DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Germany records hottest April ever The National Meteorological Service reports that April 2018 was the warmest April in the recorded history of German weather. Average temperatures were 5 degrees higher than during the comparison period from 1981 to 2010. 2018 saw the warmest recorded April in German history, beating the previous record set in 2009, the National Meteorological Service (DWD) reported on Monday. At a projected 12.4 degrees Celsius (54 F), the average temperature proved 5 degrees Celsius (9 F) higher than the April value from the internationally valid comparison period from 1961-1990 and 4 degrees higher than the figure from 1981-2010.
US 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. 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.
101/2018 • 07 MAY, 2018
Catalan secessionists back absent ex-leader Carles Puigdemont for regional president The move would be in defiance of Spainʼs wishes
Pro-independence Catalan politicians hope to nominate exiled former leader Carles Puigdemont to head their regional government again.
Miracle or mirage? Bosch’s diesel ʼbreakthroughʼ World-leading auto supplier Bosch recently announced a bright future for diesel, claiming dramatic new innovations which would slash emissions. Too good to be true? Or can we dare to dream of a diesel future? "Success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan" — at some point in our lives, most of us have reflected on the essential truth behind the aphorism. The biggest recent failure of Germanyʼs mammoth engineering industry is ʼDieselgateʼ, the emissionscheating scandal that became public knowledge in 2015 and which has wrought dramatic changes in Germanyʼs darling car and engineering in-
dustries ever since. When the depth of that scandal became fully apparent, many ran for the hills. Volkswagen, the main offender, had nowhere to hide and bore the brunt of the backlash. Yet itʼs important to remember that manymore titans of German engineering were involved, not least the famed Bosch company,which admitted supplying a component (ʼelectronic diesel control unit 17ʼ) that helped VW diesels cheat the emissions tests. In 2017, Bosch agreed to pay $327.5 million (€271.1 million) in damages to some who were affected by their behavior in the US. In Germany, prosecutors in Stuttgart are still examining the role played by Bosch in the scandal.
German university hospital defends auto firmsʼ nitrogen dioxide test ethics No experiments on animals or humans can take place in Germany without a go from an authorized ethics committee. Dr. Thomas Kraus from Aachen University Hospital says this was the case in the most recent NO2 scandal. The European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT) "did not impinge in any way on the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) research it commissioned Aachen University Hospital to do," Professor Thomas Kraus from the
hospital told the German press agency DPA on Monday. The EUGT is a now defunct organization that was funded by German carmakers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW plus partsmaker Bosch, thus raising questions of possible conflicts of interest. In 2013, 25 healthy volunteers were exposed to NO2 pollution for three hours, Kraus said. "None of them had any negative health effects," he went on, adding that the tests were meant to measure the impact of pollutants in the workplace.
German police arrest elderly babysitter after suspicious child death A 69-year-old woman has been detained by police after a 7-year-old boy in her care was found dead, apparently strangled. The boy is said to have had a warm relationship with the babysitter. German police say they have detained a 69-year-old woman in the southern German town of Künzelsau, not far from Stuttgart, after a 7-year-old boy whom she had been babysitting overnight in her house was found lying dead in a bathtub. The woman was arrested on Saturday evening after a short police search and has since been remanded in custody. The boy had been spending the night with the woman as he had done many times before. When his parents came to pick him up on Saturday morning, no one came to the door. They used a neighborʼs key to enter the house, where the father discovered his son dead in the bath.
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.
weather today BUDAPEST
4 / 24 °C Precipitation: 0 mm
101/2018 • 07 May, 2018
Facebook bans Trump campaign data firm Cambridge Analytica The social media giant has accused the data analysis company of illegally obtaining user data. At the same time, a whistleblower has said that Cambridge Analytica illegally harvested data from 50 million users. Facebook announced on Saturday that it had suspended the data research firm Cambridge Analytica for holding onto dubiously obtained user data after assuring the social media firm that the information had been deleted. Cambridge Analytica has become well-known in political circles for its work on the election campaign of US President Donald Trump and for the pro-Brexit group Leave.eu. Facebook said it was also suspending the firmʼs parent company, Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL). The incident revolves around an app put on the site in 2015 by Aleksandr Kogan, a professor at the University of Cambridge, that purported to be a personality test and psychological research tool. About 270,000 users downloaded it and shared their information with it, according to Facebook.
