Guatemala volcano response criticised +++ Record number of women in Spain's new cabinet

8. Juli 2018, 02:00

Guatemala volcano response criticised

Opposition politicians in Guatemala have strongly criticised the country's emergency response agency saying it failed to heed advance warnings about the deadly eruption of the Fuego volcano. 99 people are now known to have died in the disaster and many others remain unaccounted for. The opposition says the government should investigate whether there was criminal negligence. But volcano expert Dr Erik Klemetti says the severity of an eruption is hard to predict: "when you're monitoring volcanos, the signs for a big eruption or a smaller eruption might be really similar. This was an atypically large eruption for Fuego so I think it would be challenging to say that anyone could have predicted that it was going to be an eruption that unfolded like this."

Record number of women in Spain's new cabinet

A new government has been sworn in in Spain with a record number of women being given cabinet posts including defence, the economy, finance and education. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party took over after an alliance of parties backed his bid to oust Mariano Rajoy's conservatives over a corruption scandal.

46 migrants drown trying to reach Yemen

At least 46 migrants have drowned whilst trying to reach Yemen from Somalia. The boat - which capsized in rough seas - was carrying Ethiopian nationals hoping to find work in Yemen and other Gulf countries. 16 people are missing. Leonard Doyle is a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration:"what is happening is that very poor people - primarily from Ethiopia but not exclusively, also from Somalia and other countries - are looking for work. They'll be put onto overcrowded boats, pay whatever it is and then when they get to Yemen that's when the trouble starts. That's when they start getting abused, extorted, exploited - indeed killed."

Abe and Trump hold talks ahead of N Korea summit

The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in Washington for talks with President Donald Trump ahead of next week's summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Abe's visit is part of a surge of diplomacy ahead of the meeting in Singapore on June 12th. Meanwhile, a UN expert on North Korea has urged the US to put human rights on the agenda during the talks with Kim.

The weather

Mainly cloudy with increasing rain and storms. Only a few showers in the north. Some sunny periods also forecast. Highs between 21 and 29 degrees.

Übersicht

• News In English