News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

New elections promised in Egypt

Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour says new elections could be held early next year. He also said changes would be made to the constitution and a referendum would be held within four months. The suggestions have been rejected by senior officials in the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement to which the displaced President Mohamed Mursi belongs. The announcement came a day after over 50 people were killed in Cairo. The Muslim Brotherhood says its members were fired on during a sit-in protest. The army says it responded to an armed provocation.

18 wounded in bomb in Beirut

At least 18 people have been wounded in a car bomb blast in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The blast happened in an area known as a stronghold for the Shi'ite Hezbollah group which has sent fighters to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria. It's not clear who was behind the attack.

Further funds approved for Greece

Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to release further funds for Greece as part of its international bail-out package. However, the latest tranche - which amounts to 6.8 billion Euros - will only be issued in staggered payments. The head of the Euro group Jeroen Dijsselbloem praised Greece's reform efforts but said more needed to be done: "we see significant improvement of cost competitiveness, impressive strengthening of the fiscal position and a more resilient banking sector. Now Greece needs to carry out further work before July 19th so that the next disbursement of 2.5 billion Euros can be approved".

Death toll rises in Canada's train disaster

In Canada, the death toll from a freight train disaster on Saturday has risen to 13 with dozens still missing. Parts of the town of Lac-Megantic were destroyed when dozens of waggons packed with crude oil became detached and rolled downhill - several of them exploded. Investigations are continuing.

Global survey on corruption

A world-wide survey of global corruption has found that its widely believed to be getting worse - with one person in four paying a bribe in the last two years. The research was carried out by the group Transparency International. Cobus de Swardt is Transparency's Managing Director: "does it take place in countries north, south, rich, poor? Yes. We see very clearly from our results that nine out of ten people are appalled by corruption. They are willing to act against it."

Costa Concordia trial adjourned

The trial of the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground off Italy last year, has opened and been adjourned because of a lawyers' strike. Francesco Schettino faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship. 32 people died in the disaster. The trial will be resumed next week.

The weather

It'll be warm and mostly sunny. But some cloud will develop bringing some showers and thunderstorms, especially in Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg. Highs are ranging between 23 and 31 degrees.

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