News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Thousands of refugees enter Croatia

Croatian officials say five and a half thousand people have entered Croatia since yesterday morning as refugees and migrants heading for central and northern Europe use a new route. The development follows Hungary's closure of its border with Serbia. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann is holding talks with his Croatian and Slovenian counterparts to discuss the crisis and he's called for an urgent EU summit involving heads of governments. Meanwhile, German officials say well over 7,000 people entered the country yesterday, adding that most of them came across the Austrian border. In other developments, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he's "shocked" at yesterday's events on Hungary's border with Serbia. Hungarian police fired tear gas and water cannon to force people back after hundreds tried to break through the razor-wire fence. Montserrat Feixas Vihé is a spokesperson for the UN's refugee agency the UNHCR: "they have every right to defend the borders but we think they should do it in a humane manner. What we are concerned about is violence being used against people, many of them refugees, many of them children, women. We've seen people being injured, children separated from their parents, bleeding children. That is to be avoided at all costs." In other developments, MPs in the European Parliament have backed an EU plan to distribute 120,000 refugees among member countries in a fast-track measure aimed at relieving the pressure on countries like Greece and Italy. The move means that EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels next Tuesday will be able to approve the plan if they can overcome opposition from a group of Central European countries.

Major earthquake off Chile

8 people have died and a million residents evacuated from coastal areas following a powerful earthquake off the coast of Chile. The tremor measured 8.3 on the scale. The government has now lifted the tsunami warning. Chile's President Michelle Bachelet: "almost as soon as the earthquake happened the over-riding focus was the protection of the people and the evacuation of all the coastal areas. This was done in a satisfactory manner."

Military take-over in Burkina Faso

The military in Burkina Faso has announced that it now controls the country just weeks before elections. The statement came a day after members of the elite presidential guard unit of the military arrested the transitional president and prime minister. The transitional government came to power after Blaise Compaore, who was president for nearly 3 decades, was ousted late last year in a public uprising.

The weather

Occasional sunshine with some rain showers in the West. A stormy wind. And highs between 24 and 33 degrees, but cooler temperatures - around 18 - in Vorarlberg, eastern Tyrol and Styria.

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