NEWS BULLETIN 4 (April 10, 2019) Read the bulletin, study the underlined expressions, give their Russian equivalents. Give a short summary of the news items.

Nissan's former chair Ghosn says he was victim of 'backstabbing' in video address 09/04/2019 Disgraced former Nissan Motor boss Carlos Ghosn has maintained his innocence and accused some of the company’s executives of conspiring against him in his first public appearance since his arrest last year. Ghosn faces three separate charges. The first two are in connection with under-reporting his income in financial documents and the third relates to his alleged attempt to transfer personal losses to Nissan and making suspect payments to a Saudi businessman. Last week, Tokyo prosecutors decided to re-arrest Ghosn — who was released on a nine million dollar bail (€8 million) — sending him back to the detention centre where he previously spent more than 100 days. The latest arrest was in connection with new allegations that five million dollars (€4,452,600) sent by a Nissan subsidiary meant for an Oman dealership was diverted to a company controlled by Ghosn. This could be more serious as it could show that he used company funds for his own purposes. On Monday, Nissan shareholders decided to remove Ghosn from the board. "This is a conspiracy ... this is not about greed or dictatorship, this is about a plot, this about a conspiracy, this is about a backstabbing," said the former boss. In the video screened by his lawyers on Tuesday, Ghosn who wore a dark blazer and a white shirt said the conspiracy was born out of fear of an expanded alliance with partner Renault SA. "There was fear that the next step of the alliance in terms of convergence and in terms of moving towards a merger, would in a certain way threaten some people or eventually threaten the autonomy of Nissan," he said. Ghosn's lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said that the latest arrest was to "apply pressure" upon his client and that prosecutors were taking "cruel steps" to push Ghosn into "incriminating himself into a confession."

500,000 gather for interfaith Festival of Lights in 03/04/2019 People from across have been gathering in Lahore to celebrate the 431st annual Festival of Lights. Devotees offer prayers and candles, song and dance at the shrine of 16th-century Sufi poet and saint Madho Lal Hussain to have their prayers answered. The festival celebrates the Muslim poet's love for a Hindu boy, Madho, and with it interfaith harmony. The three-day festival, which locals call Mela Chiraghan, takes place at his shrine on the Grand Trunk Road, , where an estimated half a million devotees will gather around a blazing bonfire. Madho is also buried at the site. Pilgrims carrying chiraghs — small oil lamps — toss them into the bonfire hoping that their prayers will be heard and their wishes granted, and whirling dance and recite written by Shah Hussain. Ruqaya Butt is visiting the festival with her daughter. "I came here for my daughter, she is disabled, she cannot walk properly, so I offer prayers for her and God willing, she will get well soon. I have complete belief in Madho Lal Hussain," she explained. Attendee Amara Ahmed outlined the significance of the festival: "The sage being celebrated here is a Muslim poet who fell in love with a young Hindu man. The pilgrims coming here believe that he had a special past so they bring different problems to [offer to] the saint and ask for a resolution." Known as an occasion for interfaith harmony, the festival sees Christians, Hindus and Sikhs join Muslims, seeking intercession from their patron saints Visitor Salman Mehmood Qazi explains: "Following the teaching of Madho Lal Hussain, one can find love, peace and harmony at this place. And following that love, peace and harmony, we can find a total interfaith harmony at this very place."

Romanian ex-president Iliescu faces crimes against humanity charges 09/04/2019 Romania’s former President Ion Iliescu has been charged with crimes against humanity over his role in the revolution that brought down the country’s communist regime. The 89-year-old former two- time president was charged on Monday. A total of 862 people were killed in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution that brought down communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu. Prosecutors say Iliescu was responsible for running a campaign of misinformation that created a climate of terror. They also accuse him of organising a “simulated criminal trial” that led to the execution of Ceausescu and wife Elena. Journalist Kit Gillet told Good Morning Europe that the period after the revolution in Romania was chaotic and that Iliescu is accused of manipulating the uncertainty for his own political ends.

