21.01.2016

News in English

Putin ´probably` approved ex-spy killing / Austria to cap refugee numbers / Social media appeal to end Syrian conflict / Day of mourning in Pakistan / Astronomers seek ninth planet / The weather

8. April 2017, 21:58

21.01.2016

Putin ´probably` approved ex-spy killing

An official British inquiry into the murder of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 has found that President Vladimir Putin probably approved a Russian intelligence operation to kill him. Litvinenko, an outspoken Kremlin critic who fled Russia, died after drinking tea containing the rare radioactive isotope polonium-210. On his deathbed Litvinenko told detectives that Putin had directly ordered his killing. The Kremlin has always denied any involvement. Litvinenko´s widow, Marina, is calling on the British government to take action: "I am calling immediately for the exclusion from the UK of all Russian intelligence operatives, whether from the FSB who murdered Sasha, or from other Russian agencies. I am also calling for the imposition of targeted economic sanctions and travel bans."

Austria to cap refugee numbers

Chancellor Angela Merkel says Austria´s decision to cap the number of refugees entering the country is not helpful to German efforts to negotiate a Europe-wide solution to the migration crisis. Merkel was speaking at a meeting of her conservative allies in Bavaria, which serves as the entry point for virtually all migrants heading to Germany via Austria. Senior Austrian officials agreed on Wednesday to tighter border controls and limit the number of asylum applications to 37,500 this year.

Social media appeal to end Syrian conflict

More than 100 humanitarian organisations and agencies have invited the public to join an appeal on social media calling for an end to the civil war in Syria, which has claimed over a quarter of a million lives. They include the United Nations, the Red Cross, Save the Children and Oxfam. The move comes as a new round of peace talks is due to get underway on Monday.

Day of mourning in Pakistan

Pakistan is observing a day of nationwide mourning after Islamist militants stormed a university on Wednesday, gunning down students and teachers before they themselves were killed. Twenty-one people died in the attack at Bacha Khan University in north western Pakistan. One Pakistani Taliban commander said the group carried out the assault, but its main spokesman has denied this.

Astronomers seek ninth planet

Astronomers in the United States say they have strong evidence that there is a ninth planet in the Solar System. The team from the California Institute of Technology has no direct observations to confirm its presence just yet. Their calculations suggest the object orbits 20 times farther from the Sun than does the eighth - and currently outermost - planet, Neptune.