DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
British gay rights activist charged, briefly detained in Russia ahead of World Cup Peter Tatchell was arrested by police after unfurling a poster critical of Vladimir Putin. The incident highlights Russiaʼs approach to criticism of the president as well as the state of gay rights in the country. British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell was arrested by Russian police at Red Square Thursday, as the World Cup soccer championship was about to get underway in the country. Tatchell unfurled a poster with the words, "Putin fails to act against Chechnya torture of gay people," as part of a one-man protest.
Hungarian court sentences traffickers who let 71 migrants suffocate to 25 years in prison Three years after the discovery of 71 suffocated migrants in the back of a truck in Austria, the smugglers responsible have been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The ringleader was accused of "frightening indifference."A Hungarian court sentenced four human traffickers to 25 years in prison in connection with the gruesome deaths of 71 migrants found crammed inside a freezer truckin 2015. The four men — three Bulgarians and an Afghan national — were found guilty of "aggravated murder with particular cruelty." They included the groupʼs Afghan ringleader, along with his two closet associates and the truck driver. The prosecution had initially sought for life sentences for the four main suspects. Eleven other members of the smuggling ring were due to be handed down sentences later on Thursday.
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New York Attorney General files lawsuit against Trump Foundation Trump attacked the claim, saying he would not settle, but the list of claims against him is piling
Hungarian court sentences traffickers who let 71 migrants suffocate to 25 years in prison Three years after the discovery of 71 suffocated migrants in the back of a truck in Austria, the smugglers responsible have been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The ringleader was accused of "frightening indifference."A Hungarian court sentenced four human traffickers to 25 years in prison in connection with the gruesome deaths of 71 migrants found crammed inside a freezer truckin 2015. The four men — three Bulgarians and an Afghan national — were found guilty of "aggravated murder with particular cruelty." They included the groupʼs Afghan ringleader, along with his two closet associates and the truck driver. The prosecution had initially sought for life sentences for the four main suspects. Eleven other members of the smuggling ring were due to be handed down sentences later on Thursday.
Argentinaʼs lower house votes New Yorkʼs Attorney General has alleged Donald Trump used his charity’s money to help his businesses and himself. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood on Thursday filed a lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan against the Donald J. Trump Foundation, US President Donald Trump and his three eldest children. Underwood wrote in a legal complaint presented to the court that the foundation had engaged in "extensive unlawful political coordination" with Trumpʼs 2016 presidential campaign and had undertaken "persistent illegal conduct" for over a decade. Underwood, who has jurisdiction over the foundation because it is based at Trump Tower in Manhattan and registered in New York State, saida 20month state investigationhad found multiple violations of both state and federal law. She cited two cases when the foundation had allegedly flouted tax office rules prohibiting tax-exempt foundations from sponsoring political campaigns. "As our investigation reveals, the Trump Foundation was little more than a
checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality," the New York attorney general said. Underwood asked the court to dissolve the foundation and order the reallocation of $1 million (€850,000) of its assets to other charities. She also asked that Trump be forced to pay at least $2.8 million in restitution and penalties and that the sitting president be banned from heading up any other New York nonprofit organization for 10 years. Trumpʼs children, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka and Eric, were named in the lawsuit as official board members of the foundation. The complaint said they had exercised no oversight and noted that the board had not met since 1999. It called for them to be banned from heading any other New York nonprofit organization for a year. Trump, who set up the foundation in 1987, attacked the lawsuit in several tweets blaming Democrat politicians.
to legalize abortion within 14 weeks of conception The motion passed by a narrow margin after two days of contentious debate. The bill has also been hotly debated by the conservative South American countryʼs citizenry. The measure will now move to the Senate. On Thursday, Argentinaʼs lower house voted 129 to 123 to approve a measure that would legalize elective abortion within 14 weeks of conception. The vote came after two days of heated debate in the chamber.
