DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
George Weah sworn in as president of Liberia Football legend George Weahʼs inauguration ceremony has marked the countryʼs first democratic transition of power since 1944. Liberians are placing their hopes on him, but he has a daunting task ahead. Thousands of Liberians queued for hours to get into Samuel Kanyon Doe stadium near the capital, Monrovia, whereGeorge Weah was sworn into office. Several African heads of state were in attendance. Referring to his past as an international football star, the 51-yearold newly inaugurated president said: "I have spent many years of my life in stadiums, but today is a feeling like no other." He went on to reiterate that his first priorities as president would be to root out corruption and pay civil servants "a living wage," as well as encourage the private sector.
Director Dieter Wedel steps down from theater festival after sex assault claims Following weeks of sexual assault allegations, award-winning German director Dieter Wedel is leaving the Bad Hersfeld Theater Festival. His departure follows public accusations from several actresses. After repeated allegations of sexual assault from several actresses, Dieter Wedel has announced that he is stepping down as artistic director of the Bad Hersfeld Theater Festival. "Dieter Wedel is currently in hospital," a spokesperson for the 75-year-old said Monday. "After the events of the last two weeks, he is poor health." German tabloid Bild additionally reported that he is being treated after a heart attack. In a recent article in Zeit Magazin, several actresses made serious allegations against the star director, which included non-consensual sex. Patricia Thielemann accused Wedel of forcing himself on her in a hotel room in 1991, and attempting to strangle her when she fought back.
24/2018 • 29, JANUARY 2018
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad dies Aged 91
Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of furniture giant IKEA, has died at the age of 91. Kamprad started selling matches at the age of five, buying them in bulk and selling them individually. The furniture store on Sunday announced the death offounder Ingvar Kamprad, saying he had passed away at his home in southern Sweden. "The founder of IKEA and Ikano, and one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Ingvar Kamprad, has peacefully passed away, at his home in Smaland, Sweden, on the 27th of January," the company said in a press release. "Ingvar will be very missed and warmly remembered by his family and IKEA colleagues around the world," the release said. Kamprad was still a teenager when he founded IKEA in 1943, but it wasnʼt until 1956 that he struck proverbial gold when he realized that saving space meant saving money. His aha moment came when he saw an employee taking the legs off a table to fit it into a customerʼs car. That sparked IKEAʼs move towards so-called "flat-pack" furniture. But the task of self-assembly became increasingly dreaded by IKEAʼs customers, and the company responded just four months ago bypurchasing an assembly startup known as TaskRabbit. The retail giant is now approaching $62 billion (50 billion euros) in annual revenues. Kamprad was born March 30, 1926, and began
selling matches at the age of five. He quickly discovered that he could buy the matches in bulk, even at retail prices, and still turn a profit by selling them in small quantities in his neighborhood. He soon branched out and began selling seeds, Christmas tree decorations, pencils and ballpoint pens. The "IKEA" name is an acronym, combining his initials with those of the family farm — Elmtaryd — and the nearby village — Agunnaryd. "Ingvar Kamprad was a great entrepreneur of the typical southern Swedish kind - hard working and stubborn, with a lot of warmth and a playful twinkle in his eye," the company said. "He worked until the very end of his life, staying true to his own motto that most things remain to be done." In 1973, he left Swedenʼs high tax rates for Denmark before eventually finding lower tax rates in Switzerland, where he settled. Beginning in 2010, Kamprad began to transfer power and control of the company to his three sons, and finally returned to live in Sweden in 2014 — shortly after he announced that he would be stepping down from the company board and that his youngest son would become board chairman.
Berlin confirms German national killed in Kabul hotel attack At least one German was killed in Saturdayʼs Taliban attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul, according to the German foreign ministry. The militants gunned down over twenty people, mostly foreigners, in a siege lasting hours. One German national died in the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, a German foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Monday. The ministry said the victim was a woman, but did not provide other details. There are no indications that other German citizens were among the casualities. At least 22 people lost their lives in the Saturday attack, according to the latest death toll provided by the Afghan Health Ministry. The death toll is likely to rise. The militants specifically targeted foreign citizens, according to a survivor quoted by the news agency AFP. "They were saying kill the foreigners," said a 20year-old hotel employee who gave his name as Hasibullah.
US embassy to open in Jerusalem by end of 2019 US Vice President Mike Pence has told Israeli politicians that the US embassy will move to Jerusalem by the end of next year. He also said Washington would withdraw from a nuclear deal with Iran, calling it a "disaster." US Vice President Mike Pence told Israelʼs Knesset on Monday that Washington was intending to bring forward a controversial plan by the Trump administration to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the US Embassy in Jerusalem — and the embassy will open before the end of next year," Pence said.
weather today BUDAPEST
2 / 3 °C Precipitation: 0 mm