DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Venice imposes entry fee for day-trippers There are 25 million visitorsto the city of Venice in northern Italy each year. Of these about 14 million stay just for a day, and often bring their own picnics. With no visible benefit for local restaurants and bars, and costs of cleaning up after the visitors growing every year, councilors have decided to put a price on entry. From May, visitors will pay an entry fee of €3 (about $3.50) for this year, and a planned €6 in 2020. Plans also include a variable fee depending on the number of visitors in the city at the time, on a range of €3 to €10 for entry. "This is unique in the world, the first time that anyone has dared to do anything this important to help manage a city," said Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro after the council decision late on Tuesday.
Japan: Worldʼs smallest baby leaves hospital The smallest surviving male baby, born weighing just 268 grams (9.45 ounces), has been sent home after months in a Toyko hospital. The boy was delivered at 24 weeks through Caesarean section in August after he failed to gain weight during the pregnancy and doctors feared his life was in danger. After five months of treatment in intensive care, he now weighs 3.2 kilograms (7.1 pounds) and is feeding normally, Keio University hospital said. "I am grateful that he has grown this big because, honestly, I wasnʼt sure he could survive," the boyʼs mother said. The previous record for smallest baby was held by a boy in Germany who, in 2009, was born weighing 274 grams, according to the University of Iowaʼs Tiniest Babies registry. The previous record for smallest baby was held by a boy in Germany who, in 2009, was born weighing 274 grams, according to the University of Iowaʼs Tiniest Babies registry.
51/2019 • 1 MARCH, 2019
Canada’s Justin Trudeau refuses to resign over claims of interference in bribery trial Trudeau has rejected calls to resign over the scandal
Canadaʼs former justice minister has said the prime ministerʼs inner circle wanted her to help a Montreal-based firm accused of corruption.
France and Netherlands quarrel over Air France-KLM France has called on the Netherlands to clarify its intentions after it raised its stake in the holding company Air France-KLM. The Dutch made the moves without telling their French counterparts. Speaking in Paris alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron said the Dutch government must clarify why it bought 12.7 percent of shares in Air France-KLMʼs holding company. "The government was not informed of this decision, nor its implementation," Macron said at a press conference in Paris. "I take note of it. Itʼs now up to the Dutch government to clarify its intentions." Later Wednesday, the Dutch government said it had in-
creased its stake even further — to 14 percent — which nearly matches the French state holding of 14.3 percent. "The Dutch state has bought a 14 percent stake in Air France-KLM," the Dutch government said in a statement, adding that the "buying of Air France-KLM shares has been halted." Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra announced the initial purchase of the 12.7 percent stake late Tuesday for €680 million ($774 million). He said then that the government aimed to eventually match the French governmentʼs 14.3 percent holding in the airline. Air France-KLM shared plunged 11.7 percent on Wednesday after the Dutch governmentʼs announcement.
We need men to talk about periods: Oscar winner Guneet Monga Period. End of Sentence is a documentary
about the deep-rooted stigma attached to menstruation in the village of Hapur in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. For generations, women here did not have access to sanitary pads, leading to health issues and girls dropping out from schools. Directed by award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, the film is created by The Pad Project, an organization established by a group of students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton. The movie has been produced
by 34-year-old Guneet Monga (pictured above), who was born in Delhi and heads the production company, Sikhya Entertainment. She has been involved in several critically acclaimed Indian movies, including Lunchbox, Gangs of Wasseypur and Masaan, which won the International Jury of Film Critics Prize at Cannes in 2015. Monga is brimming with ambition and confidence after her Oscar victory and hopes the movie will help change mindsets and hard-wired attitudes, especially among males, towards menstruation.
India-Pakistan tensions force airlines to cancel and reroute flights Dozens of flights between Thailand and Europe have been canceled after Pakistan closed its airspace in response to soaring tensions with India, with both states claiming to have shot down each otherʼs jets. Thai Airways canceled 27 flights on Wednesday and Thursday, mostly to and from Europe, because they had been scheduled to fly over Pakistani airspace. Nearly 5,000 passengers are stranded in Thailand. Read more: Nuclear fears abound after India-Pakistan military escalation "There are 4,000 from European flights and 700 to 800 from flights to Pakistan," a Thai Airways spokesperson said. Thailandʼs flagship carrier said it was requesting to fly over other countriesʼ airspace.
