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8. April 2017, 21:58

Nearly 100 die in Indonesian earthquake

Indonesia´s disaster agency says an undersea earthquake off the northern Aceh province has killed at least 93 people. Hundreds of others were injured, many of them seriously. The magnitude 6.5 quake struck just off the north-east coast of Sumatra, where dozens of buildings have collapsed and many people are feared trapped under rubble. A state of emergency has been declared. Aceh was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in December 2004.

Syrian army retakes Aleppo´s old city

Syrian rebels in besieged eastern Aleppo have called for an immediate five-day ceasefire and negotiations about the future of the city, as well as civilian evacuations. The Aleppo Leadership Council has also requested the evacuation of around 500 critical medical cases under United Nations supervision. The Syrian military now holds more than two-thirds of eastern Aleppo and has just retaken the historic old city, which had been in rebel hands for four years.

UN complains of Yemen indifference

The United Nations has accused the world of indifference to the suffering caused by the conflict in Yemen. More than 21 months of fighting has left 18 million people in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance and the country is said to be only months away from widespread starvation. Jamie McGoldrick is the UN´s Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen: "This is a crisis that we just don´t recognise and it´ll come back to haunt us because the consequences of our indifference, the consequences of what we´re not doing here, will play back at us. At the same time we are sort of trying to grasp sand because we can´t deal with what´s going on here. The numbers are so massive. The pressures are so great and the resources are so little."

Merkel makes case for fourth term

Angela Merkel has laid out her case for a fourth term as German Chancellor, presenting herself as a guarantor of stability. In an address to members of her conservative CDU, Merkel also said the wearing of full-face veils should be prohibited in Germany, where legally possible.

Italy´s Senate begins budget debate

The Italian Senate today begins debating the 2017 budget, the passage of which will trigger the formal resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. He announced he was stepping down after suffering a major defeat in a referendum on constitutional reforms. President Sergio Mattarella asked Renzi to stay on until the budget law is passed.

Trump says new Airforce One is too expensive

The US president-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to scrap plans for a new Air Force One, calling the expenditure out of control. He claimed the cost of converting two 747 jumbo jets into a state-of-the-art command centre has exceeded $4bn.

The weather

Mostly sunny but some persistent mist or fog. Top temperatures from minus 2 to plus 5.

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