News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

EU ministers discuss terror threat

EU foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the terror threat in Europe in the wake of the recent attacks in France and the discovery of a jihadist cell in Belgium. High on the agenda are concerns over the return of radicalised Europeans who've gone to fight in Iraq and Syria. The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called for a broad international alliance to tackle the problem: "we start with a discussion on how to counter terrorism - not only in Europe, but also in other parts of the world. We need to strengthen our way of cooperating together." The talks are also focussing on the EU's relations with Russia in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine.

Intense fighting in eastern Ukraine

Intense fighting is reported to be continuing around Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces mounted a counter-offensive over the week-end to try and re-take the area from pro-Russia separatists. Ukrainian officials say 3 soldiers have died in the latest fighting. In another development, several thousand people gathered in the capital Kiev yesterday to take part in a peace march in honour of 13 civilians who died in a rocket attack on a bus last week. A ceasefire agreed in Minsk last September has been regularly violated by both sides.

Boko Haram kidnapping in Cameroon

Suspected Boko Haram militants from Nigeria are reported to have kidnapped dozens of people in neighbouring Cameroon. According to officials many of those who were captured in the cross border attack were children.

Oxfam warning on inequality

The British charity Oxfam says there's been a staggering rise in global inequality. It estimates that by next year, the richest 1% will own more than 50% of the world's wealth. The research coincides with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos which Oxfam is co-chairing. Oxfam spokeswoman Katy Wright says rising inequality has far-reaching repercussions: "it's leaving poor people further and further behind. And what's more it's undermining growth for the rest of us. There's a growing consensus that extreme inequality is actually harming the durability and sustainability and robustness of economic growth itself. So not only are poor people getting less and less of the pie. Extreme inequality is actually threatening the size of that pie."

Mali declares itself Ebola-free

Health officials in Mali say the country is now free of the Ebola virus after having no new cases for 6 weeks. The disease has killed nearly eight and a half thousand people in West Africa, with the overwhelming majority of those deaths in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The weather

Sunny in the Alps, foggy in the low-lying areas. Highs ranging between minus 2 and plus 6 degrees.

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