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UN votes to blame Israel for excessive force against Palestinians in Gaza The UN General Assembly has voted to condemn Israeli violence against Palestinian protesters in Gaza. A US attempt to blame Hamas failed to pass. The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted by a sweeping majority a resolution condemning Israel for killing Palestinians in Gaza and rejected a US attempt to pin the blame on Hamas. The resolution put forward by Algeria, Turkey and the Palestinians secured 120 votes in the 193-member assembly, with 8 votes against and 45 abstentions. The resolution came in response to a similar resolution beingvetoed by the United Statesin the 15-member UN Security Council earlier this month. The resolution deplores Israelʼs use of "excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force" against Palestinians, particularly in Gaza. Australia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Togo and the Solomon Islands joined the United States and Israel in voting against the resolution. Germany abstained.
Italy threatens to scupper EUCanada free trade deal
The new government in Rome is walking in the footsteps of Donald Trumpʼs trade protectionism, as it has threatened to torpedo the CETA trade agreement because it doesnʼt protect Italyʼs farmers and their products. Italyʼs new agriculture minister Gian Marco Centinaio said on Thursday that the government wouldnʼt ratify theComprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada— the EUʼs first major free trade deal since 2011. In an interview with Italyʼs daily La Stampa, Centinaio said CETA didnʼt ensure sufficient protection for the countryʼs speciality foods. "We will not ratify the free trade treaty with Canada because it protects only a small part of our PDO [Protected Designation of Origin] and PGI [Protected Geographical Indication] products," Centinaio told the newspaper. "Doubts over this agreement are shared by many of my European colleagues," he added. The treaty did enter in force on a provisional basis in September 2017, doing away with tariffs on a large number of goods and widening access to Canadian beef in Europe and EU cheese and wine in Canada. 2
Rate of Antarctic ice melt triples since 2012, study finds Around 3 trillion tons of Antarctic ice has melted in the past 25 years, according to a comprehensiv
Germanyʼs corporate battle of the sexes Why are women so hugely underrepresented in senior positions in German business? Are they being prevented from getting ahead in Europeʼs powerhouse? Or do they have themselves to blame? It is a scene that seems unremarkable at first. A woman walks into a meeting at a multinational company in Germany. She is asked by one of the men at the table to pour the coffee. The problem is she is not the caterer. She is one of the executives about to take part in the meeting with clients. This anecdote is told by consultant Philine Erfurt Sandhu who wasbrought in by the company to try to improve gender balance. Sandhu says the above incident is not a one-off. She hears such stories "regularly." t is an example of what Sandhu calls the "Thomas Syndrome." The idea that the typical senior manager in Germany is a 53year-old white male called "Thomas" who would rather recruit a clone of himself than a woman.
Ice loss since 2012 has accelerated threefold, raising sea levels by 3 millimeters over a five-year period. The rate of ice loss in Antarctica has tripled since 2012, causing global sea levels to rise at their fastest rate in 25 years, a new study published by an international team of experts said Wednesday Over the last quarter century, about 3 trillion tons of Antarctic ice melt made ocean levels rise by 7.6 millimeters (0.3 inches), according to the studypublished in the journal Nature. About two-fifths of that
Boy on cruise ship racks up €12,000 roaming bill A German family received an unwelcome surprise after returning home from a family cruise to Norway. The son had used just under a half a gigabyte worth of data while at sea, and was billed more than €12,000 as a result. A German family is seeking legal counsel after they arrived back home from a family holiday, only to find a phone bill totaling more than €12,000 (around $14,000). The family had taken a short cruise from the northernGerman city of Kielto the Norwegian capital of Oslo. It was during that trip that the 12-year-old son decided to unwind and watch some videos on his phone. The catch: He was connected to the cruise shipʼs ownphone network, which connects to the internet via satellite. While anyone can join the network, it is generally only in-
rise, or 3 millimeters, has occurred since 2012. The study of Antarctic ice mass changes by scientists working for NASA and the European Space Agency is the most comprehensive to date. It combined 24 satellite surveys and involved 80 scientists from 42 international organizations. If all of Antarcticaʼs ice were to melt, global sea levels would rise by 58 meters (190 feet). tended to be used by the shipʼs crew to communicate with other vessels. In fact, German mobile phone networks can demand as much as €30 per megabyte of data downloaded through a satellite connection.The EUʼs abolition of roaming chargesdoes not apply at sea.
