46/2018 • 24, FEBRUARY 2018 WEEKEND ISSUE
DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Carla Del Ponte honored with Hessian Peace Prize Ex-war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte received a €25,000 prize in the German state of Hesse for her "uncompromising fight for peace." In her speech, the Swiss-born Del Ponte called for urgent reform of the UN. Officials in the German state of Hesse honored anti-war crimes crusader Carla Del Ponte on Friday by presenting her with the Albert Osswald Foundationʼs Peace Prize. The 71year-old Del Ponte led an "uncompromising fight for peace" during her career as international prosecutor, the jury said.
US Nuclear Posture Review: A bigger bang for the buck? The United States has put countering China and Russia, dubbed "revisionist powers," at the center of a new national defense strategy. DW takes a look at what that entails. At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the thenSoviet Union possessed around 70,000 nuclear warheads between them — enough to destroy or poison every square centimeter of inhabited land on Earth several times over. Americas US Nuclear Posture Review: A bigger bang for the buck? The United States has put countering China and Russia, dubbed "revisionist powers," at the center of a new national defense strategy. DW takes a look at what that entails. At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the then-Soviet Union possessed around 70,000 nuclear warheads between them — enough to destroy or poison every square centimeter of inhabited land on Earth several times over. Somewhat ironically, the concept of "mutually assured destruction" (MAD), whereby the full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender, was and is a guarantor of peace.
Sergey Lavrov: Russia to vote for Syria truce at UN The international community has accused Moscow and Damascus of indiscriminate shelling of civilians
Russiaʼs foreign minister indicated Moscow would support a 30-day ceasefire in Syria at the UN Security Council.
A record 28 French restaurants get Michelin three-star ratings Twenty-eight French restaurants have been honored with the gastronomic sectorʼs most coveted rating. Thatʼs a record number of threestar ratings for any single country in the Michelin Red Guide. A comeback by La Maison des Bois mastermind Marc Veyrat (pictured) and the emergence of Christophe Bacquieʼs Hotel du Castellet as another culinary force in southern France have given the country a record for most restaurants to hold a vaunted foodie guideʼs coveted three-star maximum. Set for official release on Friday, Michelin France has become the most prestigious of the publica-
tionʼs 31 national editions and the domestic culinary bible. Michelin has faced criticism that its stars reward pomp and presentation rather than the food itself and for the guideʼs putting restaurateurs under unbearable scrutiny. The guide has made many a chefʼs name; others say it has nearly broken their wills. Veyrat — a 67-year-old who quit cooking after a skiing accident nine years ago and faced hardship again when La Maison burned down in 2015 — told The Associated Press that he does not mind the stress. "We need the pressure and adrenaline because we are creatives," he said late Monday.
IOC rejects request to invite 15 cleared Russians to Pyeongchang The IOC has rejected a request to invite 15 Russians, who have had their doping bans overturned, to compete at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The Kremlin has expressed regret at the decision. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday rejected a request to invite the 15 Russians to the Pyeongchang Winter Games just days after theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had overturned their lifetime doping bans. A statement posted on the IOCʼs website said that the decision came after a special panel had "unanimously recommended that theIOCnot
extend an invitation to the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 to the 15 individuals." "The OAR IG (Olympic Athlete from Russia Implementation Group) confirmed that no additional invitations will be extended to these 15 individuals," it added. The 13 active and two retired athletes were among 28 Russians whose bans were overturned by the Swiss-based CAS on Thursday. The IOC bans on 11 other Russian athletes was upheld. The two retired athletes, who had their requests denied, would have worked as coaches for the "Olympic Athlete from Russia" team at the Pyongchang Games.
New French immigration bill provokes backlash France is working on a new immigration law designed to streamline the asylum process. But aid workers fear the legislation could turn the country into a proper "expulsion machine," reports Lisa Louis from Paris. Franceʼs cabinet this week okayed a draft immigration law that will go through parliament in the coming months. Migrants would in the future have less time to apply for asylum and appeal against rejections. The government would have the right to hold them in detention centers pending deportation for more than twice as long.
Bundestag slams far-right AfD Parliamentarians minced no words about the right-wing populistsʼ increasingly radical statements about Germanyʼs dark past. The discussion was sparked by AfD calls to ban the Stumbling Stones remembrance initiative. In a special discussion in Germanyʼs parliament, the Bundestag, MPs underscored the countryʼs commitment to remembering the Holocaust and the other crimes of Germanyʼs Nazi past. The session was called by the Greens after increasing agitation from within the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to end Germanyʼs culture of remembrances.
weather today BUDAPEST
0 / 3 °C Precipitation: 0 mm