DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
#MeToo claims rejected by Indian minister, former editor The 67-year-old Akbar threatened legal action against his accusers Sunday on his return from a trip to Nigeria, while Prime Minister Narendra Modiʼs government remained silent. "The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice," said Akbar in a statement issued in New Delhi, asserting that he was facing an "agenda" just months before Indiaʼs general election. "I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad," he added. Timeline: one year of #MeToo Sundayʼs Asian Ageheadlined its coverage: "False and fabricated, will take legal action: MJ Akbar on #MeToo charges" Congress, Indiaʼs main opposition party, had already called for Akbarʼs resignation. Claims against Akbar have mounted since a tweet on October 8 from journalist Priya Ramani, who said Akbar was the man she mentioned in a Vogue India article a year ago. Journalist Ghazala Wahab later said in an online post on The Wire that Akbar had "sexually harassed and molested" her, describing her last 6 months at The Asian Age as "pure hell with repeated physical advances."
Germany book trade Peace Prize winners slam the AfD Aleida and Jan Assmann stressed the importance of collective memory and warned against "excessive patriotism," in a speech they gave to accept the German book tradeʼs Peace Prize awardin Frankfurt on Sunday. "In democracy, thought cannot be delegated and left up to experts, performers or demagogues," the couple said, speaking at Frankfurtʼs historic St Paulʼs Church. Aleida Assmann, a 71-year-old literary scholar and her 80-year-old husband, Jan, an Egyptologist, have both studied the question of how identity and consciousness in human cultures and societies are formed.
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Meghan Markle pregnant as she and Prince Harry arrive in Australia The news comes as she and Prince Harry start a more than twoweek Pacific tour in Australia
Kensington Palace has announced that the Duchess of Sussex is expecting a child due in spring 2019.
Open source pharma: How to stop the rot in drug discovery Thereʼs something rotten in the state of pharma — greed, secrecy, inefficiency — itʼs all there. And thereʼs no easy fix. But moves toward a more caring, sharing industry through "open source pharma" may be a start. Hereʼs the case for a more caring, sharing pharmaceutical industry — one that works with academia, and other public bodies, in the public interest to discover the medicinal drugs and vaccines our global society urgently needs. And not just for the interests of shareholders. Itʼs a model for open source pharma — an alternative way of funding and working in drug discovery. For some itʼs a naive
idea, for others itʼs the only way forward, and has been for some time. "Thinking in particular about neglected diseases, or poverty-related diseases, we have long accepted that there is a need for alternative models," says Els Torreele, executive director of Medecins Sans Frontieresʼ Access Campaign. "And in fact for the last 20 years there have been several successful experiments in piloting different ways of doing research and development to ensure drugs are developed even where thereʼs no market incentive." That includes ensuring the drugs are affordable and available to those that need them.
Things you can do to avoid climate catastrophe Weʼve already warmed the world about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times — with disastrous effects. Sea levels are rising, coral reefs are dying, species are going extinct and extreme weather is on the increase. A newreport by the United Nationsʼ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)reveals what life on Earth would look like if temperatures were to rise another 0.5 to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also paints a picture of what a
2-degree warmer world would look like. In the report, more than 90 scientists from 40 countries agree that itʼs still possible to remain under 1.5 degrees of global warming — at least technologically — and outlined what we must do to make that happen. However, a lot of political will be required. But there are also things that normal people can do to avoid climate catastrophe. Here are six concrete ways you can take action on climate change.
UK, Germany, France press Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi disappearance In a joint statement on Sunday, France, Germany, and the UK said that "light must be shed" on the disappearance of the US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had not been seen since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. Turkish officials suspect that the Washington Post columnist was killed and dismembered inside the building. Riyadh rejects the allegations. Khashoggiʼs disappearance has sparked global outrage and demands for an explanation from top international officials. "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and – if relevant – to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," the three European powers said on Sunday.
Botched plane landing kills three in Germany A Cessna plane crashed through a barrier and hit two women and a child during a botched landing on Sunday, killing all three, German police said. It was not immediately known if the victims were related. The pilot of the sports aircraft was apparently attempting to land on the mountain of Wasserkuppe in the central German state of Hesse.
weather today BUDAPEST
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