DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
ʼNazi Grandma,ʼ sentenced for denying Holocaust, fails to show up at German prison Ursula Haverbeck, dubbed the "Nazi Grandma," failed to turn up to begin her jail term. The serial Holocaust denier has been sentenced to two years in jail for incitement. Authorities in western Germany arrested serial Holocaust denier Ursula Haverbeck on Monday after the 89-yearold failed to show up at prison last week to start her sentence. Haverbeck was handed a two-year jail term for incitement by denying the mass murder of millions of Jews during the Nazi era in Germany. Haverbeck, who German media often refers to as the "Nazi Grandma," has never spent time in prison despite several previous convictions for denying the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis between 1941 and 1945.
United States border authorities block Central American migrant caravan US officials have told would-be asylum seekers at the Mexican border that the crossing is too full to process their cases. The migrants have already drawn the wrath of US President Trump during their trek through Mexico.More than a hundred migrants from Central American countries have camped out at the US-Mexican border after being told by US border inspectors on Sunday that a crossing facility had no capacity for them. It was not immediately clear whether the migrants, who have traveled 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) through Mexico to the border at Tijuana, would be turned back or allowed in later.
102/2018 • 08 MAY, 2018
ʼMacron needs to shed his image as president of the richʼ Now, Macron is at a crossroads, says political scientist Emiliano Grossman
One year ago, Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential elections, advocating a reform program. Macron was viewed very positively when he took office. He still benefits from this now. He comes across as very dynamic and efficient. And his electoral victory certainly took the political establishment by surprise. But there are the first signs of a certain reform fatigue creeping in. His approval ratings have dropped considerably in recent weeks. That is not just linked to the rail worker strike which has been going on for weeks, thereʼs also the "Sarkozy effect." Nicolas Sarkozy also began his presidency with a cascade of reforms but over time it became harder and harder for him to implement them. It will depend in large part on whether his reforms bear fruit. Franceʼs economic situation is currently better than one or two years ago, but Macron can hardly take credit for that. He would benefit if there were long-term improvements in the overall economic situation, growth in key sectors, and most importantly if companies created jobs. But there is also a factor that foreign observers might
not be so aware of. Macron needs to shed his image as a "president of the rich." The reforms he has initiated have clearly benefited the well off and super rich. Right now, he is trying to scrap the "exit tax." It was introduced by Sarkozyʼs conservative government to make it harder for the rich to flee tax by moving to Belgium or Switzerland. It was not very successful but Macron wants to abolish the tax anyway for purely symbolic reasons. Macron won the election because of his relatively radical reform agenda. I donʼt think any president in the past 10-15 years has begun his tenure enjoying so much support from the very start. So the situation is a little different to when his predecessors Hollande and Sarkozy took power. The French peopleʼs reluctance to undertake reforms or their outright aversion to them today is probably less pronounced than it was several years ago. But Macron needs to exploit this opportunity to carry out his reforms and then sell them well.
Famous WWII Remagen bridge towers up for sale Buyers interested in WWII history and who arenʼt afraid of rolling up their sleeves are in luck. German authorities are selling part of the destroyed Ludendorff Bridge or "Bridge at Remagen" to the highest bidder. Two towers on the eastern end of a World War II era bridge — immortalized by the 1969 US film "The Bridge at Remagen" — are up for sale, German authorities confirmed on Monday. The Federal Railway Property Fund (BEV) is selling the ruins located on the side of where the bridge formerly stood across the Rhine from Remagen. "There are already several interested parties," BEV spokesman Jürgen Rothe told news agency dpa. The German newspaper Rhein Zeitung first reported on plans to sell the towers. The listing did not set a price for the bridge towers, rather stating that they will go to the highest bidder. Interested buyers have until May 18 to make their offers.
Catholic cardinal rebukes Bavaria for ordering crosses in state buildings Cardinal Reinhard Marx has said directing all state buildings to hang crosses amounts to "expropriating the cross in the name of the state." Bavarian Premier Markus Söder sparked nationwide criticism for the move. The head of the German Bishopsʼ Conference has sharply criticized the premier of the southern German state of Bavaria for ordering Christian crosses to be hung in all state buildings.
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