News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Iranian leader to visit Europe

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will visit Italy and France next week. This comes after the international community lifted sanctions on Iran following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency which said Tehran was scaling down its nuclear program under the terms of an agreement reached last summer in Vienna. US President Barack Obama has issued a statement to the people of Iran saying it is time to end the country’s isolation: “Following the nuclear deal, you, especially young Iranians, have the opportunity to begin building new ties with the world. We have a rare chance to pursue a new path, a different, better future that delivers progress for both our peoples and the wider world.”

Oxfam cites wealth disparity

The international charity Oxfam says the world’s wealthiest 62 people now own as much as half of the planet’s population of 3.5 billion people. Oxfam issued the figure ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Syrian shells lands in Turkey

A mortar shell fired from Syria has landed inside southeastern Turkey. The shell hit a school in the town of Kilis, wounding several people. The mortar was fired from a part of Syria controlled by Islamic State militants.

Americans missing in Iraq

Iraqi security forces are searching for three U.S. citizens who are thought to have been kidnapped along with their Iraqi interpreter. The Americans had been working in Iraqi as contractors. In recent years Baghdad has seen the rise of armed gangs who carry out contract killings, kidnappings and extortion.

UK plans language courses for Muslim women

British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling for action to tackle the segregation of Muslim women who can’t speak English. He has announced a program to help them learn the language which will also be a requirement for staying in the UK. He says it is aimed at creating a more cohesive society and to combat extremism: “You can’t have a country of opportunity if some people can’t speak the language. In many cases it’s no fault of their own because they’ve been put into a situation where they’ve been encouraged not to integrate, not to go out, not to learn the language…and that’s not good enough.”

Britain debates banning Trump

Staying in Britain, parliament today is debating a motion to ban US presidential candidate Donald trump from visiting the UK after Trump said Muslims should be banned from entering the United States. Tulip Siddiq is a Muslim and Labour MP: “I don’t want him in my country; he clearly doesn’t want me in his country. That’s why I don’t think we should be allowing Donald Trump to come into our country and spread some of his poisonous rhetoric.”

60 rescued in New Zealand

All 60 people on board a tourist boat off the coast of New Zealand have been rescued after the boat caught fire. The coast guard managed reach the scene quickly to carry out the rescue. The incident happened off of New Zealand’s north coast near a volcanic island which is popular with tourists.

The weather

The afternoon will be mostly sunny across the country with highs ranging from minus 8 to plus 2 degrees.

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