BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel will be asked by German lawmakers on Friday why she lobbied for payments company Wirecard just months before it collapsed in the country’s biggest post-war fraud.

Merkel‘s appearance will mark the climax of a public inquiry into an affair that has tainted Germany‘s reputation for rectitude, exposed ties between politics and business and prompted resignations and criminal investigations.

The government has said that Merkel did not know at the time of the irregularities at Wirecard, which has since been dismantled after its disclosure of a 1.9 billion euro ($2.3 billion) financial hole triggered its insolvency.

Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story, although few really understood it. Once valued at $28 billion, it abruptly unravelled last year.

Lawmakers say that the German government was biased in favour of the company, turning a blind eye to allegations of irregularities in the run up to its collapse.

Parliamentarians will ask Merkel why she brought up Wirecard‘s planned takeover of a company in China during a state visit in September 2019. A senior official in her office had also pledged further support to Wirecard.

“The Chancellor lobbied for Wirecard with the most powerful man in China,” said Fabio De Masi, one of the lawmakers leading the public inquiry, asking why she gave it such priority.

In power since 2005, Merkel remains popular, although her legacy, such as her 2015 decision to open Germany‘s borders to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East, divided opinion.

The Wirecard debacle tarnished her government’s reputation by shining a spotlight on the lengths some German politicians have gone to in order to support companies.

Stephan Klaus Ohme of Transparency International said had it exposed cracks in Germany‘s laissez-faire model towards industry, leaving companies largely to their own devices.

“In Germany, you should stick to the rules but if you don’t, nothing happens. The penalties are laughable,” he added.

MOSCOW – The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday it declared five employees of the Polish Embassy in Russia “persona non grata.”

In a statement published on its website, the ministry said the move is a retaliation for the expulsion of three Russian diplomats from Poland on April 23 “in solidarity with the US.”

Last week Moscow and Washington exchanged a new round of sanctions, both expelling 10 of the other’s diplomats and blacklisting more officials.

Washington tightened economic sanctions against Russia, while Moscow toughened the rules of work for the US embassy and banned activities of state-funded US non-governmental organizations in Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry qualified demonstration of Poland’s support to the US as a “deliberate pursuit of a course of further degradation and destruction of bilateral relations” with Russia.

“Through the efforts of the Polish authorities in recent years, contacts with Russia have been virtually frozen, a shameful war with Soviet monuments has been launched, attempts are being made to torpedo Russian energy projects, a large-scale anti-Russian information campaign is being conducted, history is being falsified, and the anti-Russian sanctions of the West are being indefinitely extended.

“As a response to Poland’s provocative actions to expel Russian diplomats, based on the principle of reciprocity, the ministry declared five employees of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the Russian Federation ‘persona non grata’,” the ministry said.

The expelled diplomats must leave the territory of the Russian Federation before the end of the day on May 15, it added.

ANKARA – Turkey marked April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day with restricted celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the country where a curfew was imposed on April 23, only a few children and state officials attended the ceremonies in person. Some events turned to online platforms and a wider segment of people was contented with decorating the windows of their homes with flags.

April 23, 1920, is the date of the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the first Parliament of the Republic of Turkey. However, in 1929, the republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, started the April 23 festival as a gift to the children of the world. In 1929, it was also celebrated as Children’s Day for the first time. In 1979, children from many countries of the world began coming to Turkey, making the day internationally recognized. Turkey is the first and only country to dedicate a national day to its children.

For the past two years, the celebrations for Turkey’s Children’s Day have evolved just like all other things in our lives. Thus, the day traditionally marked outdoors with children showcasing their dancing skills, reciting poems and singing songs is a muted occasion this year.

Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, National Education Minister Ziya Selçuk and their delegations of officials attended an annual ceremony and laid a wreath at Atatürk‘s mausoleum in Ankara.

Selçuk will speak with children from all 81 provinces of Turkey in an online meeting after the ceremonies in Ankara. In addition, Selçuk encouraged children and their families to adopt saplings to honor this special day. The minister also adopted five saplings in the scope of the campaign.

To mark National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, many skyscrapers across Istanbul were decorated with giant Turkish flags. The graceful crescent and star flags were hung on skyscrapers in Istanbul’s business center Maslak, drawing the attention of many Istanbulites.

BEIJING, April 23 (DNA): In a learning aid program, several Pakistani students in China met online with the primary and secondary school students in a once-impoverished county in southwestern China.

According to a Gwadar Pro’s report, the introductory session held last week was part of a study assistance program organised by the Silk Road School (SRS) of Renmin University of China (RUC) in a bid to help children at a minority community in Yunan Province learn English and to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation.

“The fun element for me in that session was the struggle of the kids despite having pronunciation problem. Some kids were too shy to speak”, said Maria Nazeer, a Pakistani participant admitted to the School in 2019.

Teachers from the recipient schools welcome such assistance. “Students can truly feel the charm of this international language by talking with foreign speakers”, acclaimed Li Mei from the Yingpan Middle School.

For long, lack of native speakers as English teachers and chances to communicate in English in real-life scenario has been constraining students’ foreign language competence in these remote regions.

By pooling the resources of students from the “Silk Road” countries and university teachers, the young English learners are motivated to put what they’ve learned into practice, and Pakistani students have an opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding towards China.

Education programs constitute a critical part of China’s poverty alleviation endeavors. Behind it is the Chinese philosophy that to become better off, one should not only enrich his wallet, but also his mind.

Now China has won the final battle against extreme poverty, but efforts for people’s all-round development have not ceased.

Maria Nazeer echoes with that idea. “I believe that if a nation is educated enough, then it does not see poverty as a big issue, rather it cultivates its ways towards progress by the knowledge and skills that it has.”

RUC SRS intends to form long-terms ties with the Yingpan Middle School and Biyuhe Primary School aided by distant teaching devices.

“SRS provided us an opportunity to volunteer for Chinese kids and help them in improving their English language. So far, it was only one session based on introduction class but I am looking forward to having more of it”, said Maira Nazeer, adding that she is willing to assist the students as far as she could.

The Silk Road School (SRS) of Renmin University of China(RUC), established in 2018, mainly cultivates master’s students from countries and regions along BRI.

Maria Nazeer enrolled on the program attracted by its courses and opportunities to learn more about China. Lectures and various field studies provided by the School have allowed her to acquire first-hand knowledge on the country’s history, dynamics, social norms and governing philosophy.

Having been exposed to a variety of cultures, she is ready to practice kindness to all the humans irrespective of their physical appearances or nationalities.

“I intend to give back to society what it has given me so far by serving it through any legit means – be it a volunteer work or any random acts of kindness and I am sure about it.”

Participants of the first session also include students from Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Ghana, Serbia, Ireland, Liberia, the United States, Cameroon, Sri Lanka, and Italy.