News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Trump, Sanders claim victory in New Hampshire

In the US presidential race, Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are the winners of the Republican and Democratic primary elections in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton finished second, while former Ohio governor John Kasich came in 20 points behind Trump. The next primaries will be held later this month in South Carolina and Nevada. Political analyst James Boys: “I think Donald Trump is likely to do well and win both states, quite frankly. I think the same for Hillary Clinton. I think the demographics and the voting record would suggest that she will do well in both Nevada and South Carolina.”

NATO plans build-up in eastern Europe

NATO defence ministers are meeting in Brussels where they are expected to approve increasing the alliance’s presence in eastern European member states such as Poland and the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. NATO says the move is in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, Moscow has already criticized the plan. NATO ministers are also discussing requests from member states Germany and Turkey to use NATO assets to help stem the flow of refugees coming to Europe by sea.

Bavarian crash probe continues

In Germany, the investigation continues into what caused yesterday’s train crash near the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling. 10 people were killed and 80 others were injured, 17 of them seriously, when two regional trains collided head-on into each other. The trains’ black box recorders are being analysed. Investigators are focusing on the possibility of human error, specifically if a safety mechanism was disabled to allow a late train to use the same track as another train.

French parliament debates anti-terror proposals

The lower house of the French parliament has approved the first stage of a controversial plan to strip dual nationals convicted of terrorism charges of their French citizenship. The proposal is part of constitutional changes sought by President Francois Hollande following the terrorist attacks in Paris in November. Some members of Hollande’s Socialist Party call the plan too extreme, while some on the right say the changes will do nothing to effectively fight religious extremism. Pierre Lellouche is conservative member of parliament :“It’s one of the sad sides of French politics: The ability to drown yourself in words instead of action. What we need here is Churchill or De Gaulle.” A national state of emergency declared after the Paris attack remains in effect.

South Korea shuts down industrial park with North

South Korea says it is shutting down an industrial park which it had operated jointly with North Korea since 2004. The move is in response to North Korea’s test firing on Sunday of a long-range ballistic missile. Seoul also is accusing Pyongyang of using hard currency from the industrial park to fund its nuclear and missile programs. Japan has also announced new sanctions against the north because of the rocket test. In a related story, South Korean media are reporting that North Korea has executed the country’s army chief of staff, General Ri Yong Gil, on corruption charges. If true, it is the latest in a series of executions and purges orderd by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The weather

This afternoon’s weather will remain variable with a chance of some sunshine in the northern Alps. It will also remain windy with some scattered snow and rain. Highs today are ranging from minus 2 to plus 7 degrees.

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