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Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Temu Accused by eu Regulators of Failing to Prevent Sale of Illegal Products
Chinese online retailer Temu was accused by European Union watchdogs on Monday of failing to prevent the sale of illegal products on its platform. The preliminary findings follow an investigation opened last year under the bloc's Digital Services Act. It's a wide-ranging rulebook that requires online platforms to do more to keep internet users safe with the threat of hefty fines. The European Commission–the 27-nation bloc's executive branch–said its investigation found a high risk for consumers in the EU to encounter illegal products on Temu's site. Investigators carried out a mystery shopping exercise that found non-compliant products on Temu including baby toys and small electronics it said. Temu said in a brief statement that it will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission. The commission didn't specify why exactly the products were illegal but noted that a surge in online sales in the bloc also came with a parallel rise in unsafe or counterfeit goods. EU regulators said when they opened the investigation that they would look into whether Temu was doing enough to crack down on rogue traders selling non-compliant goods amid concerns that they are able to swiftly reappear after being suspended. In its preliminary findings, the Commission found that Temu could have had inadequate mitigation measures because the company was using an inaccurate risk assessment that relied on general industry information rather than specifics about its own marketplace. 'We shop online because we trust that products sold in our Single Market are safe and comply with our rules,' Henna Virkkunen, the EU's executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a news release. 'In our preliminary view, Temu is far from assessing risks for its users at the standards required by the Digital Services Act.' Temu has grown in popularity by offering cheap goods–from clothing to home products–shipped from sellers in China. The company, owned by Pinduoduo Inc., a popular e-commerce site in China, has 92 million users in the EU. The company will have the chance to examine the Commission's investigation files and respond to the accusations before the EU watchdogs make a final decision. Violations of the DSA could result in fines of up to 6 percent of a company's annual global revenue and an order to fix the problems.

Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
French prosecutors seek new al-Assad arrest warrant
French prosecutors said Monday they have requested a new arrest warrant against Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad over a deadly 2013 chemical attacks after a previous one was cancelled. It is now up to investigating magistrates to decide whether to issue the new warrant. French investigators have since 2021 been looking into a suspected Syrian government sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4-5, 2013, in the areas of Adra and Douma outside Damascus. The Court of Cassation, France's highest court, on Friday ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, annulling a French warrant against al-Assad issued in 2023 when he was still leader. It however added that, as al-Assad, who was toppled in December, was no longer president, new warrants could be issued and the French investigation could continue. The National Anti-Terror Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said they on Friday requested 'the issuing and international dissemination of an arrest warrant against Bashar al-Assad for alleged complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes' in the chemical attack case. Al-Assad and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after anti-government forces seized power on December 8. Another French warrant is already out for al-Assad's arrest, issued in January for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.


Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Berlin Says It Is Prepared to Increase Pressure on Israel Over Gaza
The German government said on Monday that it is prepared to take steps to put pressure on Israel with regards to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but did not give details on what they could be. "The chancellor was very clear in the phone conversation with the Israeli prime minister ... that the federal government is prepared to increase the pressure if progress is not made," a spokesperson said. "In principle we are prepared to take further steps, which is also the purpose of this afternoon's security meeting," he said, referring to a meeting of the German security cabinet.