DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
UK confirms participation in EU elections in May Despite talks with the opposition Labour Party to try to find an allianceto get the Brexit withdrawal agreement through Parliament, British Prime Minister Theresa Mayʼs deputy David Lidington conceded on Tuesday there was not enough time left to get the deal through the assembly. "It is regrettably not going to be possible to finish that process" before May 23, Lidington said in a statement, promising to make the delay "as short as possible." May deeply regretted the move, her spokesman said. This means that the UK will have to take partin European Parliament elections, which will take place from May 23 to 26. "Ideally, weʼd like to be in a situation where those MEPs never actually have to take their seat in the European Parliament - certainly, to get this done and dusted by the summer recess in the British parliament," he added. This would probably be in late July.
South Africaʼs white far-right outcasts are finding friends on Facebook "We see ourselves as African. This is the continent of our birth after which the Afrikaners named themselves. We can only survive on the southern tip of Africa sustainably," says Kallie Kriel, the CEO of AfriForum, a right-wing Afrikaner lobby group. Not long after he made this comment in an interview with DW, AfriForum ended up in court. It was there to defend the use of the old South African flag – the groupʼs members sometimes display the orange, white and blue flag that dates back to the time when South Africa was under brutal apartheid rule. The Nelson Mandela Foundation wants to see the old flag banned for good on the grounds that its display is a form of hate speech. AfriForum says that any attempts to ban the flag will impinge on freedom of expression.
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US Secretary of State Pompeo cancels meeting with Merkel at short notice He was scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abruptly called off a visit to Berlin, citing "pressing issues."
ʼGrand Theft Europeʼ - reports tax fraudsters stealing millions from governments The so-called "VAT carousels" enable criminal gangs to steal millions from the state. This type of graft is hitting Germany particularly hard. A new report published on Tuesday revealed a €50 billion ($56 million) tax fraud scheme that has been gathering steam in Europe for years – and Germany is both the biggest victim and enabler of the EUʼs massive "VAT carousel" racket, according to the authors. Reporters from 30 countries working for the Germannonprofit investigative newsroom Cor-
rektivdiscovered the massive graft by following one fraudster up the ladder of the continent-wide criminal gang. The scheme resolves around the trade of goods such as cars and mobile phones and even uses other high-cost items such as CO2 emissions certificates. Taking advantage of each European country having a different value added tax (VAT), the criminals move the goods from one EU member state to another, claiming back millions in tax reimbursements that they never paid or earned in the first place.
Collective push against climate change more powerful than youʼd think Peter Kalmus sits outside Californiaʼs Pasadena City Hall in his electric car. His sons, aged 10 and 12, are on steps of the grand building, waving signs with the slogans: "School strike for climate" and "Adults, act like it!" Kalmusʼ Tesla is just the kind of luxury youʼd expect a climate scientist at NASAʼs jet propulsion laboratory to have. But he doesnʼt exactly live a
lavish lifestyle. Actually, he says, he usually cycles. He hasnʼt been on a plane since 2012, and he eats a vegetarian diet. As someone who works in climate science, Kalmus feels thereʼs no excuse not to reduce his carbon footprint. "This is an urgent crisis," he says. "Those of us who understand that should act like itʼs an urgent crisis."
Gigantic Druzhba oil pipeline paralyzed for weeks Germany has a serious problem with Russia, its largest energy supplier. For two weeks,the Druzhba (Russian for "friendship") pipeline has been blocked. It is the main route to supply Europeʼs leading economy with Russian oil. Even during Soviet times, the former East Germany was supplied by it as were other communist "brother countries." But as of April 25, todayʼs EU members Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic can no longer get oil from the Druzhba pipeline. Warsaw, Budapest and Prague have already had to tap into their emergency reserves. The problem is technical. According to information from Moscow, heavily polluted oil has entered the pipeline probably in the Samara region on the Volga. This oil contains chlorides, which are used to extract oil from largely exhausted sources. But afterwards the chlorides have to be removed, because they can cause severe corrosion damage in refineries.
Trump invites Hungaryʼs Viktor Orban to White House Trump and Orban will meet at the White House for the first time on May 13 for talks on security and trade. Both leaders have taken tough anti-immigration stances and been criticized for policies viewed as antiMuslim. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbanwill meet with US President Donald Trump next week, the White House announced on Tuesday. During the May 13 meeting, the two leaders "will discuss ways to deepen cooperation on a range of issues, including trade, energy, and cyber security," the White House said in a statement.
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