DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Supporting all pipelines Turkey is still offering support to all three pipelines within the Southern gas corridor, which is designed to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Platts reported referring to a spokesman for the energy ministry of Turkey. The Southern Gas Corridor is a priority EU energy project diversifying energy supply routes and sources and increasing security. It includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, TAP and ITGI. All three projects within the Southern gas corridor have submitted final proposals to Azerbaijan, which will make its decision on preferable transportation route by the end of 2011. Gas, which will be produced within the second phase of Azerbaijani Shah-Deniz gas field development is regarded as the main source for all projects. Azerbaijan is going to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe under the Shah Deniz-2 project through the chosen pipeline. The spokesman said Turkey would also support the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline which will be built on the Turkish territory.
Ford cuts 7,000 white collar jobs worldwide About 10% of the Ford Motor companyʼs global, salaried workforce are to lose their jobs. The cuts are part of a major restructuring and a move to the production of electric cars, as well as crossovers, SUVs and trucks. In a statement issued from the US car giantʼs Detroit headquarters on Monday, Ford announced it was almost at the end of its global restructuring program. By the time it ends in August, 7,000 whitecollar jobs will have gone. The plan is to shed 2,300 jobs through buyouts and layoffs in the US, 1,500 of which have already been made. According to the Detroit Free Press, workers opened their emails on Monday morning to find a letter from CEO Jim Hackett saying 500 salaried workers in the US would leave involuntarily this week, and a total of 800 by June.
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Austrian president names Brigitte Bierlein interim chancellor Bierlein will serve as chancellor until elections in September
President Van der Bellen has named Brigitte Bierlein interim chancellor to take over for the outgoing Sebastian Kurz. The first woman to hold the office, Bierlein will serve as chancellor until elections in September.
German food discounter Aldi to open first store in China Supermarket chain Aldi is set to open its first store in China. The German discounter is reportedly hoping to tap into a more affluent customer base by touting sought-after products from Europe. German discount chain Aldi Süd is preparing to launch a flagship store in the coastal metropolis of Shanghai next week, according to trade reports. A second store is expected to follow in the near future, the Lebensmittel Zeitungnewspaper reported. "This is another step in the race between Aldi and Lidl worldwide," trade expert Matthias Queck from LZ Retailytics
told German news agency dpa. With its stores in Australia and the United States, Aldi Süd is already well ahead in the race to increase business beyond Europe, he added. The retailer began operating an online shop in China in 2017, and speculation about an expansion had been circulating for some time. Business publication Manager Magazin reported that Aldi initially plans to open at least 10 stores in China, with 50 to 100 further outlets to follow in the coming years. It said the Shanghai store would offer the usual Aldi products, imported from Europe, as well as a large fresh fish counter.
Drug-filled rivers aiding resistance to antibiotics The body of water long immortalized in Johann Strauss IIʼs famous waltz "The Blue Danube"received an edgy new superlative on Monday: Along with being Europeʼs second-longest river, the Danube is now the continentʼs most drug-polluted. Rivers from the Thames in England to theTigris in Iraqhost concentrations of antibiotics exceeding safe levels by up to 300 times, which could play a role in human drug resistance, according tothe first interna-
tional study of its kindpresented on Monday. Scientists from the University of York in England tested for 14 commonly used antibiotics in rivers in 72 countries. They found antibiotics at 65 percent of the surveyed sites, causing scientists and policy makers to recognize the role of the natural environment in the antimicrobial resistance problem, according to ProfessorAlistair Boxall,Theme Leader of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute.
Germanyʼs Maas hopes for peace in eastern Ukraine under new leader Germany and France are unflagging in their commitment to peace in Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had said ahead of his visit to Kyiv with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to visit the countryʼs newly elected president. "It was important to me to travel with [Jean-Yves Le Drian] to Kyiv after the inauguration of President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy to make it clear that Germany and France are not slackening in their commitment to Ukraine — indeed, quite the opposite," Maas said in a statement posted by the ministry on Twitter. "The people in eastern Ukraine need peace at last," he continued. "The dynamics brought about by this election could offer a chance to overcome the stalemate and finally put the peace plan of the Minsk agreement into practice."
Greece to cut costs The Greek finance minister has pledged to speed up reforms to cut public spending and reduce the size of the state, saying his privatisation plans would start “immediately”. Evangelos Venizelos said a group of state assets would be transferred on Wednesday to a special fund ahead of their later sale. The privatisations aim to raise 5bn euros this year. Greece is cutting spending to try to reduce its vast public debts. The country required a 110bn euros bailout from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year, and a second 109bn euros deal was agreed in July.Greece is receiving the money in instalments, with EU and IMF inspectors continuing to check on the country’s progress in cutting costs.
