DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Germany: Brandenburg approves law to get more women in parliament Lawmakers in the eastern German state of Brandenburg passed a law on Thursday that seeksto boost the number of women in politics. The socalled "parity law" mandates that political parties in the state must offer as many female as male candidates for elections, starting in the summer of 2020. Parties will also no longer be allowed to select direct candidates for specific constituencies. The election law revision, which was proposed by the Green party, will not impact Brandenburgʼs upcoming state parliamentary elections, which are due to take place on September 1 this year. Itʼs the first time that a gender parity election law has been passed in Germany, although with possible court challenges on the horizon, its future is uncertain.
INSTEX: Europe sets up transactions channel with Iran Several European countries have set up a new transaction channel that will allow companies to continue trading with Irandespite US sanctions. The announcement was made on Thursday. The channel, set up by Germany, France and the UK, is called INSTEX — short for "Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges." "Weʼre making clear that we didnʼt just talk about keeping the nuclear deal with Iran alive, but now weʼre creating a possibility to conduct business transactions," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters Thursday after a meeting with European counterparts in Bucharest, Romania. "This is a precondition for us to meet the obligations we entered into in order to demand from Iran that it doesnʼt begin military uranium enrichment," Maas said. The payment channel allows for European countries to continue trade with Iran but could put them on a collision course with Washington.
27/2019 • 1 FEBRUARY, 2019
ʼKaczynski tapesʼ reveal murky business dealings of Polandʼs powerful PiS leader The scandal has damaged his reputation as a politician who steers clear of graft
Leaked recordings appear to show the leader of Polandʼs ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was involved in a lucrative construction deal.
Poland says it exported suspect beef to EU Polish authorities say 2.7 tons of potentially tainted beef was exported to EU countries. The announcement comes after a television report cast light on the sale of meat from sick cows by two companies. Polish authorities on Thursday announced that 2,700 kilograms of tainted beef were exported to European Union countries. The countryʼs chief veterinary officer, Pawel Niemczuk, said the meat went to Romania, Sweden, Hungary, Estonia, Finland, France, Spain, Lithuania, Portugal and
Slovakia. "Our neighbors were asking about details of actions we have taken. I have convinced most of the countries that this situation in Poland was an individual case," Niemczuk said. "The produce is being voluntarily withdrawn." Read more: Meat labels misleading EU consumers, says watchdog report The announcement comes days after an investigative report aired on local broadcaster TVN, with hidden camera footage showing a slaughterhouse butchering sick cows. The abattoir supplies more than 20 meat processing plants.
How to deal with money like a German While other European countries make the transition to cashless societies, Germany still has a stubborn affection for a pocket full of loose change. Rachel Stewart investigates the very specific German attitude to money. Rachel Stewart is on a mission to investigate the quirks and idiosyncrasies of daily life in Germany. Every two weeks she explores a new topic - from
beer to nudity to complicated grammar - and heads out to get some tips from the Germans themselves. Rachel moved from the UK to Germany in 2016. As a relative newcomer she casts a fresh eye over German clichés and shares her experiences of settling into German life. Youʼll find more fromMeet the Germans on YouTube or atdw.com/MeettheGermans.
Elin Ersson and Ismail K. — How an activist tried in vain to rescue an asylum-seeker Early in the evening of July 23, 2018, a video is posted on Facebook. It is a close-up of a young woman with a flushed face, blonde hair and darkgreen glasses. Elin Ersson, 21, is walking up the aisle of a Turkish Airlines jet that is set to fly from Gothenburg to Istanbul. She is speaking English with a Swedish accent into her smartphone camera and livestreaming the scene on Facebook. On this plane, she says, there is a person "who is going to be deported to Afghanistan, where there is war, and he is going to be killed." Then she adds: "I am doing what I can to save a personʼs life." Thousands of people watch the video live online as Ersson refuses to take her seat if the refugee remains on board. The annoyed faces of impatient passengers loom in the background and her eyes periodically fill with tears. At one point, the picture shakes as someone tries to grab her smartphone.
