News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Victory for pro-Western parties in Ukraine

The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is to begin coalition talks after what appears to be a victory for pro-Western parties in Sunday's parliamentary elections. Early results showed Poroshenko's bloc and that of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk each taking 22% of the vote. Poroshenko says reform is the key priority: "The results of the election bring the firm victory of all democratic, pro-European, pro-Ukrainian forces and that gives us a lot of opportunity to provide the reform to present the programme of strategy 2020."

Rousseff re-elected as Brazil´s president

Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected president of Brazil, after securing more than 51% of votes in Sunday´s run-off. Her rival, centrist candidate Aecio Neves, took just over 48% in the tightest contest in years. Analysts say Brazilians opted for continuity, backing Rousseff´s centre left party, which has brought economic growth and welfare programmes that have elevated tens of millions out of extreme poverty.

High turnout in landmark Tunisian vote

High turnout was reported in Tunisia´s first parliamentary elections since the ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. The vote pitted Tunisia's largest party, Ennahda, against its secular rival Nidaa Tounes, and a string of leftist and Islamist groups. No single group is expected to win a majority.

US Ebola nurse plans legal challenge

A US nurse held in quarantine in New Jersey after treating Ebola patients in West Africa says she will challenge her 21-day confinement in a federal court. Kaci Hickox, from the medical charity Doctors without Borders, said she was made to feel like a criminal after returning from Sierra Leone last Friday.

Death penalty call for S Korea ferry captain

South Korean prosecutors are demanding the death penalty for the captain of a ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people, most of them school children. Lee Joon-seok has been charged with murder for failing to execute his duty. He and 15 crew members who also abandoned ship before the ferry sank are on trial.

Twenty-five EU banks fail “stress tests”

Twenty-five European banks have failed so-called stress tests, among them Austria’s Volksbank which is already being wound down. The banks now have nine months to shore up their finances or risk being shut down. The European Banking Authority conducted checks on over 100 banks to determine whether they could withstand another financial crisis.

The weather

Some persistent fog in the east and south east, sunny across the rest of the country. Top temperatures today from 6 to 16.

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