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8. April 2017, 21:58

Jeff Sessions becomes new US attorney general

The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nomination for attorney general, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, by a vote of 52 to 47. The confirmation follows a series of divisive hearings during which Democrats attacked his record on civil rights. Sessions says he hopes for cross-party reconciliation: "You don´t have to back down if you believe you are right. But there are ways we can get along personally and I would say that would be my prayer for this body that in the future maybe the intensity of the last few weeks would die down and maybe, somehow, we get along better."

Bin Laden “ally” killed in Syria

The Pentagon says US forces killed 11 members of al-Qaeda in two air strikes near Idlib in Syria earlier this month, including a former ally of Osama Bin Laden. Abu Hani al-Masri is said to have set up and run al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan during the 1980s and 1990s.

Explosion at French nuclear plant

The French utility EDF has confirmed that there´s been an explosion in a machine room at the Flamanville nuclear plant in northern France. It says there is no nuclear risk and no-one was hurt, but one reactor has been taken offline. A technical fault is being blamed.

MPs give May green light to trigger Brexit vote

The British Prime Minister Theresa May has won approval from the lower house of parliament to trigger Britain's exit from the European Union, defeating attempts to attach extra conditions to her plan to start the process by the end of March. The bill now needs the approval of the upper chamber before it becomes law.

Navalny defiant after embezzlement conviction

Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been given a five-year suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of embezzlement at a retrial. Navalny's conviction means he is not eligible to run in next year's presidential election as planned. He says he will appeal against the "politically motivated" ruling and take part in the election regardless.

ICRC suspends Afghan operations

The International Committee of the Red Cross has temporarily suspended aid operations in Afghanistan, a day after six workers were killed in an ambush in a remote northern region. Two others are missing. The aid workers were in a convoy carrying supplies to areas hit by avalanches when they were attacked by suspected Islamic State militants.

The weather

Mostly overcast with light snowfall in the south and east, but some sunshine along the north of the Alps. Top temperatures from minus 3 to plus 6.

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