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8. April 2017, 21:58

Israel warns of long Gaza campaign

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of a "prolonged" military campaign in Gaza. The Israeli military carried out one of the most intense nights of shelling since the latest conflict began three weeks ago. Dozens of casualties have been reported. The airstrikes targeted the unoccupied house of a senior Hamas leader and the group's radio and TV stations. Gaza's main power plant has also been struck. Israel says its offensive is aimed at stopping rocket attacks carried out by Hamas and at destroying its weapons storage sites and tunnels. Jeffrey Feltman, the UN Undersecretary-General for political affairs, says efforts are continuing to broker a lasting ceasefire: "the Secretary-General has made it clear: both sides have grievances here, both sides have demands. But those can be dealt with later. Right now - for humanitarian reasons - to stop the killing, we need to have an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire."

EU discusses new Russia sanctions

EU ambassadors are meeting to discuss new economic sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. It's thought the latest measures will be aimed at economic sectors such as finance and defence. The EU and US are calling for Russia to stop the alleged supply of arms to separatists in eastern Ukraine. In another development, the Dutch police mission there says it's had to abandon plans to get access to the Malaysia Airlines crash site today because of fighting between government forces and rebels in the region.

US accuses Russia over missile treaty

In a further sign of tension between Washington and Moscow, the US has said Russia is violating an agreement on nuclear missiles. It said the development and testing of a new ground-launched cruise missile was a very serious breach of an arms control treaty which was signed in 1987.

Kosovo report released

An EU investigator has said he expects to be able to file charges for crimes against humanity against some former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The accusations date back to the conflict in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Clint Williamson said his investigation had uncovered evidence of crimes committed against Serb, Roma and other minority communities. He said there was also evidence that a small number of people had been killed for their organs: "there are compelling indications that this practice did occur on a very limited scale and that a small number of individuals were killed for the purpose of extracting and trafficking their organs.”

Karzai relative killed in attack

An influential first cousin of the outgoing Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been killed in a suicide attack at his home in the southern city of Kandahar. Hashmat Karzai was also a close ally of the presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani.

The weather

It’ll be changeable with a mix of cloud and sunny periods, showers and thunderstorms, some of them could be heavy. Highs are ranging between 17 in the West and 30 in the East.

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