News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Air strikes target IS near Turkey

The Kurdish military says the Islamic State group has sent extra fighters and tanks to the outskirts of the strategic town of Kobani on the Syrian border with Turkey, following US-led air raids overnight and this morning. Around 140,000 Syrian Kurds have fled the fighting and crossed in to Turkey since Friday. The Pentagon says the strikes have disrupted IS militants but the fight against them will take years. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby: "We know that this is going to be complicated. It´s going to take a serious effort by all involved and we do believe we´re talking about years here. I can´t put an exact number on that but this is not something we´re going to be done within days or weeks or months."

UN climate summit in New York

Over 100 nations attending Tuesday´s UN summit on climate change in New York have agreed goals to widen the use of renewable energy and raise billions of dollars in aid for developing countries in an effort to slow global warming. The targets will help prepare the ground for a summit in Paris late next year to finalise a new comprehensive deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

NATO sees Russian pullback from Ukraine

NATO says it has observed a significant withdrawal of Russia´s conventional forces from inside Ukraine, but many thousand Russian troops remain stationed near the border. According to NATO, Russian special forces are operating in Ukraine, and they are said to be difficult to detect. Russia has denied sending troops into eastern Ukraine.

Sarkozy corruption probe suspended

French media are reporting that a corruption investigation against the former President Nicolas Sarkozy has been suspended. They quote judicial sources as saying that a Paris appeals court will now study a request by Sarkozy for the case to be dismissed. He is still facing several other judicial investigations, including one into his links with the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and another into illegal campaign funding in 2012.

New WHO warning on Ebola

The World Health Organization says new figures suggest that 70% of those infected with Ebola in West Africa have died, higher than previously reported. It says Ebola infections will treble to 20,000 by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up.

Indian Mars mission goes into orbit

India has successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming only the fourth country to do so. The Mangalyaan robotic probe will soon begin work studying the Red Planet's atmosphere. The US, Europe and Russia have previously sent missions to Mars, but India is the only country to succeed on its first attempt.

The weather

Plenty of sunshine but cloud will build in the west and rain is forecast there later. Highs from 14 to 23.

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