News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Israel launches new strikes on Gaza

Israel has carried out air strikes against 50 targets in the Gaza Strip including training sites used by Hamas. Several Palestinians are reported to have been injured. The Israeli military says the operation is aimed at stopping a barrage of rocket attacks on Israel in recent weeks and that it's preparing for the possibility of sending ground forces into Gaza. Tensions have been high in the region following the killing of three Israeli students and a Palestinian teenager.

Blast kills 16 in Afghanistan

Officials in Afghanistan say a suicide attacker has killed 16 people in the east of the country. The blast killed civilians and NATO soldiers. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. The latest violence comes amid a dispute over the preliminary results of last month's presidential election. Yesterday, election officials announced that Ashraf Ghani had won with over 56% of the vote. His challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, has alleged that the vote was marred by irregularities and says he is the winner.

Typhoon in Japan

A powerful typhoon has swept across the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa. Airports have been closed and residents evacuated from low-lying areas. Officials say the storm could be one of the strongest to hit Japan in decades. Typhoon Neoguri has winds of 175 kilometres per hour with gusts of up to 250 kilometres per hour. Weather forecaster Satoshi Ebihara: "there is a risk of unprecedented strong winds, high waves, a storm surge and heavy rain in these areas. There is an abnormal situation with impending serious danger."

EU meeting on refugee policy

EU interior ministers are holding talks today in Milan on how to deal with the numbers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, often in perilous conditions. Austria is pushing for a joint EU re-settlement programme.

New research into Alzheimer’s disease

Scientists in the UK say they've made progress in developing a blood test to predict the onset of Alzheimer's disease. They say their research has identified a set of proteins in the blood which can predict the start of the dementia with 87% accuracy. The findings will be used to improve trials for new drugs. Professor Simon Lovestone says identifying patients at an earlier stage is one of the priorities: "what we really want to be able to do is to do those trials earlier before it's firmly established. And I think our test will help that. In fact I think having a test like ours is an essential step towards prevention of Alzheimer's disease."

The weather

Heavy rain and storms forecast with highs in the West between 15 and 20 degrees. In the East, where it's close and currently very warm up to 30.

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