288/2017 • 9, DECEMBER 2017 WEEKEND ISSUE
DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
ʼNazi Grandmaʼ Holocaust denier may finally face jail A court in western Germany is considering the appeal of octogenarian Ursula Haverbeck, who has multiple convictions for Holocaust denial. Haverbeck has been handed several jail terms, but has so far avoided prison. A German court was due to make a decision on Thursday in the appeal of an 88-year-old woman convicted for incitement to racial hatred on multiple occasions. Ursula Haverbeck challenged two verdicts handed down by a court in the western town of Detmold, after she denied that the genocide of Jews between 1941 and 1945 had taken place.
Russia vetoes last-ditch bid to save probe into gas attacks in Syria Russia used its veto twice in 24 hours to deny a new mandate to the UN team looking into chemical weapon attacks in Syria. Moscow said it would not extend the mandate of the probe without fixing its "fundamental flaws." Tensions were running high in the UN Security Council on Friday after Russia vetoed a last-ditch motion by Japan to continue the UN-led investigation into chemical weapons use in Syria. The move comes only a day after Russiavetoed a separate US draft resolutionto extend the probe, and its own draft was in turn rejected by the US, UK, and France. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the findings of the UN-backed investigative body, dubbed Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) as biased and inaccurate. Last week, JIM released a report blaming the Syrian regime for the chemical attack which killed around 100 people in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April. Russia rejected it as "invented" and insisted that the body needed to reform.
SPD denies ʼgreen lightʼ for new German government, but keeps options open He stopped short of a categorical no
Social Democratic Party leader Martin Schulz has refuted reports that his party was ready to start grand coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs conservatives. But he stopped short of a categorical no.
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.
Vladimir Putin: ʼRussia will not boycott Winter Olympic Gamesʼ President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will not prevent athletes from competing at the 2018 Winter Games under the Olympic flag. The statement came a day after the IOC banned the country over a doping scandal. Just hours after aKremlin spokesman said Moscow would take some time to consider its responseto the International Olympic Committeeʼs (IOC) decision to ban Russia from the Olympic
Games, President Vladimir Putin (pictured above) confirmed that his countryʼs athletes would be free to compete. "We will certainly not declare any boycott, we will not prevent our Olympians from competing, if they want to take part in a personal capacity," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying during a speech at an automobile plant in Nizhny Novgorod, where he also announced he would run for a fourth term in the 2018 presidential election.
Iraqi army launches operation to clear IS remnants The capture of Rawa last week signaled the fall of the final IS stronghold in Iraq, putting a decisive end to the terror groupʼs "caliphate" aspirations. Liberation forces are now pushing into the desert. Iraq launched an army operation to flush militants out of its border region with Syria, the military said on Thursday, as it pushes to entirely expel "Islamic State" (IS) from its lands. The Iraqi army, federal police and the Shiite paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi have begun "clearing" a large strip of desert in the west of the country, General Abdelamir Yarallah said in a statement.
Police enter decommissioned Australian detention camp apua New Guinea police have moved in on the shuttered Australian-run Manus detention camp in an attempt to force hundreds of asylum seekers occupying it to leave. The camp long symbolized Canberraʼs strict asylum laws Authorities in Papua New Guinea are removing more than 300 asylum seekers from a squalid immigration camp on Manus island to another location Australia has paid PNG and the nearby island of Nauru to hold refugees as part of its controversial immigration policy.
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288/2017 • 9, December 2017 Weekend issue
Tiger Woods shows no ill effects in return to competitive golf
Mourning geckos donʼt need males
The break-in at the Thoiry wildlife park near Paris is suspected as poaching. Rhino horns fetch thousands on the black market. Zookeepers at the Thoiry zoo and wildlife park made the grisly discovery on Tuesday after an overnight attack. "Staff left the rhino enclosure on Monday. When they returned on Tuesday, an animal had been killed and its two horns had been sawn off," a police spokeswoman told news agency AFP. The 4-year-old white male rhinoceros named Vince had been shot three times in the head. His main horn was stolen, the policewoman said. The second horn was partially cut, leading the zoo to believe the poacher or poachers may have been disturbed or suffered equipment failure. The zoo said the intruders broke through a gate and forced through two doors to reach the animal, without disturbing the five staff members who live on site. The wildlife park is also equipped with security cameras.
