DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Hirohito wartime memoir sells for $275,000 A memoir by Japan’s World War II Emperor Hirohito fetched $275,000 at auction – more than double the expected price. The monologue is thought to have been designed to exhonerate Hirohito of blame for the slide into war. The 173-page memoir was bought by a Japanese surgeon well-known for his right-wing views, who said he wished to restore it to the countryʼs royal family. "It should have been in Japan, but it ended up overseas," Dr. Katsuya Takasu told The Associated Press in Tokyo. "So it feels like itʼs finally coming back." The memoir sold at the Bonhams auction house in Manhattan for $275,000 (231,000 euros). Plastic surgeon Takasu, has been criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, for using social media to praise Adolf Hitler and deny both the Holocaust and the 1937 Nanjing massacre.
Poland: Ex-military intel chief detained on charges of collaborating with Russia General Piotr Pytel has been accused of illegally striking a deal with Russian security services for the passage of Polish NATO troops back home from Afghanistan. Polandʼs opposition has decried the move as political. Polish military police on Wednesday detained a former military counterintelligence chief on charges of illegally collaborating withRussiaʼs FSB security services. The case relates back to a agreement struck by Poland andNATO with Russian military intelligencein 2010, which allowed for the safe passage of Polish troops back home from Afghanistan through Russia. General Piotr Pytel was accused by Polish authorities earlier this year, along with his predecessor Janusz Nosek, of overstepping his duties by signing the cooperation pact with Russia.
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North Korea says war with United States is ʼinevitableʼ North Koreaʼs Foreign Ministry condemned drills by the South Korean and US militaries
Pyongyang has said that the outbreak of war on the Korean peninsula was now a matter of "when," rather than "if."
Google spat with Amazon heats up In the online corporate jungle, the beasts donʼt come much bigger than Amazon and Google. Their latest feud is related to how they promote the other’s wares but industry experts predict that bigger battles lie ahead. Internet giants Amazon and Google have come to blows over the way in which they promote and acknowledge each other on their own platforms. Given the Silicon Valley rivalsʼ status as two of the biggest companies in the world by market capitalization, its little surprise that they already compete intensely across several areas,from online search to
the sale of voice-controlled products. On Tuesday, Google, which is owned by the conglomerate Alphabet Inc, announced it would block its video platform YouTube from being used as an app on two different Amazon devices. In a statement, it cited the fact that Amazon does not sell Google hardware on its various platforms. "Amazon doesnʼt carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesnʼt make Prime Video [an Amazon service] available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nestʼs [a sister company of Google] latest products," said Google.
Germany must allow third gender in registry of births, court rules An intersex person has won a court case to allow them to enter a third gender into the registry of births. The case was appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court after failing at lower levels. Germanyʼs Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday called for a third gender option in the registry of births. Intersex people, who are neither male nor female, should be able to register their sexual identity as such, the Karlsruhe court ruled. The court found that the general right to the protection of personality in Germanyʼs Basic Law meant the register had to be altered to
allow a third gender. The court ruled seven to one that lawmakers must create new legislation by the end of 2018 to allow for a third sex, providing the examples of "intersex," "diverse" or another "positive designation of sex." Another possibility raised was to scrap gender entries altogether. "Assignment to a gender is of paramount importance for individual identity; it typically plays a key role both in the self-image of a person and in the way in which the person concerned is perceived by others. The gender identity of those persons who are neither male nor female is protected,"the court ruled.
Salvator Mundi: Da Vinci painting that sold for $450 million headed to Louvre Abu Dhabi A painting of Christ by da Vinci sold at auction for $450 million is headed to the newly opened Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum has said. A US newspaper reported it has found the mystery buyer of the "Salvator Mundi." The Louvre Abu Dhabi announced via Twitter in English, French and Arabic on Wednesday that the famed Da Vinci painting "is coming to" the gallery. Christieʼs auction house, which sold the painting ina record-shattering auction that stunned the art worldin November, responded by congratulating the Louvre Abu Dhabi, tweeting that the work of art was going to "its new home." It was unclear if the painting was going to the Louvre Abu Dhabi on loan or if the museum purchased it outright or with other buyers. The museum did not immediately respond to DWʼs request for comment.
Australian parliament passes same-sex marriage bill After a multi-million-dollar postal survey and lengthy debate, Australia’s parliament has voted 146 to 4 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. The first weddings could take place early next year. In the Canberra parliamentʼs final session of the year on Thursday, lawmakers engaged in a lengthy debate as several amendments put forward by opponents of the bill to legalize same-sex marriage were voted down. The Australian parliament voted 146 to 4 in support of same-sex marriage.
