News in English

8. April 2017, 21:58

Colombia to sign new Farc peace deal

The Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has announced that the government will sign a new peace accord with Farc rebels on Thursday, after a previous deal was rejected in a referendum last month. Santos says the new, revised agreement will be submitted to Congress for approval, rather than put to a popular vote: "Lives have been lost and many more are at stake. We could not forgive ourselves for not having acted promptly and firmly to correct this situation. We have to act and there is no time to lose." The deal is aimed at ending more than 50 years of armed conflict.

Friends of Syria group to meet in Paris

The French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says he will convene a meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Paris in the coming days to discuss the ongoing bloodshed. He also says he will push for a United Nations Security Council resolution to sanction the Syrian government over its use of chemical weapons. Ayrault accused the Syrian regime and its allies of taking advantage of uncertainty in the United States to launch what he described as a "total war" strategy against rebel-held areas in the country.

MEPs set to vote on Turkey´s EU accession talks

The leaders of the two largest parties in the European Parliament, the People´s Party and the Socialist group, have called on the EU to freeze membership talks with Turkey. MEPs are scheduled to hold a non-binding vote this week on whether Turkey´s accession talks should be suspended over the government's unprecedented crackdown following the failed military coup in July. The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the vote is quote of "no value" to his country.

Trump condemns “alt right” extremist group

The US president-elect Donald Trump has condemned a far right extremist group that celebrated his election win with Nazi-style salutes. He was asked about the so-called "alt right" group in a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, in which he also appeared to revise some of his campaign pledges. Trump said Hillary Clinton would not be prosecuted for her use of a private email server and he seemed to be re-examining his stance on climate change.

Lufthansa strike affects hundreds of flights

Germany's national airline, Lufthansa, says it's been forced to cancel almost 900 flights after its pilots launched a two-day strike in a dispute over pay. The pilots' union, Cockpit, has organised 14 strikes at Lufthansa since April 2014. This latest industrial action could affect as many as 100,000 international passengers.

Tensions in Kashmir continue to rise

Officials in Pakistan say at least nine people were killed when cross-border shelling from India hit a passenger bus in the disputed Kashmir region. Hours earlier India vowed to avenge the killing of three soldiers, one of whose bodies it said had been mutilated. Tensions have risen since militants killed 19 Indian troops in September.

South Korea and Japan to share intelligence

South Korea and Japan have signed an intelligence-sharing agreement, amid growing concerns over North Korea´s nuclear weapons programme. The two countries had previously exchanged military intelligence via the United States.

The Weather

Some persistent fog in the north and east, elsewhere a mix of sunshine and cloud. Top temperatures from 5 to 19.

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