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8. April 2017, 21:58

Russia launches airstrikes in Syria

Russia says it has carried out a new wave of air strikes in Syria, hitting 12 Islamic State targets in the provinces of Idlib, Hama and Aleppo. The defence ministry in Moscow says IS command posts and a communications center were destroyed.

Russian strategy in Syria under discussion

French president Francois Hollande and German chancellor Angela Merkel are holding separate bilateral talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Paris today, over concerns Russia earlier targeted moderate Syrian rebels the West supports, and who are opposed to Russia’s ally, president Bashar Assad. The leaders are expected to discuss possible areas of cooperation and Russia’s long term strategic goals in Syria.

Ukraine summit in Paris

President Putin is in Paris for a summit with the French and German leaders and Ukrainian president Petro Poroschenko to discuss how to end the conflict in east Ukraine. The ceasefire between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces agreed in February is largely holding at the moment.

Mass shooting in US, again

United States president Barack Obama has again called for stricter gun controls after another mass shooting. In the latest incident, a gunman killed nine people and wounded seven on a college campus in Oregon before police shot him dead. Obama said the nation has become numb to the reality of mass shootings: “We’ve become numb to this. This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America.” Reports from survivors say the gunman told students to state their religion before he opened fire.

Fighting continues in Kunduz

Fighting continues in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, where the army says it is clearing out remnants of Taliban fighters who seized Kunduz on Monday. The human rights group Amnesty International says Taliban militants committed horrific crimes against civilians during their three day occupation of the city.

US military plane downed in Afghanistan

A United States military transport plane has crashed at Jalalabad airport in Afghanistan, killing six crew members and five civilians. The US military has dismissed claims from the Taliban that they shot down the plane.

India submits climate plan

India has made a formal commitment to cut the intensity of its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 35% by 2030 from 2005 levels, ahead of the world climate summit in Paris in December. India is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the last major economy to submit a climate plan to the UN.

The weather

Sunny over most of the country, some cloud in the south. Top temperatures 10 to 24 degrees in föhn wind areas.

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