107/2019 • 11 MAY, 2019 WEEKEND ISSUE
DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
EU Council President Tusk: 20-30% chance Brexit doesnʼt happen He said that Brexit has triggered a pro-Europe movement across Britain
EU Council President Donald Tusk says he will never give up hope that the UK will reverse its exit course.
US imposes increased tariffs on Chinese goods, despite talks
Nigerian progovernment militia frees hundreds of children
Representatives of the US and China ended their talks on Friday without sharing details on the results, with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin describing them only as "constructive." Chinaʼs Vice Premier Liu He said the talks went "fairly well," according to Bloomberg. Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, cited "an authoritative source," to report that "talks didnʼt break down. Both sides think that the talks are constructive and will continue consultations. The two sides agree to meet again in Beijing in the future."
A Nigerian pro-government militia force on Friday released 894 children it had used to help fightan Islamist insurgencyin the northeast of the country, the UN childrenʼs agency UNICEF said. "(This) is a step in the right direction for the protection of childrenʼs rights and must be recognized and encouraged," Mohamed Fall, the UNICEF Nigeria chief, said in a statement. "Children of northeast Nigeria have borne the brunt of this conflict. They have been used by armed groups in combatant and noncombatant roles and witnessed death, killing and violence," he said.
European Council Donald Tusk said in an interview on Friday that he believes there may still be a "20-30%" chance that Britain remains in the European Union. Speaking with Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza he said that if a 2016 referendum can reverse a decision made in 1975, it should be possible to hold a second Brexit vote. Tusk was referring to the time Britons voted on whether they wanted to remain in what, 44 years ago, was the European Economic Community. The president stressed that it was perhaps unfair to the British people that the major consequences of their vote were not made clear until after the June 2016 ballot. "The real debate on the consequences of Brexit started not before or during the referendum campaign, but after the vote. Today the results would probably look different," said Tusk. "Paradoxically it is Brexit that triggered a proEuropean movement in the UK," he added. "Today, chances that there will be no Brexit are at 20-30%. Thatʼs a lot." Tusk said he was uncertain how Britain could expect to leave the EU bythe new deadline of October 31, when Prime Minister Theresa Mayʼs withdrawal agreement has already been rejected by parliament three times. "Month by month it is becoming clearer that the UKʼs departure from the EU will look completely different
to what the Brexit promoters had (forecast)," he told the Gazeta Wyborcza, declaring that he would never give up hope that the UK would reverse course. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Britain can unilaterally stop Brexit without seeking approval from EU member states. As a result of the decision to extend the deadline, the UK willparticipate in EU elections at the end of May. European Council Donald Tusk said in an interview on Friday that he believes there may still be a "20-30%" chance that Britain remains in the European Union. Speaking with Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza he said that if a 2016 referendum can reverse a decision made in 1975, it should be possible to hold a second Brexit vote. Tusk was referring to the time Britons voted on whether they wanted to remain in what, 44 years ago, was the European Economic Community. The president stressed that it was perhaps unfair to the British people that the major consequences of their vote were not made clear until after the June 2016 ballot. "The real debate on the consequences of Brexit started not before or during the referendum campaign, but after the vote. Today the results would probably look different," said Tusk. "Paradoxically it is Brexit that triggered a pro-European movement in the UK," he added.
German minister calls for immediate ban on plastic bags
German national anthem outcry re-inflames EastWest divide
German Development Minister Gerd Müller has called for a ban on plastic bags in Germany, in part to reduce the exports of waste to developing countries. "The ban on plastic straws is not enough," Müller told the Augsburger Allgemeine. "Germany should not wait for Europe and should immediately ban disposable plastic bags." The CSU politician noted that some African countries had already banned plastic bags, "We must do what Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have done."
An eastern German state premier, Bodo Ramelow, says Germany should have a national anthem that all the country can sing along to. For him and others, the Nazi associations linger, and East Germans never got a choice. Comments by the state premier of the former East German state of Thuringia on Thursday have reinflamed an old sore point between the two former Germanys. Some three decades after the reunification, Bodo Ramelow argued at the end of an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper, many people from the former communist part of Germany did not sing along with the current anthem.