DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Violence against refugees in Germany drops dramatically Refugees and refugee homes are still attacked nearly every day in Germany — but the figures dropped significantly last year. Left-wing politicians blame both the AfD and Angela Merkelʼs party for stirring up hatred. The German government counted 2,219 attacks on refugees and refugee homes in 2017, new Interior Ministry figures revealed on Wednesday have shown. This is a third fewer than in the previous year, when the authorities counted more than 3,500 attacks, but still translates to more than five a day. According to an Interior Ministry answer to an official parliamentary information request, the attacks broke down into 1,906 attacks on refugees and 313 on homes, with more than 300 people injured as a result. The crimes listed in the statistics included bodily harm, property damage, defamation, hate speech, trespassing, arson, and causing an explosion.
Stealthy sleuths: Lithuania calls for ʼcyber Schengenʼ zone Coming soon to a cyber attack near you: an EU rapid-response team led by Lithuania, able to leap national borders in a single bound. Criminals do it, so why not the good guys? Teri Schultz reports. As NATO and the European Union team up to cut red tape for troops to move more quickly through Europe to counter a potential crisis, Lithuania is leading an effort to do the same for cyber defenders. Lithuanian President Dahlia Grybauskaite has called on fellow EU leaders to support the creation of a "cyber Schengen," modeled on the area of free movement of people within the European Union, to better battle online crime and aggression which operate border-free.
51/2018 • 02, MARCH 2018
Marine Le Pen charged for posting images of Islamic State atrocities France:
Le Pen published the photos in response to a journalist who had compared the far right to jihadi militants. The Front National politician faces up to three years in prison if found guilty. Prosecutors on Thursday charged the leader of Franceʼs far-right Front National party (FN), Marine Le Pen, for posting three violent images of atrocities suspected of having been committed by the terrorist group "Islamic State" (IS). The charges against Le Pen include sharing "violent messages that incite terrorism or pornography or seriously harm human dignity." She faces up to three years in prison and a €75,000 ($91,000) fine if convicted. Under Franceʼs legal system, the charges initiate a type of formal investigation that usually ends in a trial. Prosecutors were able to press preliminary chargesafter the National Assembly lifted her parliamentary immunity in November. Le Pen,who lost the 2016 presidential election to Emmanuel Macron, posted the three images to Twitter several weeks after IS terrorists killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015. The photos, which were accompanied by the caption "This is IS," showed thebeheaded body of American journalist James Foley, a man being burned alive in a cage, and a tank crushing another man. The FN
leader was responding to a journalist who had compared the French far right to IS. She later deleted the photo of Foley after a request from the journalistʼs family. The charges are the latest legal headache for Le Pen ahead of the FNʼs March 10-11 party congress. Preliminarycharges were handed down to the FN and its leader in 2017for using European parliamentary aides on an EU salary to conduct domestic FN party work. She has dismissed those accusations. Each evening at 1830 UTC, DWʼs editors send out a selection of the dayʼs hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. Frauke Petry, Alternative for Germany (AfD) The leader of the Alternative for Germany, Frauke Petry, said police could use guns as a last resort to prevent illegal border crossings, pointing out "thatʼs the law." What began as a euroskeptic party has turned into an anti-establishment and anti-EU force, claiming up to 25 percent of votes in German state elections in March 2016 and taking second place in Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs home state.
Uproar in Pakistan over ʼtorture and sexual abuseʼ of Christian youths Rights groups have condemned the alleged torture and sexual abuse of two Christian youths by investigating officials. The latest blasphemy controversy highlights the plight and vulnerability of Pakistani Christians. On Friday, Sajid Masih, a 24-yearold blasphemy suspect, leapt from the fourth floor of the Federal Investigation Agencyʼs (FIA) Punjab headquarters in Lahore and severely injured himself. In a video statement, Sajid alleged that he jumped because the FIA officials tortured him and ordered him to "sexually assault" Patras Masih, his cousin and the main accused in an online blasphemy case. "They asked me to abuse myself, but I refused to do so. Later, they asked me to sexually assault my cousin, but I remained silent and jumped from the building," he said.
India bids farewell to Bollywood legend Sridevi Kapoor The Indian film starʼs accidental death on the weekend has unleashed an outpouring of public grief. Fans have lined Mumbaiʼs streets to pay their last respects. Thousands of fans have taken to the streets of Mumbai to farewell Bollywood star, Sridevi Kapoor, whodied over the weekend after drowning in her bath tub. Some mourners carried photos of the screen star, while others held flowers as they waited to pay their last respects at a condolence service.
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