News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

German MPs back Greece deal

The German parliament has overwhelmingly approved a third bailout package for Greece. Ahead of the vote, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble urged MPs to back the deal, arguing that they must "seize the chance" for a new beginning for Greece. Earlier, some members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party had said they would vote against the measure.

Bangkok shrine re-opens

The shrine in the Thai capital Bangkok which was hit by a deadly explosion on Monday has reopened to the public. At least 20 people died and scores were injured in the attack on the Erawan Shrine. Officials say they're looking for possible accomplices of the chief suspect, a man who was captured on closed-circuit television seen leaving a backpack at the site and walking away. The national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung says the aim of the attacker was to cause maximum casualties: "the murderers are exceptionally brutal. They dared to launch the attacks at a tourist spot as well as in the rush-hour. The murderers are extremely ruthless. Their purpose was to take lives."

IS attacker targets Kurdish town

Syrian activists say an Islamic State suicide bomber has targeted a mainly Kurdish town in north eastern Syria, killing at least 11 people. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the explosion happened outside a local Kurdish police station in the town of Qamishli.

IS kills Palmyra archaeologist

In another development in Syria, Islamic State militants are reported to have killed one of the country's most prominent archaeologists in the ancient town of Palmyra. 82-year old Khaled Asaad, who looked after the ruins, was taken hostage by the group after it seized the UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year. His family said he had been beheaded by IS fighters and his corpse left hanging from a column in a central square. The co-Director of the Syrian Heritage Initiative Abdalrazzaq Moaz knew Asaad well: "it was hard for him to see his city under the control of these people, so he insisted on staying there. I'm sure that he was trying to convince them to not do damage to the antiquities and the site. So for that he was killed."

Frontex calls for more help

The European Union border control agency Frontex has called on all EU member states to provide more help to the 3 countries most affected by increasing numbers of asylum seekers: Greece, Italy and Hungary. The organisation said most of those trying to get to Europe are from Syria and Afghanistan.

The weather

A few showers and thunderstorms in the mountains and a bit of rain also forecast in the north. Elsewhere very cloudy with just isolated sunny periods. Highs ranging mostly between 13 and 23 degrees but where the sun's out up to 25.

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