DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Setback for EU fighter jets as Malaysia bets on palm oil barter It was hardly surprising, when Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu said that Kuala Lumpur was considering bartering palm oil for advanced military equipment. The Southeast Asian country has beenhobbled by huge public debt, a slipping currency, corruption and flagging economic growth.In just over a year since coming to power, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamadʼs government has already suspended or revised major infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars to rein in costs. Malaysia is also no stranger to swapping palm oil for military equipment. It bought Russian-built fighter jets using the controversial commodity in the 1990s. But Malaysiaʼs latest attempt at bartering is likely to complicate matters for European defense companies, which are vying for contracts as Malaysia seeks to modernize its weapons, including its fleet of fighter jets.
John Bolton says Iran is ʼalmost certainlyʼ behind oil tanker ʼattacksʼ US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday that Iran was likely behindthe attacks on four shipsoff the coast of the United Arab Emirates earlier this month. Bolton made the remarks in Abu Dhabi, during a visit to the Emirati capital "to discuss important and timely regional security matters." Bolton, known for his hawkish stance on Iran, alleged that the four ships were attacked by "naval mines almost certainly from Iran." He did not offer any details or evidence to back up the claim. On May 12, the United Arab Emirates claimed that four oil tankers were attacked in the strategic port of Fujairah, UAE.Fujairah is the only port on the Arabian Sea coast that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, through which most oil exports pass on their way from the Persian Gulf.
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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faces midnight deadline to form new government If the premier fails, he is expected to push parliament to hold snap elections
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuʼs political future is at stake as he has until midnight to form a coalition government.
Veggie discs and bloody beets: Future of meat Demand for meat-free foods is up — 23% in the US last year alone, according to The Good Food Institute. But can plant-based alternatives replace classic burgers and sausages, and are they really better for the climate? Big appetite With climate concerns growing, many people are trying to reduce their environmental impact. Increasingly, theyʼre turning to plantbased meats — and investors are taking notice. When Beyond Meat debuted on Wall Street in early May, share prices more than doubled the
first day. "Investors recognize … a huge business opportunity," Bruce Friedrich, director of the Good Food Institute, told AFP. Spot the difference Backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, meat alternatives including Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger, seen here at left, use new food technology and ingredients like peas, fava beans and soy. Unlike earlier veggie burgers, these meatless patties are said to taste, look, smell and even "bleed" like real meat (the secret is beet juice). They can also be healthier.
Emirati woman at home with her family after 27 years in a vegetative state Munira Abdulla was 32 when she was involved in a serious car accident thatleft her in a vegetative state. After 27 years in the hospital, the woman, now 60, is at home with her family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Her son Omar, whom she had just picked up from school when the accident happened in 1991, said although his mother had awoken from her vegeta-
tive state in May of last year, her family had decided to wait until her condition had stabilized before making the announcement on Wednesday. Omar, who was four at the time and was also injured in the accident, told reporters, "We felt we needed to share the story to give people going through the same or similar experiences hope."
Most Germans find AKK unfit to replace Angela Merkel, poll finds The Forsa poll released on Wednesday showed 70% of respondents considered that Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Annegret KrampKarrenbauer was not suited totaking over as chancellor. Chancellor Angela Merkel should stay on until 2021 when her term ends, the poll found.Even among her own CDU party, 52% considered Kramp-Karrenbauer, or AKK as she is often called, was not up to the chancellorʼs job. The poll among 1,501 people was carried out earlier this week, after the European election results, for broadcaster RTL. The CDU fared poorly in the European electionsand lost the majority in the parliament it had previously shared through the alliance of the center-right European Peopleʼs Party (EPP) and center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D). Commentators in Germany have suggestedMerkel herself may be considering a rolein the EU hierarchy, although she has dismissed the rumors.
France, Germany spar over EU leadership A rift between France and Germanywas apparent at an informal summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Tuesday, as French President Emmanuel Macron looked certain to protest the replacement of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker withGerman politician Manfred Weber. Macron told reporters that he preferred someone who has "experience either in their country or in Europe that allows them to have credibility and savoir faire," an apparent dig at Weber, who has never served in government or an institution as big as the commission.