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287/2017 • 8, December 2017
US and Poland strike $10.5 billion missile defense deal
Czech billionaire Andrej Babis named new prime minister
The US has approved the $10.5 billion sale of a Patriot anti-missile system to NATO ally Poland. Eastern European NATO states have been ramping up their military capabilities in the face of perceived Russian aggression. In a move likely to irk Russia, the US and Poland agreed on Friday a major arms deal that could see the eastern European NATO member soon begin conducting air and missile defense operations. As part of the $10.5 billion (€8.9 billion) sale, Poland is expected to receive 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment. Made by US defense contractor Raytheon, the missiles are reportedly designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and shortrange or tactical ballistic missiles. In a statement issued following the sale, the State Department said that: "A secure Europe capable of deterring air and missile threats and other forms of aggression promotes peace and stability within NATO and on the European continent."
Czech President Milos Zeman has appointed the populist mogul Andrej Babis as the countryʼs new prime minister. While Babis emerged as the clear victor of the recent election, his political future is far from certain.
Case of wrestler throwing bout sparks anger in Iran Tehranʼs ban on any contact with Israel has led to another case of an Iranian athlete being ordered to lose during an international competition. This policy is coming under growing criticism in Iran. "Ali Resa lose!, Ali Resa you must lose!" echoed through the venue in Bydgoszcz, Poland in the final moments of one of the semifinals at the U23 wrestling World Championships. This unbelievable but effective order from the Iranian coach to his athlete, Ali Resa Karimi (pictured above, right), can be clearly heard in a video recording of the semifinal. The Iranian had a 3-2 lead over his opponent, Russiaʼs Alikhan Zhabrailov, with just moments to go in the bout.
The 63-year-old Andrej Babis was officially tasked with naming the new Czech cabinet on Wednesday, with President Milos Zeman designating him prime minister in the Prague Castle ceremony. "Our country should be more active towards solving illegal immigration," Babis said after accepting his appointment. Babisʼ ANO movement won 78 seats in the October vote, putting it far above any other of the eight remaining parliamentary parties in the state. Even so, ANO remains well
short of a majority in the 200-seat chamber. The populist Babis has so far failed to ensure the support of any of the other factions. Babis is among the richest people in the central European state, controlling over 250 companies, including several newspapers and the most popular radio station in the Czech Republic. During the campaign, he pledged to fight corruption and illegal immigration, while also voicing skepticism on adopting the euro as a currency in the 10.6-million nation.
If it has a bill like a duck and walks like an ostrich — itʼs a dinosaur This mashup of a creature was indisputably a carnivore with croclike teeth and razor-sharp claws. Scientists have uncovered a bizarre new dinosaur fossil they say looks like it was part duck, part crocodile part ostrich and part swan. They said it walked like an ostrich but had flippers that allowed it to swim like a penguin. In addition, it had a duck-like bill but with razor sharp teeth and the claws of
a carnivore. It wasnʼt big, only about 18 inches (45 centimeters) tall, but scientists believe it roamed the earth 75 million years ago in what is now Mongolia. Its complete, curled-up, skeleton was discovered in a sandstone rock. "Itʼs such a peculiar animal," said Dennis Voeten, a paleontology researcher at Palacky University in the Czech Republic. "It combines different parts we knew from other groups into this one small animal."
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China sales behind German carmakersʼ rosy third quarter Strong vehicle sales in the wordʼs most important car market have been essential in enabling German carmakers to end their third quarters on a positive note. Their dependence on China is expected to increase further. Germanyʼs top carmakers would not have been able to present positive third-quarter results without a booming auto market in China, a study by consultancy EY showed Tuesday. It said China had long become the most important market for Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, with one in three of their cars sold in the third quarter having gone to the Asian nation. To be more precise, the Chinese market accounted for 34 percent of Germanyʼs overall car sales between July and September, the highest ever rate logged so far. Back in 2010, only 23 percent of Germanyʼs quarterly car sales ended up in China.
Ousted Venezuelan opposition leader escapes house arrest, flees to Spain Ousted Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma has likened his escape to a film. He plans to take the fight against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro abroad. The ousted opposition mayor of Caracas arrived in Spain on Saturday after orchestrating a daring escape from house arrest in Venezuela. Antonio Ledezma landed in Madrid from Bogota, Colombia, where he arrived a day earlier after slipping across the border. He was greeted by his wife and two daughters who live in Spain. Ledezma said he planned to organize resistance from abroad to President Nicolas Maduro, under whose rule millions of Venezuelans have suffered from shortages of food and other basic supplies. "I am going to travel the world to spread the hope of all Venezuelans to escape this regime, this dictatorship," Ledezma said. The 62-year-old opposition figure was removed as mayor of Caracas and arrested in 2015 on allegations he sought to topple Maduro. He was later put under house arrest due to health issues. Ledezma was one of the opposition leaders who led protests against the government in 2014, which also resulted in the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. He remains under house arrest.