News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Clashes in Hong Kong

In some of the worst unrest in two months, police in Hong Kong have clashed with pro-democracy activists who'd been trying to surround government offices. Around 40 people have been arrested. The protestors want voters to be allowed to choose their own leaders in elections in 2017. Officials in Beijing say they will screen candidates in advance.

UN warning over Ebola spread

The head of the UN's mission tackling Ebola in West Africa says there's still a big risk that the disease could spread to other parts of the world. In an interview with the BBC, Tony Banbury, who's currently in Sierra Leone, said the aim must be to totally eradicate the disease: "the goal is absolutely zero human cases of Ebola. That is what we must achieve. And we have to do it, anything less than that is a failure. And we can't accept that because of the continued threat Ebola would pose to the communities here and much more broadly to the world."

Donald Tusk starts new EU job

The former prime minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, has started his new job as President of the European Council. He'll be in charge of chairing EU summits. The 57-year old will face a number of challenges in his new post including the Eurozone's ongoing economic problems and a number of foreign policy crises such as Ukraine and relations with Russia. He says Ukraine will be high on the agenda when he chairs his first European Council meeting later this month.

Elections in Moldova

Partial results from yesterday's elections in Moldova have shown that pro-EU parties have a narrow lead over those favouring closer ties with Russia. A period of coalition negotiations is expected. The Central electoral commission says turnout was just under 56%.

Climate talks in Peru

Climate negotiators are meeting in Peru in a bid to try and advance talks on a new global agreement. 195 countries have made commitments towards agreement on a new climate pact by the end of next year.

Swiss reject immigration curbs

Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to reduce immigration in a referendum held over the week-end. Supporters of the initiative argued that there was too much pressure on land and natural resources. But opponents, which include the government, said the move would damage the economy, which relies on foreign workers.

World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. The UN's AIDS agency says over 13.5 million people worldwide now have access to AIDS drugs, a significant improvement compared to 2010 when 5 million were getting treatment.

The weather

Mostly cloudy with occasional rain or snowfall as well as the continuing possibility of freezing rain and black ice. There’ll be a lively wind and highs are ranging between zero and plus 6 degrees, in the West where there's a bit of sunshine, up to 10.

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