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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

AfD regional leader Andre Poggenburg resigns following anti-Turkish speech Andre Poggenburg sparked nationwide disgust after comparing Germans of Turkish origin as "camel drivers." His planned resignation follows a formal censure by his party. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party announced Thursday that a high-profile regional leader will resign from his post at the end of March. Andre Poggenburg is the head of the party in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. He prompted an outcry in mid-February after describing people of Turkish origin in Germany as "camel drivers" and "caraway seed traders" in a speech to AfD supporters.

57/2018 • 09 MARCH, 2018

Anti-immigration Czech President Milos Zeman attacks press in swearing in speech The 73-year-old Zeman may become even more outspoken as his career closes

Refugee children making a new life in Germany

The pro-Russian, pro-Chinese and anti-immigration leader criticized journalists and opponents as he was sworn in for a second and final term.

Hailing from Syria, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, they attend the same integration class in their new home. Despite different backgrounds, these high school students all have one thing in common: motivation to succeed. "I have been in Germany for two years. I took off on foot, then someone gave me a ride in their car, after that I continued by bus and train and then finally on foot again. In Austria, a friend and I simply boarded a train to Munich. I couldnʼt speak any German." The events that Aziz Ahmad Noori is referring to took place two years ago. He was 15 at the time. He fled Afghanistan – fled violence – without his parents.Aziz is typical of the kind of young people enrolled inintegration coursesat Bertha von Suttner High School. Most have fled difficult circumstances on their own and managed to get through it all. Aziz currently lives in a boarding house. He feels lucky to have the opportunity to attend school. His aim is to earn his diploma and graduate.

Czech President Milos Zeman was sworn in at a ceremony held in the Vladislav Hall of the medieval Prague Castle, which dates from the ninth century and claims to be the largest, ancient castle in the world. It has also been the presidential seat since 1918. The 73-year-old took the presidential oath Thursday during a joint session of both houses of parliament at the castle. In his address, Zeman took up where he had left offduring the campaignwith an attack on the Czech public broadcaster for giving too much coverage to the TOP 09 conservative party and more generally "manipulation" by liberal outlets. TOP 09 European parliamentarian Jiri Pospisil left in protest, writing later on Twitter, "Itʼs sad that Milos Zeman canʼt stop himself from attacking those with different viewpoints." Zeman also spoke out against the Hospodarske Noviny newspaper and Respectmagazine. Several other conservative lawmakers, including former-Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, left the room dur-

ing the ceremony. After serving as prime minister during the 1990s, Zeman was first elected to the mostly ceremonial post of head of state in 2013, following Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus, who had served in the post before him. He won re-election in Januarywith a 51.5 percent share of the vote, during a campaign dominated by security issues and immigration. A Zeman billboard campaign declared, "Say no to immigrants and Drahos, this land is ours." Jiri Drahos was his main election rival, a former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences who was decried, often in vulgar language, as an out-of-touch liberal. He earned 48.6 percent of the vote. The Czech Republic has accepted only 12 of the 2,000 asylumseekers it had been designated under the EUʼs 2015 relocation plan. In December, the European Commission said it would sue the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary at the European Court of Justice because of the three countriesʼ refusal to take in asylum-seekers.

Donald Trump set to sign executive order on steel import tariff Hours ahead of the signing of trade tariffs on steel imports, President Trump has insisted he doesnʼt want a trade war. Washington is set to soften the blow of its new penalties with exemptions for certain countries. Top executives from the US industrial sector will be at the White House on Thursday afternoon when US President Donald Trump signs an executive order imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Trumpʼs main trade advisor Peter Navarro told US TV channel Fox Business that the new penalties would be signed off by president in a ceremony at the Oval Office at 3.30 p.m. local time (2030 UTC), and then take effect within 10 to 15 days. But in a sign of a softening of the billionaireʼs latest protectionist policy, Navarro confirmed some neighboring countries would be exempted from the duties.

Turkey jails dozens of journalists A year and eight months after a failed coup, Ankara has shown no sign of deescalating its crackdown on critical journalists. The 25 reporters were convicted on trumped-up terror charges. Turkey sentenced 25 journalists to prison terms ranging from three years to seven and half years on Thursday. The defendants were accused of "knowingly and willingly" aiding exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been blamed by Ankara for the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016.

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