News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Sudan leader reportedly flees South Africa

The whereabouts of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir are unknown. Bashir was in South Africa attending an African Union summit when a judge in Pretoria ordered him to stay in the country to determine if he should be handed over to the International Criminal Court. The ICC wants him to stand trial for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his government in Sudan’s Darfur province. There are media reports that Bashir’s private jet has already taken off. Journalist Jean-Jacques Cornish says Bashir had no intention of cooperating with the South African court: “The new foreign minister of Omar al-Bashir, Ibrahim Gondurash, said we don’t regard the interdict against us as binding at all---“We’ll go when we’re ready to go”.

Greek talks break down

Talks between Greece and its creditors ended over the weekend with no progress on the Greek debt crisis. Athens is due to run out of funds at the end of June when it is also due to make a repayment to the International Monetary Fund of 1.6 billion euros. Lenders say there will not be any more aid until the Greeks implement extensive economic and structural reforms. The Tsipras government is calling for debt relief and forgiveness, but former IMF economist Gabriel Stern says that would be unacceptable to the other Europeans who lent Greece the money to begin with: “The governments of Europe what their taxpayers, their own constituency would react if they thought they were giving away too much to Greece.” In a related story, Germany’s European Commissioner Günther Öttinger today said the EU needs to make plans for a state of emergency in Greece if Athens fails to reach a deal with its creditors.

Algerian militant killed in US air raid

Officials in Libya say that veteran Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar has been killed in a US air strike inside Libya. He had ties to Al-Kaida and ran smuggling routes across North Africa. He was a major figure in arms trafficking, kidnappings and insurgencies. was also blamed for a violent attack on an Algerian gas field in 2013 in which 40 oil workers were killed.

Yemen peace talks open in Geneva

Warplanes from a coalition led by Saudi Arabia attacked Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa during the night. The air campaign against the rebels began 12 weeks ago. The latest air raid came ahead the opening of peace talks in Geneva being hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. The rebels are backed by Iran, while Yemen’s government-in-exile is supported by Saudi Arabia.

Jeb Bush to declare presidential run

In the United States, former Florida governor Jeb Bush is expected to officially launch his presidential campaign later today. On Saturday former secretary of state Hillary Clinton launched her campaign at a rally in New York. The US will elect a new president in November of next year.

The Weather

The afternoon will be mostly cloudy across Austria with scattered rain and thunderstorms. Highs today are ranging from 14 to 22 degrees.

Übersicht

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