News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

NATO meets on Ukraine crisis

World leaders are gathering in Newport, Wales, for a NATO summit which is expected to be dominated by the crisis in Ukraine, although the rise of the Islamic State group will also be discussed. Ukraine´s president Petro Poroshenko will meet with the US President Barack Obama and European leaders before the summit gets underway. The NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen accused Russia of attacking Ukraine. He also says Russia´s latest cease-fire plan is not sincere: "I think the bottom line is that the Russians are not sincerely interested in a cease-fire. They continue to destabilise eastern Ukraine." The Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned NATO against offering Ukraine alliance membership and he told the United States not to try to impose its will on the former Soviet republic.

New US warning for IS

The US vice president Joe Biden says his country will follow the Islamic State group "to the gates of hell," following the beheading of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Biden vowed to hunt down and defeat the IS, while stepping up efforts to recruit an international coalition to join in the fight.

Al-Qaeda creates Indian branch

The Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has announced the creation of an Indian branch of the group to "raise the flag of jihad" across South Asia. Observers say the video message was largely directed at his rivals in the international jihad movement, and with raising al-Qaida's profile in the wake of repeated successes by the Islamic State group.

New Iran nuclear talks in New York

The European Union´s High Representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, has announced that Iran will hold a new round of nuclear talks with six world powers in New York on September 18. The United States and Iran today began bilateral nuclear talks in Geneva, the second time the two sides have met since the July deadline to resolve differences was missed.

Ebola deaths top 1,900

A two-day meeting convened by the World Health Organisation begins today in Geneva to discuss potential treatments for Ebola. The death toll from the worst ever epidemic of the virus in West Africa has now topped 1,900, with nearly 400 deaths in the past week alone.

Final farewell to actor Gert Voss

Family and friends, as well as prominent cultural and political figures, are gathering today to pay their last respects to the actor Gert Voss, who died in July at the age of 72. The funeral ceremony is being held at the Burgtheater in Vienna, where he was an ensemble member for nearly 30 years. He is to be buried in Vienna´s central cemetery.

The weather

Changeable but sunny in the east, thundery showers in the mountains. Highs today from 16 to 26.

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