News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Dozens die in Italian boat sinking

The Italian Coast Guard says that over 80 bodies have been recovered, after a ship carrying African migrants caught fire and sank off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Scores of others are reportedly missing. Officials say search and rescue operations are continuing. Nearly 200 people have reportedly been rescued so far, but the boat is believed to have been carrying as many as 500 asylum seekers.

Enrico Letta wins crucial confidence vote

The Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has won a crucial vote of confidence in parliament, after the former premier Silvio Berlusconi abandoned his bid to topple the coalition government. He backed down when it became clear that many of his senators would defy him and support the government. A Senate committee is due to vote on Friday on whether to strip him of his seat following his conviction for tax fraud.

Talks over US shutdown deadlocked

The American President Barak Obama has failed to reach a deal after overnight talks at the White House with Congressional leaders over the budget deadlock, which has led to large parts of the public sector being shut down. Republican lawmakers are demanding that Obama drop or delay the implementation of his healthcare reforms. If no deal is reached by October 17, the United States risks defaulting on its debt repayments. President Obama repeated his refusal to negotiate over extending the government's debt limit: "During the course of my presidency I have bent over backwards to work with the Republican Party and am I exasperated? Absolutely, I´m exasperated because this is entirely unnecessary."

Golden Dawn leader remanded by court

The head of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikos Mihaloliakos, has been remanded in custody on charges of organising a criminal group, murder, assault and money-laundering. He was one of six MPs arrested at the weekend, amid outrage over the murder of an anti-racist musician. In all 22 people have been detained as part of an unprecedented crackdown by the government on what it calls "a neo-Nazi criminal gang".

New leak at Fukushima power plant

The operators of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant are reporting a new leak of radioactive water which may have entered the Pacific Ocean. Tepco estimates that over 400 litres of contaminated water may have overflowed from one of the storage tanks. The plant has experienced several leaks since being crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

The weather

Mostly sunny but cloud will build in the far west and rain is possible there by the evening. Top temperatures today generally from 6 to 14, but up to 22 in the west.

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