Hello, I'm Justin Grain with?the?BBC News.
The French Prime Minister has warned that European society could be totally destabilized if it tried to take in every refugee who arrived on the continent. In a BBC interview, Manuel Valls said the migration crisis was putting the entire future of the European Union in real danger.
“It could disappear. Of course, the European Project is not Europe itself, not our values, but the concept we have of Europe, the concept the founding fathers had. Yes, that is in very grave danger. That's why you need border guards, controls on the external borders of the European Union.”
He described the German Chancellor Angela Merkel as courageous for her open-door policy on migrants. Mr. Valls said it risked provoking major shifts in population.
President Obama has praised Mrs.Merkel for her leadership in the refugee crisis. In a phone call, Mr. Obama also asked her to back his plans for Migrant Summit at the UN later this year.The German and Turkish governments are due to hold a joint cabinet meeting on the crisis in Berlin later today. Jane Hill?reports.
“Angela Merkel is under pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers in Germany. Many of them traveled by Turkey. Europe's leaders have urged Ankara to strengthen its border. In return, they've promised money and concessions. But there is a degree of impatience in Berlin. Some fear the Turkish government isn’t doing enough to tackle the criminals who smuggle people across the country's coastline and into the EU”
The Internal Security Ministry in Somalia says 20 people have been killed in an attack by Islamist militants on restaurants on the beachfront in the capital Mogadishu. More than 20 others have been injured. Two car bombs exploded in the early evening. And as many as five gunmen approached from the beach and opened fire on diners. This man was at one of the restaurants when it happened.
“I was there for about 30 minutes spending time with my friends when we saw bullets raining on us. We started running towards the door. But before I reached there,we heard a loud explosion. I saw some people jumping from the second floor.Bullets were flying all over the place. And there was another explosion.”
At least nine people, including six policemen, have been killed by a bomb during a raid on a militant hideout in the Egyptian capital Cairo. More than 13 others were injured including the local police chief. Security sources said the blast went off as a team of officers raided an apartment in the neighborhood near the Pyramids.
Millions of people along the east coast of the United States have been warned to prepare for what forecasters have described as a potentially crippling winter storm which could bring up to two feet of snow.Washington DC is one of the are as expected to be worst hit. Thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed.
World news from BBC.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of a major dam in Iraq. Mosul Dam, which was inaugurated in 1984, is falling into disrepair. The US State Department has warned that if it collapses, the mounting flood could hit cities including Tikrit, Samarra and Mosul.
A prisoner, who spent 14 years at Guantanamo Bay, has decided to pass up the offer of freedom. Mahammed Bwazir, who's from Yemen, rejected the chance to leave the US base in Cuba to go and live in an unnamed new country. He's not allowed to return to Yemen. And he said he would only leave for a place where he already had family.
For the first time since the return of democracy to Spain 40 years ago, the King will today chair coalition talks between the country's main political parties. Last month election was inconclusive. This report from Piers Gofield.
“King Felipe would like to propose a candidate for Prime Minister on Friday. But hopes of a swift resolution to Spain's political deadlock look slim. The outgoing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won the most seats in elections.But his conservative Popular Party failed to win an outright majority. Mr. Rajoy has called on the main opposition Socialists to join him in a grand coalition.They rejected that, but have problems of their own. So the most likely scenario remains fresh elections.”
The President of Haiti Michel Martelly has said that a runoff vote to choose a successor will go ahead on Sunday as planned despite street protest against vote rigging in the first round. The opposition candidate Jude Celestin said earlier this week that he would boycott the vote.
Stock markets in Asia have rallied following a rebound in oil prices and a stronger day's trading in the US and Europe. Stocks in Japan were more than 5% up by midafternoon trading. Markets in China and Hong Kong were also able to recover some of the heavy losses of the past few days.