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8. April 2017, 21:58

Putin postpones Hollande meeting amid tensions

French officials say the Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed a meeting with French President Francois Hollande that had been planned for next week in Paris. The move comes amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries. At the week-end, Moscow vetoed a French UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire for Syria. Yesterday, Hollande suggested Russia could face war crimes charges over its bombardment of Aleppo.

Warnings of famine in Haiti

Haiti's interim President Jocelerme Privert has warned that the country is at risk of famine following the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew. The storm has killed 1,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes as well as crops. Nadesha Mijoba from the Haitian Health Foundation charity says there are still areas which haven't been reached: "the reality is that we don't have a complete picture of exactly what's going on. Many of the areas in the rural mountains haven't been reached yet."

Colombia and ELN rebels to start peace talks

The Colombian government and the country's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, have announced that formal peace negotiations will start later this month. President Juan Manuel Santos won this year's Nobel Peace prize for his deal with another rebel group, the Farc, which was rejected by voters in a referendum. In a TV address, Santos said he was convinced that peace is achieveable: "beloved Colombians. We are a special nation which grows in the face of adversity and knows how to turn it into opportunity. And that's what we are going to do now to secure peace for which we have struggled so much. It will not slip through our fingers. On the contrary, it will be strengthened. And now that we are advancing with the ELN it will be complete."

Paul Ryan says he will not defend Trump

To the US presidential race and the most senior elected Republican official - Paul Ryan - says he will not defend Donald Trump following the latest controversy surrounding the candidate. Ryan says his party's priority should be focussing on defending seats in Congress.

Samsung scraps Galaxy Note 7 production

The technology giant Samsung has suspended sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smart phone, halted production of it and told users to turn them off as it investigates continuing reports that battery problems are causing some phones to catch fire. The company recalled more than 2 million phones last month and later insisted that all the replaced devices were safe. But now there are reports that even those phones were catching fire.

The weather

Cold and mostly overcast with occasional rain or snowfall. Isolated sunny periods in the West and highs ranging between 3 and 12 degrees.

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