The Guardian
“Venezuela: police helicopter attacks supreme court with grenades”
A police helicopter launched grenades at Venezuela’s supreme court building on Tuesday evening following months of protests against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro said “terrorists” had lobbed two grenades that failed to detonate. Some reports put the number of grenades higher. Local media suggested a former police intelligence officer had carried out the attack. Videos circulated on social media showed a man piloting the helicopter while holding a banner that read “Liberty. Article 350”, in reference to the part of the Venezuelan constitution that allows citizens to declare themselves in civil disobedience in front of “any regime that runs counter to democratic guarantees or undermines human rights”.
The incident took place just hours after Maduro warned that he and his supporters would be willing to take up arms if his government was toppled by “undemocratic forces”.
The president of the high court said there were no injuries from the attack and that the area was still being surveyed for damages. Villegas said security forces were being deployed to apprehend Pérez, who the government accused – without giving evidence – of working under the instructions of the CIA and the US embassy in Caracas, as well as to recover the helicopter.
BBC
“China launches new warship type to boost military strength”
China on Wednesday launched a new type of domestically built warship in its latest bid to modernize its military, state media said. The launch comes after China presented its first home-produced aircraft carrier in April. Amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing is taking an increasingly assertive stance in the waters it claims. China’s new 10,000-tonne destroyer will undergo extensive testing.
The warship «is equipped with new air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons,» China’s official news agency Xinhua said. According to the state-run Global Times, the vessel type is thought to be the first type 055 destroyer – a successor to the smaller type 052D destroyers.
Beijing has reasserted its «indisputable sovereignty» over parts of the South China Sea after the Trump administration vowed to prevent China from taking territory in the region. US President Donald Trump has also proposed a 10% increase in the military budget.
CNN
“Another big malware attack ripples across the world”
Hackers launched blistering ransomware attacks Tuesday against companies and agencies across the world, particularly targeting Ukranian businesses.
Major global firms reported that they had been targeted, including British advertising agency WPP (WPPGY), Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft and Danish shipping firm Maersk.
«IT systems in several WPP companies have been affected by a suspected cyber-attack,» WPP said on its Twitter account. Maersk issued a similar statement, saying its tech systems «are down across multiple sites and business unit’s due to a cyberattack.»
Mondelez (MDLZ), the company that owns Oreos, Cadbury and many other global snack brands, reported a computer outage across its global operations. And law firm DLA Piper said it had taken down its systems in response to «a serious global cyber incident.»
Ransomware victims are always advised not to pay ransom to get their files back because it encourage the attackers. The best way to mitigate damage from ransomware is to update operating systems and backup data.
The New York Times
“Angela Merkel Eases Resistance to Same-Sex Marriage in Germany”
The emotional issue of same-sex marriage moved swiftly to the center of Germany’s national election campaign on Tuesday after Chancellor Angela Merkel softened her resistance, saying for the first time that she would allow members of her party to vote as they saw fit on the issue.
Ms. Merkel’s statement came after decisions by her current coalition partners, the Social Democrats — along with two other parties that may be part of her government after elections in September — made their support contingent on backing for same-sex marriage. The chancellor’s conservative Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, which is strongly Roman Catholic, have favored a “family values” approach, but opinion polls increasingly suggest that a clear majority of German voters of all ages are in favor of same-sex marriage.
The chancellor continues to face resistance from her conservative camp — her party’s chief whip in Parliament, Michael Grosse-Brömer, said on Tuesday, “There is no need for an overly hasty decision.”
Bloomberg
“Oppenheimer Europe to Hire Corporate Bankers as Wealth Lure Dims”
Oppenheimer & Co., the U.S. investment bank, plans to grow its corporate finance and debt capital markets business in Europe after the Brexit vote and new market regulations made starting a wealth management unit in the region less attractive. «We don’t know what agreement the U.K. will have with the EU,» said Max Lami, 47, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker. «If it becomes an offshore center in a hard Brexit, wealth management could be an interesting business. Or it could be a soft Brexit, which would add more complexity.»
Instead, the CEO said he wants to hire in businesses such as debt and arranging borrowing for companies. Oppenheimer began building its European unit nine years ago around a securities business in equity and fixed income and corporate finance services focused on the technology, consumer and health care industries. The firm is known in the region for helping to bring Israeli companies public in the U.S., including Wix.com and CyberArk Software.
Wealth management in the U.S. generates 67 percent of the firm’s global revenue, but Lami said he won’t set up that business for at least two years in Europe amid uncertainty about the deal Britain will secure with the European Union and regulations known as MiFID II, which are coming into force in January and unbundle research and trading costs.