News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

RAF bombers target IS in Syria

The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed that RAF Tornados have launched their first airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State group in Syria, just an hour after MPs voted overwhelmingly for military action. The aircraft took off from the Akrotiri base in Cyprus. Britain´s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon says they hit oilfields in eastern Syria - a key infrastructure target: "We are going to go after their command and control, yes. We are going to go after their logistics, yes, their supply routes between Rakka and Iraq, but also their key sources of revenue like the oilfields that I authorised the RAF to attack last night."

Putin pledges more action against Turkey

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a broad international front against terrorism. Speaking in his annual state-of-the-nation address, he accused Turkey of buying oil from the Islamic State group. He also described Turkey's downing of a Russian jet on the border with Syria as a quote "treacherous war crime" and said Russia will take further retaliatory steps. The Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu today accused Russia of Soviet-era propaganda.

14 killed in US mass shooting

Police in the US state of California have identified a couple suspected of killing 14 people in a mass shooting in San Bernardino. Seventeen others were wounded. US citizen Syed Farook, who was 28, and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik are thought to have been married or engaged and had a six-month-old baby. They opened fire with assault-style weapons at a Christmas event at a centre for people with disabilities and died in a shootout with police. Farook was a San Bernardino County employee who reportedly attended the party, stormed out and later returned. The motive for the shootings remains unclear, but police have not ruled out terrorism.

IAEA wraps up Iran investigation

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran had done work related to developing nuclear arms in the past, but it was restricted to "feasibility and scientific studies" which stopped short of the advanced development of such weapons. The IAEA report wraps up nearly 10 years of investigations and opens the way to implementing a landmark deal aimed at reducing any future nuclear threat from Tehran.

Oscar Pistorius found guilty of murder

The South African Supreme Court has found the athlete Oscar Pistorius guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, overturning the previous manslaughter conviction after an appeal by prosecutors. Steenkamp was shot through a locked bathroom door on Valentine´s Day 2013. Pistorius had claimed he mistook her for an intruder.

The weather

Plenty of sunshine in the mountains and it should brighten up in the east. Top temperatures from 3 to 15.

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