News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

German protest leader in „Hitler“ row

Prosecutors in Germany have opened an investigation into the former leader of the PEGIDA movement for inciting hatred. Lutz Bachmann resigned on Wednesday after a newspaper printed a photograph of him posing as Adolf Hitler and reported that he had made racist slurs on Facebook. Meanwhile, thousands of PEGIDA supporters have marched in the eastern city of Leipzig at an anti-Islamisation rally. The march attracted only around 15,000 people, far fewer than originally estimated. Officials say over 20,000 joined several counter-demonstrations.

Anti-IS coalition meets in London

Foreign ministers from 21 countries are gathering in London to discuss global efforts to tackle the Islamic State group. Those taking part include the US Secretary of State John Kerry and representatives from Iraq and Turkey. They will discuss how to halt the flow of recruits and money to IS, as well as providing more military help and humanitarian aid. The British foreign minister Philip Hammond is hosting the summit: "We are renewing and regenerating the Iraqi security forces, re-equipping them, retraining them, reorganising them. But it will be months yet before they are ready to start significant combat operations against ISIL."

Civilians killed by shelling in Donetsk

It´s being reported that 13 people have been killed by shelling at a bus stop in the separatist-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The deaths come as Ukraine's defence ministry says its troops have withdrawn from the main terminal of Donetsk airport, a major blow to the government after weeks of bitter fighting. Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany earlier issued a joint call to end the fighting in the east. They also agreed on a line of demarcation from which both sides are meant to withdraw their forces.

ECB to announce stimulus programme

The European Central Bank is expected to announce that it will inject up to €1 trillion into the euro zone economy to stimulate spending. The ECB will reportedly unveil a large-scale programme of quantitative easing, under which it could purchase government bonds worth up to €50bn a month until the end of 2016.

20 migrants die in sea crossing

Maltese officials say patrol boats have picked up a migrant dinghy with 80 people on board. 20 others are reported to have died during the voyage from North Africa.

The US and Cuba continue high-level talks

The United States and Cuba are holding their highest-level talks in decades in the Cuban capital, Havana. The two days of talks are part of a thaw in relations announced last month by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.

The weather

Mostly overcast with sunshine along the north of the Alps and some lower-lying areas. Top temperatures from 0 to 10.

Übersicht

• News In English