DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Germanyʼs ʼfat yearsʼ of high tax revenue are over: Finance Minister Scholz Germanyʼs "fat years" ofhigher-thanexpected revenue from tax receiptsare over, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz warned on Sunday, signaling that Europeʼs top economy is set to loose momentum in the next few years. "The good times in which the state kept taking in more taxes than expected are coming to an end," Scholz told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. That, he said, restricted the governmentʼs capacity for passing new tax cuts or increasing public investment. Germany was however expected to post another budget surplus in 2018, Scholz said, after it posted a €36.6 billion ($41.7 billion) surplus in 2017.
Afghanistan: Gold mine collapse leaves several dead At least 30 people were killed and seven injured on Sunday when a gold mine collapsed in northeastern Afghanistan, officials said. The victims were villagers who were mining for gold illegally, according to officials in Badakhshan province. The villagers had dug a 60-meter (200-foot) deep shaft in a river bed and were inside when a landslide caused it to cave in. About 50 miners were inside when the incident occurred during heavy snowfall. Two rescue teams have been deployed to the scene. Illegal mining is common in Afghanistan, a country rich in mineral deposits. The Taliban,a jihadist movement fighting to regain control of the countryfrom the Western-backed government, relies on illegal mining for much of its revenue. "Poor villagers during winters try to compensate their earnings by pursuing illegal mining," said Nek Mohammad Nazari, a spokesman for Provincial Governor Mohammad Rustam Raghi.
5/2019 • 7 JANUARY, 2019
Venezuela congress names new leader, calls Nicolas Maduro illegitimate Juan Guaido also said congress aimed to restore constitutional order
The new leader of Venezuelaʼs opposition-controlled National Assembly has called Nicolas Maduro a dictator whose legitimacy has run out. Venezuelaʼs opposition-controlled National Assembly opened a new legislative session on Saturday, swearing in a new leader who declared Nicolas Maduroʼs presidency illegitimate. Juan Guaido, 35, assumed the presidency of the National Assembly stripped of power by Maduro, who is set to be inaugurated to a second six-year term next Thursday followingcontroversial elections last May. "We reaffirm the illegitimacy of Nicolas Maduro," Guaido told lawmakers and foreign diplomats in attendance to show solidarity with the embattled legislative body. "As of January 10, he will be usurping the presidency and consequently this National Assembly is the only legitimate representative of the people." Guaido called the Socialist president a dictator who has plunged the oil-rich country into economic and social misery, adding that Venezuela was living through a "dark but transitional" period in its history. He told lawmakers that opposition politicians have been jailed, driven into exile or killed. The National Assembly was stripped of its powers in 2016 by the Supreme Court, which is dominated
by Maduro loyalists, and replaced by a separate regime-created Constituent Assembly. The May 20 elections called by the Constituent Assembly were boycotted by most of the main opposition groups and condemned by the international community. On Friday, a dozen Latin American countries and Canada declared they wouldnot recognize Maduroas president if he stays in office and called on him to hand power to the National Assembly. Maduro accused the so-called Lima group of encouraging a Washington-backed "coup dʼetat." In his speech, Guaido said the National Assembly would move to create a transitional body and prepare for free, democratic elections. He did not provide details of how this process would work, but called for the armed forces and civil society to play a role. The National Assembly would assume "the representation of the people and of Venezuela before the international community, to defend and protect the interests, rights and patrimony of the people and state, inside and outside of Venezuela, while the usurpation lasts," he said.
Malaysiaʼs King Muhammad V resigns Malaysiaʼs King Muhammad V stepped down from the throne on Sunday. "The National Palace informs that his majesty has resigned as the 15th king effective January 6," the National Palace said in a statement. No reason for his abdication was given. It is the fist time a ruling monarch has abdicated before the end of a five-year term since Malaysia gained its independence from Britain in 1957. Muhammad V was selected in October 2016 as Malaysiaʼs head of state. He is also the ruling sultan of Kelantan, one of Malaysiaʼs nine states. Muhammad V, Malaysiaʼs 15th king, had recently taken a leave of absence for medical reasons. Over the past weeks, rumors had surfaced in Russian and British media that he had married a former Russian beauty queen. The wedding reportedly took place in Moscow. The palace has not yet commented on the rumors.
Winter storm in German Alps triggers avalanche warnings Heavy snowfall in the southern German state of Bavaria has triggered the second-highest avalanche warning level, the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service (BAWS) said on Sunday. Avalanche danger is assessed through a five-level European danger scale, from low (one) to very high (five). The BAWS graded the German alpine area with four, warning that many medium to large avalanches could occur spontaneously. "The main problem is the enormous weight of new snow on the unstable old snow cover," the BAWS said.
weather today BUDAPEST
-10 / 1 °C Precipitation: 0 mm