News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Morsi murder trial adjourned

An Egyptian court has adjourned the trial of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi until February 1, after a helicopter that was to fly him from a prison near Alexandria to Cairo could not take off because of bad weather. Morsi and 14 others are on trial for inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace in Cairo in December 2012, when at least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured. The charges carry the death penalty. Mohamed Elmenshawy is an Egyptian analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC: "He will not get a fair trial. Actually he doesn´t recognise the court, first of all. He sees it as illegitimate and a product of the military coup and also everything is orchestrated against him."

Greece assumes EU Presidency

The Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will hold a joint news conference in Athens this afternoon, as Greece takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union. They´ll outline the aims of Greece's six month presidency. A temporary ban on demonstrations is in place and more than 2,000 police officers will be on duty in Athens.

Turkey dismisses more police officers

The deputy head of Turkey´s national police force and 15 provincial police chiefs have been removed from their posts, the latest move in a purge following a high-level corruption inquiry. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced the investigation as a conspiracy to harm his government and vowed to fight back. Hundreds of officers have already been dismissed or reassigned since the scandal erupted last month.

Syria chemical weapons removal begins

Syria has started moving chemical weapons materials out of the country in a crucial phase of a disarmament programme that has been delayed by the civil war and technical problems.
The United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons say that the materials were moved from two sites to the port of Latakia and then loaded onto a Danish commercial vessel. Syria agreed to abandon its chemical weapons by mid-2014 under a landmark deal agreed in August.

Schumacher was skiing off-piste

Investigators probing Michael Schumacher´s skiing accident in the French Alps last month say he had deliberately chosen to go off-piste, when he crashed and suffered a serious head injury. The most successful Formula One driver in history, he is currently in a medically induced coma at a clinic in Grenoble where doctors describe his condition as critical but stable.

The weather

Some sunshine, but mist or fog in lower-lying areas. Top temperatures today from 2 to 14.

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