DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
US to withdraw all remaining embassy personnel from Venezuela US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Monday that the United States will withdraw all remaining diplomatic personnel from its embassy in Caracas as the crisis in Venezuela deepens. He said the staff would leave by the end of the week. The move worsens already frayed relations between the two nations. President Donald Trump has said that he doesnʼt rule out any optionsincluding military intervention to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US has already imposed sanctions designed to choke off Venezuelan oil sales, which are the lifeblood of the leftist government in Caracas. Much of Venezuela has beenwithout electricitygoing on five days now due to a power outage that the government blames on what it calls sabotage encouraged by the US.
Croatian bishops push for mass at Ustashalinked Bleiburg memorial A Croatian bishop was set to hold mass at the upcomingmemorial in Austriaʼs Blaiburg, where thousands of people, including far-right extremists and Nazi sympathizers, gather to mark the anniversary of the 1945 mass killings of Croatians. The local Austrian diocese, however, denied permission for the ecclesial ceremony, saying that the mass was being "politically instrumentalized" at the controversial event. The diocese leaders might still change their decision, a spokesman for the Austrian Bishopsʼ Conference told DW on Tuesday.
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Decisive in reducing South Asia tensions German Foreign Minister in Pakistan:
After visiting troops in Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has arrived in the Pakistan capital for talks. Violence in Kashmir and a tense security situation in neighboring Afghanistan are on the agenda.
VW reports €12 billion profit and plans 22 million electric cars in 10 years Germanyʼs Volkswagen announced a €12.15 billion profit for 2018, beating analystsʼ forecasts. The automaker also said that electric cars would play a major role in the future, as it continues to deal with ʼDieselgateʼ. Volkswagen announced on Tuesday it had made a net profit of €12.15 billion ($13.7 billion) in 2018, beating analystsʼ forecasts. The profit comes despite huge charges linked to its "Diesel-
gate" emissions-cheating scandal, and a difficult road ahead due to tough new pollution tests. The operating results of the main brand Volkswagen was €3.2 billion as opposed to last years €3.3 billion. All together VW sold 10.8 million vehicles around the world from its 12 brands, bringing in €235.8 billion, with revenues posting slower growth than profits. "We performed very well in spite of strong headwinds," chief executive Herbert Diess said in a statement.
Man leaves €10,000 Picasso jug on German train German police are trying to help a man find a ceramic jug made by Pablo Picasso, after he accidentally left it on a train earlier this month. The elderly man was traveling from Kassel to Dusseldorf on February 15 when he switched trains at the city of Hamm and forgot to bring his precious cargo with him. Read more: How German was Picasso? The 26centimeter-tall (10-inch-tall) ceramic piece dates to 1953 and was an original crafted by Picasso at his Madoura workshop in Vallauris in the south of France, police said. It is part of Picas-
soʼs "Owl series" and is estimated to be worth at least €10,000 ($8,800). Police said the man reported the disappearance immediately after exiting the train but the bag with the jug inside it was already gone. Read more: Picasso and windows The shopping bag was made of solid cardboard with blue lettering that read "Neumeister — Alte Kunst — Moderne." Munster Federal Police, which is investigating the case, asked witnesses who might have seen the man "forgetting" the bag to report the sighting to them.
After 20 years in NATO, Poland still eager to please When NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg commended Polandʼs commitment to the alliance in Warsaw in early March, he struck a chord with Poles. "We are very grateful for the contribution Poland makes to NATO every day," he said. "Poland is a very committed ally, an ally which is contributing to our shared security, to our collective defense in many different ways," Stoltenberg added. "And thatʼs something which we really welcome." An eager partner The praise is justified: Poland has been trying for years to position itself as a model member of NATO. The country spends 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense, participates in NATO foreign missions, such as in Afghanistan, and warmly welcomes the presence of NATO troops on its soil.
Paris okays proposed French-German parliamentary assembly French National Assembly president Richard Ferrand (pictured above) said Monday the chamber had approved the combined Franco-German parliamentary body conceived in January in Aachen — despite objections from Franceʼs radical left and far right. "Building such a unique parliamentary institution is a sign of the intensity of our relationship," said Ferrand, referring to Parisʼ and Berlinʼs renewal in Aachen in January of the Elysee Treaty, their 1963 post-war reconciliation pact.
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