News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Hundreds missing in China ship disaster

More than 400 people are missing, many of them elderly Chinese tourists, after a cruise ship capsized during a storm on the Yangtze River in China. The disaster happened in the province of Hubei. The ship is currently floating upside down. So far 13 people have been rescued.

Ministers discuss strategy against IS

Foreign ministers from 20 countries are meeting in Paris to discuss the strategy against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The conference follows recent gains made by IS including the capture of the Iraqi city of Ramadi and the historic Syrian city of Palmyra. More than 4,000 airstrikes by the US-led coalition have failed to halt the group's advance. French journalist Nabila Ramdani says the political situation in Iraq will also be on the agenda: "force of arms clearly is not enough. What is required is to give the Sunni minority a stake in the new Iraq so definitely there's an important political component to these talks."

Greece offers debt proposal

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he's issued a "comprehensive proposal" to the country's international creditors in an attempt to secure a deal over the country’s debts. His statement follows talks in Berlin attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. A deadline had been set for this Friday to conclude the talks so that further bailout funds can be released.

9 killed in Afghanistan attack

In Afghanistan, unidentified militants have shot and killed 9 Afghan citizens including several aid workers employed to work on reconstruction projects in the north of the country. Officials say the attack happened in the early hours of the morning when gunmen burst into their rooms as they slept.

Tobacco firms to pay damages

A court in Canada has ordered three tobacco companies to pay 11 billion Euros worth of damages to smokers who say they weren't warned of the health risks of cigarettes. The class action law suit was brought on behalf of more than a million people in Quebec. Rob Cunningham is a spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society: "it's an enormously important judgement. There's been tens of thousands of internal documents that have become public. The trial was almost 3 years in length. I think it's going to have tremendous implications for other parts of Canada and indeed internationally." Imperial Tobacco, Rothmans Benson & Hedges and JTI-MacDonald say they will appeal the ruling, arguing that Canadians had had a "high awareness" of the risks of smoking since the 1950s.

The weather

Occasional sunshine, but there's also some cloud about and showers and storms in places, especially in the mountain regions. Highs ranging between 21 and 30 degrees.

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