40/2019 • 16 FEBRUARY, 2019 WEEKEND ISSUE
DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Spain to hold early election on April 28 Spainʼs government has called early elections to be held in April
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the Socialist party had governed for nearly eight months after a no-confidence vote ousted former PM Mariano Rajoy.
Bellingcat identifies third Russian suspect in Salisbury poisoning Investigative groupBellingcat on Thursday said it has "conclusively" identified a third mansuspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack that nearly killedformer Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripaland his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. Bellingcat last yearidentified two of the main suspectsin the attack. The UK, Germany, the United States and France have said there is"no plausible alternative"to Moscowʼs involvement, demanding the Kremlin provide information about its nerve agent reserves.
300 babies die in war zones every day, Save the Children reports War zone acts including denial of aid, damage to hospitals and outright attacks killed 100,000 babies every year in the worldʼs 10 worst conflict-affected countries, the international charity Save the Children said on the eve of Munichʼs Security Conference. And, a fifth of children were living in zones impacted by conflict, more than any time in the past two decades, said the report.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Friday that Spain will hold early general elections on April 28. The move comes after the socialist PSOE governmentʼsbudget legislation was defeated in parliament. "Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance, respect, moderation and common sense," Sanchez told Spaniards in a television address. "I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for April 28," the prime minister said. The elections will be the third parliamentary vote in Spain in a three and a half year period and will take place roughly one month before EU parliamentary elections are held. "During these eight months, we have heard things that are very dangerous," Sanchez said of the current political discourse in Spain. The socialist leader denounced the conservative opposition as obstructionist and decried right-wing accusations that he was an "illegitimate" head of government. To be approved, Sanchezʼs budget had hinged on the support of two separatist Catalan parties, who demanded that Spain recognize the regionʼs right to selfdetermination in exchange for their vote. Additionally, atrial of 12 sepa-
ratist leadersthat began last week in Madrid, further angered the Catalan parliamentary bloc. The ruling socialist party ultimately rejected their demands and the budget was defeated. "You may call me traditional, but one cannot govern without a budget," Sanchez conceded to reporters on Friday. A brief tenure Sanchez has led Spain for merely eight months, after his predecessor Mariano Rajoy of the conservative party was ousted in a dramatic parliamentary no-confidence vote. PSOEʼs fragile minority government was sustained by a tenuous coalition of far-left Podemos party, Basque nationalist lawmakers and — crucially — 17 Catalan separatist MPs. Opinion polls project that Sanchez could obtain a large share of the vote, but the socialists would be unable to form a majority in parliament, even with the support of Podemos. The conservative parties PP, Ciudadanos and far-right Vox, which has seen a surge in support recently, could be able to form a majority together. Such a union has already been formed in regional parliament of Andalusia, after local elections took place there in December.
Kashmir suicide car bomb kills dozens of Indian troops
Munich Security Conference: A masterclass in backroom diplomacy
At least 41 police paramilitaries were killed and many others wounded in an attack on their convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said on Friday. The bombing is believed to be the single deadliest terror attack in the regionʼs history. Muneer Ahmed Khan, a senior police officer, said the attack occurred on a key highway on Thursday, as the convoy reached the town of Lethpora on the outskirts of the disputed regionʼs main city, Srinagar. He said one bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles damaged by the blast.
Roughly 35 heads of state and government, 80 foreign and defense ministers, and some 600 security policy experts will be in attendance at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) this year. Conference chief Wolfgang Ischinger has called it the "largest and most important" MSC since its founding more than 50 years ago. On Friday afternoon, a 48-hour program kicks off that is packed with dozens of events that feature debates between prominent government leaders — including those from hostile and even warring camps.