News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Report: Militant leader’s family detained

Lebanon’s army has detained a wife and a son of the leader of the Islamic state militant group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They were detained as they tried to cross into Lebanon from Syria.

Appeal to end Hong Kong protests

In Hong Kong, three leaders of the territory’s pro-democracy movement have surrendered to police. They have also called for activists to retreat from the city center, where pro-democracy protests have been held since late September. They say the situation has become too dangerous. The appeal follows clashes earlier between police and demonstrators. Bennie tai is one of the protest leaders: “In the past two weeks, the police have cracked down hard on protesters in the occupied sites. A government which uses police batons to maintain its authority is a government that is beyond reason.”

South Stream pipeline cancelled

In an unexpected move, the South Stream pipeline project has been cancelled by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pipeline was projected to bring Russia gas to Austria and other western European states by by-passing Ukraine. The project is thought to have been a victim of falling energy demands in Europe, a drop in gas prices by 40 percent since June, as well as a rise in tensions between Moscow and the West over the crisis in Ukraine.

New Ukrainian truce reported

In eastern Ukraine, government troops and Russian separatists in and around the city of Luhansk have agreed on a new ceasefire. That’s according to monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The truce is set to go into effect on Friday.

Iraqi oil deal announced

Iraq’s government and Kurdish officials in northern Iraq have agreed to export 300,000 barrels of oil a day from Iraqi Kurdistan through Turkey. The agreement ends a long dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdish officials in Kirkuk.

36 killed in Kenya

In southern Kenya, 36 people are dead after gunmen attacked workers at a rock quarry close to the border with Somalia. The attack is thought to have been carried out by Islamic militants from Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group who oppose the deployment of Kenyan peacekeepers in Somalia.

New US federal police guidelines

US Attorney-General Eric Holder will soon release new guidelines to limit racial profiling by federal police. Civil rights groups define racial profiling as the police harassment of people based solely upon their appearance. The move follows unrest in the state of Missouri where a grand jury last week agreed not to pursue criminal charges against a white policeman who shot and killed a black teenager last summer in the town of Ferguson in suburban St. Louis. US President Barack Obama: “I’m convinced we can make sure police officers and the communities they serve are partners in making sure everybody feels safe…that we can build confidence and we can build trust, but it is not going to be easy.”

The weather

Mostly cloudy and foggy with light rain or snowfall. Black ice conditions can be expected in the east. Highs today are ranging from minus one to plus seven degrees.

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