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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Kazakhstanʼs President Nursultan Nazarbayev fires government

45/2019 • 22 FEBRUARY, 2019

Merkel voices solidarity with Juncker Stops short of calling for Orbanʼs Fidesz to be thrown out of EPP

Kazakhstanʼs President Nursultan Nazarbayev fired the government on Thursday over what he described as its failure to improve living standards and make positive changes in the country. "In many areas of the economy, despite the adoption of many laws and government decisions, positive changes have not been achieved," Nazarbayev said. Nazarbayev to announce measures Nazarbayev, who has ruled since the country became independent after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, wrote on the presidential website that he will soon propose "a range of measures to strengthen social welfare and raise peopleʼs quality of life."

United Kingdomʼs Jeremy Corbyn: Risk of no-deal Brexit ʼvery seriousʼ The leader of Britainʼs biggest opposition party warned on Thursday that there was a "very serious" risk that the country would crash out of the European Union without a deal. Following a "useful" meeting in Brussels with Michel Barnier, the EUʼs chief Brexit negotatiator, Corbyn said May was "trying to keep the threat of a no deal on the table" and accused her of "running down the clock" ahead of the Brexit deadline on March 29. The Labour Party was "determined" to remove the possibility of a nodeal exit, he said, adding that Barnier had conveyed the EUʼs own fears about the predicted economic damage such an outcome would entail for both sides.

The chancellor has backed the European Commission president in the face of aggressive attacks from Hungary. Still, she declined to call for removing Orbanʼs party from the conservative bloc in the European Parliament. German Chancellor Angela Merkel waded into theescalating fight between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbanʼs Fidesz party and European Commission President JeanClaude Junckeron Thursday when confronted by reporters in Berlin. Read more: Is Viktor Orban the EUʼs hard-line hero or villain? Merkel, who was hosting Burkina Fasoʼs President Roch Marc Kabore, told reporters, "Jean-Claude Juncker has my full solidarity, and we will also make that clear in discussions with Hungary." The chancellor, however, refused to answer another question, namely, whetherOrbanʼs Fidesz partyshould be expelled from the majority center-right European Peoplesʼ Party (EPP) ahead of European parliamentary elections in late May. Orbanʼs Fidesz and Merkelʼs CDU/CSU alliance are both members of the EPP bloc; Juncker was its candidate for the Commission presidency in 2014ʼs European elections. But Merkelʼs successor as chair of

the CDU, Annegret KrampKarrenbauer, did threaten Fidesz on Thursday with halting bilateral cooperation between the two parties, unless they could find common ground on the EPPʼs broader aims. "Itʼs up to the Hungarians to clearly prove that they still belong in the EPP," KrampKarrenbauer told Der Spiegel. At issue areOrbanʼs continued aggressive attacks on Juncker and Brussels. On Tuesday, Fidesz unveiled a new campaign accusing the European Commission president of being a puppet of liberal, Hungarian-born investor and philanthropistGeorge Soros. Posters were seen around Hungary with pictures of Juncker and Soros and the words: "You have the right to know what Brussels is preparing. They want to bring in the mandatory settlement quota; weaken member statesʼ rights to border defense; facilitate immigration with a migrant visa." A spokesman for the European Commission decried the campaign as a "ludicrous conspiracy theory."

India to cut water to Pakistan as Kashmir conflict escalates The announcement came as tensions between India and neighboring Pakistan continued to soar in the wake of adeadly terror attackin thedisputed Kashmir regionlast Thursday. India blames Pakistan for the attack, which killed 40 paramilitary soldiers, whereasPakistan denies any involvement. Water usage rights in the regionare covered by the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which gives India control over the eastern Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers; and Pakistan control of the western Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. Gadkari, whose ministerial brief includes transport and water resources, also announced that India had begun construction of a dam on the Ravi river, a major tributary to the Indus. Most of Kashmir, located in the Himalayas, is split between Pakistan and India, with both sides also claiming the right to the otherʼs portion. The first full-blown insurrection in the region erupted in 1989, with insurgents demanding independence or unification with Pakistan.

Germany approves new abortion law Germanyʼs Bundestag voted 371 to 277 on Thursday to approve arevision to the countryʼs controversial abortion law, also known as Paragraph 219a. The new regulation allows doctors and hospitals to state on their websites that they provide abortions. The law, which was known as an "advertising ban," prohibited medical professionals from even mentioning that they provided abortions.

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