News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

NATO ministers to discuss Ukraine

NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss Russia's annexation of Crimea. They'll also look at ways to support Ukraine with defence reforms. Russia says it's reduced the number of Russian troops deployed along its border with Ukraine. However, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he hasn't seen any evidence of that. In other developments, the Russian energy company Gazprom has raised the price it charges Ukraine for gas by more than a third. It says it's because Kiev has failed to pay its bills.

Hollande names new Prime Minister

The French President Francois Hollande has named Manuel Valls as the country's new Prime Minister. He replaces Jean-Marc Ayrault who stepped down after the ruling Socialists suffered major losses in local elections at the week-end. In a televised address to the nation, Hollande acknowledged that his government had so far failed to get the economy back on track.

Eurozone discusses Greek bail-out

The Eurozone group of finance ministers has announced that Greece will receive its next bail-out instalment, which is worth just over 8 billion Euros, in three parts. The decision follows a review of the country's reforms which are a condition of its international rescue package.

Plane search "most challenging ever"

The man responsible for co-ordinating the search from Australia for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has described the operation as extremely challenging and complex. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston says there's been no concrete information to work from: "this search and recovery operation is probably the most challenging one I have ever seen. The starting point whenever you do a search and rescue is the last known position. In this particular case, the last known position was a long, long way from where the aircraft appears to have gone."

Surge in US health insurance sign-ups

Officials in the US say they believe seven million Americans have now signed up for insurance under President Barack Obama's healthcare programme. There was a reported surge in applications ahead of yesterday's deadline. Those who support the scheme say it will bring healthcare to those who need it most but critics had said it was a waste of money. Jason Stevenson is from the Utah Health Policy Project, an NGO which campaigns to increase healthcare coverage: "when the law was passed back in 2010, it became a big political issue in Congress and that has continued, although what's happened also is that as more people sign up, they're realising that it is just a new way to afford health insurance."

The weather

This afternoon's weather outlook : warm with occasional sunshine but there's also some cloud about. Highs ranging between 15 and 22 degrees.

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