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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Russia and Japan negotiate World War II peace plan Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kano, on Monday to discuss a plan to finally end World War II hostilities. The talks will revolve aroundfour disputed islands, which Moscow calls the Kuril Islands and Tokyo dubs its Northern Territories. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Monday marked a "first round of Russian-Japanese talks on the problem of reaching a deal between the two countries." Japan and Russia did not sign a peace treaty in the wake of World War II. However, last year,Russian President Vladimir Putinand Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed toaccelerate talks for a peace deal, using a 1956 joint declaration as the basis for discussions.

Poland: Mayor of Gdansk stabbed on stage during charity event The mayor of the northern Polish city of Gdansk is reported to be in a very serious condition after being stabbed while on stage at an event for the countryʼs most important charity. Pawel Adamowicz was attacked with a sharp tool during the fundraising finale organized by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. Polish President Andrzej Duda said he had been informed that "doctors succeeded in restarting the heart of the seriously injured Mayor Pawel Adamowicz and there is hope, but his condition is very difficult." He called for people to pray for the mayor. Paramedics resuscitated Adamowicz at the scene before rushing him to hospital where doctors said early Monday he had survived a five-hour operation but was in a "very, very critical condition". The countryʼs interior minister, Joachim Brudzinski called the stabbing "an act of inexplicable barbarity."

12/2019 • 15 JANUARY, 2019

Tspiras to seek confidence vote in Greek government He is calling a vote of confidence in his government

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has lost his parliamentary majority, raising the possibility of snap elections.

China logs record trade surplus with US in 2018 Despite Washingtonʼs efforts, Chinaʼs trade surplus with the US grew by more than 17 percent in 2018, according to data provided by Beijing. US exports to China grew by less than one percent last year.

Chinaʼs trade surplus with the United States shot up by 17.2 percent in 2018 compared to the year before, according to Chinese data released on Monday, reaching a record-breaking $323.3 billion (€281.9 billion). In 2017, the trade difference between the two worldʼs largest economies was $275.8 billion in Chinaʼs favor.

Customs data showed that Chinese exports rose 11.3 percent in 2018 to $478.4 billion, while imports from the

US only rose by 0.7 percent. However, customsʼ data for December also showed that exports to the US dropped 3.5 percent compared with December of the previous year, possibly due to US tariffs on an array of Chinese goods. Read more:Can fresh US-China trade talks bring a breakthrough? Race against time US President Donald Trump has repeatedly slammed Chinaʼs trade surplus with the US and the countryʼs allegedly unfair trade practices. In 2018, the US imposed billions of dollars worth of tariffs on Chinese products,prompting retaliation by Beijingand a trade war that analysts fear could escalate further and damage the global economy.

Better than Ronaldo — Do we really need robots that play football?

At 135 centimeters tall (nearly 4.5 feet), with a white, wavy body and big black eyes, robotNimbRo OP2Xis a source of pride for researchers at the University of Bonn. And rightly so.

This year, he helped his team take first place in the AdultSize League in the RoboCup — the world football competition for robots. On the final fight, NimbRo pulled off a win against another German robot, Sweaty, the creation of scientists from Offenburg University. NimbRo was

born in the department of autonomous intelligent systems, housed in a brand new campus at the University of Bonn. Half of the facility is taken up by a 9 by 14 meter soccer field with artificial grass and goals. The other half is dedicated to computers, cables and changeable batteries. Here, a team of researchers from all around the world is working on something that might sound like a joke at first.

Theyʼre teaching robots how to play football.

Trump: US to ʼdevastate Turkey economicallyʼ if it attacks Syrian Kurds US President Donald Trump has warned Turkey that it risks economic retaliation by the United States if it attacks Syrian Kurdish forcesafter the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. "Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds," Trump wrote in a Tweet late on Sunday, without elaborating. The president also called for the creation of a 20mile (30-kilometer) safe zone in Syria and said he did not want US-allied Syrian Kurdish Peopleʼs Protection Units, or YPG, to seek any confrontation with Ankara.

German armed forces recruit fewer minors The German army recruited 20 percent fewer minors in 2018 compared to the previous year, local media reported Monday. Quoting figures from the Defense Ministry, the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung daily revealed that 1,679 under-18s enlisted in the Bundeswehr in 2018, down from a record 2,128 in 2017. Parliamentary Armed Forces Commissioner HansPeter Bartels welcomed the development, emphasizing that the recruitment of minors "must remain the exception." The Bundeswehr was at a loss to explain the drop, the first since 2013. "Nothing has changed in the recruitment practices of the Bundeswehr," a Defense Ministry spokeswoman said.

