News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem delayed

Tensions are high in Jerusalem ahead of the funeral planned for the 17-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdair who was abducted and killed yesterday. His family say the funeral has been delayed because Israeli authorities have yet to release his body as a post-mortem is still being carried out. There have been widespread accusations from Palestinians that Abu Khdair was murdered by Jewish extremists in a revenge attack for the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers. Meanwhile the Israeli military has carried out air strikes on Gaza it says are in response to rockets and mortars fired into Israel. Palestinian medical officials say at least ten people have been injured in the airstrikes.

Airport security tightened on bomb scare

Security is being tightened at airports around the world with direct flights to the United States. Officials said they were acting on intelligence that al-Qaida operatives in Syria and Yemen have developed undetectable bombs that could be smuggled on to planes. There are concerns jihadists with European passports have been trained in Syria to make the bombs.

Saudi Arabia deploys troops to Iraq border

Saudi Arabian state television is reporting that 30,000 soldiers have been deployed to guard the country’s border with Iraq. Saudi Arabia says Iraqi troops have withdrawn from the border, as Iraq faces a Sunni extremist insurgency.

South Sudan faces acute hunger

Aid agencies say four million people in South Sudan will soon face critical food shortages. Ethnic violence over the last six months has prevented the planting and harvesting of crops. David Bainbridge is from the Tearfund agency which runs feeding centres: “We have found enormous increases in the numbers of severely malnourished children that need urgent attention. A 300% increase in admissions. The figure doubles every month.”

China’s leader in South Korea

The Chinese President Xi Jinping is in South Korea for a two-day visit. It is the first time a Chinese leader has visited South Korea before North Korea, and is seen as indicating China’s disapproval of Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

New ceasefire efforts for Ukraine

The foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have agreed on steps to re-establish a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. Talks which include pro-Russian rebel leaders are planned to begin no later than Saturday on a new truce to be monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Fighting has escalated in eastern Ukraine since a 10-day ceasefire expired on Monday.

German minimum wage for approval

The German parliament is set to approve the country's first minimum wage of 8.50 euros an hour. Germany was one of seven EU countries without a minimum wage level.

The weather

Mainly sunny, some cloud in the east. Top temperatures 20 to 28 degrees.

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