News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Obama concludes last official European trip

The US President Barack Obama is holding talks with the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain at the end of his last official trip to Europe. The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of Donald Trump's election and what that might mean for peace efforts in eastern Ukraine and Syria as well as its implications for NATO, trade agreements and efforts to fight climate change. Obama will now travel to Peru for the final leg of his trip where he'll attend an Asia economic summit. Meanwhile, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he has "great confidence" in President-elect Trump and that he believes they can build a trusting relationship. Abe was speaking after meeting the president-elect in what was Trump's first face-to-face talks with a foreign leader since winning the election: "I do believe that without confidence between the two nations alliances would never function in the future. But after today's discussions, I am convinced that Mr Trump is a leader with whom I can have great confidence." Some of Trump's campaign rhetoric cast doubt over long-standing US alliances, including those with Japan.

Hundreds drown in Mediterranean

The International Organisation for Migration says 365 people are missing presumed dead in 6 incidents in the Mediterranean in the last three days. It's thought most of those who drowned were Africans who had tried to reach Europe from Libya.

UN criticises Australia's asylum policy

A senior United Nations official has described Australia's treatment of asylum seekers in off-shore detention centres as "cruel, inhuman and degrading". Francois Crepeau, the UN special raporteur on the human rights of migrants, was speaking at the end of a visit which included the South Pacific island of Nauru: "the effect of detention is incalculable on the wellbeing of those individuals. And we have met people who were deeply damaged by the length of the detention: self-harm, PTSD, anxiety, depression."

73 killed in blast in Mozambique

Officials in Mozambique say at least 73 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a fuel tanker explosion. It's not yet clear what caused the blast.

Crackdown continues in Turkey

Reports coming out of Turkey say the authorities have ordered the arrest of over 100 academics at a technical university in Istanbul. The move is part of the government's continuing crackdown on those it says are followers of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who's been accused by Ankara of masterminding July's attempted coup. Since the failed uprising, over 100,000 people have been sacked or suspended in the civil service, army and judiciary and 36,000 are in jail.

The weather

Mainly sunny, with a föhn wind but some persistent fog about in the Danube region and thick cloud with isolated showers in the West. Highs ranging between 5 and 17 degrees.

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