News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Clashes in Beijing over missing Malaysia jet

Relatives of passengers from a Malaysia airlines plane, which disappeared over two weeks ago, have clashed with police outside the Malaysian embassy in the Chinese capital Beijing. They accuse the Malaysian government of delays and deception. China has requested that Malaysia hand over all the data used to conclude that the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean, south west of Australia. The search for debris, meanwhile, has been called off because of bad weather. Mark Binskin is the Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force. “We’re not searching for a needle in a haystack, we’re still trying to define where the haystack is. But we’re hoping for good weather in the coming days, where the search effort will be joined by a number of Chinese ships.”

G7 leaders warn Russia over Crimea

Leaders of the G7 group of industrialised nations are holding a second day of talks in The Hague, which are being dominated by Russia's annexation of Crimea. The leaders have warned Moscow of tougher sanctions if the crisis escalates. Russia says it's keen to maintain contact with its G7 partners.

Search continues for US mudslide victims

The authorities in the US state of Washington say 176 people remain missing following a severe mudslide over the weekend. 14 bodies have now been recovered from the affected area near the town of Oso, north of Seattle. Local fire chief Travis Hott says rescue efforts are continuing, although hopes of finding survivors are starting to fade. “We’ve got search dogs that are on the scene there trying to find people, we’ve got firefighters down there, we’ve got search and rescue people, we’ve got heavy equipment from the State Department of Transportation moving mud out of the way.”

Obama to end NSA phone data collection

US officials say President Barak Obama is preparing to announce a major overhaul of the National Security Agency's activities, in light of concerns about privacy. Under the proposal the NSA will give up its mass collection of telephone data. Instead the government will be able to access such metadata from telephone companies under certain circumstances.

Afghanistan’s electoral HQ comes under attack

Police in Afghanistan say gunmen and suicide bombers have attacked the headquarters of the electoral commission in the capital Kabul, less than two weeks before the country's presidential election. The Taliban have threatened to disrupt the vote.

Muslim Brotherhood leader faces trial in Egypt

The trial has begun in Egypt of almost 700 supporters of the former president Mohammed Morsi, on charges connected to violent demonstrations last August. The spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badie is among the accused.

Experts at odds over new climate report

Climate scientists and government officials are meeting in Japan, to agree on the final wording of a new report on the impact of global warming. Some delegates say the document is unnecessarily alarmist, particularly in regard to the effects of climate change on conflict and migration.

The Weather

Changeable conditions will continue this afternoon, with some sunshine but also showers. Top temperatures will range from 3 to 12 degrees.

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