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12/2019 • 15 January, 2019

Reform Germanyʼs welfare state, urges communal association A simplification of Germanyʼs welfare state is wanted by its Association of Towns and Municipalities (BStGB). Only then, it says, will communities be able to cope with demographic aging and future economic strains. Germanyʼs11,054 communal authoritieswere overburdened with complicated welfare delivery and needed "de-bureaucratization" to stay within budget in the future, asserted association chief executive Gerd Landsberg on Tuesday. "Every problem is met with the promise that there is more money and naturally more personnel," he said, adding that, longterm, Germanyʼs highly legislated welfare state would not function, given finite taxation revenues, populations withmore elderly, and regions facing loss of industry and jobs.

Landsberg told newspapers run by the Funke MedienGruppe (media group) – which is based in Essen in the once coal and steel-dominated Ruhr region – that the reform should start with the reexamination of welfare grants and tax relief for families.

Mixed messages on Bayern Munichʼs Bundesliga title credentials "Weʼre not in a position to talk about the title at the moment. We simply arenʼt good enough." In a world of bland, non-commital statements from footballers, Arjen Robbenʼs words to German public broadcaster ARD rang out louder than most.

Brexit endgame: What you need to know The Brexit saga reaches its peak on Tuesday when the UK parliament votes on Prime Minister Theresa Mayʼs deal with the EU. If she loses she could be out of a job. Rob Mudge looks at the vote and what could happen next.

The debate and vote is on whether parliament approves a motion stating that MPs back the Withdrawal Agreement, a legally binding text that sets out the terms for leaving the EU. Separately, MPs will also be asked to vote on a declaration that details the UKʼs post-Brexit relationship with the EU. Read more: Opinion: What happened to Brexit architect David Cameron? May needs 318 votes to win, but she does not have an outright majority of the 650 MPs, and hardline Brexit members of her Conservative

Party have said they will vote against her plan.The northern Irish DUP,which props up her government, also opposes the deal in its current form due to the inclusion of the socalled backstop. This provision would maintain an open border between Northern Ireland, a British territory, and EU member Ireland if the UK and the EU fail to agree on a new free trade deal by December 2020. Both DUP and hardline Conservative MPs fear the backstop would tie the UK to the EU indefinitely.

Submarine trip to the Titanic booking soon — for those with deep pockets US company OceanGate is offering commercial diving expeditions down to the Titanic. Tourists will share a submarine with marine researchers.

She is the most famous ship in the world — and the most famous shipwreck, as well. Youʼd be hard-pressed to find a person who hasnʼt heard the tragic story of how the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg the night of April 14, 1912, and sank less than three hours later.

Only the most wealthy passengers could afford tickets for first-class cabins on the ocean linerʼs first — and final — trip. In 2019, those with vast coffers

can roam the decks of the Titanic once again. A US company called OceanGate is planning several trips down to the Titanic this summer, with seats in its deep-sea submarine going for $105,129 dollars (92,000 euros) a piece. Thatʼs the equivalent of a first class ticket on the shipʼs maiden voyage, adjusted for inflation. The longterm mission, spread out over several years, is conceived as a "longitudinal survey to collect images, video and sonar data" and will "provide an objective basis to assess the decay of the wreck over time and help document and preserve its submerged history," according to OceanGate.

Record traffic and new terminal at Budapest Airport Budapest Airport has just announced a double-digit rise in passenger numbers for 2018. Hungary’s major international transport hub registered 14.8 million travellers last year, a 13% jump when compared to the numbers logged in 2017. This record increase has prompted further investment plans for the near future, including the construction of a new terminal building by 2024.

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Bangladesh — a small tiger economy with big plans Bangladesh has been making progress and the country is so successful in many areas that it is a "role model for South Asia." These are not the words of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, but the British business magazine Economist. Bangladesh is going to the polls on December 30 to elect a new government and PM Hasinaʼs Awami League (AL) party is pulling out all the stops to secure victory and retain power. During the election campaign, ruling party members have repeatedly pointed to Bangladeshʼs robust economic development under the incumbent government and promised that, should they win, this trend will continue in the coming years. The economy of the Muslimmajority nation, with a population of over 165 million inhabitants, has grown by an average of over six percent per year since 2008.

Ceasefire on Israel-Gaza border largely holds as UN warns sides are on ʼbrink of warʼ A ceasefire announced by Hamas largely held along the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, a day after the most intense exchange of fire between Israel and the Palestinian group since the 2014 Gaza war. Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes in the densely populated Gaza Strip on Saturday on what it said were Hamas military, training and supply targets, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired nearly 200 rockets and mortars at Israel. Read more: Israel and Gazaʼs militant groups agree to ceasefire The Israeli airstrikes wounded more than 20 people and killed two teenage boys, Palestinian health officials said, while a Hamas rocket injured four Israelis. Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and Islamic Jihad announced the Egyptian and UN-brokered ceasefire late Saturday. The Israeli military said its response would depend on the situation on the ground. After the ceasefire announcement, four mortars were fired into Israel early Sunday. In response, Israeli planes destroy at least one launch site.