Leroy Sané honored in England, now Germany starting berth beckons
Greece due to exit bailout in August: creditors At a meeting in Sofia, eurozone finance ministers agreed that Athens was on track to exit from eight years of bailouts. But deep divisions persist over how to boost growth and make sure Athens implements reforms. Greece is likely to reach a final deal on June 21 to allow it to fully exit its international bailout in August, its creditors said following a meeting on Friday in Bulgariaʼs capital, Sofia. European Union Finance Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Greece was essentially on track to meet its reform commitments, "but there are still a few efforts to be conducted," including the handling of banksʼ soured loans and property foreclosures. Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos reiterated that Athens does not wish to request a precautionary
credit line after its bailout program expires, but acknowledged that there will be enhanced surveillance by its lenders in the post-bailout period. Tsakalotos said that the countryʼs lenders will return to Athens for talks on the countryʼs final bailout review in mid-May. At the meeting were the finance ministers of the EUʼs 19-member eurozone, who need to agree in June that Greece has met its obligations, so that the debt-saddled country can return to borrowing money on the bond market.
Learning to respect wild animals again That bear or kangaroo might look cute, but it’s a wild animal, not a pet. In the 1969 movie Kes, a young English teenager called Billy Casper learns the craft of falconry so he can train a wild kestrel. In one scene, he explains why he hates people asking him if his "pet hawk" is tame. "Is it heck tame! Hawks canʼt be tamed," he says in exasperation. "Itʼs wild and itʼs fierce and itʼs not bothered about anybody." Young Billy would surely despair at reports this week from Aus-
tralia of wild kangaroos being fed junk food by tourists.In recent years, there have been regular reports of inappropriate feeding and other illadvised behavior by tourists around wild animals in various parts of the world. Dr Jan Schmidt-Burbach is a wildlife veterinarian who has workedfor the international non-profit animal welfare organization World Animal Protectionfor more than 10 years. He spoke to Global Ideas about his concerns with the way in which humans interact with wild animals in the smartphone age.
Manchester City winger Leroy Sané has been named the English Professional Footballersʼ Association Young Player of the Year. His next challenge should be snatching Julian Draxlerʼs Germany starting spot at the World Cup. Germanyʼs Leroy Sané has been rewarded for a stellar season at English Premier League champions Manchester City by being recognized by his peers as the best young player in England — becoming the first German to win a PFA award.
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German metalworkers finally secure wage agreement Following weeks of bitter fighting, a wage agreement for the German metal and electrical industries has finally been struck. Employees were able to secure higher wages and more flexible working hours. A wage agreement was reached in the early hours on Tuesday in Germanyʼs metal and electrical industries. The powerful IG Metall union announced the deal initially covering workers in the southern German state of BadenWürttemberg, but expected to be eventually implemented for a total of 3.9 million workers in the sector nationwide. According to the deal, employeesare to receive a pay hike of 4.3 percent from April this year. Additionally, monthly one-off payments of €100 ($124) were agreed for January through March. Employers and trade union representatives also agreed on the possibility of workers reducing their hours from 35 to 28 hours per week for two years, should they need to look after children or care for older relatives.
Publisher slammed as Hitler appears in ʼgreat leadersʼ book The book "would bring tears of joy to neo-Nazis," a Jewish human rights organization has said. Adolf Hitler carries a certain fascination in some parts of the world that is largely untouched by his atrocities. Indian publisher Pegasus landed itself in hot water this week when it emerged that itʼs "Great Leaders" book for children included Adolf Hitler. Pictured alongside freedom fighters Mathama Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, the book chose Hitler as one of the "powerful world leaders who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of their countries and the people living in them." Also included in the book are current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, controversial Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former US President Barack Obama. "Dedicated to the betterment of countries and people? Adolf Hitler? This description would bring tears of joy to the Nazis and their racist neo-Nazi heirs," said Abraham Cooper of the Jewish human rights organization the Wiesenthal Center. "Placing Hitler alongside truly great political and humanitarian leaders is an abomination that is made worse as it targets young people with little or no knowledge of world history and ethics," Cooper said.