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8. April 2017, 21:58

Turkey arrests nightclub attacker

Turkish police have captured the gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day. He´s been named as Uzbek national Abdulgadir Masharipov and was detained in a suburb of Istanbul, with four other people. He reportedly received training in Afghanistan and has confessed to carrying out the attack. The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.

MH370 search called off

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been called off, nearly three years after the plane disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. Crews from Malaysia, Australia and China have been scouring a 120,000-sq-km area of the Indian Ocean to the west of Australia. The search operation has cost $145 million.

Theresa May to set out Brexit strategy

The British Prime Minister Theresa May gives a long-awaited speech today setting out her strategy for the country´s exit from the European Union. She´s expected to signal that she wants a full break. That´s likely to mean Britain leaving the European single market in return for full control of its borders and laws. Tim Farron is the leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats: "I think the prime minister must not wave the white flag and give up on our membership of the single market. If she cares about Britain´s future, if she´s going to fight for Britain and fight our corner, then she needs to be fighting for Britain to be in the single market even if we leave the European Union."

MEPs elect new parliament president

The European Parliament in Strasbourg is voting for a new president to replace Germany´s centre-left Martin Schulz, who is returning to domestic politics. The Italian conservative Antonio Tajani leads after the first ballot. The European liberal alliance earlier withdrew its candidate and backed Tajani, the centre-right favourite.

German court refuses to ban the NDP

The Supreme Court in Germany has rejected an application by the 16 federal states to outlaw the far-right National Democratic Party, ruling that its aims violated the constitution but it was too weak to pose a threat. The NDP has been described by the German intelligence agency as racist and anti-Semitic.

World Economic Forum begins in Davos

The World Economic Forum gets underway today in the Swiss resort of Davos. Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president to attend the annual meeting, told political and business leaders that economic globalisation has become a "Pandora's Box" for many, but global problems are not caused by it. Speaking during the opening ceremony, Xi said that international financial crises were caused by the excessive pursuit of profits and not globalisation.

The weather

Light snowfall along the north of the Alps, with a mix of cloud and sunshine elsewhere. Top temperatures from minus 8 to plus 1.

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