Author: DW

Barely two weeks after Donald Trump returned to the White House, four allies of the United States have caved into the US president’s coercive trade strategy after being threatened with tariffs and other punitive measures. Mexico and Canada this week promised to shore up security at their US borders to tackle illegal migration and drug trafficking. They won a 30-day reprieve on Trump’s wide-ranging 25% tariffs, announced last weekend. Colombia, which was also threatened with tariffs and sanctions, quickly U-turned after initially refusing to accept deported migrants from the US. Panama, meanwhile, appears to have made concessions to Trump over the Panama Canal, a critical shipping waterway that connects the Atlantic with…

What you need to know: A second strain of H5N1 bird flu has been detected in US cattle Some experts believe that the risk to humans is low Infections have also been detected outside the US, in the United Kingdom European authorities are monitoring the North American outbreak  US authorities have said the detection of a different strain of avian influenza, the D1.1 genotype, in dairy cows in January is proof that bird flu has now spread from wild birds into cattle twice, in an outbreak that started in late 2023. The genotype refers to the genetic makeup of a virus, within a group of virus…

Most people who watch sport had barely given Rwanda a second thought until recently. The sponsorship deals the country’s tourist board has with Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain were fairly low- key and, for many, quickly became just another logo. Mohamed Keita sees real danger in that. “People have become so used so seeing ‘Visit Rwanda’ that they don’t even see it anymore – it’s like McDonald’s. Nobody thinks about what ‘Visit Rwanda’ is, what’s behind it.” For Keita, the Africa director at the non-profit Human Rights Foundation, the discourse over the clubs’ Rwanda deals, sparked by a letter…

All ten on board a passenger plane that went missing over Alaska are believed to be dead, the US Coast Guard said after locating the wreckage on sea ice. The US Coast Guard initially reported that three bodies had been found inside the wreckage and then said the remaining seven were also believed to be inside the aircraft but were “inaccessible die to the condition of the plane.” The plane, which was carrying nine passengers and a pilot, was flying from the remote community of Unalakleet to Nome when it was reported missing at around 4 p.m. local time (0100 UTC). The airline, Bering Air,…

A Canadiantask force, which tracks suspected foreign interference, on Friday said it had detected “coordinated and malicious activity” originating from China, targeting Chrystia Freeland — a leadership candidate from the country’s Liberal Party. Freeland is currently in the running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, come March 9. Campaign targeting Freeland traced to WeChat account The activity has allegedly been traced to a WeChat account linked to the Chinese government, Global Affairs Canada’s Rapid Response Mechanism said in a press release. The department is mandated to monitor the digital information ecosystem under the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE)…

January 8, 2025 was a notable day for the heirs of Jewish art collectors whose collections were expropriated or sold against their will by  the Nazis. On that day, Germany’s federal cabinet cleared the way for a change in the country’s restitution process. It marks the end of the expert panel officially called the “Advisory Commission on the return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, especially Jewish property.” It has become known as the Limbach Commission, named for its first chairperson, the late former German chief justice Jutta Limbach. Now the panel will be replaced by arbitration tribunals.…

One hundred and two venomous snakes have been removed from a suburban back garden in Sydney.David Stein called experts after seeing six snakes moving around in a pile of mulch and discovered that red-belly blacks pile on top of each other before giving birth. Snake catcher Dylan Cooper was drafted in the same afternoon and bagged up five adults and 97 babies. Image: Pic: Cory Kerewaro/AP Reptile Relocation Sydney said two of the adults gave birth to 29 snakes in the bag while the clean-up was still taking place.Company owner Cory Kerewaro said the highest number he’d heard about in…

The European Commission has come up with a plan aimed at slashing the bloc’s overburdening regulation, digging into Europeans’ savings to raise money and investing it in European companies to lead in future technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and clean technology.  EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the policy roadmap called Competitive Compass on Wednesday, warning that the 27-nation EU risks to be “stuck on a low-growth path, with less income for the employed, less welfare for the disadvantaged, and less opportunities for all.” “The convergence between the EU and the US on innovation has slowed down, while China has caught…

What you need to know: Ebola damages blood vessels and causes severe internal bleeding It spreads from other animals to humans and among humans through close contact with blood, organs, secretions and other bodily fluids Some forms of Ebola can be prevented with vaccines and treated with medicines Ebola remains an ongoing challenge for people and authorities in affected regions. Vaccine development could help lessen the burden. Most often, Ebola outbreaks have been caused by the Zaire type of the Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus) and the Sudan type (Sudan ebolavirus). During the most recent outbreaks, which have had high numbers of…

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, the latest in a string of executive actions that aim at LGBTQ+ rights. The move comes as the right wing in the US, and globally, has taken an increasingly aggressive stance against transgender people.  What does the new ban on transgender women and girls say? The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives government agencies authority to penalize schools that allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams. Any school that violates the order would risk losing…