News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Italian State of Emergency in Quake Zone

Italy has declared a state of emergency in areas worst hit by Wednesday’s earthquake. Tremors and aftershocks continue to be felt in the region in central Italy. The death toll now stands at 267, while over 400 people are in the hospital with injuries sustained in the quake. Lorenzo Botti is a member of search and rescue team: “The chances of finding people alive in these conditions, well, it’s challenging. We are working against the clock trying to find people still alive.”

More Turkish Tanks Enter Syria

A bomb attack on a police station in southeastern Turkey has killed 11 people and wounded 78 others. Turkish officials are blaming the bombing on the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The attack comes as Turkey is sending more tanks into Syria to attack both Islamic State fighters as well as Syrian Kurdish militias. It is thought Turkey is trying to establish a buffer zone along the border to prevent militants from entering Turkey from Syria.

Russian-American Talks on Syria

In a related story, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are meeting today in Geneva to discuss the civil war in Syria. They are expected to discuss efforts to re-start peace talks and also to coordinate American and Russian air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. Meanwhile, the outgoing United Nations humanitarian envoy to Syria, Yacoub el Hillo, says the international community has failed the people of Syria: “Syria has been thrown back 40 years and Syria is a mess today: infrastructure destroyed, half the population displaced, two million children not in school, 4.8 million refugees. It should not have happened.”

Hungary to Build Second Border Fence

Hungary is planning to build a second fence along its southern border with Serbia. Last year Hungary built fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says a second fence is needed in case Turkey backs out of its pledge to prevent refugees from reaching the European Union. 400,000 people passed through Hungary last year on their way to Western Europe.

Police and Protesters Clash in Zimbabwe

Police in Zimbabwe have used tear gas to break up an anti-government rally in the capital Harare. Opposition parties claim that the country’s national election commission is implementing voting procedures which favour President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party. The opposition also are demanding that the United Nations and other international observers monitor the country’s next general election in 2018.

Immigration Fuels German Population Growth

The German statistics office in Wiesbaden says the population of Germany grew my almost a million people last year to 82 million people, mainly because of immigration. It was the largest one-year increase since the period just after German reunification in 1990.

The weather

The weather this afternoon will remain mostly sunny with windy conditions in the east. High temperatures today will range from 24 to 33 degrees.

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