News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

John Kerry in crisis talks in Seoul

The American secretary of state, John Kerry, is in South Korea for crisis talks, amid growing tensions on the Korean peninsula. He´s also due to visit China and Japan. It´s Kerry's first trip to the region since taking office and he´s hoping to persuade China to use its economic and diplomatic leverage to try to temper North Korea's behaviour. Korea analyst Aidan Foster-Carter says the situation is worrying: “It is definitely the Kim Jong-un factor, in my view. They bluster, they threaten. We are used to that. They usually say they want something. It´s not at all clear what they want this time. It´s almost as if they are beating his chest to say I am the greatest.”

E.U. finance ministers meet in Dublin

European Union finance ministers are meeting for two days of talks in the Irish capital Dublin. The talks come a day after Cyprus made the shock announcement that the cost of its international bailout had surged to 23 billion euros from 17 point 5 billion. Austria is expected to come under renewed pressure in Dublin to relax its strict bank secrecy rules. It´s now the only country in the E.U. which does not share foreign bank account details with the holders' home governments. The Austrian finance minister, Maria Fekter, says she does not believe an automatic exchange of information is needed, and such a step would be an invasion of privacy.

Charges filed against Germany´s former president

Prosecutors in Germany say they have filed corruption charges against the former president Christian Wulff over alleged favours that prompted his resignation last year. Wulff earlier rejected an offer to settle the case for a fine, saying that he'd rather fight to clear his name in court. The charges are reportedly related to some 4,000 euros in hotel and entertainment costs allegedly paid by German film producer David Groenewold for Wulff and his family during a visit to the Oktoberfest in 2008.

French Senate´s “yes” to same-sex marriage

The French Senate or upper house has voted in favour of same-sex marriage, paving the way for it to enter law. A keynote campaign pledge by President Francois Hollande's ruling Socialists, it has been bitterly opposed by social conservatives and by many French Muslims and evangelical Christians. The bill returns in May to the National Assembly lower house, where the Socialists have an absolute majority.

Official campaigning ends in Venezuela

Venezuela´s interim president Nicolas Maduro and opposition challenger Henrique Capriles have made their final speeches to voters as official campaigning closed ahead of Sunday´s election. It´ll be the first presidential election in 14 years without Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer last month.

The weather

Mostly overcast. There´ll be the chance of showers, with thunderstorms in the south. Top temperatures generally from 8 to 16, but up to 19 in the south.

Übersicht

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