Indonesia combines Islam with environmental activism The Indonesian government and Greenpeace have partnered with Islamic organizations to promote plastic waste reduction. Can including religion make environmental campaigns more effective? Indonesiaʼs top Muslim clerical body, the Indonesian
Ulema Council (MUI), together with Greenpeace and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Environment are cooperating on an awareness campaign during Ramadan to solve the problem of plastic waste in Indonesia. Together, they have a mission to promote the use of reusable bags to cut plastic bag use in Indonesia. The Indonesian government and clerics from the countryʼs largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah are seeking to influence the consumer behavior of the groupsʼ combined 100 million followers. NU and Muhamadiyah, together with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Environment, announced the Plastic Waste Reduction Movement in Jakarta on June 6. According to Rosa Vivien Ratnawati, the waste management director at the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the amount of plastic garbage in Indonesia is continuing to increase significantly.
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Bavarian conservative CSU defies Angela Merkel on migration policy Germanyʼs conservative bloc may be coming apart at the seams, as its Bavarian wing lines up behind Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and against the chancellor. Itʼs the greatest challenge ever to Merkelʼs authority. Speaking to reporters after separate emergency meetings of Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs CDU and the Bavarian conservative CSU, regional CSU leader Alexander Dobrindt was "100 percent" in support of Interior Minister Horst Seehoferʼs so-called master plan for migration. Thatincludes turning away some people at Germanyʼs nation border – something Merkel has explicitly ruled out. "As we discussed, parts of the master plan are
German asylumseeker scandal not as wide as previously thought The major bribery scandal at one of Germanyʼs refugee authority offices was not as serious as thought, a new investigation has shown. The affair triggered a political crisis. New revelations have shown that the corruption scandal at the Bremen branch of GermanyʼsFederal Office of Migration and Refugees(BAMF) was not nearly as far-reaching as previously thought. The scandal sparked feverish media attention, a fall in public trust in the countryʼs migration authorities and contributed to thepolitical crisis currently engulfingChancellor Angela Merkelʼs conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), along with its Christian Social Union (CSU) Bavarian sister party. But a joint report by public broadcasters NDR and Radio Bremen aired this week found that while the official at the heart of the scandal, former Bremen BAMF head Ulrike B., may have broken regulations, the BAMF do not believe she broke the law — and that courts in question have since determined her decisions to be lawful.
the direct responsibility of the interior minister, who comes from our ranks," Dobrindt said, adding that the CSU was intent on turning migration policy "upside down." Dobrindt also said that while the CSU still supported efforts to deal with migration on a European level, Bavarian conservatives felt that the time for action was now. "It cannot prevent us from acting right now and doing what we are allowed to do legally," Dobrindt said.
French Senate approves SNCF overhaul, cementing Emmanuel Macronʼs rail reforms
Franceʼs Senate has voted in favor of Emmanuel Macronʼs reform plans for state rail operator SNCF. The reforms, which sparked months of strikes, are a key victory for Macron in his battle with Franceʼs unions. French President Emmanuel Macronʼscontroversial reform pack-
agefor the countryʼs state rail operator was overwhelmingly approved by the countryʼs Senate on Thursday. The vote was seen by many as a crucial victory for the centrist president over the countryʼs powerful unions, and could pave the way for further public sector reforms.
Germany: Man charged with producing biological weapon at home in Cologne Sief Allah H. was arrested after police in Cologne found a deadly toxin in his apartment. A local newspaper reported that the suspect came to Germany in 2016 and had terrorist sympathies. Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a 29year-old Tunisian citizen with producing a biological weapon after police found highly toxic ricin in his apartment in the western city of Cologne.
