DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Civil rights in Turkey Turkeyʼs Ankara bans gay-related events All LGBTI gender events have been banned in Ankara, just days after authorities barred a German gay film festival. The governorʼs office in the Turkish capital cited the need to "provide peace and security." Turkeyʼs capital clamped down further on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) life on Sunday in a move likely to deepen concern among rights advocates. All LGBTI events, including cinema, theater, discussion panels and interviews, were forbidden until further notice, Ankaraʼs gubernatorial office said, to avert "public hatred and hostility" likely to emerge "within certain segments" of society. Once hugely popular gay pride parades have already beenbanned for several yearsin the Turkish capital and the countryʼs largest city of Istanbul.
Reports of sex abuse in German army on the rise German Defense Minister von der Leyen has interpreted a rise in reports of sex abuse in the Bundeswehr as positive. She says it stems from the "atmosphere of openness" the army has tried to foster under her leadership. The number of alleged sex offenses reported in the German army rose sharply this year, according to German Defense Ministry figures cited in the Bild am Sonntag tabloid newspaper on Sunday. Through mid-November there were 11 reported rapes this year in the Bundeswehr, the paper said, compared with five rapes reported in all of 2016. Overall, through the end of September 2017 there were 187 reports of inappropriate sexual behavior, which ranged from nonconsensual touching to rape. There were 128 such reports in 2016. The 2017 figures, however, also included some cases from the past years that remained unresolved. There was also one allegation in 2017 of an army officer who attempted to murder a fellow soldier, but no information was available as to the victimʼs gender.
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Will Kimʼs gamble pay off? North Koreaʼs ʼballistic submarine:
North Koreaʼs "new vessels" may be relatively advanced, but they pale in comparison with the US naval assets that they face. So why is Pyongyang lavishing millions on these submarines?
Siemens to cut 6,900 jobs amid union resistance Labor unions have reacted angrily to layoff plans unveiled by the management of the German conglomerate, which aims to cut costs in its energy business to adjust to the disruption sweeping through the industry. Following closed-door talks with workers on Thursday, the Munichbased industrial group announced that it was planning to cut 6,900 jobs globally as part ofa larger restructuring of its power division. About half of the announced job cuts would be in Germany, where the company said it planned to shut down facilities in the cities of Görlitz and Leipzig. A third
production site in the town of Erfurt could be sold off, it added. "The power generation industry is experiencing disruption of unprecedented scope and speed," managing board member Lisa Davis said in a statement, adding that renewable energy was putting other forms of power generation "under increasing pressure." Siemens said global demand for large gas turbines (generating more than 100 megawatts) had fallen drastically and was expected to level out at around 110 turbines a year. By contrast, the technical manufacturing capacity of all producers worldwide was estimated at around 400 turbines.
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.
UNICEF: Millions of children fare worse than parents Around 180 million children are more likely to live in extreme poverty, be out of school or suffer a violent death than their parents, according to UNICEF. The World Childrenʼs Day report suggests things could get worse. One in 12 children worldwide live in countries where they face far bleaker prospects than 20 years ago, according to a UNICEF report released Monday to coincide with World Childrenʼs Day. According to the analysis, a drop in quality of life was clear in 37 countries, and driven by factors such as conflict, financial crises and poor governance. "While the last generation has seen vast, unprecedented gains in living standards for most of the worldʼs children, the fact that a forgotten minority of children have been excluded from this — through no fault of their own or those of their families — is a travesty," Laurence Chandy, UNICEF director of data, research and policy, said.
Morocco food stampede leaves at least 15 dead At least fifteen people have been killed in a Moroccan village after a stampede erupted as food aid was being distributed. Several women were caught beneath an iron barrier as hundreds scrambled to get hold of food. The stampede broke out in the town of Sidi Boulaalam in Moroccoʼs Essaouira province on Sunday as food aid was being handed out to locals at the local "souk," or market. Most of the victims were reportedly women, who had scrambled to receive food being handed out by a prominent benefactor from the region.
