News

Us pressure on chinese app tiktok: trump bans business

In the conflict over the video app, the US president issues an executive order to force its sale. Also affected is WeChat. TikTok is fighting back.

The US president maintains a long obsession with China Photo: ap

U.S. President Donald Trump is apparently seeking to force the sale of the popular Chinese video app’s U.S. business with a new executive order against Tiktok. With the order, which is set to take effect in 45 days, Trump is banning U.S. citizens from "doing business" with Bytedance, the app’s owner. The app poses a "threat" to national security, the order released Thursday evening (local time) said. The app collects large amounts of user data and could allow the Chinese Communist Party to spy on Americans, it said.

Leaders

Before the thuringia election: hocke stirs up debate

AfD right-winger Bjorn Hocke wants to run his own candidate in Thuringia. That could make it easier for Bodo Ramelow to win re-election.

Look me in the eye, Mike: Bodo Ramelow (r.) on the evening of the 2019 Thuringian state election Photo: dpa

The state leader of the Thuringian AfD, Bjorn Hocke, has brought new movement into the debate about the election of the prime minister in Erfurt. On Wednesday, the AfD right-winger announced that his faction would put forward its own candidate. "We need a counter-candidate to Bodo Ramelow," Hocke said. He added that they were looking for a candidate who could rally a "middle-class majority" behind him. Time and again, the AfD, which is currently being investigated by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia, has tried to portray itself as middle-class and thus dock with the CDU and FDP. So far without success.

News

Case against amy cooper dropped: just. But for whom?

After a racist phone call, the investigation against Amy Cooper is dropped. She takes therapy sessions instead.

A video of the birdwatcher proves the threat to Amy Cooper is made up Photo: Christian Cooper/ap

On May 25, 2020, the day African American George Floyd was killed by police officers, Amy Cooper called the police in New York’s Central Park for racial reasons. Black birdwatcher Christian Cooper had earlier asked her to leash her dog, as is required in that section of the park. White Amy Cooper then placed an emergency call, claiming that an African American man was threatening her life.

News

Us astronaut transports planned: nasa wants to emancipate itself

The dependence on Russia is to be ended. That is why Nasa, together with Boeing and SpaceX, will once again transport astronauts into space itself.

Allegedly on the moon: Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Picture: ap

Nasa wants to launch its space missions from American soil again in the future. On Tuesday, the U.S. space agency selected aircraft manufacturer Boeing and private company SpaceX to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in the coming years. The target date for the first launch from Cape Canaveral is 2017. But safety standards will not be sacrificed to meet the deadline at any cost, Nasa stressed.

Rules

Us bombing of clinic in kunduz: obama apologizes

U.S. President Obama has apologized by phone to Doctors Without Borders. The aid organization insists on an international investigation.

Joanne Liu, president of Doctors Without Borders, calls for an investigation into the bombing. Photo: reuters

It is not every day that a U.S. president apologizes for U.S. bombs. Barack Obama has done so. On Wednesday, he called Joanne Liu, president of the aid organization Medicins Sans Frontières (MSF). He offered his condolences for the 22 people killed, including 12 of her organization’s staff.

Health

Hospitalized for poisoning: attack on ex-spy?

A former Russian double agent and a woman are poisoned with an unknown substance in Great Britain. This is reminiscent of a case in 2006.

Police task forces park in front of a house where the former Russian intelligence officer is believed to live Photo: dpa

A mysterious poisoning of a former double agent is causing a stir in British intelligence circles and brings back bad memories. In the southern English city of Salisbury, two people were taken to hospital over the weekend with suspected poisoning by an "unknown substance" and have been wrestling with death in intensive care ever since. This was announced by the police on Monday. The man is believed to be a former spy from Russia who worked on behalf of the British and came to Britain as part of a prisoner exchange in 2010, according to the BBC. The case was reminiscent of the murder of the Kremlin opponent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with radioactively contaminated tea in 2006.

News

New album from mouse on mars: on their own planet

Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma are Mouse on Mars. "Dimensional People" is the name of their new work. It is the most convincing for a long time.

Have collaborated with 50 musicians on their new album: Mouse On Mars Photo: Nicolai Toma

In a video clip by the electronic duo Mouse on Mars, a horde of people wander through a swampy area. They are friends and colleagues from long ago in Dusseldorf and Cologne. They wear wigs, second-hand clothes and signs. Although Mouse on Mars act as a twosome per se, they are always also a social system that draws wider circles.

Travels

New album by dj lawrence: the life of bohemia

Strolling between pop and art. Hamburg house producer Peter Kersten aka DJ Lawrence releases a new album: "Films and Windows".

Tip from the DJ: At least four years of life out intensively. Image: Carola Wagenblast

Peaktime at Amsterdam’s Club Trouw. People dance around the DJ booth, colorful neon lights flicker through the room, there is a boisterous party atmosphere. Only the little man behind the turntables stands out from the crowd. It is Peter Kersten alias Lawrence, who has just started his set. He wears a neat shirt with a gray cardigan, his gaze is concentrated, even tense. You almost want to worry about him – is he perhaps too hot?

Leaders

Parliamentary elections in iran: assembly of yes men

The parliamentary elections have made it clear that the regime that has ruled Iran for 41 years is a clerical dictatorship.

With Ali Khamenei at the helm, the hardliners can live well Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme/ap

The regime in Iran can now safely remove the word republic from its name. For all those who still had doubts about it, it has become clear since Friday’s so-called parliamentary elections at the latest that the regime that has ruled Iran for 41 years is a clerical dictatorship. The parliament has been transformed into an assembly of yes-men loyal to the revolutionary leader by the preliminary election held by the Council of Guardians, which excluded dissenting candidates. It is true that the parliament has had no power to make fundamental decisions. But its existence could at least give the impression that the will of the people is somehow also taken into account in the Islamic Republic.

News

New study on wealth distribution: more and more for the few

People in Germany are getting richer and richer – but the unequal distribution of wealth remains as great as ever. Real estate ownership plays a role in this.

Those who own an apartment here tend to have no financial worries: old buildings in Berlin Photo: dpa

Real estate makes the difference: People in Germany have accumulated more wealth in recent years. However, it is still very unevenly distributed in an international comparison.