DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Fire at United Kingdom safari park kills 13 patas monkeys Officials have announced that 13 monkeys have died in a fire at the Woburn Safari Park in England. The blaze followed a fire at London Zoo that killed an aardvark and four meerkats. The fire reportedly broke out in the early hours of January 2 inside the Patas monkey house within the African Forest drive-through enclosure at Woburn Safari Park near Milton Keynes, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of London. "Staff and fire crews attended the scene, however, devastatingly for everyone at the park, none of the thirteen animals could be saved," the park said in a statement "All other animals within the jungle drive-through enclosure are being monitored, but early signs suggest that they have not been affected."
Two more prisoners break out of Berlin jail The prison had failed to raise the alarm for more than 30 minutes after the inmates broke out of the facility. The Plötzensee facility has initiated a security review after the second breakout within a week. The Plötzensee prison in Berlin said late Monday that two men had escaped earlier in the day, marking the second jailbreak in less than a week. Prison authorities sounded the alarm more than half an hour after the prisoners managed to break free. The latest escape has brought the number of missing prisoners to five. Last week,two prisoners broke out of the prison through a ventilation gap in the wall. Last weekʼs escapees managed to make a hole in the wall using a power tool stolen from the prisonʼs car repair shop. Meanwhile, another inmate failed to return by Friday evening after a parole day. The men were reportedly imprisoned for aggravated assault, theft and burglary.
2/2018 • 3, JANUARY 2018
South Korea sees ʼgroundbreakingʼ chance in talks with North North Koreaʼs leader has also suggested dialogue
South Korea has suggested a meeting to talk about the Northʼs participation in the Winter Olympics, claiming there is a "groundbreaking" chance to improve relations.
BP warns of huge hit from US tax reforms BP has warned that they will suffer a painful blow to its fourth-quarter figures, which are due to be announced on February 6. However the energy giant predicts its longterm earnings will be "positively impacted." British energy giant BP expects a oneoff charge of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to eat into their fourth-quarter 2017 figures, the company announced on Tuesday. Donald Trump signed into law the mostradical changes to the US tax codein 30 years, and BP is one of several conglomerates to allude to large one-time hits in the fourth quarter. Royal Dutch Shell last week claimed last an expected $2-2.5 billion dent in their fourth-quarter results, and Barclays projected a $1- billion varia-
tion. Goldman Sachs suggested a $- billion hit as a result of the new levy on overseas earnings. "The lowering of the US corporate income tax rate to 21 percent requires revaluation of BPʼs US deferred tax assets and liabilities," the company said in a statement. "The current estimated impact of this will be a one-off non-cash charge to the group income statement of around $1.5 billion that will impact BPʼs fourth-quarter 2017 results." BP admitted that their long-term earnings would be"positively impacted" by the tax reforms, which are expected to boost corporate profits of banks and other companies over the medium and long term by lowering the rate of corporation tax from 35 percent to 21 percent.
Germany must allow third gender in registry of births, court rules An intersex person has won a court case to allow them to enter a third gender into the registry of births. The case was appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court after failing at lower levels. Germanyʼs Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday called for a third gender option in the registry of births. Intersex people, who are neither male nor female, should be able to register their sexual identity as such, the Karlsruhe court ruled. The court found that the general right to the protection of personality in Germanyʼs Basic Law meant the register had to be altered to al-
low a third gender. The court ruled seven to one that lawmakers must create new legislation by the end of 2018 to allow for a third sex, providing the examples of "intersex," "diverse" or another "positive designation of sex." Another possibility raised was to scrap gender entries altogether. "Assignment to a gender is of paramount importance for individual identity; it typically plays a key role both in the self-image of a person and in the way in which the person concerned is perceived by others. The gender identity of those persons who are neither male nor female is protected,"the court ruled.
Pakistan summons United States ambassador to explain Donald Trump tweet The Pakistani government has summoned US ambassador David Hale to the nationʼs foreign office after Donald Trump said the state was protecting terrorists. In a tweet, Trump accused Islamabad of "lies & deceit." Islamabad called on the US envoy to Pakistan David Hale to explain Donald Trumpʼs claims that Pakistan was harboring and aiding jihadists from neighboring Afghanistan. Hale was summoned to Pakistanʼs foreign office on Monday, hours after the US president used his first tweet in 2018to slam Pakistan for "lies & deceit."Trump also hinted at cutting or limiting US aid to Pakistan.
