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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Germany warns of travel to Turkey after minister threatens ʼterrorists,ʼ ʼtraitorsʼ The German government criticized Turkey on Wednesday after the Turkish interior minister threatened to arrest "terrorists" and "traitors" from Germany arriving at Turkish airports. The statement from Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was "not helpful in the current situation," Foreign Office spokesperson Maria Adebahr said in Berlin. Read more: Turkey: Actors and actresses are Erdoganʼs new targets According to Turkish media, Soylu told an election campaign rally on Sunday that people in Europe and Germany who attend "terrorist organization" rallies would be arrested in Turkey. "In Germany, in Europe, there are those who attend terrorist organization events then go on vacation in Antalya, Bodrum and Mugla," Soylu said, referring to Turkish resort towns. "Now weʼve taken action against them.

EU court rejects Hamas appeal to delist terrorist status A top EU court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Hamas for the bloc to delist the Palestinian group as a terrorist organization to allow it to regain access to frozen assets. Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after it won Palestinian elections, has been on the EU terrorist list since 2001. The EUʼs General Court ruling on Wednesday related specifically to the EUʼs decision to renew the terrorism listing in 2015. Hamas, which has armed and political wings, had argued that the EU made a "mistaken characterization of Hamas as a terrorist group," denied a right to defense and had "not substantiated by any evidence" to justify the terrorism listing. The Islamist group further argued it is "a lawful political movement that won the Palestinian elections and forms the core of the Palestinian government."

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EU conservative bloc lays out ultimatum for Hungaryʼs Viktor Orban EPP chief Manfred Weber says that can be avoided if Orban does three things

Viktor Orbanʼs Fidesz party faces suspension or expulsion from the European Peopleʼs Party, the largest political bloc in the EU Parliament. EU lawmaker Manfred Weber pledged to "try one last time" to keep Hungaryʼs Fidesz party in the European Peopleʼs Party (EPP), the association of center-right parties in the European Parliament, as it prepares to debate Fideszʼs exclusion. The EPP, which also includes Germanyʼs Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union, has more lawmakers than any other group in the Brussels assembly. GermanbornWeber leads the conservative faction. peaking to Germanyʼs masscirculation Bildnewspaper, Weber listed three specific conditions for the populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to avoid sanctions for his party. Weberʼs ultimatum"Viktor Orban must immediately and permanently end his governmentʼs campaign against Brussels," Weber said in an interview published on Tuesday. Secondly, the Hungarian prime minister should apologize to EPP member parties, which number around 50 mostly ChristianDemocratic political groups. Lastly, Orban should allowthe George Soros-backed Central European University (CEU)to keep its headquarters in Budapest and be once again al-

lowed to give out US diplomas. Orban has long irritated Brussels officials with his moves against an independent judiciary and media, his rejection of migrants, as well as campaigns targeting the Hungarian-born billionaire Soros. In recent weeks, however, tensions were once again inflamedby an Orban-backed campaign against Soros and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker. Last month, Orbanʼs government started posting tax-funded billboards of a grinning Soros and Juncker, saying they were planning migration incentives which "threaten Hungaryʼs security." In response, the European Commission slammed the claims as "at worst downright factually incorrect or at best highly misleading." The latest row also made waves in the EPP, which in 2014 ran Juncker as their top candidate for the European Commission presidency. Manfred Weber aims to replace Juncker following the EU election in May. On Monday, the EPP said it received motions from 12 of its member parties to vote on booting Orbanʼs Fidesz. Juncker also told Germanyʼs ZDF broadcaster he would support the exclusion of the Hungarian party.

Ash Wednesday — Germanyʼs day for beer and political insults For more than seven decades, the political culture of the Federal Republic of Germany has been characterized by remarkable consensus and compromise. Despite the best efforts of some of the far-right populists in the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, thereʼs no German equivalent to the acrimony generated by President Donald Trump in the United States. In the main, German politicians stay civil. But every Ash Wednesday the gloves come off, and political leaders are allowed to push the rhetoric to the limits of fairness — and sometimes beyond. Thatʼs been the case this year, too, in the centenary edition of the ritual. Here are some best zingers from the 2019 edition of the political roast dayGermans call "political Ash Wednesday."

North Korea rebuilding rocket test site

North Korea has started restoring part ofa long-range rocket launch site it dismantled last year, according to a report published on Wednesday by Washington-based think tank 38 North. Satellite evidence suggests that work had begun at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the run-up toa summit in Vietnam between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, 38 North said.

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