News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Top Trump adviser quits

In the United States President Donald Trump's national security advisor, Michael Flynn, has stepped down after only weeks in the job. The resignation comes after telephone intercepts showed that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions against Moscow with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office in January. Under U.S. law, it is illegal for private citizens to conduct diplomacy. Flynn is also accused of lying to the Vice-President Mike Pence about the conversation. Glenn Thrush is the White House correspondent for The New York Times: “This is a deepening and widening scandal and Mr. Flynn has left after three-and-a-half weeks. This is a chaotic administration where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. In fact the left hand never seems to see the right hand.”

Russia denies campaign to discredit Macron

Russia has denied allegations that it's been trying to discredit the French presidential election candidate Emmanuel Macron. A spokesman for Macron - who's running as an independent - says he's been targeted by the Russian media and that his campaign has seen thousands of cyber-attacks. Moscow says claims that Kremlin-backed media are seeking to influence public opinion in European countries are - quote - "simply absurd".

UK opens cyber security center

Britain is today opening a new intelligence center to improve the country’s resistance to cyber-attacks. The government says the National Cyber Security Centre in London will make the U.K. the safest place in the world to live and work online. The head of the center, Ciaran Martin, says Britain faces an average of 60 serious cyber-attacks a month: “We’ve had significant losses of personal data, significant reconnaissance against critical national infrastructure and our job is to make sure we deal with that in the most effective way possible.”

Canada’s Trudeau visits White House

The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has visited the White House for his first official talks with President Trump. The two leaders have opposing stances on several issues including refugees and Trump’s controversial travel ban. But Trudeau told reporters that the White House was not the place to criticize the new U.S. leader: “The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they choose to govern themselves.”

Van der Bellen addresses European Parliament

The Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg today. , It comes on the second day of his first official visit to EU institutions. Following today’s address Van der Bellen will hold talks with the parliamentary president Antonio Tajani.

Toshiba boss steps down

The Chairman of Toshiba, Shigenori Shiga, has resigned. His announcement came hours after the Japanese electronics company revealed that it was set to report a net annual loss of 3.4 billion dollars – resulting from its problematic nuclear energy business. Toshiba’s shares have halved in value since December and some analysts have warned the company's future is at risk.

US sanctions on Venezuela’s vice-president

The United States has imposed sanctions on the new vice-president of Venezuela, Tareck El Aissami, accusing him of involvement in international drug trafficking. Washington says El Aissami, who was appointed last month by President Nicolas Maduro, facilitated huge shipments of narcotics from Venezuela and protected other drugs traffickers.

The weather

This afternoon’s weather: Mainly sunny. Top temperatures are ranging from 3C to 10C– although mountain regions could see highs of up to 13C.

Übersicht

• News In English