DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Polish PM condemns ʼxenophobicʼ attack on ambassador to Israel
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described Tuesdayʼs attack on their ambassador to Israel as racially motivated. "I am very worried to hear of a racist attack. Poland strongly condemns this xenophobic act of aggression. Violence against diplomats or any other citizens should never be tolerated," Mowawiecki wrote on Twitter. Polish ambassador Marek Magierowski (pictured above) was sitting in his car on Tuesday when a man approached and "spat at him," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The assault on Magierowski (pictured above), who was appointed to the role of ambassador in June 2018, comes amid rising tensions between the two countries concerning the Holocaust and Polandʼs World War II history.
Alabama moves to ban abortion, including for rape and incest cases The Republican-dominated Senate in the US state of Alabama passed a bill on Tuesday outlawing nearly all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. The measure is set to be the strictest abortion law in the United States if approved by Republican Governor Kay Ivey, who has withheld comment on whether she will sign it. If signed into law, the bill would go into effect in six months. The legislation is certain to face legal challenges. Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists hope the legislation will lead to the Supreme Court overturning its landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide.
111/2019 • 16 MAY, 2019
Eiffel Tower shines lights and offers snacks for 130th anniversary A visitor magnet
Parisʼ iconic Eiffel Tower welcomed 1,350 children ahead of a concert and a light show into the early hours to celebrate 130 years as the French capitalʼs tallest building.
Worldwide inventory to help protect biodiversity For the first time in 14 years, experts have compiled a global ecoinventory of the Earth. They now want to fine-tune the core statements with government representatives. It is already clear that many species have been lost in the recent past. And thecausesare also clear: intense agriculture, pollution, overfishing, poaching, the destruction of natural habitats and climate change. It is unclear, however,how dire the global biodiversity situation really isand whether conservation measures have achieved anything. Most recently, in 2005, theMillennium Ecosystem As-
sessment showed how massively ecosystems were polluted over the previous 50 years and how necessary a reversal is. Starting this Monday, government representatives and scientists will discuss a new report on biodiversity for a week. The report is based on the research results that 150 experts from 50 countries have compiled and analyzed over the past three years. The experts analyzed almost 15,000 sources for their report, and 250 other experts provided knowledge directly. For the first time, the findings and interests of indigenous peoples and other local knowledge were included.
Nets ʼnʼ Lasers: some of our best hopes for mitigating the threat of space debris Space debris is a bit like space itself: We know itʼs up there, but beyond that thereʼs so much we know we donʼt know. The statistics are fun, though, if a little misleading. Itʼs a bit of a safari crunching the numbers, but here goes. Since 1957, the year the Soviet Union sent Sputnik into space, there have been 4,900 space launches. So far so good. In that time we have put 6,600 satellites in orbit
and/or created "an on-orbit population of more than 18,000 tracked objects." Elsewhere, ESA cites "more than 17,000 orbital objects" being tracked and catalogued by the US Space Surveillance Network. And in a third document itʼs 22,000 objects. But you get the idea: Itʼs a lot. Of the 6,600 satellites, 3,600 remain in space, and less than a third (about 1,100) are operational.
UN arms expert imprisoned in Tunisia on ʼfabricatedʼ charges After Moncef Kartas, a wellrespected expert on illegal arms shipments into Libya, had cleared security at the international airport in Tunisia in late March, several plainclothes security officers were waiting for him in the arrivals hall, according to his defense team. Few people knew of Kartasʼ travel plans, which had changed last-minute. But the officers "were clearly expecting him," Kartasʼ lawyer, Sarah Zaafrani, who is also his cousin, told DW. Ever since, he has been imprisoned on charges of obtaining national defense secrets and passing them on to an unnamed "foreign state or its agents," according to the English translation of the official decision to open an investigation, which DW has obtained. Espionage is a charge that can carry the death penalty in Tunisia, although it has not been enforced for several years.
ʼChristchurch Callʼ launched in Paris as Facebook limits live streaming for extremists French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were in Paris on Wednesday to launch their ʼChristchurch Callʼ initiative aimed at curbing extremism online. Ardern announced the plan as the first stage of change as the two leaders appeared at the Elysee Palace. The initiative calls for limits on violent, hateful content and urges social media platforms to re-examine their algorithms.
weather today BUDAPEST
8 / 13 °C Precipitation: 0 mm
111/2019 • 16 May, 2019
Serb party billboards vandalized with hate messages in Croatia Ahead of the EU elections, placards put up by a Serb minority party in Croatia have been defaced with hate messages in several cities. Croatia, an EU member, struggles with nationalism and strong anti-Serb sentiment.Political ads for a Serb political party in Croatia have been repeatedly defaced with symbols of Croatiaʼs pro-Nazi Ustasha regime and antiSerb slogans amid the campaign for the EU Parliament. A photo posted by Serb representative Milorad Pupovac on Tuesday shows a billboard in Zagreb (pictured above) with a scribbled message "Slaughter Serb children, kill the Serb." Similar hate messages drew media attention in several other cities, including the popular tourist destination of Split earlier this month. In the seaside resort, Ustasha slogan "For home(land) ready" was added to the billboard of Pupovacʼs Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS).