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124/2019 • 31 May, 2019
Muslim fashion for women exhibition stirs controversy in Germany Muslim head coverings have always been a controversial topic, as they embody so many issues, whether womenʼs rights worldwide or Western prejudice and discrimination against Muslims. Now that the first exhibition dedicated to fashion consciousness of women in Islam is opening at Frankfurtʼs Museum Angwandte Kunst, the debate surrounding headscarves has been rekindled in Germany. Titled "Contemporary Muslim Fashions" and first shown at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, the exhibition, however, does not aim to answer the numerous political and social questions related to hijabs or burkinis. "The focus of the exhibition is really fashionable modest dress and what weʼre trying to show in the exhibition is that there is a lot of choice for the mass of Muslim women," said Jill DʼAlessandro, curator of the "Contemporary Muslim Fashions" exhibition in San Francisco.
Cult goalie Gabor Kiraly hangs up his tracksuit bottoms Nobodyʼs ever said the name Gabor Kiraly at FIFAʼs annual gala when the best footballers and goalkeepers of the world are announced. And why would they? Thereʼs no doubt that the Hungarianʼs a good keeper. But there were, and are, dozens of pros in European football of similar quality — Kiraly can be fairly described as a solid, average professional. He never approached the levels of players like Oliver Kahn, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas orManuel Neuer— all named goalkeeper of the year on multiple occasions. He was never cited, unlike the others, as someone who revolutionized goalkeeping. He never lifted the major trophies amid a shower of confetti at a final. He never played for the top clubs from Barcelona, Madrid, Turin, Manchester or Munich.
Leonardo da Vinciʼs rebirth of anatomy Leonardo da Vinciʼs anatomy studies could have revolutionized medicine, but they were lost for a long time. The drawings show insights into the human body that were previously completely unknown.
EU wants answers from Italy over debt Brussels has asked the Italian government to explain its lack of progress in reducing debt. Italyʼs populist government is accused of exposing the bloc to financial problems by ignoring budget discipline rules. The EU on Wednesday issued a double warning to Rome about the precarious state of Italian public finances. The European Commission expressed its concerns over last yearʼs debt at the same time Italyʼs populist leaders examine the possibility of flouting eurozone budget discipline and reversing unpopular economic reforms. Brussels took issue with the countryʼs rising level of debt in a letter to Economy Minister Giovanni Tria. "Italy is confirmed not to have
made sufficient progress toward the debt reduction criterion in 2018," said the letter, signed by EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and the blocʼs Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici. Italy only won EUapproval for its 2019 budgetafter reducing its deficit to levels that were deemed to be acceptable. However, Rome went on toroll back austerity-inspired reformsand farright deputy premier Matteo Salvini is now promising big tax cuts.
Boson predictor Peter Higgs: a fundamentally modest physicist Theoretical physicsmust be a lonely calling. There you are, driven to discover and explain the universe. Youʼve got people around you, a team of disciples, all following a similar ideology. An assumption. Hypothesis. Or prediction. But thereʼs no way of knowing whether what you see, or this thing you think could there if only the technology would let you see it, is... indeed there. Until you prove it. And even
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your own science community needs convincing. You would have to be a visionary. Or a true believer. Which is ironic. In physics. Where everything began with a bang, rather than the words "In the beginning..." Someone likePeter Higgs. The British theoretical physicist and Nobel Laureate is known for predicting the existence of a very special, fundamental element of the known universe. The God particle. Or "Higgs boson."
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Sierra Leoneʼs one month fishing ban achieves little Up and down Sierra Leoneʼs 400kilometer (249 mile) stretch of coastline, entire villages depend on the sea. Some 8,000 small boats manned by local fishermen go out every day to cast their nets – their catch a vital source of income in what is one of the worldʼs poorest countries. Without the fishermen, Sierra Leoneans would also go hungry – more than four fifths of the population depend on fish as a source of animal protein. But the countryʼs traditional fishing communities have long complained that their catch is drastically shrinking due to overfishing by foreign trawlers. Giving fish stocks a chance to bounce back In an attempt to counter this, Sierra Leoneʼs government temporarily banned fishing by industrial boats for a month from 1 April.
Geely the car industryʼs rising ʼprofitability starʼ Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the CAR Center Automotive Research at Germanyʼs Duisburg-Essen University called Chinese auto manufacturer Geely "the profitability star of the worldʼs car industry." A fresh study by the center points out that on average, a Geely car costs just €9,529 ($10,942), but the companysecures a 14.4 percent profit from revenues before tax and interest. Dudenhöffer says thatʼs a lot more than, say, the profit margins of foreign rivals BMW, Toyota or PSA-Opel. The worldʼs largest carmaker, Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen, logs a profit margin of only 8.2 percent, the survey says. Geely is part of the Zhejiang Geely Holding,which also owns Volvo Cars, London EV-Taxi and Lotus.The holding has also acquired a 10 percent stake in Daimler. According to the CAR researchers, Geelyʼs rapid rise is based on its successful compact car platform, which it developed together with Sweden-based Volvo. "What Ferdinand Piëch managed to implement at VW from 1993 with the help of his platform strategyis in a way being copied now by Geelyʼs main shareholder and founder, Li Shufu," said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, adding that the Chinese were becoming major players in the global auto market.