DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
German police launch raids on Iraqi organized crime gang German police carried out earlymorning raids at apartments in 11 cities on Wednesday as part of an operation targeting organized crime. Hundreds of officers were involved in the raids in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, focusing on the Cologne area and the Ruhr Valley. A spokeswoman for police in the city of Essen, Sylvia Czapiewski, said authorities targeted the homes of 34 suspects. "We have been carrying out an investigation into a large group of people for some considerable time," she said. Those targeted were suspected of involvement in people smuggling, as well as trading in weapons, narcotics and false IDs. One person was arrested. North RhineWestphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul told journalists that the seized evidence must be examined to determine whether more arrests would be made.
Germanyʼs CDU slams YouTuber Rezo over political viral video Christian Democratic Union(CDU) politicians went on the defensive Wednesday after a popular YouTuber published a 55-minute video criticizing the party. In what he called a "destruction video," German YouTuber "Rezo" slammed the CDU for failing to tackle critical issues, saying they have shown "gross incompetence" on climate change, security, intellectual property rights and narcotics policy, among other areas. He said the government, which includes the Social Democrats, was "destroying our lives and our future." Rezo said he spent weeks researching the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). The video, which included statistics on Germanyʼs wealth and gender gaps as well as foreign policy, has been seen nearly 4 million times since going online on Saturday.
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Austriaʼs caretaker government assumes power after video scandal The government is already facing a no-confidence vote
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has vowed that his new Cabinet will probe the contents of the controversial video. But the government is already facing a no-confidence vote and may not survive next week.
Tariffs prompt US firms to rethink China business: survey US businesses in China are increasingly worried about the trade conflict between the US and China. They are bearing the brunt of tariffs and non-tariff barriers adopted in recent months, a new survey said. Three-quarters of US companies in China say they are being hit hard by the ongoing US-China trade dispute, according to a new survey released Wednesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in China and its sister organization in Shanghai. The poll was conducted between May 16 and 20, days after Washington more
thandoubled duties on $200 billion (€179.3 billion) worth of Chinese goods. Beijing retaliated by charginghigher tariffs on $60 billion of American products. Firms manufacturing in China were the hardest hit, with more than 80% reporting adverse affects from both US and Chinese tariffs. Nearly half of the 250 respondents said they have experienced non-tariff retaliatory measures in China since last year. About one in five US companies experienced increased inspections, similar to the proportion reporting slower customs clearance.
Tintin and Snowy turn 90 — havenʼt aged a day He has fought organized crime, solved mysteries and even helped to bring down despotic regimes. The famous Belgian cub-reporter Tintin, with his trademark shock of strawberry-blonde hair, blue sweater and plus-four trousers, has taken his fans with him on world adventures that have been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects. Tintin made his first appearance 90 years ago, in the Catholic conservative Belgian
newspaper Le Vingtième Siècleʼs youth supplement, Le Petit Vingtième. Tintin and Snowy headed deep into Soviet territory, with Stalinʼs secret police watching them from around every corner. The story first appeared on January 10, 1929, running as a serial until May 1930; it was essentially anticommunist propaganda, neatly packaged for children. In 1930, the series was published in book form as Tintin in the Land of the Soviets.
ʼVastʼ far-right disinformation networks discovered in EU Millions of Europeans are being exposed to far-right propaganda on Facebook ahead of the EU elections, a report by the Avaaz NGO shows. The activists say their research prompted an "unprecedented" cleanup by Facebook. Fake news, fake quotes, and movie clips presented as proof of migrant misdeeds are only some of the tactics used byfar-right Facebook pages, activists from the US-based Avaaz movement said when presenting anew reporton Wednesday. The malicious content was seen 533 million times in the last three months alone, or six million times per day, according to the Avaaz estimate. While European voters prepare for this weekʼs EU parliamentary polls, the EU is "drowning in disinformation," Avaazʼs campaign director Christoph Schott said.
Ai Weiwei sues Volkswagen for copyright infringement Artist Ai Weiweiis taking Volkswagen / Skandinavisk Motor Co. to court for copyright infringement, as the company published a magazine advertisement for the car VW Polo in 2017 that featured one of his art installations as a backdrop. The trial started in Copenhagen on Wednesday. According to Ai, the image was used without the artistʼs or the museumʼs knowledge or permission. "These actions are clear violations of my intellectual property and moral rights, but more importantly they raise larger questions of corporate power and responsibility in our era of global capitalism," Ai wrote in an opinion piece published by The Guardian and on his Instagram account.
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