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8. April 2017, 21:58

Juncker unveils major EU investment plan

The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has unveiled a €315bn investment plan to revive Europe's flagging economy. Investment in the EU has fallen by more than €400bn since the 2008 financial crisis. At the heart of Juncker´s five-year plan is a €21bn European Fund for Strategic Investment to encourage private investors to help stimulate growth and jobs: "Yes, we need structural reforms. Yes, we need fiscal responsibility. And to complete this ´omne trium perfectum` we now need to boost investment."

Merkel criticises Russia over Ukraine

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has accused Russia of violating international law with its interventions in Ukraine. In an address to parliament, Merkel said nothing justified the direct or indirect involvement of Russia in the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. She also said resolving the conflict would require patience.

Ferguson protests spread across the US

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in cities across the United States, after a grand jury decided not to prosecute a white policeman in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by Darren Wilson in August, inflaming racial tensions. Demonstrations from New York to Seattle were mostly peaceful but rioting broke out in Oakland, California, and police made 44 arrests in Ferguson itself. In his first media interview since the shooting, Wilson told ABC television that his conscience was clear.

HK police clear protest camps

Scores of people have been arrested in Hong Kong during violent clashes sparked by operations to dismantle pro-democracy protest camps. Those arrested included leading student activists Joshua Wong and Lester Shum.

Scores killed in Raqqa airstrikes

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has raised the death toll from a series of Syrian government airstrikes on the Islamic State group's stronghold of Raqqa in north-eastern Syria to at least 95. Hundreds more were reportedly injured.

Rare Shakespeare Folio found in France

A rare and valuable Shakespeare First Folio, regarded as the most important book in English literature, has been discovered in a small town near Calais in northern France. The book had lain undisturbed in a library for 200 years. The Folio collects 36 of Shakespeare's 38 known plays for the first time, and was originally printed in 1623, seven years after the playwright's death.

The weather

Mist, fog or cloud in many areas. Sunshine in the mountains and in the east. Top temperatures from minus 1 to plus 8, a little milder in the west.

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