News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Police deny terror link to missing Malaysia jet

Malaysian police say a 19 year old Iranian man, who used a stolen passport to board a Malaysia airlines flight which subsequently disappeared, does not have any known links to terrorist organisations. Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that the man appeared to be trying to migrate to Germany. “We believe that he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group. And we believe that he is trying to migrate to Germany.” Investigations are continuing into a second passenger with a stolen passport. International search teams have still not found any trace of the airliner, which disappeared on Saturday with 239 people on board.

Crimean parliament to declare independence

The Crimean parliament says it will declare independence, if voters agree to split from Ukraine and join Russia in a referendum on Sunday. The new Ukrainian government and western nations say they won't recognise the vote. The ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych meanwhile has insisted that he remains Ukraine's legitimate leader, in a speech broadcast on Russian TV. “I would like to remind you that I remain not only the only legitimate President of Ukraine but I’m also the military commander of Ukraine.”

Recount underway in tight El Salvador election

A final recount is underway in El Salvador's presidential election, following a runoff that officials say is too close to call. Preliminary results show left wing candidate Salvador Sanchez Ceren just 6000 votes ahead of his conservative rival Norman Quijano, who has questioned the legitimacy of the vote.

Third anniversary of tsunami in Japan

Ceremonies are taking place across Japan today to mark the third anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left over 18 thousand people dead and caused a partial meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Nuclear expert Malcolm Grimston says Japan is still counting the cost of the Fukushima disaster. “Extraordinarily they have still kept the lights on, but the price they’ve paid both economically, the fuel cost of electricity has doubled, and environmentally, they did have a target to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. Last December the government said instead they had a target now to increase them by 3 percent.”

Croatia’s former PM guilty of corruption

A court in Croatia has sentenced the former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to 9 years in jail, after finding him guilty of rigging public tenders and abusing state funds. It's the third corruption conviction for Sanader, who stepped down in 2009.

UN says children hit hard by Syrian conflict

The United Nations Children's Agency say 5.5 million children are in need of urgent assistance in Syria. UNICEF says over 10 thousand children have been killed in fighting between the Syrian government forces and rebels.

The Weather

And mostly sunny conditions are set to continue this afternoon, with maximums of between 10 and 17 degrees.

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