News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Floodwaters in Upper and Lower Austria

In Lower Austria, an earthen dam on the Krems River, close to the village of Theiss, is being closely watched. The dam has been saturated by days of rain and there are fears it could rupture. Soldiers and firemen spent this morning putting up sandbags to reinforce the dam. Water levels have eased slightly. Clean-up operations continue in other parts of Austria and Bavaria which were earlier hard-hit by flooding. Beyond Austria, there has been flooding in the northern Czech Republic and southeastern Germany. Hundreds of people have been evacuated, including in the city of Dresden. In Slovakia, a movable floodwall is being reinforced in Bratislava. Similar action is taking place in Hungary where the Danube is expected to peak in Budapest this weekend.

More unrest in Turkey

In Turkey overnight, police clashed with protesters in several cities despite an apology for police violence from Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. The unrest began five days ago against the policies of Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan, who returns to Turkey tomorrow after a trip to North Africa. His critics accuse the prime minister of pushing the country away from secularism and liberal democracy.

Syrian army claims a victory

The Syrian army says it has captured the strategic town of Qusair near the Lebanese border from rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, France says tests on wounded Syrian rebels confirm a UN report that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in battle. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said the toxin sarin was sued on the rebels. Martin Lezecky is a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon: “The Secretary-General remains gravely concerned about any allegations of chemical weapons use by any party in Syria. Any use of such weapons would be an outrageous crime.”

Pakistani PM takes office

Pakistan’s parliament has elected Nawaz Sharif prime minister after his party’s election victory last month. He served two earlier terms in the 1990s before being overthrown in a military coup in 1999. Sharif faces numerous challenges, including widespread power shortages and militant attacks. He has also called on the United States to end drone strikes in Pakistani tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan.

China moves against European wine

China has launched an investigation against wine imported from the European Union. The move comes after the EU imposed levies on solar panels imported from China. Brussels claims the Chinese use unfair pricing policies to undercut European makers of solar panels, an allegation which China denies.

Latvia to adopt euro in 2014

The European Central Bank today gave approval for Latvia to adopt the euro as its currency next year. Latvia will become the 18th country to join the Eurozone.

The weather

The afternoon will remain sunny across much of Austria, although it will remain partly cloudy in the east. Today’s highs temperatures are ranging between 13 and 24 degrees.

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