News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Catholic Church elects new Pope

Pope Francis is starting his first full day as head of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Bergoglio, from Argentina, was elected yesterday evening after 5 rounds of voting. The 76-year old is the first pope from the Americas - and the first Jesuit pontiff. After the announcement was made, he addressed a massive crowd in St. Peter's Square: “it is a journey of friendship, of love, of trust and faith. Let us pray always for one another, let us pray for the whole world.” Robert Mickens writes for the international Catholic newspaper The Tablet. He says Pope Francis is a very interesting choice: “we have a pope from Latin America – for the very first time. We have – for the first time in history – a Jesuit Pope. The last time any pope came from a religious order was in the 1830s. We have a man who comes out with great simplicity and he asks the people to pray for him before he even gives them his blessing.”

Leadership change in China

Xi Jinping has been confirmed as China's new president. The move completes the transition of power which happens every ten years. Xi replaces Hu Jintao.

18 killed in blasts in Iraq

Reports coming out of Iraq say at least 18 people have been killed in a series of bomb blasts in the capital Baghdad. The explosions happened near the justice and foreign ministries. At least 50 people have been wounded.

EU summit to focus on unemployment

Unemployment and austerity programmes will be topping the agenda at a two-day summit of EU leaders starting later today. It's currently estimated that around 27 million people are out of work across the EU. There've been calls from the European Parliament to take urgent action to tackle joblessness.

Agreement on new government in Israel

After weeks of deadlock, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement to form a new coalition government. An accord is expected to be signed later today.

Rising concern over Syrian refugees

UN officials say the number of registered Syrian refugees has jumped by more than 10% in just one week. The UN's refugee agency say over 120,000 have fled the conflict to neighbouring countries over the last 7 days.

Former Khmer Rouge leader dies

In Cambodia, it's been announced that the former senior Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary has died. The 87-year old, who served as the regime's foreign minister during the 1970s, had been on trial for genocide. He and three co-defendants were accused of leading a campaign of mass murder.

The weather

It’ll be mostly cloudy with occasional snowfall. Most of the sun will be in Vorarlberg and Tyrol. There'll be a lively to strong wind, which will be stormy in the East. Highs will be ranging between minus 7 and plus 1 degrees, in the south up to 4 or 5.

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