DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Greece-North Macedonia ʼselfie diplomacyʼ warms relations Prime Minister Alex Tsipras was in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, on Tuesday for a landmark trip to Greeceʼs northern neighbor. "Today our Republic for the first time in its history is a hosting an official visit of a Greek Prime Minister," Prime Minister Zoran Zaev noted during a joint press conference. "We are starting to cover lost ground to build a deep friendship, not only between our governments, but especially between our people," Tsipras said. Tsiprasʼ visit comes just weeks after the former Yugoslav republic changed its name to North Macedonia, settling a name dispute that has been going on for almost 30 years. The two leaders pushed the name change — amid fierce opposition from nationalists from both nations —in exchange for assurance that Athens would stop thwarting Macedonian efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union.
77/2019 • 3 APRIL, 2019
UK to ask for Article 50 extension Work with opposition to take Brexit forward
The German companies Daimler, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen and soccer club Borussia Dortmund announced on Tuesday that they would donate €5 million ($5.6 million) to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The companies view their effort as "a clear sign of our solidarity with the victims of the Holocaust, and as our responsibility, past and future, in the fight against racism and anti-Semitism." Yad Vashem houses the worldʼs largest collection of artefacts from the time of the Holocaust, and in light of the significant increase in objects donated to the institution new space will now be created for the archiving, research and restoration of those objects.
German greenhouse gas emissions fall for first time in four years
Germanyʼs crime rate fell to lowest level in decades in 2018 The crime rate in Germanyhas fallen for the second year in a row, according to the 2018 crime report that was published on Tuesday. Itʼs the lowest crime rate Germany has seen since 1992, but the Interior Ministry said the figures should be handled with caution — and did not provide any estimates of the number of unreported crimes. The main takeaways: The Federal Criminal Police Agency (BKA) detailed the number of reported criminal acts for 2018, including the following takeaways: 5.56 million criminal acts were recorded in 2018 — down 3.6 percent from the previous year.Robberies were significantly down, particularly home burglaries and pickpocketing cases.The number of reported rape, sexual assault and harassment cases dropped by 18 percent.Physical assaults on police officers rose significantly, up by 36 percent.
German companies pledge support for Yad Vashem Holocaust Center
The UK government is to ask for an extension to Article 50 to find a way out of the Brexit impasse. Prime Minister Theresa May said she would work with the opposition to agree a plan to take the Brexit process forward. Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Tuesday she wanted an extension to the process of the UK leaving the EU. However, she also said she did not want the UK to take part in European elections. May said the extension would be "as short as possible" and would end once a deal was struck. Speaking in Downing Street, after a seven-hour meeting with her ministers, May said she would take action to break the logjam and work with the opposition to agree a plan which could then be approved by Parliament before being taken to the EU next week. May said she was seeking a single, unified approach. She said the government would abide by a decision of Parliament on the path for Brexit. European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "Even if,
after today, we donʼt know what the end result will be, let us be patient." Pro-EU Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed concern: "If MPs allow 12 April to pass with no commitment to fight Euro elections, May 22 becomes the inescapable exit day ... and PM would then be able to say itʼs my deal or no deal. Parliament needs to be very wary about a potential trap." Conservative support? The prime minister did not say if she had the agreement of her ministers for her plan. Suggestions are it will lead to a ʼsofter Brexit" which would cause resignations from Brexit hardliners. There was no reference to any further public vote on the issue. If no plan is presented to the EU by April 12, the default position is for the UK to leave the bloc without a deal.
Germanyʼs Environment Ministry announced Tuesday that the country emitted 4.2 percent less carbon dioxide in 2018 than it did in 2017. The figure represents a 30.6 percent drop over 1990. It is the first significant reduction after fouryears of stagnation. Renewables played a major role in 38-million-ton reduction, which environmental authorities say avoided roughly 184 million tons of emissions compared to fossil fuels producing the same amount of energy. In all, Germany emitted 868.7 metric tons of carbon.
weather today BUDAPEST
8 / 18 °C Precipitation: 0 mm