Sea-Watch migrants disembark in Italy Dozens of migrants stranded on a rescue ship off the coast of Sicily have on Friday been allowed to disembark. The Dutch-flagged ship, run byGerman charity Sea-Watch, was carrying 47 migrants andhad spent several days at seawhile Italy demanded other European states take in its passengers. There were cheers and hugs for the crew as the migrants disembarked. They were then shuttled to shelters to make formal asylum requests.
weather today BUDAPEST
1 / 4 °C Precipitation: 0 mm
27/2019 • 1 February, 2019
Luxembourg election presents tough challenge to PM Xavier Bettel The future of Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel hangs in the balance as some 256,000 voters head to the polls in the European landlocked Grand Duchy on Sunday. Any party or alliance needs to obtain 31 seats to form a government. Opinion polls suggest Bettel could lose the vote due to his unpopular economic policies and declining support within his Democratic Party and coalition partners. A high growth rate under the coalition has put pressure on housing and infrastructure. According to polls, a quarter of voters were undecided in who to vote for. Claude Wiseler, a former literature teacher and the prime minister candidate of the Christian Social Peopleʼs Party (CSV), is expected to pick up seats. Bettel became the countryʼs prime minister in 2013 after a spying scandal toppled the CSV government of Jean-Claude Juncker, who is now president of the European Commission.
Marouane Fellaini: Manchester United agree deal with Shandong Luneng for Belgium midfielder
Germanyʼs 5G: The bidders — and whatʼs involved
Sri Lanka seeks investment, but
Germany desperately needs to modernize its internet. But all four companies bidding to implement so-called 5G internet have some kind of link to Huawei, the Chinese firm at the center of the US-China trade spat.
You donʼt need to be an expert on international trade routes to look at a map and understandthat Sri Lankaʼs location is one of potentially serious economic advantage. The island nation — population 22 million — sits at the southern tip of India, almost as close to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa as it is to South East Asia. The value of this location has not been lost on its northern neighbor China.Under Xi Jinpingʼs so-called ʼBelt and Road Initiative,ʼ the Chinese government has pumped billions into Sri Lanka in the form of both foreign investment and loans in recent years. This reliance on Chinese money is part of a long-standing Sri Lankan problem. With a major trade deficit, as well as crippling levels of debt, the country needs foreign money. China has rushed to fill the gap more enthusiastically than anyone else. The current Sri Lankan government came to power in 2015, when it replaced former President Mahinda Rajapaksaʼs administration. His government had been unabashedly eager to seek Chinese money, regardless of the costs, and it left the incoming government with a major web of deals — and debt — to untangle.
5G is the fifth generation of the internet revolution. Germany expects it to speed up its current standard speed about 100-fold, enabling industrial applications, such as driverless transport and telemedicine. For anyone downloading a standard-length HD movie, the time would be cut from roughly 10 minutes now on a 4G connection, to just a few seconds on 5G. Read more: Huawei scrambles to un-
tangle crossed lines Germanyʼs federal network regulator, the BNetzA, will auction so-called spectrum (slots) in the 2.0-gigahertz and 3.6-gigahertz bands, which are best suited to dataintensive industrial or urban applications. Also on offer will be frequencies in the 3.7-3.8-gigahertz and 26gigahertz ranges, which are suitable for local applications, for example companies.
Zermatt: Where the Matterhorn towers above it all A marriage proposal on the Matterhorn: Itʼs the kind of thing that only happens in Zermatt, playground of the rich and famous. Perhaps love begins here on the Kirchbrücke bridge, when the sun rises over the Matterhorn, freezing tourists eagerly awaiting the chance to see for themselves. Mathias Imoberdorf from the Zermatt Bergbahnen mountain railway company tells us that sometimes so many peo-
ple crowd onto it with their cameras that there are now plans to expand the bridge. This winter day is not an easy one for him. Up on the mountain the wind is blowing, so itʼs not certain how long the new tri-cable car system, the worldʼs highest, can keep running. He says it could get shaky before the trip begins, in one of the new luxury cabins with leather seats and Swarovski crystals that sparkle inside and out. This is more or less the Ferrari of m
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng over the transfer of midfielder Marouane Fellaini. It is understood the Belgium player has already passed his medical and the transfer is close to being completed. Fellaini, 31, joined United fromEverton for £27m in 2014when he became the first significant signing after Sir Alex Fergusonʼs departure as manager.
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China questions linger
Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege accept Nobel Peace Prize In theirNobel Peace Prize acceptance speeches on Monday,Denis MukwegeandNadia Murad called on the world to protect victims of wartime sexual violence. They also slammed global indifference to the plight of women and children in conflict. In her speech Murad implored the global community to help free hundreds of women and girls still held by jihadists. She also said that the world must protect her people and other vulnerable communities. Speaking at Osloʼs City Hall and seemingly overcome with emotion, Murad said: "It is my view that all victims deserve a safe haven until justice is done for them." Murad survived the horrors of captivity under the "Islamic State" (IS) group in Iraq and Syria where they targeted her Kurdish-speaking community.Older women and men faced summary execution during the IS assault, which the United Nations has described as a possible genocide. Murad was captured in 2014 and suffered beatings and gang-rape before she was able to escape.