DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Taiwanese ruling party suffers local election defeats Taiwanʼs ruling party lost two mayoral elections to the Nationalist party on Saturday in polls seen as a popularity test of the countryʼs independence-leading president, Tsai Ing-wen, as China exerts ever-more economic and political pressure on the island. Tsaiʼs Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost both in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, where it had held power for 20 years, and in the central city of Taichung. The president said after the defeats that she would step down as party leader. "As chairperson of the ruling party, I will take complete responsibility for the outcome of todayʼs local elections," she told reporters. She said she had rejected the resignation of her premier, William Lai, who had offered to quit earlier in the evening. Saturdayʼs defeats have dealt a major blow to Tsaiʼs prospects of re-election.
US climate report warns of worsening disasters Climate change will wreak havoc on the natural environment, economy and public health in the United States unless more is done to drastically reduce carbon emissions, a US government report has warned. "Without substantial and sustained global mitigation and regional adaptation efforts,climate change is expected to cause growing losses to American infrastructure and property and impede the rate of economic growth over this century," the Fourth National Climate Assessment said Friday. The report, mandated by Congress, includes assessments by 13 federal agencies. It details how rising temperatures threaten to lower agricultural yields, increase the likelihood of flooding and wildfires, impede energy production and increase the prevalence of tropical diseases across the country. Government action now could nevertheless mitigate the most extreme impacts, it said.
267/2018 • 26 NOVEMBER, 2018
Britainʼs Theresa May holds pre-summit talks Brexit:
Russia wants to check truth of 1969 US moon landing
A proposed Russian mission to the moon will include verifying whether US astronauts really landed there in 1969, the head of Russiaʼs Roscosmos space agency said in a video posted on Twitter on Saturday. "We have set this objective to fly and verify whether theyʼve been there or not," Dmitry Rogozin said in the video. However, Rogozin appeared to be joking in his answer to a corresponding question, although conspiracy theories about NASAʼs lunar missions are rife in Russia. Russia plans to send the first cosmonauts to the moon in the early 2030s. The Soviet Union dropped its lunar program in the mid-1970s after four experimental rockets exploded. The cosmonauts are to remain on the moon for 14 days.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has held talks with key EU leaders ahead of a summit to endorse her Brexit deal. A deal reached with Spain has cleared the way for EU approval. British Prime Minister Theresa May was in Brussels on Saturday for lastminute talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk on the eve of an EU summit that was threatened by Spanish objections toher deal on Britainʼs withdrawal from the bloc. Spain had threatened to veto the dealunless the wording was changed to give Madrid guarantees that it alone can decide on the future of the disputed territory of Gibraltar in direct talks with London. However, an agreement reached on Saturday between Spain, the EU and Britain removed obstacles to the summit, both sides said. "We have reached an agreement on Gibraltar," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement. Any future decisions about Gibraltar would be taken only with Spainʼs consent. EC spokesman Margaritis Schinas confirmed that after a constructive meeting between Juncker and May, "We are on track for tomorrow," and
the EU leadersʼ meeting on Sunday. May hopes to leave Brussels on Sunday with the terms of British withdrawal on March 29 and a comprehensive concept for future Britain-EU relations settled with the bloc. The British premier is, however, also facing opposition closer to home, with the Democratic Union Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland,whose support is vital to her government,holding a conference on Saturday. The right-wing, "Christian fundamentalist" DUP, which is in favor of British rule in Northern Ireland, believes that the dealʼs backstop provision toensure an open border on the island of Irelandwill give the province a different economic status compared with the mainland. DUP leader Arlene Foster told delegates that the backstop must be removed otherwise, the party will vote against the withdrawal agreement in the UK parliament next month. The DUP fears the measure could increase the chances of Irish unification, which it vigorously rejects.
Paris police fire tear gas at ʼyellow vestʼ protesters
Police fired water cannons and tear gas at protesters in Paris early on Saturday, asthe "yellow vest" demonstratorscontinued a week of opposition to rising fuel costs and the economic policies of President Emmanuel Macron. After staging roadblocks on highways across France for days, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Champs Elysees carrying signs that read "Macron, thief" and "Macron, resign."
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