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Techies ponder jobs, cybersecurity in the age of AI, robotics Artificial intelligence and robotics are the biggest talking points at this yearʼs CEBIT in Hanover. While some sound optimistic about the datadriven digital revolution, others warn about its negative implications. Weʼre living in the midst of a digital revolution with rapid advances in the areas ofartificial intelligence (AI), cognitive computing and robotics, which promise to radically reshape the way we organize our economies, societies and even political systems. The world is increasingly reliant on algorithms to carry out all sorts of day-to-day tasks, from banking and social networking to accessing news and even helping police predict and prevent crime. Hardly a day goes by without us hearing about drones delivering packages and self-driving cars soon becoming a reality on our streets and revolutionizing mobility. New machine-learning techniques and improvements in artificial intelligence, tech enthusiasts believe and hope will produce a new generation of robots that can work alongside humans and complement or, even replace, them in ways not envisioned previously.
FIFA World Cup: Nike refuses to provide shoes to Iranian team US sportswear firm Nike says it cannot supply boots and other equipment to Iranʼs national football team players due to sanctions on the Islamic country. Iran faces Morocco in its first match at the FIFA World Cup. Carlos Queiroz, the head coach of Iranʼs national team, has called on Nike to apologize after the US sportswear company said it could not supply football cleats to his players due to US sanctions on the Iranian regime. "US sanctions mean that, as a US company, Nike cannot supply shoes to players in the Iranian National team at this time," Nike had said in a statement. The Iranian side faces Morocco in their Group B opener on Friday, June 15. European Cup winner Portugal and the 2010 world champions Spain are also in the same group. Iran faces Morocco in its first match at the FIFA World Cup. Carlos Queiroz, the head coach of Iranʼs national team, has called on Nike to apologize after the US sportswear company said it could not supply football cleats to his players due to US sanctions on the Iranian regime.
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VW ordered to pay €1 billion fine for Dieselgate in Germany
Public prosecutors have ordered the auto giant to pay for falsifying their vehiclesʼ emissions test results. VW has said it "accepts responsibility" and will pay the fine without contesting it. olkswagen was handed a fine of €1 billion ($1.18 billion) on Wednesday by district prosecutors in the central German city of Braunschweig, close to VWʼs headquarters in Wolfsburg. "Volkswagen accepts this fine and acknowledges its responsibility," for the Dieselgate emissions scandal, the company said in a press release. The penalty is for "between the
EU increases 2030 renewables target to 32 percent after German opposition Germany dismissed an even higher target demanded by the European Parliament as unrealistic. But Europeʼs biggest member state did not get exactly what it wanted in the negotiations in Brussels. The European Union agreed on Thursday to increase the share of renewables in the blocʼs energy mixto 32 percent by 2030 after Germany blocked earlier efforts to set an even higher target. "This deal is a hard-won victory in our efforts to unlock the true potential of Europeʼs clean energy transition," EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete wrote on Twitter. Negotiators from the EU member states and the European Parliament also agreed to phase out the use of palm oil by 2030 and ease regulations on smaller renewable energy producers. Member states did not agree to the parliamentʼs demands to set an energy efficiency target.
H-1056 Budapest, Só u. 6. Telephone: +36 1 577 0700 Fax: +36 1 577 0710 bhzinfo@zeinahotels.com www.boutiquehotelbudapest.com
Britainʼs RollsRoyce to cut 4,600 jobs
British engineering company Rolls-Royce has said itʼs slashing thousands more jobs primarily in the UK. The firm said the move was necessary to "simplify its business" and save millions of pounds by 2021. Rolls-Royce announced Thursday the company was aiming to cut 4,600 jobs as part of a plan to streamline operations. It saidthe overhaul of its business would cost it £500 million($669 million, €567 million) and be spread across 2018, 2019 and 2020. It would be reported as separate one-off costs, allowing the firm to stick to its targets for free cash flow. "These changes will help us deliver over the mid and longerterm a level of free cash flow well beyond our near-term ambition of around £1 billion by around 2020," CEO Warren East said in a statement.
