News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Austria vote on October 2nd

It's been confirmed that the re-run of the second round of Austria's presidential election, between the FPÖ's Norbert Hofer and former Green party leader Alexander Van der Bellen, will take place on October the 2nd. President Heinz Fischer ends his term in office on Friday, after 12 years in the post.

Calls for French intelligence overhaul

A French parliamentary inquiry into the Islamist attacks on Paris last year has recommended far-reaching reforms to the security and intelligence services. The report says various forces should be merged into a national anti-terrorism agency. The attacks in November, in which 130 people were killed, prompted widespread criticism of the security services.

Nasa probe arrives in Jupiter orbit

Five years after leaving Earth, Nasa's Juno spacecraft has begun orbiting Jupiter. It's on a mission to gather data about the solar system's largest planet and its many moons. Scientists have promised close-up views of the planet during the 1.1 billion dollar mission. Keith Cowing, editor of the Nasa Watch website, explains what happens next: “Over the coming weeks and months it will get closer to Jupiter, until it’s in what’s called the science orbit. That’s the point at which it does the most extensive observations. But in the next few days they’ll start turning the instruments on to make sure that the spacecraft survived the radiation and so forth, and maybe in a week or so we’ll start getting some pictures back as well.”

Britain’s Tory MPs vote in leader race

British Conservative MPs are holding the first ballot in the party's leadership election. The move follows the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron in the wake of the Brexit vote. The current favourite is reported to be Interior Minister Theresa May, who favoured the UK remaining in the EU.

Hungary to vote on migrant quotas

Hungary has named October the 2nd for a referendum on whether to accept mandatory European Union quotas on the number of refugees and migrants a member country must accept. The country's nationalist Prime Minister, Victor Orban, is fiercely opposed to the scheme. He's described the migrant quotas as "illegal and unreasonable".

Brussels to decide on Ceta ratification

The European Commission is due to announce whether the Ceta free trade agreement between the EU and Canada will be submitted to national EU parliaments for ratification. There were strong protests after the Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said it was purely an EU treaty and didn’t require national ratification.

The weather

Partly sunny but cloud, showers and thunderstorms are forecast this afternoon in the mountains and hilly regions. Highs today ranging between 23 and 31 degrees.

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