Two Polish men sentenced to jail in France for trying to smuggle a migrant in a coffin 10/04/2019 Two Polish freight workers were arrested last week in northern France and sentenced to 14 months in jail for trying to smuggle an Iraqi migrant to the UK in a coffin. They had arrived at the Eurotunnel site with a truck containing several coffins for delivery to the UK. They told customs the coffins were empty but "an Iraqi national was discovered" during checks, alive and "lying in one of the coffins," Prosecutor Pascal Marconville told the AFP news agency. The two Polish nationals denied they knew the Iraqi man was in one of the coffins. But according to Marconville, "the coffin was not accessible from the outside without blowing a lead." "This person could not have climbed in along the way without being helped by the drivers," he added. The two freight workers were then sentenced to 14 months imprisonment for "assisting the stay of foreigners in an irregular situation, by transport (...) in unworthy conditions". "There are in this case aggravating circumstances because making a person lying in a coffin to transport them is not dignified," Marconville said.

Ex-Ecuador president warns Assange faces immediate arrest 09/04/2019 Ecuador’s Former President, Rafael Correa, has said Julian Assange could face immediate extradition to the United States if he leaves the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. In an interview with Euronews, Correa said he expects the Embassy will move to evict the Wikileaks founder very soon. “I think they haven’t done it yet because it would be a worldwide scandal. If they could do it, they would expel him out today. It is a matter of days unless something extraordinary happens unless the international pressure is so strong that they are cowed. But I doubt it,” he said. Julian Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012 to claim diplomatic asylum after being wanted by Swedish authorities for questioning over four alleged sexual offences. He denies the charges and says he fears he will be extradited to the United States to face charges over Wikileaks’ work. “They have failed with their first plan that was to break Assange emotionally or physically so that he had to leave for an emergency and go to a hospital or decided to leave voluntarily.” Correa says it was this fear that leads his government to allow Assange to seek refuge inside his country’s embassy. “Laws that include the death penalty could be applied to Julian Assange. Given this situation, we decided to grant him asylum because there were no guarantees of a fair trial and Julian Assange's life was at risk,” he said. “If he now leaves the embassy, the United Kingdom will immediately extradite him to the United States and there the hawks are thirsty for bestial vengeance and are capable of anything.” In a tweet sent on Tuesday 4 April 2019, Wikileaks said “A high-level source within the Ecuadorian state has told WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within "hours to days” however he still remains inside the diplomatic mission.

EU prepares no-deal contingency plans for British people working in Europe 10/04/2019 The European Union has prepared contingency measures to ensure that British citizens will be able to work inside the bloc - even in the case of a no-deal Brexit. However, the EU Commissioner for Employment, Marianne Thyssen, told Euronews’s Business Editor Sasha Vakulina that the measures would not be as far-reaching as those contained in the Withdrawal Agreement that’s been rejected by the UK parliament. “We want to mitigate the consequences, even in the worst scenario and this is what we are doing by making contingency measures,” she said. “It’s a unilateral decision from the EU to mitigate the consequences for the citizens, immediately after a hard Brexit. It won't replace the orderly withdrawal agreement but it is the second-best solution.” But she says the measures could not cover areas of social security which require close cooperation with the United Kingdom. “If we go to a Hard Brexit it means that the UK steps out without having an agreement on the way we will handle all of this. Then it is difficult to assure people that they have all their social security covered when they are mobile and that they can still combine the different systems. And what we have always said as the European Commissioners - we don't want citizens to pay the price for this. “You are limited because we are not in a normal situation. We can't make contingency measures that replicate what was going to happen if the Withdrawal Agreement was ratified. So let's see, I still hope for the best, no Brexit at all. But I'm dreaming probably. An orderly withdrawal that at least we can organise things. All the rest. the contingency measures, are really there because it is the only thing we can do at a certain moment and at a certain situation.