DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Fact check: As Brexit looms, how dependent is Ireland on British trade? A recent interview on BBC radio between Helen McEntee, the Irish minister for Europe, and John Humphrys, the veteran presenter, provided a stinging insight into why frustration over Brexit is gradually turning to anger in Dublin. After probing McEnteeon the Irish governmentʼs attitude to the question of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, he moved on to the overall Irish-British relationship. "Britain is hugely important to your economy obviously," he said. "It accounts for 50 percent of exports from the Republic. "Therefore, there has to be an argument, doesnʼt there, that says, instead of Dublin telling this country that we have to stay within the single market, within the customs union, why doesnʼt the Republic of Ireland leave the European Union and throw their lot in with this country?"
World Cancer Day: German health minister defends setting ʼbig goalsʼ German Health Minister Jens Spahn has defended his comments that advances in cancer research mean thedisease can be wiped out in the next two decades. "We want to defeat cancer by controlling it. That will not be easy. But thatʼs why we have to try it, with courage and ambition," he told the Rhein Neckar Zeitung newspaperʼs February 4 World Cancer Day edition. "Itʼs important that we set ourselves big goals." The minister stressed that there had beensignificant advances in cancer diagnosis, therapy and research in recent years, drawing parallels with the fight against HIV/AIDS. "Who would have thought 30 years ago that life expectancy with a well-treated HIV infection would be as high as without an infection?"
31/2019 • 6 FEBRUARY, 2019
Is Indian PM Modi staging a ʼcoupʼ in West Bengal? The Saradha ʼchit fundʼ scam
West Bengalʼs chief minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that Modi is interfering in the affairs of her state. Critics claim that the premier is using intelligence agencies to harass opponents ahead of general elections.
Berlinʼs Germania airline files for bankruptcy, halts flights Berlin-based Germania airline has stopped all flights and applied for bankruptcy after failing to cover a "short-term liquidity problem." The carrier had been transporting over four million passengers a year. Germaniahad "no other option" but to file for bankruptcy following financial trouble, the airlineʼs CEO Karsten Balke said on Tuesday. The Berlinbased company cancelled all flights and advised passengers to contact their travel agents about alternative ar-
rangements. People who bought their tickets directly from the company "unfortunately have no claim to alternative trips," the company said. Balke blamed "unforeseen circumstances" for the bankruptcy, such as the rise in kerosene prices, the devaluation of the euro against the dollar, and unexpectedly high maintenance costs. "Unfortunately we were ultimately unable to successfully conclude our financing efforts to cover a short-term liquidity problem," he said.
Spainʼs vast network of illegal wells exposed after death of toddler Rescue teams dug for two weeks in the Andalusian countryside to try to save a boy who fell down one of Spainʼs many illegal wells. The 2-year-old Julen Rosello was found deadin an open borehole in the town of Totalan, near Malaga. Based on surveys of known illegal wells, researchers have estimated there are over one million of these unauthorized wells dotting the country. They are known locally as pozos luneros or "moonshine wells" because they are often dug by the light of the moon
when authorities are not watching. Illegal wells are not a new phenomenon. Farmers have been using them for decades to irrigate their crops, as water gets harder to come by. Along with the rest of Europe, Spain experienced a heat wave in the summer of 2018. Rain was already scarce in the region even before last year. Between 2016 and 2017, rainfall was down 12 percent. In 2017, a quarter of the nationʼs districts were considered to be in an "emergency situation" due to a lack of water.
EU nations get behind Venezuelaʼs Juan Guaido as acting president What started as a trickle has turned into a flow of EU countries who have now officially declared Guaido as interim president. However, according to diplomatic sources in Brussels, Italy has blocked an EU-wide statement of the blocʼs support for Guaido due to conflicting interests within the Italian coalition government. The coordinated move to recognize Guaido by France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Luxembourg comes after the expiry of an eight-day ultimatum for Maduro to call a new election. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on a twoday visit to Japan, said at a news conference that "we recognize Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela, tasked with starting the political transition and leading the country to free, transparent and credible elections." She added that she hoped Guaidowould initiate those electionsas "quickly as possible."
Venezuelaʼs foreign journalists hamstrung by visa problems Venezuelaʼs Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, was visibly angry. "It is outrageous and irresponsible that the [foreign] media send journalists without fulfilling the minimum conditions required by Venezuelan law, then construct a media scandal out of it," he said. "This is another aspect of the media campaign against our country," he tweeted on January 31.
weather today BUDAPEST
2 / 6 °C Precipitation: 0 mm