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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

China denies using social media to infiltrate German politics and business circles Chinaʼs spy agency created fake LinkedIn profiles to infiltrate political and business circles, a German intelligence service has said. China has called on Germany to avoid undermining bilateral relations. China denied Monday that it has been using social media to infiltrate German politics and business, a day after Germanyʼs domestic intelligence service had accused Beijing of targeting German citizens using the professional networking platform LinkedIn. "We hope the relevant German organizations, particularly government departments, can speak and act more responsibly, and not do things that are not beneficial to the development of bilateral relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

Germanyʼs Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said on Sunday some 10,000 German citizens had been targeted in an intelligence operation by Chinese spies.

Expectations low for World Trade Organization meeting Representatives of the 164 WTO member countries are in Buenos Aires for their biennial meeting.

The odds of a breakthrough look grim against the backdrop of Donald Trumpʼs ʼAmerica Firstʼ policy and discord over China. The World Trade Organizationʼs biennial conference opened on Sunday — the first since US President Donald Trump came to office. The Buenos Aires meeting, which lasts until Wednesday,will be a major challenge for participants because of Americaʼs general hostility to multilateral trade accords. Trump has pummeled the body relentlessly over the past year, describing it as a "disaster."

The Trump administration has also made the WTO a preferred target of its "America First" policy, threatening to pull the US out of the trade organization it says is hampering its ability to compete.

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New York police responding to reports of explosion near Times Square Authorities have said they do not know the origin of the explosion

New York police have said they are responding to reports of an explosion in midtown Manhattan at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue.

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 al-

low 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.

China accuses Australian media of racism and paranoia Beijingʼs harsh words come after Australiaʼs prime minister Malcolm Turnbull acknowledged "disturbing reports about Chinese influence." Canberra has said it may pass laws to curb future interference. China accusedAustralian media of racism and paranoiain its coverage of the East Asian country on Monday in the latest verbal exchange between Beijing and Canberra about alleged Chinese meddling in Australia.

"This type of hysterical paranoia had racist undertones, and is a stain on Australiaʼs image as a multicultural society," the Peopleʼs Daily newspaper wrote in an opinion piece. The paper is considered the official publication of the Chinese Communist Party.

US, Japan and South Korea host joint missile tracking drills The US, South Korea and Japan have started joint exercises to track missiles from North Korea, Seoulʼs military has said. The two-day drills come just weeks after Pyongyang launched its most advanced missile to date. The US, Japan and South Korea began a two-day missile tracking drill on Monday, South Koreaʼs military has said. The drills were being held in waters off the coast of Japan, according to Japanʼs Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.

The exercises are aimed at "practicing tracking an object and sharing information on it among the three countries," according to a defense official.

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290/2017 • 12, December 2017

US and Poland Germans say Russia is more reliable strike $10.5 billion than the United States A new survey published by German missile defense public broadcaster ARD shows deal Germans trust Russia more than

China sales behind German carmakersʼ rosy third quarter

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."

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.

Case of wrestler throwing bout sparks anger in Iran

the US. Americaʼs brand appears to have suffered considerably since the election of Donald Trump as US president last year.

Germans increasingly see Russia as a more reliable partner than the US, a new study released on Saturday has found. The poll of 1,004 people by research institute Infratest dimap showed that 28 percent of respondents felt Moscow was a reliable partner, compared to 25 percent for Washington.

The result is the first time the publicʼs trust in the US has fallen below Russia

in over a decade. An Infratest survey of public trust in Germanyʼs global partners in June found both countries tying at 21 percent. France and Britain fared far better in the German publicʼs eyes.

More than 90 percent said Paris was a reliable partner, while more than 60 percent said Britain, which has been trying to exit the European Union (EU), was a reliable partner.

Can toothpaste really whiten teeth?

Almost all Hollywood stars have dazzling white teeth. How do they do it? Certainly not with a toothpaste that promises whiter teeth.

Whitening toothpastes attack tooth enamel. They contain ingredients that sand down deposits, which is supposed to make the teeth whiter. Instead, the teeth become increasingly rough, so pigments from coffee, tea and red wine become more easily embedded, making the teeth seem even less white. Doctors warn against the excessive use of whitening toothpastes that through their harsh abrasives attack the teeth. Good and regu-

lar dental care is considered the best way to avoid discoloring. If you want whiter teeth, only professional bleaching performed by a dentist helps. Bleaching gels for home use arenʼt very effective because theyʼre allowed to contain only small concentrations of the ingredients necessary for the bleaching process. If professional bleaching isnʼt suitable because your anterior tooth surfaces are of varying materials - for instance, if you have crown - the only remaining option is to have veneers, ultra-thin shells of ceramic or resin, bonded to the front of your teeth. Thatʼs expensive but looks perfect.

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.

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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.