DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
With a rapidly aging population, Germany looks to Balkans for care workers Joana Bocaj is 25 years old. Sheʼs a nurse in the city of Vlore in southern Albania, but she hopes she wonʼt be working there much longer. Joana is preparing to leave Albania and start a new working life in the western German city of Dusseldorf. She heard about the city from a colleague. "I think Iʼll have a better life and a better future in Germany," she says. "Here our salaries are low, and no one values our work. Thatʼs why Iʼd like to live and work over there." Joana will be welcome in Dusseldorf. Until recently, the German government had neglectedchronic personnel shortagesin the German care sector. The governmentʼs 2017 coalition agreement said that an additional 8,000 care workers were to be employed nationwide. That figure has since been revised upwards, with officials now talking about recruiting at least 13,000 new care workers.
German teaching brochure sparks spying row and far-right outrage
Germanyʼs biggest newspaper, Bild, has been accused of pandering to far-right populist sentiment over a report that allegedly mischaracterized a brochure published by the anti-racist nongovernmental organization Amadeu Antonio Foundation (AAS). The Bild report from November 29 described a 60-page AAS guide designed to help kindergarten teachers and parents deal with children who had expressed racist sentiments or appeared to be indoctrinated by neo-Nazi ideology. In a story entitled "Row over snooping manual," Bild presented the publication as an attempt to get children to spy on their parents. In its response to the report, the AAS pointed out that Bild only picked up on the three-month-old brochure after far-right German blogs like Philosophia Perennis and Journalis‐ tenwatch had expressed their own outrage. Bild largely repeated the far-right arguments without challenging them, and the AAS says it has received hundreds of threats of violence since the newspaper ran the story.
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US coalition kills ʼIslamic Stateʼ leader wanted for beheadings The leader was responsible for the beheading of a US aid worker in Syria, said a US official
The leader was responsible for the beheading of a US aid worker in Syria, said a US official. Even as the group suffers military defeat in Iraq and Syria, the UN has warned it still poses a threat to global security.
Textile workers still unsafe years after Bangladesh, Pakistan factory disasters More than five years since two fatal factory disasters in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the issue of workersʼ safety in South Asia remains unresolved. It becomes an even bigger issue when European companies are involved. Whatʼs common between the 2012 factory fire in Pakistanʼs Karachi city andthe 2013 Rana Plaza collapsenear the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka? Both facilities manufactured clothes for popular European brands and both had abysmal safety standards for their workers. The textile factory fire in Karachi burned to death some 250 workers, whereas the Rana Plaza col-
lapse killed more than 1,100 people. Hundreds more were severely wounded in both accidents. Much has been said and written about the two cases over the years. Litigation processes, public awareness campaigns and safety inspections kick-started in the aftermath of the two fatal incidents. Some compensation has also been paid to the victimsʼ families. But many questions remain unanswered to date. Most significantly, what lessons have European textile companies and consumers learnt from these tragedies? And how to make sure that these incidents donʼt happen in the future?
Largest David Lynch retrospective to date on show in Maastricht Most people associate the name David Lynch with bizarre movies that dive deeper into the subconscious than many might be comfortable with. Award-winning films like Wild at Heart and Blue Velvet or the cult TV series Twin Peaks have become synonymous with the director, epitomizing his unmistakably disturbing style exploring what lurks underneath the surface of American society. Still David Lynch is not only a film director but
also an accomplished artist, whose paintings, sketches, sculptures, photographs, video installations and mixed media works have been shown around the world. The Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht now brings Lynchʼs work as an artist to The Netherlands for the first time. The works shown at the exhibition "David Lynch: Someone is in my house" span from Lynchʼs childhood in the 1950s to his most recent work from 2018.
German cities get more funding for air quality, but retro-fitting plan still to come The German government agreed on Monday to provide additional funding to cities, in an effort to tackle air pollution linked to diesel vehicle emissions. The decision came after a meeting, dubbed the "diesel summit," between Chancellor Angela Merkel and representatives from cities and municipalities. German cities are currently facingcourt-imposed banson older diesel-powered vehicles. This stemmed from legal action taken by environmentalists to enforce EU regulations on air quality. To address the issue, the German government established the "Cleaner Air" program, in place from 2017 to 2020, to cut emissions from municipal vehicles. The German automotive sector is also making a financial contribution.
Bayer pharma workers protest 12,000 worldwide job losses More than 1,000 employees of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer protested at the companyʼs site in Wuppertal, in western Germany, on Monday. The company has announcedplans to cut 12,000 jobs worldwidein an attempt to placate investors after an onslaught of lawsuits that came with its $63 billion (€55 billion) takeover of agrochemical conglomerate Monsanto earlier this year.
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