News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Kerry and Lavrov discuss Nemtsov and Ukraine

The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. The two are expected to discuss Friday’s murder of the Kremlin critic, Boris Nemtsov. Lavrov has described the killing in Moscow as a "heinous crime" and says President Vladimir Putin is leading an investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. Also on the agenda for Lavrov and Kerry is eastern Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire which appears to be taking hold there. The meeting coincides with the release of a United Nations report on Ukraine that says at least 6,000 lives have been lost in the conflict. Fiona Fraser, the Deputy Head of the U.N. Human Rights Mission in Ukraine, says the plight of civilians is particularly concerning: “We’ve seen over the past months (how) many of them have been trapped, have not had access to food, health care and there’s been shelling of residential areas, which has also seen infrastructure destroyed, damaged, hospitals, schools and so forth.”

Netanyahu in Washington to U.S. Congress

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress. He was invited to do so by Republican leaders in Congress – and the White House has voiced anger over the fact that it was not consulted. Netanyahu is expected to use his speech to argue against an international deal over Iran's nuclear programme.

Iraq tries to recapture Tikrit from I.S.

Iraq has launched a military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State. Tikrit was seized by I.S. militants in June of last year and regional expert Bill Roger says this is the fourth attempt by the Iraqi military to take the city back: “The previous three attempts to take this city failed when the Islamic State set I.E.D (Improvised Explosive Device) ambushes. They actually lured the Iraqi military and militias and ambushed them and caused them to flee.”

LA police investigate controversial shooting

Police in Los Angeles have launched an investigation into the shooting death of a homeless black man by three officers. A video has emerged which captures the moment when the officers shot the mentally-ill man during an altercation at a homeless camp. The officers say they opened fire after the man tried to grab a gun from one of their colleagues. The President of the LA Police is Steve Suberov: “The question is did he or did he not have the officer’s gun in his hand or did he have his hand on the officer’s gun? And that’s what this investigation should be able to determine.”

The weather

This afternoon’s weather: Widespread rain – especially north of the Alps. Elsewhere there should be some sunshine. Storm winds are forecast this evening. Highs today will range from 2C to 10C.

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