from office

The Constitutional Court in South Korea has removed President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal involving a close confidante. The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of her supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court. Park is South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office and could face criminal charges including bribery, extortion and abuse of power. A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days.

EU leaders discuss the future of the bloc

European Union leaders have voted by 27 to one to re-elect Donald Tusk as president of the European Council, following a bid to oust him by his homeland, Poland. The Polish government argued that Tusk, a former Prime Minister from a rival party, had violated his mandate by interfering in domestic politics. The leaders are meeting for a second day to debate the future of the bloc, amid serious political and migration pressures.

New legal challenges to revised US travel ban

There have been more legal challenges to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries. In addition to Hawaii, Washington State, New York, Massachusetts and Oregon are filing a motion to block the new executive order. Washington was the first US state to sue over the original ban, which has been blocked by the courts. Bob Ferguson is Washington State's Attorney General: "They didn´t take away the same discrimination based upon national origin and religion that is so problematic. They replaced it with a lot of neutral language. But that´s not going to be enough, in our arguments or in our opinions, to be able to erase a lot of the past statements that were made where this was referred to - in their words, in President Trump´s words - as a Muslim ban."

Putin hosts Erdogan at the Kremlin

The Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Kremlin today. The talks will focus on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched mediation efforts and coordinated military action. Joint energy projects and trade are also on the agenda.

Reports of unlawful killings and other abuses in Turkey

The UN human rights office is calling on the Turkish government to investigate alleged killings and other abuses in largely ethnic Kurdish areas in the southeast of the country. It also cites cases of torture, enforced disappearances, incitement to hatred and violence against women.

The weather

Some sun in the west and south, scattered rain, hail or snow showers in the north and east. Top temperatures from 2 to 13.

Übersicht

• News In English