News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Greek PM in Berlin

Greece’s new prime minister Alexis Tsipras is visiting Germany amid tense relations between Berlin and Athens. Germany is reluctant to provide more aid to Greece unless the coalition led by Tsipras honours reform and austerity commitments made by previous Greek governments. Germany has demanded real reforms in exchange for any new aid. Anam Das is an international financial analyst: “The balance of power has tilted towards Berlin and to the creditors. So I think Greece is in a weaker position than it used to be: there’s deposit flight, the budget is in trouble. Either they’re going to need Europe to help them to stump up some re-financing in exchange for this reform, or there’s going to have to be some other adjustment that Greece makes.”

Ex-Singapore leader Lee dies at 91

Singapore’s longtime leader Lee Kuan Yew has died at the age of 91. He was the first prime minister of the Asian city-state after it gained independence from Britain in 1959 until 1990. He was considered authoritarian in style, but led Singapore’s transformation from a small port into an economic powerhouse. Lee’s policies have also been influential throughout the rest of Asia, including China. Among those paying tribute today have been Lee’s son and the current prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong: “Singapore was his abiding passion. As he himself put it, and I quote, `I have spent my life building up this country. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore`”.

MSF criticizes UN on Ebola

The outbreak of the Ebola crisis in West Africa officially began one year ago. Over ten-thousand people have been killed by the deadly virus. The United Nations has said it hopes the outbreak will be over by September, but the UN is facing criticism that it was slow to react to the outbreak. Henry Grey is the emergency coordinator for the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres: “The message from MSF is that the world failed Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from March until August. If they don’t see this through, they will fail them again.”

Setback for National Front in France

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has praised the defeat of the far-right National Front in first-round local elections held yesterday.The Front finished with 25 percent of the vote. Conservatives finished first with 29 percent, while the ruling Socialists came in third, with just over 21 percent. Valls has called on all left-wing parties to support the Socialists in next weekend’s second round of voting.

UN: Yemen on brink of civil war

The UN special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, says the country is headed towards civil war. He made the statement to the UN Security Council. It comes as Houthi rebels are pushing towards the southern port city of Aden and have clashed with troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour. The rebels forced him to flee the capital Sanaa for Aden last year.

The weather

This afternoon will be sunny and warmer. Highs today are ranging from 8 to 17 degrees.

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