11.06.2015

News in English

Greek crisis talks in Brussels / 450 US troops heading to Iraq / New MERS cases in South Korea / Refugee crisis flares in Darfur / Three climbers killed on Corsica / Bilderberg opens in Telfs / The Weather

8. April 2017, 21:58

Greek crisis talks in Brussels

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held late-night talks in Brussels with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. The talks come two weeks before Greece is set to run out of funds and will, once again, face going into default and possibly leaving the Eurozone. Creditors are demanding reforms in exchange for more aid to Athens. After the meeting, Alexis Tsipras said he was confident a compromise can be found: “I believe that Europe’s political leadership realizes that we must offer a viable solution to Greece which would bring security and stability, not only to Greece, but also to Europe.”

450 US troops heading to Iraq

US President Barack Obama is ordering 450 troops to Iraq to help integrate Sunni tribal forces into the Iraqi military to better fight ISIL, or Islamic State, which controls much of Anbar province. The US troops are meant to act as trainers and as spotters to better coordinate US-led air strikes against ISIL. The United States officially ended its ground operations in Iraq at the end of 2011. White House spokesman Josh Earnest: “We continue to have confidence that the effort to build up the capacity of Iraqi security forces, to enlist Sunni tribal fighters by bringing them in to the mobilization forces, that this will be an effective tactic against ISIL in Anbar.” The Islamic State threat is also the focus of an international meeting today in Sydney, Australia.

New MERS cases in South Korea

In South Korea, 14 new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, are being reported. That brings to 122 the number of cases in South Korea, the largest ever outside of Saudi Arabia. Ten South Koreans have so far died from MERS. There is no cure or vaccine for the disease which was identified in 2012.

Refugee crisis flares in Darfur

The United Nations says tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in recent months in Sudan’s Darfur province because of a new government military offensive. The unrest in Darfur began 12 years ago when black Africans rebelled against the Arab-dominated government in the capital Khartoum. The latest violence comes despite the presence of 20,000 UN peacekeepers in Darfur.

Three climbers killed on Corsica

On the island of Corsica, three French climbers have been killed in a landslide triggered by a sudden thunderstorm. Two other hikers were injured and an unknown number of others are missing.

Bilderberg opens in Telfs

The 63rd Bilderberg Conference opens today at Telfs in Tyrol. 140 leaders and experts from politics, business, academia and the media will meet through the weekend to discuss a variety of contemporary issues off-the-record and behind closed doors.