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123/2019 • 30 May, 2019
Serb party billboards vandalized with hate messages in Croatia Ahead of the EU elections, placards put up by a Serb minority party in Croatia have been defaced with hate messages in several cities. Croatia, an EU member, struggles with nationalism and strong anti-Serb sentiment.Political ads for a Serb political party in Croatia have been repeatedly defaced with symbols of Croatiaʼs pro-Nazi Ustasha regime and antiSerb slogans amid the campaign for the EU Parliament. A photo posted by Serb representative Milorad Pupovac on Tuesday shows a billboard in Zagreb (pictured above) with a scribbled message "Slaughter Serb children, kill the Serb." Similar hate messages drew media attention in several other cities, including the popular tourist destination of Split earlier this month. In the seaside resort, Ustasha slogan "For home(land) ready" was added to the billboard of Pupovacʼs Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS).
Diamond League Doha: Dina AsherSmith wants to avoid World Championships hiccup
Germany: Porsche offices raided in corruption probe Prosecutors have said that six people, some in "leadership" roles, could be charged with breach of trust. Secret information from the tax office was allegedly passed to a financial advisor within the company. Prosecutors in Stuttgart said on Tuesday that they had raided the offices of Porsche over suspicions that an auditor working for the government had been bribed into passing information to the carmakerʼs tax advisor. In a statement, the prosecutors said that six people, including some in "leadership positions" at the company were at risk of being charged with breach of trust. Private
homes in nearby Pforzheim and Karlsruhe were also raided after the authorities discovered that a former member of the Porsche workersʼ council received unusually high compensation for their work. An official tax bureau and a financial advisorsʼ office were also targeted. Porsche told French news agency AFP that it was "cooperating fully with the authorities."
Notre Dame restoration law will preserve monumentʼs design It called for work to be completed swiftly while preserving the buildingʼs French-Gothic appearance as it was before the fire. The French Senate on Monday enacted a law that will regulate the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral, after lawmakers reportedly negotiated for hours over how to finance and organize the reconstruction. The bill ended up including an addendum specifying that the cathedral is to be renovated preserving the
"last-known visual condition" of the monument, including the spire. After a fire destroyed most of the cathedralʼs roof and toppled its spire on April 15, the French government announced an international competition to replace the destroyed spire with a "contemporary architectural statement." The reconstruction of the Notre Dame has been divided between traditionalists, who want the cathedral returned to its original state, and modernists, who want to see the cathedral take a new form.
European sprint-double champion Dina Asher-Smith will use Fridayʼs opening Diamond League event in Doha to avoid any "curveballs" when she returns for Septemberʼs World Championships. The Briton, 23, is looking to build on her 2018 success, when she won 100m gold in Berlin, then became the first British woman to run under 22 seconds in taking the 200m European title.
Leonardo da Vinciʼs rebirth of anatomy Leonardo da Vinciʼs anatomy studies could have revolutionized medicine, but they were lost for a long time. The drawings show insights into the human body that were previously completely unknown. Da Vinci first came to anatomy through art. He studied the structure, function and proportions of the body, which he wanted to understand and depict as realistically as possible. The Renaissance no longer sees the body as a shell of the soul, as it was viewed in the Middle Ages, but celebrates the beauty of the human body.
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Merger between T-Mobile and Sprint on the line The $26.5 billion (€23 billion) merger,announced last April, would combine the United Statesʼ third and fourth largest wireless companies, creating a new firm the size of sector rivals Verizon andAT&T. It would also reduce the number of major carriers in the US from four to three. T-Mobileʼs German parent,Deutsche Telekom would take 42 percent of the new entity and Japanʼs SoftBank, owner of Sprint, 27 percent, with the rest held by the public. The combined company, to be called T-Mobile, would have 127 million customers. But the deal must get the green light from US federal regulators. A hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday — Thursdayʼs scheduled meeting before the House Committee on the Judiciary was postponed — didnʼt have a direct bearing on the governmentʼs regulatory review. But optics matter and they can help or hinder in the final decision-making process.
Dutch shipbuilder in dock over North Koreanʼs Polish slave claims The first case in the Netherlands of worker exploitation involving a Dutch company for alleged crimes committed outside the country could be nearing an end in the coming weeks, lawyers said, and if successful may open the door to more such cases. Barbara van Straaten, the lawyer representing a North Korean worker, said Dutch law criminalizes the act of profiting from exploitation. The name of the Dutch shipping company sued by the worker couldnʼt be disclosed for safety reasons, she added. Under the countryʼs anti-trafficking law, offenders can be jailed for up to 18 years and face fines of €83,000 ($95,000). The plaintiff claims he was sent to Poland by the Pyongyang regime and forced to work12-hour days for low wages in awful conditions. The lawyer did not say when this happened. Van Straatenʼs Amsterdam-based law firm, Prakken dʼOliveira, said the North Korean worked for the Polish company Crist. Crist received financial assistance from the European Regional Development Fund, a loan of €37 million in 2009.