DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Germany mulls joining US-led airstrikes in Syria The German Defense Ministry is reportedly in talks with its US counterpart to hammer out details for the Bundeswehr to join possible airstrikes by US, British and French forces on Syrian targets, Germanyʼs mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported on Monday. The report suggests Germanyʼs conservative defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has responded to a US request, which was followed by a meeting of high-ranking ministry and military officials from both countries. German tornado jets could take part in combat missions alongside their US, UK and French counterparts, according to the article. Only in case of a chemical attack The Bundeswehr would only join air strikes in case of another chemical attack. In April, President Bashar Assad was blamed by Western powers forusing chemical weapons in an attack on Douma,which killed more than 70 people.
Death of German fuels fears of farright violence in Köthen The mood in the suburban playground in Köthen on Monday morning was a mixture of sadness, tension, and hostility towards the press. A small number of locals in the town in Saxony-Anhalt came by, some with flowers to add to the pool that had collected around a tree near an empty climbing frame. This was the spot where a fight broke out on Saturday between two Afghan men and Markus B., whichresulted in the 22-year-old Germanʼs death in hospital. But, as Saxony-Anhalt Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht and Justice Minister Anne-Marie Keding were at pains to point out in a press conference, the injuries he received in the fight had not themselves been lifethreatening: Markus B. had "very likely" died of "acute heart failure" brought about by a pre-existing condition.
208/2018 • 11 SEPTEMBER, 2018
Ryanair pilots in Germany plan new 24hour strike A pilots union has called a fresh 24-hour strike to take place on Wednesday
It is the latest in a wave of Ryanair walkouts that affected hundreds of flights across Europe during the summer.
Hi honey, Iʼm not from home Every seventh jar of honey opened daily around the globe is fake honey. As global demand for the sweet stuff grows, bees are producing less as a result of pollution, thus driving up prices and attracting honey fakers. Honey has been classified by the European Commission as sixth on the list of the most endangered counterfeited food items, Andrej Kandolf Borovsak from the Slovenian Beekeeping Association said during the Economic Forum in Krynica in southern Poland. Honey is usually faked with the addition of sugar, molasses, potato syrup or sugar syrup, "all much cheaper than real honey, and the ordi-
nary consumer is not able to taste the difference," Borovsak said. Another method is to mix different types of honey and provide false informationabout the origin of the product. "Of the thousands of honey samples collected, up to 14 percent turned out to be fake," said Borovsak, referring to European Joint Research Center studies compiled in response to a report by the European Parliament on the fake food. Researchers tested a total of 2,264 honey samples from all EU member states (plus Norway and Switzerland) at all stages of the supply chain and found that around 20 percent of honey was either a blend of EU honey or unblended honey.
Video games explore frontier of design in new London exhibition Itʼs not all just fun and games when it comes to gaming. The Victoria & Albert Museum explores the transformative power of digital games in its latest exhibition, "Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt." Itʼs impossible to regard video games as part of a subculture anymore, as nearly a quarter of the worldʼs population now plays digital games on a regular basis. Considering the short history of this medium, which has only existed for less than half a century, the rapid rise of gaming is truly a remarkable development permeating every fiber of
the creative industries. "There is a rich universality to video games in contemporary culture," said Tristram Hunt, the director of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), at the press preview of the "Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt" exhibition, which celebrates the innovative digital design of digital games. Hunt also highlighted that this young and driven field of design was "uniquely immersive and interactive" and brought together "an extraordinary fusion of art, illustration, craft, architecture, literature, cinema — you can also add fashion and music."
Libya: Armed group storms state oil company in Tripoli At least two oil staff members on Monday were killed when a ground of gunmen stormed the headquarters of Libyaʼs National Oil Corporation (NOC) in the capital Tripoli, according to the health ministry. The armed group started shooting randomly in the building and set off several explosives. A fire caused by the explosives spread throughout the building. "The building was heavily damaged due to the fire. Smoke is everywhere," said Mustafa Sanallah, who heads NOC. "The gunmen attacked the lower floors with random shooting and explosions. Itʼs a very violent attack." At least two of the gunmen were killed by Libyan security forces, according to security sources. WhileLibya has struggled under heavy fighting between rivals militias and armed factions, NOC and the Libyan Central Bank have largely escaped the violence.
Sweden faces weeks in political limbo after far right makes gains Swedenʼs center-left and center-right blocs emerged neck-and-neck after Sundayʼs election. The far-right Sweden Democrats made significant gains to hold third place. The parliamentary election was one of Swedenʼs most important because the the far-right, antiimmigration Sweden Democrats — who rose from the white supremacist and neo-Nazi fringe — were expected to gain significant strength and change the landscape of Swedish politics.
