DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Asia Bibiʼs husband Ashiq Masih appeals to US President Donald Trump for asylum Despiteher acquittal by the Supreme Court in a blasphemy appeal caseon Wednesday, Asia Bibi is still in detention. Her husband, Ashiq Masih, has now appealed to US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help the family exit the country. Following Bibiʼs acquittal, the hardline Tehreeke-Labaik (TLP) party took to the streets and forced the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan tostrike a deal to end the protest. According to the deal, the government will not block a review petition for the acquittal and will take measures to ban Bibi from travelling abroad. "I am requesting the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to help us exit from Pakistan," Masih said in a video recorded by the British Pakistani Christian Association.
Bahrain opposition leader gets life sentence in Qatar spy case A Bahrain appeals court sentenced the leader of the now-shuttered Shiite opposition to life in prison on Sunday for spying for regional rival Qatar. Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of thedissolved AlWefaqmovement, had been acquitted by Bahrainʼs High Criminal Court in June alongside two other prominent aides, Sheikh Hassan Ali Juma Sultan and Ali Mahdi Ali al-Aswad, who were tried in absentia. The court on Sunday overruled the previous acquittal and jailed all three to life in prison for transferring confidential information and receiving financial support from Qatar. Human rights group Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemned the appeals court decision.
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Angela Merkel touts Germanyʼs ʼwellpositionedʼ economy Angela Merkel was speaking in her first video message after announcing standing down
The German chancellor has lauded the countryʼs sustained economic growth and low unemployment. Angela Merkel was speaking in her first video message after announcing she would stand down as political party leader. In her weekly video podcast, German Chancellor Angela Merkel avoided reference to herdecision to step downas her partyʼs leader and not to run for a fifth term as chancellor, choosing instead to address Germanyʼs economic situation and the challenges facing the country in the future. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician said Germany "is well positioned" economically and is on course to achieve 1.8 percent growth in the coming fiscal year. She said that German policymakers would "need to remain vigilantto ensure the countryʼs decade of economic growth continues" in the face of a slowing global economy. She also lauded the countryʼs 4.9 percentunemployment rate— the lowest since 1980. Merkel said economic growth was the result of German exports, which are heavily dependent on the countryʼs mid-sized companies, and domestic policy decisions that have led to an increase in consumer spending at home. The chancellor also noted that the World Economic Forum in Davos ranked Germany the most innovative place
in the world to do business. Digitalization and artificial intelligence present challenges and opportunitiesLooking forward, Merkel warned that "the world does not sleep" and noted thatdigitalizationand Asian dynamism in the digital sector clearly posed the biggest challenge to the countryʼs continued economic growth. She stressed the importance of devising anew digital strategyas well as a roadmap for work in the field of artificial intelligence. To that end, the chancellor vowed that the government would work closely with German businesses, especially mid-sized firms. She noted that measures taken by her "grand coalition" — consisting of the CDU, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) — would help foster innovation. Merkel specifically spoke of plans to offer tax incentives to mid-sized companies investing in research in the fields of digitalization and artificial intelligence. The tax incentives, she said, would further bolster companies already receiving government support for such research.
Bodies retrieved from flooded Sicily house as fierce storms wreak havoc in Italy Italian authorities said Sunday the bodies of the family, including those of three children aged one, three and 15, were found in their house in Casteldaccia next to a small river which had burst its banks. Three other members of the same family managed to escape, according to local rescue officials. Giovanni Di Giacinto, mayor of Casteldaccia, said the discovery of the bodies was an "immense tragedy," Italian news agency ANSA reported. In a separate incident, a man was found dead in his car. At least two other people around the Sicilian capital Palermo are reportedly missing.
New Caledonia rejects independence from France Voters on the Pacific islands of New Caledonia voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining part of France on Sunday, according to partial results of an independence referendum. The local electoral authority said the "No" camp against independence had 59.5 percent of the vote, with 70 percent of ballots counted so far. French President Emmanuel Macron said he took pride in the votersʼ decision for New Caledonia to remain French.
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