News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Chemical attacks reported in Damascus

Syrian opposition activists say over 650 people have been killed in a poison gas attack by government forces on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus. The Syrian state news agency SANA says reports of the attack are quote "baseless." The British foreign minister, William Hague, is calling on the Syrian government to give United Nations inspectors immediate access to the area. He also says Britain will raise the issue at the UN Security Council.

The EU meets on Egypt aid

European Union Foreign Ministers are meeting in emergency session in Brussels, to consider whether to cut the bloc´s aid to Egypt in response to the military-backed interim government's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. But the majority of EU aid goes to civil society groups, not the government, and Saudi Arabia has pledged to make up any shortfall if support is stopped. The White House has denied reports that American aid to Egypt has been secretly put on hold. White House spokesman Josh Earnest: "Our aid and assistance relationship with Egypt is under a review but it has not been cut off. A decision to cut off aid would be announced, if it were to be announced after that review has been completed."

Court to consider Hosni Mubarak´s release

Staying with Egypt, and a court is convening today at the Cairo prison where Hosni Mubarak is being held to hear a petition from his lawyer demanding that he be freed. If the court upholds the petition, there would be no legal grounds for the continued detention of the 85-year-old former president, who was overthrown during the uprising in 2011. Meanwhile, it´s been announced that Mohamed ElBaradei is to face trial on charges of breaching national trust. The Nobel laureate left Egypt for Vienna last week after resigning as vice-president in protest at the military´s clearance of two mass sit-ins, which left hundreds dead

Japan raises Fukushima alert

Nuclear regulators in Japan say they´re concerned that more storage tanks at the crippled Fukushima power plant will spring leaks, following the discovery that 300 tonnes of highly contaminated water has leaked from one of the temporary containers. The deepening crisis at the plant is being upgraded from a level 1 "anomaly" to a level three "serious incident" on the international scale for radiological releases. It´s believed to be the worst such leak since the crisis began, following the earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Italy´s Prime Minister visits Vienna

The Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta is in Vienna for talks with the Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann. They stressed the need to tackle European unemployment, especially among 18 to 25 year olds.

The weather

Mostly sunny but some cloud especially in the east. Highs today from 18 to 26.

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