Hello, I’m Joe Macintosh with the BBC news.
The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced his resignation and called for fresh elections in the live televised address, he said his government had fought hard to secure a new international bailout for Greece, and it was now time for the nation to pass judgment on the deal. “ You, with your vote, will decide if this agreement we achieved is enough for the dead-end we have reached to be overcome, for the economy to rebound and for us to finally extricate ourselves from bailouts and austerity.” Mr. Tsipras has faced strong opposition within his left wing Syriza Party after agreeing to introduce tough austerity measures in exchange for ninety-five billion dollar package. But Y.P. from the Greek newspaper P. says he’s still quite popular. “People still give him the benefit to the thousand of the course. They haven’t yet felt the sting of the new measures that the government has been made to pass in order to get acceptance of the third bailout.”
The France far-right National Front Party has expelled its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. His expulsion is the combination of an increasingly bitter a family feud involving Mr. Le Pen and his daughter Marie who became the party leader 4 years ago. A.H. has more.
When Marie Le Pen took over as leader in 2011, she set out to broaden the party’s appeal and move it to the political mainstream. That meant distancing herself from her father and his reputation for racist and anti-Semitic outburst. In April, he repeated comments that had shocked France in 1987, describing the gas chambers as a mere detail of history. He also recently said France should get along with Russia to save the white world. This was the final straw for Marie Le Pen who said he was hell bend on committing on political suicide.
Israeli military is reported to have struck targets in Syria after a barrage of rockets was fired into northeastern Israel. Helen Johnston reports.
When Israeli went into action, they struck with both artillery fire and their airforce. It’s not yet known what they hit. Israelis were responding to what they said was the launching with the 4 rockets from Syria territory which landed without causing casualties. Israeli army said the Islamic Jihad militant group had carried out the attack and they accused it of being directed by Iran. They also say they regarded the Syria government as being responsible for the rocket fire.
Masked gunman in Egypt have kidnapped 4 members of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. The men were on a bus traveling from Ruffer on the Egypt-Gaza border to Cairo. Relations between Hamas and Egypt have been strained since the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power 2 years ago.
This is the world news from the BBC.
Britain will reopen its embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran this weekend, 4 years it was ransacked by protesters. The British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will attend the opening, the first such high level visit for 12 year. Iran will reopen its embassy in London in the coming days.
Columbia’s largest rebel group, the FARC, has agreed to extend its unilateral ceasefire which was due to expire today. A FARC spokesman said the announcement was aimed at creating the right political climate for the ongoing peace negotiations with the Columbia government. Last month, the government agreed to suspend bombing raids on rebel camps, but it continues to oppose a bilateral ceasefire.
Police in Denmark say they are hunting two thieves who walked out of the Copenhagen Museum with the renowned work of art without anybody noticing. The theft for bust by the sculptor Auguste Rodin thought to be worth three hundred thousand dollars happened more than a month ago but footage of the audacious operation has just been released. John M. reports.
“CCTV in Copenhagen’s footage shows two men dressed as tourists walking into the museum’s Rodin room, removing the bust from its plane and causally walking out. The whole operation served just twelve minutes. The bust, known as ‘the man with the broken nose’, is part of a collection of the French artists’ works that the museum says is unique outside of France. Danish police say they believe the thieves visited the museum a week before the theft in order to loosen the sculpture from its base and disable the alarm.”
Seventeen people including six police officers have been injured in a raid at a refugee center in central Germany. Violence broke out when twenty asylum seekers attacked an Afghan man they suspected of ripping pages from the Koran and throwing them into a toilet. When the security forces at the shelter in the town of S. intervened, they were also attacked.