News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Confusion over Ukraine „cease-fire“

The Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he has agreed on a quote "ceasefire process" for the east of the country with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. His office initially reported that agreement had been reached on a "permanent ceasefire," but the Kremlin said this was not the case as Russia was not a party to the conflict.

Obama in talks with Baltic States

The US President Barack Obama has expressed solidarity with Baltic States, amid concerns over Ukraine. He is in the Estonian capital Tallinn for talks with the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all former Soviet states which joined NATO a decade ago. Obama said a ceasefire in Ukraine could only be effective if Russia stopped "pretending" it was not active in the conflict: "I´ll leave it up to others to interpret Mr. Putin´s psychology on this. But in terms of actions, what we´ve seen is aggression and appeals to nationalist sentiments that have historically been very dangerous in Europe and are rightly a cause of concern."

Second US journalist beheaded in Syria

The Islamic State group has released another video which shows the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff. The US has confirmed that it is authentic. Sotloff was taken captive in Syria in 2013. He appeared in a video released two weeks ago which showed fellow US journalist James Foley being executed. President Obama says Americans will not be intimidated by what he called the "horrific" violence of IS militants. He also vowed that justice would be served. The British foreign secretary Philip Hammond says an unsuccessful attempt was made to rescue an unidentified British hostage being held by the Islamic State and Britain was not ruling out airstrikes against the group.

American strikes target al-Shabab

The US military has confirmed it carried out air strikes in Somalia, targeting the leader of the militant group al-Shabab. The Pentagon confirmed the operation by US Special Forces but said it was still unclear if Ahmed Abdi Godane was hit.

Ebola outbreak “underestimated”

The international group Doctors without Borders is warning that the world is losing the battle against Ebola. Speaking after a United Nations meeting on the crisis, the director of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan said everyone involved had underestimated the outbreak, which has now killed over 1,500 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. UN officials appealed to governments worldwide to send medical workers and material contributions.

The weather

Some scattered showers but also some sun shine. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the east and southeast later. Highs today from 15 to 23.

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