Chris Coleman: Ex-Wales manager sacked by Hebei China Fortune Former Wales manager Chris Coleman has been sacked by Hebei China Fortune, the club he took over 11 months ago. Hebei are one place off the bottom of the Chinese Super League with only one win in nine games this season. The club confirmed Colemanʼs departure in a social media post. It stated: "After friendly negotiation and agreement reached between the two parties, with immediate effect, Mr Chris Coleman will no longer serve as head coach."
Euro hits 20, but will it make 30? The euro is at a crossroads as it turns 20, and some believe it might not make it to 30. As the single currency doesnʼt seem to benefit all, its role was a main topic at the European Economic Forum, reports Jo Harper. At the European Economic Forum, held this week in the southern Polish town of Katowice, the future of the eurozone and the Single European Currency, the euro, featured centrally. A view increasingly shared was that of Brigitte Granville, Professor of International Economics at the University of London, who stressed that the euro urgently needed further political integration among the currency unionʼs 19 member states. Monetary union requires political union and that is what
the common budget means," she told an audience of European economists and policy advisers. French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018 proposed driving ahead with European integrationby establishing a single budget, the next step after the creation of the European Central Bank (ECB) in 1998 allowed the establishment of a single monetary policy framework. At the heart of Macron’s plan is strengthening the currency areaʼs bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism(ESM).
Gourmet Festival featuring paprika, bread end and beer 16-19 May WHAT IS GOURMET FESTIVAL? It is the celebration of the best Hungarian restaurants, wineries, chefs and confectioners, brewers and producers, and all us gastronomy lovers. The biggest gastronomy festival in the region is organized every spring and brings the countryʼs best to a huge outdoor tasting venue. Colorful nights, with famous foreign chefs and many unforgettable programs. Get a feel for what last year was like! DAY TICKETS €15 PASS €29
WHAT DOES MY TICKET PRICE INCLUDE?● Spiegelau wineglass● Electrolux Street food bite● Young wine-maker of the Year wine tasting● Stella Artois, Leffe, Hoegaarden or Belle-Vue Kriek beer tasting● Jameson Whiskey tasting (for the first 500 guests of the day)● Rauch Juice Bar 0,33L fruit juice (for the first 1000 guests of the day)● Esterházy Green Veltliner or Esterházy kékfrankos tasting (for the first 500 guests of the day)● Shows and tastings on the Gastro stage● Programs for children
Elegant Café Párisi breathes new life into Budapest’s splendid Lotz Hall Café Párisi is on the top floor of the building, with theAndrássy Entertainment Centreand, from tomorrow, an Avatar exhibition below. The café is open every day and the Lotz Hall can be rented for special events such as birthday parties, company gatherings or a fairy-tale wedding. Café Párisi Address: District VI. Andrássy út 39 Open: Daily 9am-9pm
Hotel Azúr Prémium H-8600 Siófok, Erkel Ferenc u. 2/c. Telephone: 06 86 501 450 premium@hotelazur.hu http://www.hotelazur.hu/hu/premium
Published by: Mega Media Kft. 1075 Budapest, Madách I. út 13-14. +36 1 398 0344 www.hotelujsag.hu
Merger between T-Mobile and Sprint on the line The $26.5 billion (€23 billion) merger,announced last April, would combine the United Statesʼ third and fourth largest wireless companies, creating a new firm the size of sector rivals Verizon andAT&T. It would also reduce the number of major carriers in the US from four to three. T-Mobileʼs German parent,Deutsche Telekom would take 42 percent of the new entity and Japanʼs SoftBank, owner of Sprint, 27 percent, with the rest held by the public. The combined company, to be called T-Mobile, would have 127 million customers. But the deal must get the green light from US federal regulators. A hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday — Thursdayʼs scheduled meeting before the House Committee on the Judiciary was postponed — didnʼt have a direct bearing on the governmentʼs regulatory review. But optics matter and they can help or hinder in the final decision-making process.
Dutch shipbuilder in dock over North Koreanʼs Polish slave claims The first case in the Netherlands of worker exploitation involving a Dutch company for alleged crimes committed outside the country could be nearing an end in the coming weeks, lawyers said, and if successful may open the door to more such cases. Barbara van Straaten, the lawyer representing a North Korean worker, said Dutch law criminalizes the act of profiting from exploitation. The name of the Dutch shipping company sued by the worker couldnʼt be disclosed for safety reasons, she added. Under the countryʼs anti-trafficking law, offenders can be jailed for up to 18 years and face fines of €83,000 ($95,000). The plaintiff claims he was sent to Poland by the Pyongyang regime and forced to work12-hour days for low wages in awful conditions. The lawyer did not say when this happened. Van Straatenʼs Amsterdam-based law firm, Prakken dʼOliveira, said the North Korean worked for the Polish company Crist. Crist received financial assistance from the European Regional Development Fund, a loan of €37 million in 2009.