News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Austria plans fence near Spielfeld

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says a proposed 25 kilometer-long fence will not be built on the border with Slovenia, but that preparations will be made so that it can be built within 48 hours if necessary. Mikl-Leitner today said a range of measures had been agreed on with Slovenia regarding refugees, including the construction of a four kilometers-long fence near the town of Spielfeld where most of the migrants cross into Austria. Meanwhile, Slovenia has started erecting a razor-wire fence along its southern border to better regulate the flow of refugees, but the fence has been condemned by neighboring Croatia.

Suspected hate crime in Germany

In Germany, three teenagers are being investigated for a hate crime. Police say the three attacked a pregnant woman from Somalia in the town of Bad Belzig, 100 kilometers southwest of Berlin.

“Jihad John” reportedly killed

A US drone has killed four militants from Islamic State in the Syrian town of Raqqa. One of those killed is thought to be Mohammed Emwazi, the British radical known as Jihad John. British Prime Minister David Cameron: “Emwazi was shown in those sickening videos beheading British aid workers. He was ISIL’s lead executioner. And let us never forget, that he killed many, many Muslims, too. So this was an act of self-defence. It was the right thing to do.”

Kurdish drive against ISIS

Iraqi Kurdish forces have captured facilities from Islamic State fighters in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. It is part of an offensive by Peshmerga troops to take back territory from ISIS. Meanwhile, the Iraqi army says it has started clearing Islamic State militants from the western city of Ramadi. The city fell to the militants in May of this year. Staying in Iraq, a suicide bomb attack on a funeral procession in Baghdad has killed at least 18 people. More than 40 others were wounded in the bombing.

ISIS says it carried out bombings in Beirut

Lebanon’s president, Tammam Salam, has held an emergency meeting with the leaders of the military and intelligence agencies. This follows bomb attacks yesterday in Beirut in which 44 people were killed. The Islamic State has said it was responsible for the violence.

Calls for calm in Burundi

The European Union and the United States are calling on the government and the opposition to open talks to discuss their political differences. There are fears that recent violence in the country could lead to an all-out civil war.

NLD secures majority in Myanmar parliament

The latest results from last weekend’s general election in Myanmar show the opposition National League for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi has secured a majority of seats in parliament. This means that the NLD will be able to form a government and appoint a new president, but Burmese journalist Thiu Mei Lin says the military will continue to play a major role in politics: “There is still the unelected 25 percent of military appointees in the parliament. And the military will still hold three very powerful and important ministries: ministry of defence, ministry of home affairs and ministry of foreign affairs.”

The weather

Mostly sunny and mild with highs from 8 to 13 degrees.

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