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years of 2007 and 2015, allowing some 10.7 million vehicles on the road with unreliable emissions software... in the US, Canada and worldwide." The company expressed optimism that paying the fine would partly set right its wrongdoing, and serve as a deterrent for any similar behavior in the future.
Oktoberfest beer mug to cost more than €11
A typical Bavarian one liter beer mug at the Munich Oktoberfest 2018 will cost more than 11 euros in some tents for the first time this year. As the city of Munich announced on Wednesday, the price for the one liter Bavarian beer mug will be between 10.70 euros and 11.50 euros. This is on average 3.57 percent more than in the previous year. The main reason for the comparatively strong increase is the higher turnover rent, which the beer tent owner have to pay to the city. The tax, which was only introduced last year, even increased by 53 percent compared to the previous year, said host spokesman Peter Inselkammer.
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Take a first peek at Budapest’s 2018 pop-up park Hello Wood builds a creative pop-up park in Budapest for summer
Hungary’s Hello Wood organisation first constructed an eyecatching pop-up park of creatively crafted wooden benches in central Pest’s often-underused Városháza Park in 2017 – and we are happy to report that passers-by will once again be free to lounge on wildly curvaceous seats in the same site this summer. Over the weekend, We Love Budapest noticed that several new Hello Wood structures were already in place at this open space by Deák tér, with more building materials piled up nearby to indicate that this year’s pop-up park will be bigger and more colourful. The extra-experimental carpenters of Hello Wood were originally inspired to fill Városháza Park with functional art pieces after noticing how this central Buda-
pest square was usually empty. When designing the long wavy benches that filled the pop-up park in early July of 2017, the primary goal was to welcome the public into this urban oasis. Their efforts worked wonderfully – all summer long, people filled these intriguing lounge areas where the artful benches provided a variety of options to take it easy for awhile, whether sitting upright to read or lying back to sunbathe.
ʼThe Pope is quite rockʼnʼrollʼ: Wim Wenders on his new Pope Francis film Wim Wenders is deeply impressed by the Pope. With his documentary, Pope Francis: A Man of his Word, which now hits German theaters, he wants to show that the Catholic Church leader can change the world. When Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, become Pope and sovereign of the Vatican City in Rome in 2013, he was soon after named Time Magazineʼs Person of the Year for taking the "the papacy out of the palace and into the streets."
Since dubbed the "Peopleʼs Pope," the person behind the highly popular pontiff has now been revealed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders in his documentary film, Pope Francis: A Man of his Word. Based on several intimate interviews with the Catholic Church head, and including footage of the Pope travelling between a Brazilian street mass, a refugee camp in Greece and beyond, the film is a unique papal portrait, as Wenders told DW.
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Metallica and an Afghan project win ʼNobel Prizeʼ for music As the winners of Swedenʼs prestigious Polar Music Prize, US heavy metal band Metallica and an Afghan music institute are set to be honored by the Swedish royal family on Thursday. It may be heavy metal, but the Swedish royals wonʼt shy away from the Polar Music Prize ceremony scheduled for June 14 in Stockholm. Swedish King Carl Gustaf and his royal family are slated to attend the televised gala honoring US band Metallica and Afghanistanʼs National Institute of Music. The Polar Music Prize is often called the "Nobel Prize" for music. In February, when this yearʼs laureates were announced, the jury cited Metallica for its "physical and furious" music. "Through virtuoso ensemble playing and its use of extremely accelerated tempos, Metallica has taken rock music to places it had never been before," the panelʼs statement read. The band has sold 110 million albums worldwide, with some of its hits including "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters."
English-Language Daytime Science Camps Center of Scientific Wonders (Csopa)
6/12/2018 - 8/31/2018 The fascinating Center of Scientific Wonders in Budapest now awaits children aged between 8 and 12 with exciting English-language daytime science camps. Kids who wish to dig deeper into the nature of sciences and art can get an insight into what it is like working in a laboratory, at an interactive exhibition, or at a scientific auditorium while they also get a chance to spread the wings of their creativity. The camps include plenty of playful events like workshops, experiments, physics shows in various themes, teambuilding games, arts-and-crafts activities, sports games, and several sweet surprises that will certainly sneak a smile on the faces of little ones.
