17.03.2017

News in English

Merkel to meet Trump in Washington / New White House spying allegations / Tillerson issues a warning to North Korea / Report: US air strike hits mosque in Syria / The weather

17.03.2017

Merkel to meet Trump in Washington

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet today in Washington, DC, with US President Donald Trump, their first since Trump took office in January. Trump has previously criticized Merkel’s policy of accepting a large number of refugees. The two will reportedly focus on issues where there is common ground: fighting international terrorism, improving NATO, and resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Merkel will also be coming to the US with a business delegation, including the chief executives of BMW and Siemens. Combined, the two companies employ around 120,000 workers in the United States.

New White House spying allegations

Meanwhile, the Trump White House is repeating its allegations that former President Barack Obama spied on Donald Trump after the election last November, although no proof of such spying has come to light. Now Trump claims that British spies helped Obama monitor Trump White House spokesman Sean Spicer: “Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News That President Obama went outside the chain of command. He did not use the NSA, the CIA, the FBI, or the Justice Department. He used GCHQ. What is that? It’s the initials for the British intelligence spying agency.”

Tillerson issues a warning to North Korea

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that US strategic patience with North Korea has ended das Pyongyang continues to pursue its nuclear weapons program. Tillerson made the statement today in Seoul after visiting the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.: “Let me be very clear. We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All options are on the table. North Korea must understand that the only path to a secure and economically prosperous future is to abandon its development of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”

Report: US air strike hits mosque in Syria

A rebel group inside Syria says the US-led coalition was behind an air strike last night on a mosque near the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 46 people were killed in the attack, most of them civilians. The US military says it carried out an ir strike against al-Kaida militants in Idlib province, but it is unclear if that also referred to the bombing of the mosque. In a related story, Israel says its warplanes intercepted Syrian missiles fired on Israeli jets after those jets carried out air strikes inside Syria. The Israelis were reportedly targeting a shipment of arms from Syria to the Hisbollah militia in Lebanon.

The weather

The afternoon’s weather will remain mostly sunny with strong winds. Rainshowers can be expected this evening. Highs today are ranging from 13 to 23 degrees.

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