31.03.2016

News in English

UN court acquits Vojislav Seselj / Court rules Zuma breached constitution / 14 killed in highway collapse in India / US hosts nuclear security summit / Imre Kertesz dies at 86 / The weather

31.03.2016

UN court acquits Vojislav Seselj

The UN Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia has acquitted the Serbian ultra-nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges against him related to the forced removal of tens of thousands of Croats and Muslims from their homes in the 1990s. But in its ruling, the court at The Hague said he bore no individual responsibility for the crimes.

Court rules Zuma breached constitution

South Africa's highest court has ruled that President Jacob Zuma broke the law by failing to re-pay taxpayers money used to make expensive renovations to his private home. The judges said he violated the constitution by ignoring the findings of an anti-corruption watchdog and it's ordered him to pay back some of the money. The ruling was read by the Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng: "the President has failed to uphold and defend and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the land." In his response to the ruling, President Zuma says he respected the judgement. The opposition has called for him to be removed from office.

14 killed in highway collapse in India

Reports coming out of India say up to 14 people have been killed and dozens injured in the collapse of a highway overpass which was under construction. The disaster happened in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. Efforts are underway to rescue those trapped under the debris.

US hosts nuclear security summit

The US government is hosting an international nuclear security summit with delegates from 50 countries. The main focus is how to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials. It's the fourth such summit to be held. Jim Walsh from the Security Studies Programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology describes some of the challenges ahead: "what remains to be done are some of the hard decisions. For example moving to a situation not only where we secure the nuclear material that's out there - but hey, maybe we should stop producing more. And of course that's a much more sensitive issue."

Imre Kertesz dies at 86

The Hungarian novelist and Auschwitz survivor Imre Kertesz, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature, has died at the age of 86 after a long illness. His writing was largely based on his own experience as a teenage prisoner in NAZI concentration camps. His first novel "Fateless" - which he started writing in the 60s - was published in 1975.

The weather

Sunny with some cloud in the West. A lively to strong wind and a föhn. Highs will be ranging between 14 and 22 degrees, but where there's a föhn up to 25.

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