Several killed in Brazil prison gang battle, dozens escape At least nine people have died in clashes between rival gangs in one of Brazilʼs chronically overcrowded prisons. The South American countryʼs penitentary system is beset by violence, riots and mass breakouts. Clashes erupted at about 2 p.m. local time Monday (1700 UTC) when inmates from one wing of the Colonia Agroindustrial prison in the Aparecida de Goiania Complex in the city of Goiania broke into another wing.
weather today BUDAPEST
2 / 6 °C Precipitation: 0 mm
2/2018 • 3, January 2018
US and Poland strike $10.5 billion missile defense deal The US has approved the $10.5 billion sale of a Patriot anti-missile system to NATO ally Poland. Eastern European NATO states have been ramping up their military capabilities in the face of perceived Russian aggression. In a move likely to irk Russia, the US and Poland agreed on Friday a major arms deal that could see the eastern European NATO member soon begin conducting air and missile defense operations. As part of the $10.5 billion (€8.9 billion) sale, Poland is expected to receive 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment. Made by US defense contractor Raytheon, the missiles are reportedly designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and shortrange or tactical ballistic missiles. In a statement issued following the sale, the State Department said that: "A secure Europe capable of deterring air and missile threats and other forms of aggression promotes peace and stability within NATO and on the European continent."
Serena Williams to return to tennis in Abu Dhabi The former world number one will make her comeback this month after birth of her first child. The 36-year-old will take on the reigning French Open champion. American tennis star and former world number one Serena Williams is set to make her comeback on December 30 after birth of her first child. The 36-year-old will play her first competitive match in 11 months in the United Arab Emirates. Serena Williams will play an exhibition match on the final day of the Mubadala event on December 30, tournament organizers announced Sunday. The former world number one will take on reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi.
VW aims to block emissions audit in constitutional court
China sales behind German
The German carmaker has lodged a complaint with Germanyʼs highest court, seeking to overturn a lower courtʼs ruling that it must appoint a special auditor to investigate its Dieselgate emissions scandal.
Strong vehicle sales in the wordʼs most important car market have been essential in enabling German carmakers to end their third quarters on a positive note. Their dependence on China is expected to increase further. Germanyʼs top carmakers would not have been able to present positive third-quarter results without a booming auto market in China, a study by consultancy EY showed Tuesday. It said China had long become the most important market for Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, with one in three of their cars sold in the third quarter having gone to the Asian nation. To be more precise, the Chinese market accounted for 34 percent of Germanyʼs overall car sales between July and September, the highest ever rate logged so far. Back in 2010, only 23 percent of Germanyʼs quarterly car sales ended up in China.
Germanyʼs Constitutional Court on Friday confirmed media reports that Volkswagen (VW) was seeking to prevent the instalment of a special auditor to investigatemanagement actions during its diesel emissions scandal. A lower court appointed the auditor in November, in a victory for shareholder groups that want to establish whether VW bosses withheld market-moving information about the manipulation of emissions tests in VW vehicles. The court in the town of Celle ruled that VW could not appeal, which the auto maker views as a
violation of its fundamental rights, according to German newspaper Süd‐ deutsche Zeitung, which researched the report together with public TV channels NDR and WDR. Shortly after the Dieselgate scandal broke in September 2015, VW hired US law firm Jones Day and advisory firm Deloitte to investigate the circumstances of its wrongdoing and who was responsible. Although VW had pledged to improve transparency, it never published the findings that were used as the basis for a $4.3 billion settlement with the US Justice Department.
The Danger of Vitamin D Deficiency Many people underestimate the importance of vitamin D and unknowingly suffer from vitamin D deficiency. The human body produces vitamin D by itself, but it needs support from the sun. Without its rays we would have a hard time producing enough vitamin D to live. Some vitamin D can also be taken up through a healthy diet – by eating fatty fish, mushrooms or dairy products. The fact that our main source of vitamin D is sunlight, means that many people in the northern hemisphere suffer from vitamin D deficiency, especially in winter. An extreme deficiency can cause bone dam-
age, which increases the risk of developing osteoporosis or rickets, a malformation of the bones. There is also a danger that the immune system is weakened, making the affected person more prone to infections. Another theory states that vitamin D deficiency can increase the risk of developing specific chronic diseases, such as diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases and even cancer. Current research is also studying the relationship between multiple sclerosis (MS) and vitamin D deficiency. It is looking into the fact that vitamin D supplementation might actually slow down or partly reverse the effects of MS and other autoimmune diseases on the human body.
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carmakersʼ rosy third quarter
Ousted Venezuelan opposition leader escapes house arrest, flees to Spain Ousted Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma has likened his escape to a film. He plans to take the fight against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro abroad. The ousted opposition mayor of Caracas arrived in Spain on Saturday after orchestrating a daring escape from house arrest in Venezuela. Antonio Ledezma landed in Madrid from Bogota, Colombia, where he arrived a day earlier after slipping across the border. He was greeted by his wife and two daughters who live in Spain. Ledezma said he planned to organize resistance from abroad to President Nicolas Maduro, under whose rule millions of Venezuelans have suffered from shortages of food and other basic supplies. "I am going to travel the world to spread the hope of all Venezuelans to escape this regime, this dictatorship," Ledezma said. The 62-year-old opposition figure was removed as mayor of Caracas and arrested in 2015 on allegations he sought to topple Maduro. He was later put under house arrest due to health issues. Ledezma was one of the opposition leaders who led protests against the government in 2014, which also resulted in the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. He remains under house arrest.