21.02.2014

News in English

Ukraine´s president promises concessions / EU agrees sanctions on Ukrainian Officials / Venezuela protests escalate / UN appeal for the Central African Republic / Dalai Lama at the White House / Fitch confirms Austria´s Triple-A credit rating / The weather

8. April 2017, 21:58

21.02.2014

Ukraine´s president promises concessions

Ukraine´s embattled leader Viktor Yanukovich has announced that an early presidential election is to be held by December. He also says he´ll move to form a national unity government and make constitutional changes reducing his powers. Earlier the president said he´d reached a deal with the opposition to end the crisis, after all-night talks mediated by the European Union. But that has not been confirmed by the opposition. Protesters and police are still locked in a stand-off in Kiev, a day after dozens were killed in violent clashes. Ukraine analyst Andy Hunder says Yanukovich has no future in the country: "I think, in reality, when a man shoots against his own people, the issue now is to find a solution. There still is an opportunity to find a peaceful solution for him to leave, and to leave alive and to leave in one piece. Otherwise there´s a lot of angry people out there."

EU agrees sanctions on Ukrainian Officials

EU foreign ministers meeting in emergency session in Brussels have agreed to impose a travel ban and asset freeze on Ukrainian officials who are deemed responsible for the violence in the country.

Venezuela protests escalate

There have been further clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Venezuela, in an escalation of protests against President Nicolas Maduro. The protesters blame the government for violent crime, high inflation, shortages and the alleged repression of opponents. In another development, Maduro has threatened to expel the American news network CNN from the country over its reporting of the protests.

UN appeal for the Central African Republic

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to the international community to urgently send another 3,000 troops and police to the Central African Republic, in an effort to stop violence between Christians and Muslims that threatens to spiral into genocide.At least 2,000 people have been killed and some 700,000 have been displaced by the fighting, which was sparked when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel group seized power a year ago in the majority Christian state.

Dalai Lama at the White House

The US President Barack Obama is set to meet with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the White House later today. China has urged the US to cancel the meeting, saying it will "seriously impair China-US relations". China regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, while the spiritual leader says he only advocates greater autonomy for Tibet, not independence.

Fitch confirms Austria´s Triple-A credit rating

The American ratings agency Fitch has confirmed Austria's Triple-A credit rating and described the outlook for Austria's creditworthiness as "stable". However Fitch expressed some concern about the impact of the restructuring of the troubled Hypo Alpe Adria bank.