DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Raids across Germany target suspected Iranian spies Germany-wide police raids have been carried out on suspected Iranian spies. Iran has been linked in the past to spying, assassinating dissidents and targeting Israelis. German authorities on Tuesday conducted searches of homes and businesses belonging to 10 suspected Iranian spies. The Federal Prosecutors Office ordered the searches after receiving a tip from Germanyʼs domestic intelligence agency. The suspects are believed to have spied on persons and institutions "on behalf of an intelligence entity associated with Iran," the prosecutorʼs office said. No arrests were made during the raids, which were carried out in Baden-Württemberg, North RhineWestphalia, Bavaria and Berlin. The German magazine Focus, which first reported on the searches, said that the 10 individuals were suspected members of the al-Quds Brigade, the external operations arm of the powerfulIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC).
Myanmar, Bangladesh agree to return Rohingya refugees in two years Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees within two years. NGOs viewed the deal with skepticism, saying it doesnʼt fully address safety and resettlement concerns. Officials in Bangladesh and Myanmar announced the first concrete deadline for returning hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to Myanmar on Tuesday, following a joint meeting in Myanmarʼs capital, Naypyitaw. The repatriation plan, which Myanmar said would start next Tuesday, seeks to return the refugees "within two years from the commencement of repatriation."
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Emmanuel Macronʼs EU vision meets Theresa Mayʼs search for the exit How will Brexit affect ties between the two countries?
An "amour fou" it is not. The meeting between French President Macron and UK Prime Minister May pitted EU fervor against Euroskepticism. "A Frenchman must be always talking, whether he knows anything of the matter or not; an Englishman is content to say nothing when he has nothing to say." That quote by 18thcentury author and poet Samuel Johnson is a good marker to define the love-hate relationship between France and Britain over the centuries. Georges Clemenceau, who had two stints as French prime minister during the Third Republic, also did his best to ensure there was little love lost when he remarked that "English is just badly pronounced French." Current French President Emmanuel Macron would probably beg to differ with Johnsonʼs assessment, especially given the mostly positive feedback heʼs received for his EU "reset" plans, while UK Prime Minister Theresa May seems to have a lot to say without actually saying anything. And whileMacronʼs gesture to loan the famed Bayeux Tapestryto Britain will be welcomed in the art scene, it might also raise a few hackles, depicting, as it does, the Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror from France defeated English forces in southern England. Tra-
ditionally, France and Britain haveworked closely on defense and security issueswithin NATO and the EU and globally as Europeʼs only members of the UN Security Council. Will Britainʼs exit from the EU curtail that cooperation? And what impact will Brexit have on their border and economic ties? In 2010, the two countries signed a landmark Defense and Security Cooperation Treaty, known as theLancaster House Treaties. Under this deal, cooperation increased between British and French Armed Forces in terms of sharing and pooling materials and equipment. It has also provided mutual access to each otherʼs defense markets and allowed for the exchange and development of industrial and technological projects. According to Nicholas Startin, Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in French and European Politics at the University of Bath, this is one area that could remain unaffected by Brexit. "I think both countriesʼ leaders are sufficiently pragmatic that they will want these arrangements and the relatively close ties that they have on security-based issues to continue."
Polandʼs new foreign minister aims to improve ties with Germany On his first visit to Germany, Polandʼs new Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz has his work cut out for him. Will he be able to mend the turbulent ties between the two European neighbors? For years, German-Polish interests were defined by good relations. After the collapse of Communism in 1989, the two neighbors were able to come together to address global problems, like the war in Ukraine. But compared to those past times of relative friendliness, relations now are quite poor, according to Piotr Buras, head of the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) Warsaw branch. Not much is happening between Germany and Poland, he said, noting that Warsawʼscurrent reparation demands70 years after the end of the Second World War have only increased the diplomatic tension.
Trial in Cologne city archive collapse set to begin Nine years after the devastating collapse of the cityʼs historic archive, six defendants will finally go on trial. The men face charges of negligent homicide and hazardous building practices. Some nine years after the spectacular and deadly collapse of Cologneʼs city archive, the trial of six men accused of negligent homicide and dangerous building practices will begin at the cityʼs state courthouse. City prosecutors had also charged a seventh man but he has since died.
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