DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Anti-Semitism in the EU: Jewish people consider leaving over safety concerns Some 90 percent of European Jews believe anti-Semitism has grown stronger —particularly in France— in recent years, according toa European Union survey published on Monday. Over one third of the Jewish respondents said theyʼd considered leaving the EU in the past five years due to concerns for their safety, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found. "Member states must take note and step up their efforts to prevent and combat antiSemitism. Jewish people have a right to live freely, without hate and without fear for their safety," said FRA Director Michael OʼFlaherty. The FRA questioned 16,395 Jewish people for the anti-Semitism survey, which was also carried out in 2012. The respondents live in 12 EU member states where 96 percent of the EUʼs Jewish population lives, including: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Germany: AfDʼs ʼwhite menʼ advent calendar sparks controversy and ridicule Germanyʼs right-wing populists said they sought to celebrate the contributions of white men, who faced "rampant discrimination" in society. The calendar was promoted with the hashtag ʼsay yes to white menʼ on Twitter. The AfD of the Berlin parliament drew criticism for a new Christmas campaign honoring notable white men every day in the month of December, in the tradition of the advent calendar. The far-right populists announced their controversial move with a message on Twitter, using the hashtag "yes to white men" (#JaZuWeißenMännern).
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Angela Merkel urges Vladimir Putin to release Ukrainian sailors Stopping conflict in the Sea of Azov wasnʼt the only thing the two leaders discussed
The chancellor told her Russian counterpart that measures needed to be taken to ensure "smooth passage" through the Kerch Strait. But stopping conflict in the Sea of Azov wasnʼt the only thing the two leaders discussed.
Germanyʼs welfare experiment: Sanction-free ʼbasic securityʼ Fear of sanctions is demotivating the unemployed from getting a job, a new study aims to show. Meanwhile, Germanyʼs political left is mulling a welfare reform to refit the system for 21st century work. A basic principle of social security in Germany is this: The best incentive to get people into work is to cut their payments if they miss an appointment, or fail to finish a training course, or refuse to sign an "integration agreement" in which they pledge to do all they can to find a job. But this simply doesnʼt work, says the Sanktionsfrei ("sanction-free") organization. Not only does the pressure created by the threat of sanctions lead more people to fall out of the system completely, it even demotivates those
who arenʼt even being sanctioned. To prove its point, the organization launched a study on Thursday to find out what effect sanction-free support has on people. Starting in February 2019 and for the next three years, 250 randomly-chosen recipients of Hartz IV financial assistance — the system of German long-term unemployment benefits or welfare support — will get any sanctions immediately reimbursed by the organization, no questions asked. The scheme is called HartzPlus. The organization will then record the psychological effects of this newfound security in periodical questionnaires that the participants fill out. A control group of another 250 Hartz IV recipients will get no such safety net, but still out the forms.
Cornelia Funke at 60: Why the star childrenʼs author distrusts words She launched to fame with "Dragon Rider" in 1997 and has since become one of Germanyʼs most successful authors. In an interview with DW, star kidsʼ author Cornelia Funke spoke about why words can be challenging. Cornelia Funke cheerfully answers the phone at 9:30 a.m. California time. She had already been to the ocean, written a bit, made a few calls,
and drunk her coffee. Every workday begins with a good cup of coffee, she says. Funke laughs sincerely and frequently, then speaks thoughtfully about her life, her work with words and pictures, and her relationship to fantasy and reality. Her childrenʼs fantasy novels, which she illustrated herself, have sold 20 million copies and been translated into 37 languages.
Illegal gold mines destroying Amazon rainforest An increase in illegal gold mining in the Amazon rainforest has reached "epidemic" proportions, a study has revealed. The report, released by the Amazon Socio-Environmental GeoReferenced Information Project (RAISG) on Monday, exposed the damage that illicit mining for gold has had on forest and waterways, as well as on the life of indigenous tribes in the area. Combining satellite imagery and government data, researchers identified at least 2,312 illegal mining sites that spanned across six countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. The group was not able to collect data on mining activity in Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname. "The scope of illegal mining in the Amazon, especially in indigenous territories and protected natural areas, has grown exponentially in recent years, with the rise in the price of gold," said Beto Ricardo, head of the RAISG.
Climate protection: Germany falls farther behind As greenhouse gas emissions increase, the Climate Change Performance Index 2019 shows that only a handful of nations have implemented strategies to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The annual report — published Monday at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland — tracks climate change performance in 56 countries and the EU. It comes on the heels of news that after CO2 emissions stabilized for three consecutive years, they are set to hithistoric highs in 2018. Germany, so often held up as a beacon in the climate change fight, comes in at a middling 27th position — five places below its spot last year
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