News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

British tax havens open up

The British government says major tax havens such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands have agreed to work more closely with Britain and other European countries to fight tax evasion. They have agreed to automatically share information within the G5, made up of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, on the ownership of bank accounts, and how they are used. The announcement comes as pressure grows on Austria to ease its bank secrecy laws.

ECB meets on interest rates

The European Central Bank is expected to cut its main interest rate, at a meeting in the Slovak capital Bratislava today. It would be the bank’s first move to cut borrowing costs in ten months.

Friends Boston suspect charged

Three college friends of the surviving suspect in the Boston marathon bombings, DzhokharTsarnaev, have been charged with covering up evidence in an attempt to obstruct the investigation into the attack on April 15th, which killed three people and injured more than 260. Two of the men, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, who are students from Kazakhstan, are alleged to have disposed of Tsarnaev's laptop and a backpack containing fireworks after the names of the suspects were made public. Robert Stahl, the lawyer of Kadyrbayev: “Dias Kadyrbayev absolutely denies the charges. As we’ve said from the beginning he assisted the FBI in this investigation.” A third man, a US citizen, is alleged to have made false statements to federal investigators. None of the three are implicated in plotting the attacks.

North Korea imprisons US citizen

North Korea says it has sentenced an American citizen Kenneth Bae to fifteen years hard labour, for what it said were crimes against the state. Bae was arrested last November after entering North Korea with a tour group. South Korean activists say Bae may have been arrested for taking photos of starving children in the North. Several US citizens detained in North Korea in recent years have been released after negotiations.

India demands action on Singh death

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has demanded that Pakistan bring to justice whoever was responsible for the death in a Pakistani prison of an Indian man convicted in 1991 of spying and involvement in bomb attacks. His lawyer said Sarabjit Singh died after he was attacked last week by fellow inmates. Singh's family always insisted he was innocent.

Bangladeshi clothing factories re-open

Clothing factories in Bangladesh have re-opened for the first time after the collapse of a factory building in Dhaka last week killed more than 400 people. Many more are unaccounted for. Workers had held protests since the disaster demanding safer conditions.

The weather

Changeable with rain and thundershowers. Occasional sunny spells mainly in the west. Top temperatures 15 to 25 degrees.

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