News | 16 April 2018

Chemical weapons watchdog holds emergency session +++ Comey says Trump “morally unfit” for office

Chemical weapons watchdog holds emergency session +++ Comey says Trump “morally unfit” for office +++ Djukanovic wins Montenegro election +++ Germany and France discuss Eurozone reform +++ Weibo reverses a ban on gay content +++ The weather

News | 16 April 2018

Gennie Johnson

Chemical weapons watchdog holds emergency session

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is holding an emergency session in The Hague to discuss the suspected chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma. A group of OPCW inspectors is preparing to carry out a fact-finding mission there. Meanwhile the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says the EU wants to use a forthcoming meeting on Syria in Brussels to boost UN peace initiatives. Her call follows US-led airstrikes against Syrian government sites a few days ago. Mogherini was speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers: "we will work to prepare the Brussels conference next week so that it can be an opportunity to re-launch the UN-led process - the political process."

Comey says Trump “morally unfit” for office

The former FBI director James Comey has said that Donald Trump is "morally unfit to be president". Comey was giving his first major television interview since he was fired by Trump last year. He told ABC news that a man who saw an equivalence between racists and those protesting against them and who lied constantly was not fit for office: "I don't think he's medically unfit to be president. I think he's morally unfit to be president. A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it? That person's not fit to be president of the United States - on moral grounds." In recent days, President Trump has called Comey a "liar", a "leaker" and an "untruthful slime ball".

Djukanovic wins Montenegro election

In Montenegro, the veteran politician Milo Djukanovic has won yesterday's presidential election according to official results, winning 54% of the vote and thereby avoiding a run-off. Djukanovic and his ruling Democratic Party of Socialists led the country into NATO last year and have pledged to complete talks for EU membership.

Germany and France discuss Eurozone reform

The German government says Germany and France are in intensive discussions about the future of the Eurozone. A German government spokesman says Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron will meet on Thursday to discuss the details adding that there were areas of agreement and disagreement.

Weibo reverses a ban on gay content

The Chinese social media network Weibo appears to have reversed a decision to remove all gay content after a wave of protests by tens of thousands of internet users. Last Friday the platform said posts relating to homosexuality would be taken down.

The weather

Cloudy with a few showers and some heavy storms. A bit of sunshine, especially in the east and south where it could go up to 23 degrees. But highs generally between 11 and 20 degrees.

Übersicht