12.02.2016

News in English

Plan for „cessation of hostilities” in Syria / EU warns Greece over border checks / S Korea cuts supplies to Kaesong complex / 49 dead in Mexico prison battle / Pope and Patriarch in historic talks / Einstein´s gravitational waves detected by scientists / The weather

8. April 2017, 21:58

12.02.2016

Plan for „cessation of hostilities” in Syria

Foreign ministers from the International Syria Support Group have agreed a plan to try to implement a temporary "cessation of hostilities" in the coming week. The announcement followed marathon talks in Munich involving the United States, Russia and over a dozen other nations. The move, described by the US Secretary of State John Kerry as a pause in the conflict, is designed to allow for humanitarian aid to reach besieged areas: "We believe we have made progress on both the humanitarian front and the cessation of hostilities front, and these two fronts - this progress - has the potential, fully followed through on, to be able to change the daily lives of the Syrian people." The so-called Islamic State, the al Nusra Front and other terror groups will not be involved in the truce - and Russia has said it will be continuing its bombing campaign against them.

EU warns Greece over border checks

The European Union has formally called on Greece to significantly tighten border checks in its part of the passport-free Schengen Area. Unless Greece implements 50 recommendations in the next three months it could trigger an unprecedented activation of rules allowing member states to re-impose controls on internal Schengen frontiers for up to two years.

S Korea cuts supplies to Kaesong complex

South Korea has cut off power and water supplies to the Kaesong industrial park, its joint venture with North Korea. The South shut down its operations there on Thursday in protest at the North´s recent nuclear and rocket tests. North Korea responded by expelling the 280 South Korean employees and putting the complex under military control.

49 dead in Mexico prison battle

A battle between rival groups at a prison near Monterrey in northern Mexico has reportedly left 49 inmates dead. Officials say the situation is under control and no prisoners escaped from the Topo Chico jail.

Pope and Patriarch in historic talks

The Pope is meeting today with the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill. It´s the first meeting between the primates of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox faiths since the Christian church split into West and East in the 11th Century. The talks are taking place at Havana airport in Cuba and are seen as an historic step to heal the 1,000-year schism. The meeting comes amid a sense of a common threat against Christian communities, especially in the Middle East.

Einstein´s gravitational waves detected

Scientists in the United States have announced the discovery of ripples in space and time known as gravitational waves, in a breakthrough that could revolutionise astronomy. Their existence was first predicted by Albert Einstein in his Theory of Relativity a century ago but has never been proven - until now.