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Culture
Events Horizon: what’s happening in Budapest – June 2018 There are so many major things going on in June that you shouldn’t miss. In this events round-up, we bring together all of the important happenings taking place in and around Hungary’s capital in the upcoming weeks, so you can plan the month ahead. Get out there and enjoy everything that Budapest has to offer! Brain Bar Generali Childrenʼs Island Lenny Kravitz Downtown Beer Festival Danube Carnival A38 concerts Etyek Summer Picnic Budapest Summer Festival Kolorádó Festival Billy Elliot – The Musical Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Night of the Museums Red Bull Air Race The Red Bull Air Race fills Budapest’s skies with extreme aerobatic stunts performed by some of the world’s most daring pilots right above the river, using the fastest, most agile and lightweight racing planes. This air show generally exceeds any expectations, because in addition to flying between floating checkpoints, the planes pass beneath the Chain Bridge, amazing the crowd of spectators lining the length of the riverside. A combination of high speed and extreme manoeuvres make this race an unparalleled visual spectacle that everyone can enjoy between June 23rd and 24th, over the Danube in the city centre.
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Mo Farah: Olympic and world champion to compete at the Chicago Marathon
Britainʼs Mo Farah will compete at the Chicago Marathon in October, his third race over the distance and his first in the US. The four-time Olympic gold medallistfinished thirdat the London Marathon in April, in a new British record. It was the 35year-oldʼs second time at 26.2-miles, having finished eighth at London in 2014. The six-time world champion at 10,000 and 5,000m,retired from the trackin August 2017 to focus on marathons.
Johanna Konta beats Heather Watson, Katie Boulter defeats Sam Stosur
Is eSports about to be recognized as a sport in Germany? Politicians in Germany are mulling recognizing eSports as a sport. Their decision would have wide-ranging repercussions in the gaming industry in the country and further legitimize the digital sport phenomenon. eSportsʼ continued growth has pushed competitive gaming ever-more into the public eye. This has sparked a debate about gaming’s role within German society, and whether eSports should be officially classified as a sport. And it is looking increasingly like it will. Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs grand coalition of her Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to recognize eSports as a sport as part of the coalition agreement they reached earlier this year. However, the legislation necessary to do so has not yet been passed. "eSports were long considered a niche topic, generally only discussed by experts. It has now reached a tipping point where it has become a meaningful topic to all of society and cannot be ignored," Konstantin von Notz, deputy chair of the opposition Green Party in the lower house Bundestag said.
Ronaldo and Robbie Williams star in opening ceremony World Cup 2018: R
British singer Robbie Williams and Brazil legend Ronaldo got the 2018 World Cup in Russia under way with the opening ceremony in Moscow. Williams performed a series of his hits, joined by Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, prior to the hostsʼ opening5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo dummied the opening kick, allowing a child to pass the ball to mascot Zabivaka. Russian
president Vladimir Putin then gave a speech at the Luzhniki Stadium. "We are sincerely happy to host the World Cup in our country," he said. "Football is truly loved here. Russia is an open, hospitable and friendly country."
Le Mans: Toyota deny Fernando Alonso favouritism Toyota have denied they are heading into the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend with a plan to ensure Fernando Alonso wins if possible. Favourites Toyota have never won Le Mans and Alonsoʼs fame means if his car wins the race, it will guarantee wider coverage than their other car. But a spokesman said: "Our cars will race for victory with the target of achieving a Toyota one-two. "Both cars start the race 6
with an equal and fair chance of winning." Two-time Formula 1 world champion Alonso shares his car at the classic endurance race in France with former Formula 1 drivers Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland and Japanese Kazuki Nakajima. The other Toyota is shared by Briton Mike Conway, a former F1 test driver for Honda, ex-F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi from Japan and Argentine Jose Maria Lopez.
