News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Italy´s PM faces confidence vote

Italy´s centre-left Prime Minister Enrico Letta has made an impassioned plea for the survival of his government, ahead of a vote of confidence in parliament. Letta warned senators that Italy was running the risk of economic disaster, if his recovery plans stalled. He called the vote after the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pulled his centre-right People of Freedom party out of the governing coalition at the weekend. Some key PDL figures have, however, defied Berlusconi, and say they will back Letta in the vote.

Golden Dawn leader to appear in court

The leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikos Mihaloliakos, is to appear in court in Athens today to answer charges of organising a criminal group. He also faces further charges including murder, assault and money-laundering. He was one of six MPs arrested over the weekend amid outrage over the murder of an anti-racist musician. Three of the MPs have been freed on bail while a fourth was remanded in custody.

Obama cuts Asia trip over shutdown

It´s being reported that the American President Barack Obama has cancelled trips to Malaysia and the Philippines this weekend in order to tackle the partial government shut-down. Congress has failed to agree a new budget, amid a stand-off over Obama´s health care reforms. Obama accused the Republicans of holding the country to ransom: "One faction of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of government shut down major parts of the government all because they didn´t like one law. In other words, they demanded a ransom just for doing their job."

Israel issues warning over Iran

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned against working with the Iranian government, despite a recent thaw in relations between the United States and Tehran. In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, he described President Hassan Rouhani as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". He said Israel would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, even if it had to stand alone on the issue.

Greenpeace activists charged with piracy

Greenpeace says Russia has charged four of its activists and a British journalist with piracy, following a protest last month against oil drilling in the Arctic. They face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. They were among 30 people arrested on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, which Russia claims violated a security zone around an offshore oil platform owned by the state-controlled energy concern Gazprom.

The weather

Some sunshine, with top temperatures ranging generally from 7 to 15, but up to 20 in the west.

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