News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Slovenia seeks EU help with refugee influx

Authorities in Slovenia say that over 12,600 more refugees have arrived in the country in the past 24 hours. The European Union Commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, is in Ljubljana today for talks, after Slovenia asked the EU for help to cope with the inflow of refugees and migrants.

Extra personnel sent to Austrian border

Austrian police at the Spielfeld border crossing from Slovenia this morning removed barriers meant to contain newly arrived refugees, saying they needed to relieve growing pressure due to overcrowding that could lead to violence. The Red Cross says hundreds of the new arrivals spent the night in the open at Spielfeld because of a shortage of emergency shelter. The interior ministry says extra personnel have been sent to the border crossing.

UN warns Lesbos “overwhelmed”

The United Nations refugee agency has warned that facilities meant to receive refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos are being overwhelmed. Roberto Mignone from the UNHCR says the number of arrivals is increasing: “At the moment the arrivals are even higher than in September. In the last days we have had an average of 7,000.”

Kerry meets Netanyahu on growing violence

United States secretary of state John Kerry is holding talks in Berlin with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of efforts to try to end a month-long spate of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Ten Israelis have been killed over the last month, and 47 Palestinians, 26 of them identified by Israel as attackers, the others killed in clashes with Israeli forces.

School attack in Sweden

Officials in Sweden say a teacher has been killed and at least four students wounded at a school in an attack carried by a masked man armed with a sword. Police shot and wounded the attacker in the western city of Trollhattan.

Famine warning for South Sudan

The United Nations has warned that tens of thousands of people are facing starvation in South Sudan. It says harvests have been disrupted by nearly two years of conflict.

Mexico arrests in Guzman escape

In Mexico six people have been arrested in connection with the escape from prison of drug baron Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in July. The authorities say the alleged mastermind of the operation is a member of Guzman’s legal team who had access to the maximum security prison where he was held.

South Africa students protest

In South Africa, student protests against a planned increase in student fees are expected to close all universities today. Police clashed with hundreds of students yesterday as they tried to storm parliament.

The weather

Mainly cloudy in the east. Partly sunny elsewhere with rain in the far west toward evening. Top temperatures 6 to 14 degrees.

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