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273/2017 • 22, November 2017
US and Poland strike $10.5 billion missile defense deal 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." Bradley Wiggins speaks of ʼliving hellʼ as UK doping case is closed
Bradley Wiggins has spoken of his "living hell" after the UK AntiDoping agency (UKAD) closed its case against Team Sky. The Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France winner criticized the way the case was handled. UKAD announced on Wednesday that they had insufficient evidence to bring any charges after investigating a so-called ʼmystery packageʼ delivered to the British rider at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine.
Alibaba goes offline with stake in brick-and-mortar retailer
UN: End child labor by 2025
Chinaʼs largest e-commerce platform plans to take a major stake in one of the countryʼs top food sellers, Sun Art Retail Group, as itʼs investing heavily in connecting its online and offline portfolio of businesses.
The international community has pledged to accelerate efforts to eradicate child labor by 2025 at a major UN conference in Buenos Aires. Around 10 percent of children have to work, and the problem could get even worse. The fourth annual Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labor ended late Thursday with governments and international organizations adopting theBuenos Aires Declaration. "We know what to do, and there are no excuses not to do so," said Guy Ryder, director-general of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN labor agency. "The future is going to be a world free of forced labor and child labor." The declaration spells out concrete actions aimed at eliminating child labor by 2025 and forced labor by 2030, as well as steps to improve employment opportunities for young people around the world. "We hope that Buenos Aires will be the place where the international community takes measures so as not to tolerate the intolerable," Ryder said.
Alibaba Group Holding said on Monday it would invest HK$22.4 billion ($2.86 billion, €2.43 billion) in buying a major stake in Chinaʼs top hypermart operator, Sun Art Retail Group. Alibaba would acquire a 36-percent stake in Sun Art Retail Group from Taiwanese conglomerate Ruentex Group, the Chinese e-commerce firm said in a statement, leaving Alibaba and French firm Auchan Retail with roughly equal stakes in Sun Art. Sun Art is Chinaʼs grocery store leader with about
8.2 percent of the market, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel. It owns 446 hypermarkets that sell everything from groceries to clothes, and also operates scores of smaller stores. Currently it is building a chain of unmanned stores. Hangzhou-based Alibaba is pushing to unite its online and offline selling, executing the strategy well before US-based Amazon made its first major purchase of bricks-andmortar grocer Whole Foods earlier this year.
John Lennonʼs stolen diaries recovered in Berlin Police in Berlin have recovered stolen diaries and other items belonging to former Beatle John Lennon. Berlin police arrested a 58-year-old man on Monday for receiving stolen goods belonging to the estate of former Beatle, John Lennon. A further suspect is believed to be living in Turkey. The recovered items included a number of Lennonʼs personal diaries, the General Prosecutorʼs Office announced. The diaries and other items from the musicianʼs estate were reportedly stolen from Lennonʼs widow Yoko Ono in
New York in 2006. They surfaced in Berlin three years ago. Berlin authorities have been investigating the case for possible links to other fencing and fraud operations. They were able to secure the items as evidence in the ongoing proceedings. "The searches were successful, and further items hidden in the suspectʼs car, that presumably belonged to John Lennonʼs estate, were seized, " said the investigators. Lennon was shot dead by a mentally-ill gunmanoutside his home on New Yorkʼs Central Park on December 8, 1980. The musician would have turned 77 in October.
Netflix to release Hungary’s Oscar Entry ‘On Body and Soul’ On Body and Soul’ by eminent Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi receives its U.S. premier on November 12th at the prestigious American Film Institute Fest in Los Angeles, before being made available from February on streaming service Netflix. Hungary’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign-Language Film in 2018 will be the first Hungarian feature to be released on Netflix. Budapestborn Enyedi has already been awarded the Berlinale, the FIPRESCI Prize and, a first for a Hungarian and a woman, the Sydney Film Prize.
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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. 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.