News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Rousseff loses impeachment vote

Brazil's lower house of Congress has voted to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff over allegations of manipulating budget figures. The motion will now go to the upper house the Senate. Brazil's Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo has accused Rousseff's opponents of acting undemocratically "the President is open to talk about any solution within the framework of democracy that respects the constitution. What cannot ever be accepted are constitutional ruptures - situations that qualify as a coup d'etat. It will be different in the Senate - in the Senate we can present evidence."

270 killed in Ecuador earthquake

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Ecuador has now risen to over 270 with 1500 injured. Around 10,000 troops and thousands of police are being deployed in the affected areas, as the search for survivors continues. The magnitude-7.8 quake struck on Saturday evening. Coastal areas in the north-west were closest to the epicentre. Stephan Kuffner, a correspondent for The Economist, says some of the worst hit areas are difficult to get to: "though the whole area that's in the centre of the affected zone is in the coastal lowlands, it's still relatively inaccessible because much of that is rather hilly and has difficult narrow roads - many of those are already damaged because of flooding in recent weeks and now the earthquake has destroyed them."

US Defence Secretary Carter in Baghdad

The US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has made an unannounced visit to Baghdad where he's meeting US military commanders and Iraqi officials. Washington is expected to offer the Iraqi government additional military assistance for its campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

Schools under threat in Afghanistan

A new report from the United Nations says schools and health services are coming under increasing threat in Afghanistan because of the spread of violence in the country. Whilst billions of dollars have been donated for reconstruction, the UN said the conflict is making it harder for children to get access to education and medical care.

Oil producers fail to agree on production cap

A meeting of the world's leading oil exporters to discuss a cap on production has ended without agreement. After hours of talks in Qatar, the country's energy minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said that the oil producers needed "more time". They had been seeking a deal that would freeze output and help stop a plunge in crude prices.

The weather

Cloudy with occasional rain, especially in the West. A lively wind and highs mostly between 4 and 12 degrees - in the south where there'll be some sunshine up to 20.

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