News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Kremlin critic freed on bail

The Russian opposition leader and blogger, Alexei Navalny, has been released from custody, less than 24 hours after he was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to five years in prison. A vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, he was freed after a surprise request by prosecutors. They said keeping him in custody would deprive him of his right to stand in mayoral elections in Moscow in September. Observers say the decision to free him pending an appeal could be intended to appease opposition activists, who took to the streets in their thousands on Thursday night to protest against Navalny´s conviction, saying it was politically motivated.

Detroit in biggest US bankruptcy

The city of Detroit has filed the largest-ever municipal bankruptcy in the United States, with debts of over 15 billion dollars. It follows decades of problems linked to industrial decline. Detroit is now seeking bankruptcy protection from creditors. The city´s Mayor Dave Bing says it´ll be business as usual: "The pay cheques for our city employees will continue, services will continue. I think over the medium range we will hopefully see things start to improve, especially the services that our citizens require and deserve."

G 20 plan to prevent tax avoidance

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 leading and emerging nations have begun two days of talks in Moscow. They´ve agreed to back a fundamental rethink of the rules on taxing multinational corporations, aimed at closing loopholes used by companies like Apple and Google to avoid billions of dollars in taxes.

Italian Senate in crucial vote

The Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has urged the Senate to back his interior minister in a no-confidence vote later today which threatens to plunge his fragile coalition into political crisis. The vote against Angelino Alfano, who´s also deputy prime minister, was called after the widely criticised and hurried deportation of the family of a Kazakh dissident. Letta says a police report showed Alfano was not involved in the operation, which he said had embarrassed and discredited Italy.

Call for more protests in Egypt

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has again called for mass protests against the ousting of the Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, by the army. On Thursday the Egyptian military issued a stern warning against violence and in his first address to the nation, the interim President Adly Mansour said he would protect the country against those seeking quote "chaos".

Australia to block boat people

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that all refugees who arrive in Australia by boat will be resettled on the South Pacific island of Papua New Guinea. The move aims to deter an escalating number of asylum seekers.

The weather

Mostly sunny but thundery showers are possible in the mountains, especially in the west. Highs today from 24 to 32.

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