News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

EU to hold refugee summit with Turkey

European Union officials say a special summit with Turkey on the refugee and migrant crisis will be held in early March. Speaking during talks among EU leaders in Brussels, EU Council President Donald Tusk said a joint action plan would be a priority and stressed the need for more unity on the issue within the EU. Meanwhile, Austria has introduced a daily limit on people coming over its southern border in spite of warnings from the EU Commission that the move contravenes international law. William Spindler is a spokesman for the UN's refugee agency the UNHCR: "we are very sympathetic to the situation of Austria. But the fact is that the system in Europe at the moment is dysfunctional and as a result some countries have started to take unilateral decisions and this is not going to address the problems faced but only shift them to other countries."

EU-UK negotiations continue

Talks on the UK's future membership of the EU have resumed in Brussels with British Prime Minister David Cameron facing some tough negotiations over his demands for changes in the UK's relationship with the EU. The British leader is pushing for a deal that will let him encourage British voters to approve continued EU membership in a referendum which could be held as early as June. Going into the second round of talks, Cameron said some progress had been made: "I was here until five o'clock this morning working through this and we've made some progress but there's still no deal and as I've said I'll only do a deal if we get what Britain needs."

US and Russia holds talks on Syria

US and Russian military officials have held talks in Geneva ahead of a wider UN meeting which is aimed at trying to bring about a cessation of hostilities in Syria. In another development, the UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has been quoted as saying that peace talks will not resume in Geneva on February 25th, but that he hopes they will take place soon.

Air strikes in Libya

It's being reported that warplanes targeting Islamic State militants have carried out airstrikes in western Libya near the Tunisian border, killing at least 30 people. The New York Times says they were US aircraft. Recent reports say top commanders from IS and many fighters have moved to Libya from Iraq and Syria.

19 killed in attacks in Cameroon

Reports coming out Cameroon say at least 19 people have been killed and dozens injured in a double suicide attack in the north of the country. Local officials say the blasts happened at a market. It's the latest in a string of deadly attacks in a region where the militant group Boko Haram is known to be active.

The weather

Cloudy with some occasional rain or snow showers. A lively wind. Highs ranging between zero and 9 degrees.

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