News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

New talks on Ukraine crisis

As fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official says government forces have pulled back from the main airport at Luhansk, a separatist stronghold. The official also said 7 Ukrainian service personnel had been killed in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says an "immediate ceasefire" is the main priority ahead of talks on the crisis in the Belarussian capital Minsk. It’s being reported that the negotiations will involve representatives from Kiev, Moscow, separatist groups and the OSCE.

Germany to send military aid to Iraq

Officials in Germany say they will send rifles, armoured vehicles and other equipment to help Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State group in northern Iraq. The arms will be sent in three shipments, starting this month. Meanwhile, in a development over the week-end, Iraqi forces entered the besieged town of Amerli where thousands of people had been trapped by IS militants. Jan Egeland, former UN relief coordinator and currently the Secretary General at the Norwegian Refugee Council, says the humanitarian challenge posed by the conflict in northern Iraq is enormous: "the war is on so many fronts. And it is civilians that are paying this tremendous price all over. And we need more help, we need bigger resources, we now need to prepare for winter."

Re-shuffled Austrian cabinet sworn in

The Austrian President Heinz Fischer has sworn in a re-shuffled coalition following changes in the Social Democrat cabinet line-up and last week's surprise resignation of Vice-Chancellor Michael Spindelegger of the People's Party. Reinhold Mitterlehner, who replaced Spindelegger as head of the party, is now officially Vice-Chancellor and Hans Jörg Schelling is the new Finance Minister. On the Social Democrat side, Alois Stöger moves from the Health Ministry to Infrastructure and has been replaced by Sabine Oberhauser.

Protests in Pakistan

Security forces in Pakistan have re-gained control of the headquarters of the state broadcaster PTV in Islamabad. Earlier, anti-government protestors broke into the building, forcing the channel to go off air. The demonstrators - led by the opposition politician Imran Khan - are calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Anger over voting changes in HK

Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have disrupted a speech given by a Beijing official who was explaining voting changes for the territory. They chanted slogans and held placards accusing the Chinese government of breaking its promise to allow Hong Kong to choose its leader directly.

The Weather

The East and the region between Salzburg and Lower Austria will be rainy. The west and south should see the rain easing off to make way for some sunshine in places. Windy and highs are ranging between 9 and 17 degrees.

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