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208/2018 • 11 September, 2018
North Korean leader sends Trump a letter suggesting another meeting North Koreaʼs leader Kim Jong Un has sent a letter to US President Donald Trump suggesting scheduling another meeting. "The president has received the letter from Kim Jong Un. It was a very warm, very positive letter," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, adding that the message showed Pyongyangʼs "continued commitment to focus on denuclearization" on the Korean Peninsula. "The primary purpose of the letter was to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to and are already in the process of coordinating," she said. Trump and Kim met in Singaporeearlier this year in June and although they signed a document, it has not produced the sorts of breakthroughs in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula that analysts hoped for.
Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe lift France to top of Nations League group Giroudʼs sweetly-struck volley 15 minutes from time ended his scoring drought and the Netherlandsʼ hopes of a point in their first Nations League contest. France,who drew 0-0 with Germany in their opener, were playing at home for the first time since their World Cup win in Russia and the celebrations both before and after the game were long and rousing. The World Cup trophy was shown off as well, at the stadium where France first won it in 1998.
BA promises to ʼfully reimburseʼ victims of data theft British Airways has released details of a recent theft of customer data from its website and mobile app. The company says that around 380,000 financial transactions were compromised and passengers would be compensated. The UK-based carrier disclosed on Friday that hackers had stolen personal and financial details relating to 380,000 passengers during a security breach lasting from August 21 until September 5. BAʼs chief executive Alex Cruz said the information didnʼt include data related to travel or passports, but could allow criminals to use credit card information for illicit purposes. "We know that the information that has been stolen is name, address, email address, credit card information; that would be credit card number, expiration date and the three-
letter code in the back of the credit card," he told the BBC in an interview. Cruz also said the airline was "100 percent committed to fully reimburse" passengers suffering financial losses from the "very sophisticated malicious criminal attack." BA is advising all customers who believe they may have been affected to contact their bank or credit card provider and follow recommended advice. The airline also took out full page adverts in a number of UK newspapers on Friday, beginning with the words: "We are sorry."
Is Google making us dumber? Are you constantly second guessing yourself or do you find it difficult to recall answers to simple trivia questions? Has Google made people dumber over the years? No, I canʼt see how this can
have happened. The main argument I see in favor of this view is that people used to be able to remember long essays or poems or pieces and recite them easily, as this is what was taught in school. But the ability to retain
large blocks of text is not a sign of intelligence, and being unable to do so doesnʼt make you ʼdumb.ʼ Intelligence has many cultural and genetic factors and a lot of time it boils down to how you use information, not how well you remember it. Google provides us with more information than ever, which weʼre constantly accessing, so there are arguments that itʼs actually making us smarter, providing us with more info and making our brains work to process it.
Leo Budapest Bar Hotel Clark, at the Buda foot of Chain Bridge, houses two outlet. Beefbar on the ground floor and, on the roof terrace, Leo Budapest named after the famous lions guarding the bridge. At the panoramic bar, you can admire the breathtaking vista of Buda Castle, the Danube, Chain Bridge and the rooftops of the riverfront while sipping on a refreshing drink. Leo offers a wide variety of wines and cocktails, and the kitchen is led by talented young chef András Sipos, also responsible for downstairs.
Hotel Azúr Prémium H-8600 Siófok, Erkel Ferenc u. 2/c. Telephone: 06 86 501 450 premium@hotelazur.hu http://www.hotelazur.hu/hu/premium
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Can Germany conquer global e-car markets? Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), a division of Bloomberg focused on research and analysis of energy investment, carbon markets, and low-carbon energy solutions, has released its 2018 global long-term "Electric Vehicle Outlook" report which forecasts electric vehicle (EV) trends to 2040. One take-home message that emerges from the report is that the future of EV is bright, with rapid increases in battery electric vehicle (BEV) production volume expected in coming years. BNEF estimates that e-cars are likely to reach unsubsidized price parity with comparable internal combustion engine powered vehicles (ICEVs) by about 2024, as battery-pack prices continue to drop. Another insight provided by Bloombergʼs data is that although German carmakers have until recently been slow and reluctant to move away from ICEVs and toward EV production, in the past couple of years, they have begun shifting gears.
Bavarian judges want politicians jailed for ignoring antipollution directives Bavariaʼs Administrative High Court signaled mounting judicial unrest Monday over politicians who ignore court rulings, just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated that within democracy"independent courts" must be protected. Munich ranks - alongside Stuttgart and Cologne - as top offender among65 Germany cities for illegal and unhealthy vehicle emissionsblamed largely on diesel vehicles. But the Merkel-allied Christian Social Union (CSU), who are seeking re-election in a regional vote on 14 October, have so far ignored court directives obtained by a lobby group, German Environmental Relief (DUH) to devise an anti-pollution plan for Munich. Read more: Merkel adopts anti-pollution initiative The DUH got an initial ruling mandating the plan in 2012. A judicial deadline of late 2017 expired without a scheme to lower exhaust fumes in Munich, the base of carmaker BMW, being implemented.