Australian journalists accused of violating Cardinal Pell suppression order Up to 100 journalists in Australia could face jail time for their coverage of the Cardinal George Pell trial. Local media reported they received letters from the Victoria stateʼs director of public prosecutions, Kerri Judd, threatening them with contempt of court charges. The accused include individual publishers, editors, broadcasters, reporters and subeditors at media giants News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), Crikey and several smaller publications, the Guardian and Sydney Morning Herald reported. Nineʼs Melbourne newspaper The Age alone received more than 30 letters.
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51/2019 • 1 March, 2019
Jewish Museum Berlin bans Iranian state broadcaster IRIB The Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB) is currently showcasing an exhibition titled "Welcome to Jerusalem," which attracted criticism from Israelʼs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it adopts a one-sided Muslim and Palestinian perspective. Netanyahu even demanded the German government cut back its financial support for the museum. Now, in the wake of this high-profile criticism by Netanyahu, the Berlin bureau of Iranian state broadcaster IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) has requested to report on the exhibition, citing an interest in the JMBʼs view on Jerusalem. IRIB said it wanted to convey the exhibitionʼs message that Jerusalem is an important center of faith for "all major monotheistic religions," as its chief correspondent, Valiallah Shojaee Khanabadi, told DW.
Maria Sharapova withdraws from Miami Open after ʼsmall procedureʼ on shoulder Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from Marchʼs Miami Open after having a "small procedure" on her shoulder. The five-time Grand Slam champion, 31, has struggled with an injury to her right shoulder since last summer. She previously withdrew from Januaryʼs St. Petersburg Ladiesʼ Trophy and next monthʼs BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. "I am incredibly committed to getting back strong," said Sharapova in a "little update" onInstagram.
VW and Microsoft put their heads together in the digital cloud
Sri Lanka seeks investment, but
The car industry is going through profound change. Volkswagen appears to understand the scale of this better than most, and its collaboration with Microsoft is part of its attempt to rebrand itself for the future.
China questions linger
Many cinematic and literary visions of the future have portrayed us driving in the clouds.A good example is the film Blade Runner, made in 1982 but fittingly set in 2019, where driving takes place in cars that glide through the skies. Here in the real 2019, it turns out that sooner or later, we will be driving in a cloud after all — specifically speaking, the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud. At least thatʼs the vision that was sold at a slick press event on Wednesday in the German capital. The
Berlin district of Friedrichshain, politically one of the most left-wing in the country, is not one you would readily associate with corporate powwows between captains of industry. Yet taking place on the banks of the river Spree was an event labeled as a "CEO Fireside Chat" between Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen, and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Needless to say, there wasnʼt a fireside in sight in the decidedly chill, sharp-edged surrounds of the Volkswagen Digital Lab.
Citizen scientists and an app for Alzheimerʼs disease Neurologist Emrah Düzel has developed a smartphone app to diagnose the early stages of Alzheimerʼs disease. DWʼs Zulifkar Abbany finds out just how it works and what Düzel hopes to achieve with the app. Memory and mobile apps Citizen scientists and an app for Alzheimerʼs disease Neurologist Emrah Düzel has developed a smartphone app to diagnose the early stages of Alzheimerʼs disease. DWʼs Zulifkar Abbany finds out just how it works and what Düzel hopes to achieve with the app. Professor Emrah Düzel: The aim is to improve the prevention of Alzheimerʼs disease in the future — thatʼs our global aim. And one of the major hur-
dles there is that itʼs very difficult to diagnose, track, and monitor the disease. That makes it very difficult to recognize the early stages of the disease and start prevention in time. Well, first, we want [the app] to become a medical device at some point, one that has a strong basis in science, so thatʼs why we have these ties to the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. Then we also want to reach out to the public to inform and empower citizens, so that they know about the early aspects of Alzheimerʼs. And we want to empower science. One of the hardest aspects of Alzheimerʼs research is understanding the impact of intermittent health conditions on the main symptom of the disease, which is memory impairment.
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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.
Dutch shipbuilder in dock over North Koreanʼs Polish slave claims The first case in the Netherlands of worker exploitation involving a Dutch company for alleged crimes committed outside the country could be nearing an end in the coming weeks, lawyers said, and if successful may open the door to more such cases. Barbara van Straaten, the lawyer representing a North Korean worker, said Dutch law criminalizes the act of profiting from exploitation. The name of the Dutch shipping company sued by the worker couldnʼt be disclosed for safety reasons, she added. Under the countryʼs anti-trafficking law, offenders can be jailed for up to 18 years and face fines of €83,000 ($95,000). The plaintiff claims he was sent to Poland by the Pyongyang regime and forced to work12-hour days for low wages in awful conditions. The lawyer did not say when this happened. Van Straatenʼs Amsterdam-based law firm, Prakken dʼOliveira, said the North Korean worked for the Polish company Crist.