News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Yatsenyuk holds talks in the east

Ukraine's acting prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is holding talks in the eastern city of Donetsk, where pro-Russian activists are occupying a local government building and have declared their independence from Ukraine. Yatsenyuk has told local leaders he is committed to devolving more powers to the regions. Meanwhile Nato has released satellite images of a Russian military build-up on Ukraine's eastern border, a force officials say could be ready to move into Ukraine with 12 hours’ notice. United States President Barack Obama, in a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the US and EU should be ready to meet further Russian escalation of the situation in Ukraine with additional sanctions. European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger has said the EU is working on a plan to help Ukraine pay its gas bills to Russia and that there was "no reason to panic" about Russian gas supplies to Europe.

Abbott confident over plane signals

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has said he is confident that signals detected in the Indian Ocean are coming from the black boxes of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. Abbott was speaking on an official visit to China, from where the majority of the plane’s passengers came: “We are at the stage where the signal from what we are very confident is the black boxes is starting to fade. We are hoping to get as much information as we can before the signal finally expires.” However the search coordinator Angus Houston has cautioned that there has been no major breakthrough in the search.

Palestinians “can join Geneva Conventions”

The Swiss government has said the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions, the international rules of war that also cover occupations. The Palestinians have signed letters of accession to several international conventions during difficulties in the latest round of peace talks with Israel. Israel in retaliation has imposed sanctions against the Palestinian Authority, including withholding taxes it collects on its behalf.

Xu denounces Beijing court

A court in Beijing has upheld a four-year jail sentence against prominent Chinese rights activist Xu Zhiyong who was convicted in January of gathering a crowd to disturb public order. Speaking to the court, Xu denounced the judgment as ridiculous and said the communist dictatorship would be unable to hold back the tide of human progress.

Maduro and opposition hold talks

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has held talks with opposition leaders to try to calm political unrest in which more than 40 people have been killed in the last two months. The unprecedented talks were broadcast live on television.

The weather

Mainly sunny, with scattered showers mainly in the west. Top temperatures 9 to 20 degrees.

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