Tiger Woods has made his comeback from 10 months out at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Case of wrestler throwing bout sparks anger in Iran
Brain training using a specialized computer program can reduce the risk of dementia by almost one third, a newly published study shows.
Some animal species can do very well without male partners. Mourning geckos are just one of many examples. Their reproduction method — known as parthenogenesis — is our natural phenomenon of the week. More or less once every two to four weeks over her five-year lifespan, the female mourning gecko goes through the same ritual: The reptile begins the search for a well-protected place to hide one or two of her eggs. Fifty to 75 days later, new geckos hatch from these eggs. Not very spectacular, right? But the nocturnal climbers look exactly like their mother. And if they lay egg, once they reach maturity after eight months, their offspring will look exactly like them. Thatʼs because mourning geckos clone themselves — and all of them are female. No males are required to reproduce. That reptiles do not need males is not totally unusual in nature and various other species do the same. Some crabs, snails, and plants as well as komodo dragons and single-celled organisms — all of them come into the world alive and well without a male. The process behind this is called parthenogenesis which means something like "virgin birth."
White rhino killed by suspected poachers at French zoo
Tehranʼs ban on any contact with Israel has led to another case of an Iranian athlete being ordered to lose during an international competition. This policy is coming under growing criticism in Iran. "Ali Resa lose!, Ali Resa you must lose!" echoed through the venue in Bydgoszcz, Poland in the final moments of one of the semifinals at the U23 wrestling World Championships.
Golf great Tiger Woods played his first round of competitive golf since February on Thursday and it was like he had never been away. The 14-times major champion, who also missed the whole 2015-16 season because of injury, had back surgery in April and then suffered a recurrence of much publicized personal problems. The 41year-old pleaded guilty toreckless drivinghaving being found asleep in his car by the side of the road in May. He had five drugs in his system and has since had treatment to help him deal with his medications. He looked
to be very muchon the way to recovery as he hit five birdies as part of his three-under-par opening round in the invitational Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. He is just three shots off the leader. "I thought I did great," Woods said. "I hadnʼt played in a while after some difficulities, so to come out here and score like I did was nice. It was fun to be out there and be part of a scorecard again." Woods has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open and his career has gone downhill since amid injury and tales of marital infidelity.
Preventing dementia with computerized brain training
Elderly people can reduce the risk of dementia by exercising brain training on a computer, a study by researchers from the University of South Florida in Tampa has shown. The team led by Jerri Edwards launched their long-term experiment,Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE), in 1999 to find out
whether a training method called "useful field of view," or UFOV, actually helps reduce the risk of dementia. And as it turns out, it apparently does: 2,802 healthy adults between the ages of 74 and 84 participated in the experiment. They were randomly put into either a control group or one of three other groups that received different types of cognitive training. The first group received instruction on memory strategies, the second group on reasoning strategies and the third group received individualized computerized speed of processing training or UFOV.
Advent Feast at the Basilica One of the ‘Best European Christmas Markets’ is a must-see event in the heart of Budapest Discover Hungary’s most acclaimed Christmas market: The Advent Feast at the Basilica is blending Central European traditions and modern attractions, turning the iconic St. Stephenʼs square into 3D cinema. For more details and information about the Advent Feast’s event schedule, check out thewww.adventiunnep.hu/enwebsite. Budapest 1051, Szent István tér Opening hours: Monday-Friday: 11 am – 10 pm, Saturday-Sunday: 10 am – 10 pm, and 10 am – 2 pm on December 24. Skating class hours: Friday from 2-8 pm, Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm and Sunday from 10 am -6 pm.
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Cambodia charges 2 journalists with espionage The arrests are the latest in a widening crackdown on media and the opposition in Cambodia ahead of elections next year. The move further strains ties between the United States and Cambodia. Two Cambodian journalists who worked for a US-funded radio station were charged with espionage on Saturday, the latest move in a widening crackdown on critics of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Uon Chhin and Yeang Socheameta, former journalists of the Washingtonbased Radio Free Asia, were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly providing information to a foreign power. The offense carries up to 15-years in prison. Radio Free Asiaʼs Phnom Penh bureau closed its office in September, citing "intimidation" and threats that it was violating tax and registration regulations. The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported the two journalists were accused of setting up broadcasting equipment in the capital and sending news reports to Radio Free Asiaʼs Washington bureau.