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8. April 2017, 21:58

UN urges action to save migrant lives

The United Nations has called for more action to save the lives of migrants crossing from North Africa to Europe, after 400 are believed to have drowned when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean off Libya. The Italian coastguard helped rescue around 150 people from the ship. Carlotta Bellini from Save the Children in Italy has spoken to some of the survivors: "They say the boat capsized 24 hours from the departure from Libya and they also believe that there are many adolescents and young people, unfortunately, who died." The Italian coastguard has saved about 8,500 migrants in the Mediterranean since Friday.

EU accuses Google of internet “abuse”

The European Commission has announced that it is filing an antitrust complaint against Google for abusing its dominance in Internet searches. It is also opening an investigation into Google´s Android mobile system. Google accounts for more than 90% of EU-based web searches. The EU Commission has been investigating the antitrust allegations since 2010.

Cuba welcomes US terror list pledge

Cuba has welcomed a decision by the United States to remove it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, describing it as fair but adding that it should never have been on the list in the first place. The move comes amid an historic thaw in ties between the US and Cuba, whose presence on the list was a sticking point during talks to reopen embassies.

US Congress to have say on Iran deal

The US Secretary of State John Kerry says he´s still confident that the Obama administration can conclude a nuclear deal with Iran, after the president agreed to sign a compromise bill giving Congress the right to review and reject an agreement. Barack Obama withdrew his opposition to a bi-partisan bill that was unanimously passed on Tuesday, giving in to pressure from Republicans and some in his own party. Iran, the United States and four other world powers have set a deadline of June 30 to finalise a deal.

MEPs to debate Armenian mass killings

The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that Turkey will disregard the European Parliament's views over the 1915 mass killings of Armenians. MEPs are due to debate a resolution later today to mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians. The European Parliament has called on European Union member states to recognize Armenian claims of genocide under Turkish Ottoman rule. Turkey has resisted widespread calls for it to recognise the killings as genocide, while historians continue to argue about the events.

The weather

Plenty of sunshine with highs ranging from 18 to 26.

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