News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

German Wings plane crashes in France

Officials in France say an Airbus A320 aircraft, operated by the German budget airline German Wings, has crashed in the French Alps near the town of Digne les Bains. The plane is reported to have been travelling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf with 142 passengers and 6 crew. French President Francois Hollande told reporters there are unlikely to be any survivors. Aviation expert Tony Dixon says the cause of the crash remains unclear. “Something catastrophic has obviously gone wrong in as much as it doesn’t appear that there were any emergency messages put out or anything like that, but it is very rare for a modern airplane to do this sort of thing. We don’t know what the weather is like in the area - I mean thunderstorms are always a factor in these sorts of things.”

Greek and German leaders conciliatory after talks

The Greek and German leaders struck a conciliatory tone last night at talks in Berlin, despite differences over how to tackle the Greek debt crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference that she wanted Greece to be strong economically, while Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stressed the need for dialogue. Tsipras wants to renegotiate the terms of Greece's bailout but Merkel is insisting that EU leaders approve a Greek reform plan before Athens receives any new funds.

Utah moves to reintroduce firing squad

The US state of Utah is set to reintroduce firing squads for executing prisoners condemned to death, when lethal injection drugs are not available. The drugs have become difficult to obtain because of opposition to capital punishment by European pharmaceutical companies. Paul Ray is a Republican politician in Utah who supported the change. He says the move is only temporary. “This puts the firing squad still second, you know, lethal injection is still our primary course. And so what I’m hoping is by the time we have our next execution, we will once again have drug cocktails available and we won’t really need to go to the firing squad.”

Israel denies spying on Iran nuclear talks

The Israeli government has denied reports in the Wall Street Journal newspaper that it spied on recent nuclear talks between Iran and 6 world powers. The newspaper claims Israel eavesdropped on the negotiations and obtained information from confidential briefings, which it shared with US lawmakers, in order to undermine support for a deal.

13 die in bus attack in Afghanistan

Officials in Afghanistan say at least 13 people have been killed in an attack on a bus, in the eastern province of Wardak. No group has claimed responsibility but the Taliban are known to operate in the area.

India overturns offensive messages law

A court in India has overturned a controversial law, punishing people with up to 3 years in prison for sending offensive messages online or via mobile phone. Judges at the Supreme Court said the legislation was vague and violated freedom of speech.

The weather

Mostly sunny conditions have been forecast for this afternoon, with some heavier cloud in Tirol and East Tirol. Top temperatures will range from 10 to 19 degrees.

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