Tag: Six In The Morning

Migrant crisis: Austria and Germany await more arrivals

 



Austria and Germany are expecting thousands more migrants to arrive from Hungary after Budapest eased restrictions on their travel.

Throughout Saturday, by bus, train and on foot, people travelled to the Austrian border before moving on to Vienna and Munich.

Austrian officials are laying on more trains as needed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to hold talks with her coalition partners on a crisis that has divided the EU.

After days of confrontation and chaos, Hungary opened its borders with Austria and bussed thousands of migrants to the frontier.

Up to 10,000 arrived at the border, according to the Austrian authorities, who have said they do not plan to limit the numbers crossing into the country.

Bangkok bomb: Thai police charge man ‘linked to Erawan blast’

 

BBC

Police in Bangkok have charged a man in connection with the bomb attack that killed 20 people in the Thai capital nearly two weeks ago.

Officers say the suspect, who was charged with illegal possession of weapons, was involved in the attack.

However, they say he is not the man seen on CCTV footage leaving a bag at the Erawan Shrine before the explosion.

The bomb tore through the crowded shrine on 17 August, injuring more than 100, mostly tourists.

The man, who was described as a 28-year-old foreigner by police, was arrested in Nong Jok on the outskirts of Bangkok on Saturday.

Migrants crisis: More than 2,000 people rescued near Libya coast

 



More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have been rescued from boats off the coast of Libya in one of the biggest single-day operations mounted, Italy’s coastguards have said.

Distress calls came from more than 20 vessels, AFP reported.

More than 2,000 people have died this year in attempts to reach Europe in overcrowded, unseaworthy boats.

The route from Libya to Italy is one of the busiest for those trying to enter Europe.

Of the 264,500 migrants the United Nations says have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, close to 104,000 have landed in Italy. Another 160,000 arrived in Greece.

Two Italian navy ships were involved in Saturday’s rescue effort. Responding to two wooden boats in danger of sinking, the Cigala Fulgosi picked up 507 people and the Vega 432, the navy said.

Fears for missing firefighters as China toll climbs

  Nearly 100 people missing from Tianjin blasts, including 85 firefighters, officials say, as death toll rises to 112.

16 Aug 2015 05:54 GMT

Scores of Chinese firefighters are still missing following the massive explosions that hit an industrial area in Tianjin, officials have said.

At an official press conference on Sunday, authorities announced that the death toll had risen to 112, but added that 95 people had been confirmed missing – including 85 firefighters.

Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Tianjin, a port city in the country’s northeast, said it was now possible that the death toll will climb past 200, “making it one of China’s worst industrial accidents”.

Iraq PM bids to end vice president and deputy PM roles

  Haider al-Abbadi proposes decree cancelling the roles as he also announces reforms to tackle corruption and cut costs.

09 Aug 2015 07:23 GMT

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi has issued a decree proposing the cancellation of the country’s vice president positions and deputy PM role.

A statement on Sunday on the PM’s Facebook page said that Abbadi will also investigate corruption, reappoint all senior officials based on professional rather than sectarian standards, and reduce the number of security personnel protecting senior officials in order to cut down on waste.

Abbadi held a meeting on Friday evening with a number of experts and advisers to discuss the administrative and financial reforms in his new bid to tackle corruption in the country.

Turkish troops killed in ‘Kurdish PKK suicide blast’

 

BBC

Two Turkish security troops have been killed and 31 wounded in a suicide attack by Kurdish PKK militants, the regional governor’s office says.

A tractor laden with explosives was driven at a military police station, reports by Turkish media say.

The attack happened early on Sunday near the town of Dogubayezit in Agri province, near the border with Iran.

Since 24 July, Turkey has carried out hundreds of air raids on PKK bases on both sides of the Iraq-Turkey border.

The Turkish state news agency, Anadolu, said that the tractor was carrying two tons of explosives that were detonated by a suicide bomber.

 Obama speech on shared values to conclude Kenya visit

 

BBC

US President Barack Obama is to conclude his visit to Kenya with a televised address at a sports stadium in the capital, Nairobi.

The BBC’s Karen Allen in Nairobi says he is expected to underscore the shared values of the two countries but also touch on human rights.

On Saturday, President Obama discussed security issues with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Later on Sunday, President Obama will fly on to Ethiopia.

The Kasarani stadium, where the US leader will make his speech, was last year used as a controversial detention camp for hundreds of Somalis during an operation against the Islamist group al-Shabab.

  Explosions hit cars of Hamas officials in Gaza City

  Palestinian security sources say two people injured in blasts targeting officials of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

19 Jul 2015 08:36 GMT

Two people have been injured in multiple car explosions in northern Gaza City, Palestinian security sources said.

The sources said six explosions took place at same time on Sunday morning in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.

The cars belonged to officials of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.

Interior ministry spokesman Iyad al-Buzom released a brief statement in which he accused “vandals” seeking to destabilise Gaza of carrying out the explosions.

He said security officials started an investigation and would pursue the criminals.

  World entering era of global food insecurity with malnutrition and obesity side by side within countries, says leading food expert

  Exclusive: A British team is to examine how factors such as climate change will distort global diets and health

STEVE CONNOR   SCIENCE EDITOR  Sunday 12 July 2015

The world is entering an era of global food insecurity which is already leading to the “double burden” of both obesity and malnutrition occurring side by side within countries and even within the same families, a leading food expert has warned.

It will become increasingly common to see obese parents in some developing countries raising underweight and stunted children because high-calorie food is cheaper and more readily available than the nutritious food needed for healthy growth, said Alan Dangour of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

  Angela’s Ashes: How Merkel Failed Greece and Europe

   Angela Merkel relishes her reputation as queen of Europe. But she hasn’t learned how to use her power, instead allowing a bad situation to heat up to the boiling point. Her inability to take unpopular stances badly exacerbated the Greek crisis.

By Peter Müller and René Pfister

Angela Merkel was already leaving for the weekend when she received the call that would change everything. The chancellor had just had a grueling day, spending all of it in meetings with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras — sometimes as part of a larger group, and others with only him and French President François Hollande.

They discussed debt restructuring and billions of euros in additional investments. When it comes to issues important to him, Tsipras can be exhaustingly stubborn. In the end, though, Merkel was left with the feeling the EU summit was the milestone that could quite possibly mark a turn for the better.