News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

A year of mourning for Thailand´s late King

A year of mourning has been declared in Thailand, following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was 88 and had suffered health problems for most of the past decade. The world's longest reigning monarch, he had ruled Thailand since 1946. He was worshipped as a father-figure who guided the nation through decades of change and turmoil.

Antonio Guterres appointed UN secretary-general

The former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres has been officially appointed as the next secretary-general of the United Nations. Guterres, who led the UN refugee agency for 10 years, was chosen from among 13 candidates last week. He says ending the civil war in Syria will be his biggest challenge.

US first lady launches attack on Trump

The Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump has told supporters that he´s the victim of a vicious campaign to stop him winning the race for the White House. He dismissed allegations of sexual misconduct made by numerous women, describing them as pure fiction and outright lies. Earlier the US first lady Michelle Obama launched a scathing attack on Trump, saying recorded remarks about women were shocking and demeaning: "This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behaviour and actually bragging about kissing and groping women, using language so obscene that many of us were worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV."

CETA free trade deal in doubt

The parliament of Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia has voted to prevent the federal government from signing up to a planned free trade agreement between the EU and Canada, threatening to derail the entire deal. EU trade ministers hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to vote on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement or CETA and have signalled they are seeking unanimous support for it to enter force.

Tusk warns UK over Brexit negotiations

The president of the European Council Donald Tusk says Britain's only real alternative to a so-called hard Brexit is "no Brexit." Speaking in Brussels, he warned that the EU would not compromise on its insistence that freedom of movement will be a condition for Britain's access to the single market.

Geert Wilders to be tried for hate speech

A court in The Hague has ruled that prosecutors can proceed with their case against the controversial politician Geert Wilders on hate speech charges. Wilders is accused of discrimination and inciting racism for remarks in 2014, shown on television, in which he led a roomful of followers in chanting that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.

Bob Dylan wins Nobel literature prize

Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize in Literature for creating quote "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." The Swedish Academy described Dylan as a great poet in the English speaking tradition.

The weather

Rain in the southwest, elsewhere a mix of fog, cloud and sunshine. Top temperatures from 7 to 23.

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