The controversial bill also prohibits describing Nazi death camps in Poland as Polish
Hello, this is Anna sifting through today's news for you.
‘Grave concerns’ - The FBI has said that it had ‘grave concerns’ about Donald Trump’s intention to release a memo said to contain classified information about an investigation into one of the president’s campaign aides. After both Trump and the House speaker, Paul Ryan, made public statements supporting the memo’s release, which Trump said he ‘100%’ backed releasing,the back-and-forth took a twist with an unusual FBI statement, essentially attributable to its director, Trump’s appointee Christopher Wray.
More water for all - The EU will tell national governments to provide better access to drinking fountains, encourage restaurants to offer free tap water, and raise the standards required of suppliers, as part of a clamp down on plastic waste and general health. The vice-president of the commission, Frans Timmermans, will announce changes to the drinking water directive today.
‘No complicity here’ - Poland's Senate has approved a controversial bill that will make it illegal to accuse Polish people of complicity in the Nazi Holocaust. The bill also prohibits describing Nazi death camps in Poland as Polish. Fines will be issued or a maximum three-year jail term as punishment will be given. Israel has accused Poland of attempting to rewrite history. The bill must be signed off by the president before entering into law.
Giving up - Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia, seems ready to relinquish his return to power. According to text messages caught by a TV camera, Puigdemont said that his efforts had failed and accused his own side of giving up on him. ‘It's over,’ Puigdemont is alleged to have told an adviser. Madrid ‘has won,’ he wrote in the messages. After elections last month, Puigdemont was the only candidate nominated to lead Catalonia's new government, but he is still in self-imposed exile in Belgium.
Don’t rely on tech - Technology will not ‘come to the rescue’ and reverse greenhouse gas emissions, experts have warned. In a new report, a group of prominent European scientists emphasised the importance of focusing on reducing emissions in order to meet global warming targets now, rather than wait for technology to do the hard work for us.