Author: DW

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with two US senators on Thursday night to discuss improving his country’s air defense and toughening sanctions against Russia. In a post on social media early, Zelenskyy said he had met with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome. Graham and Blumenthal are the co-sponsors of a bipartisan bill that calls for a 500% tariff on goods from countries that are still buying Russian oil, gas and uranium, among other exports. The bill would target countries like China and…

Migrants who once braved the Darien Gap — a deadly stretch of dense jungle between Colombia and Panama — on journeys toward the the United States are now making the same journey in reverse. The deportation push by US President Donald Trump has left them with no realistic way of making a life in the United States. These return journeys are mostly invisible. Migrants are untracked, unprotected and exposed to sexual violence, trafficking, exploitation, and a severe lack of food and clean water along the way. And, in many cases, the places people are returning to remain deeply unstable.Masked agents have…

Is Ukraine a partner, a testing ground, a customer — or perhaps even a competitor? As Kyiv fleshes out new rules allowing exports of drone technology, Ukrainian companies are still figuring out what role they’ll play in rearming Europe.  Drone technology is changing rapidly. In Ukraine it’s spread across hundreds of different companies and dozens of models, some of them seemingly simple but with significant battlefield experience.Three years of war have helped Ukraine’s military gain huge battlefield experience, improving their drone defensesImage: Pablo Miranzo/Anadolu/picture alliance European competitors are meanwhile well-funded and increasingly bringing their own models to the battlefield.  Yaroslav Azhnyuk, founder…

In the highly anticipated new “Superman,” which stars David Corenswet in the title role, the Man of Steel first appears lying bloodied and bruised in an Arctic wasteland. “We do have a battered Superman in the beginning. That is our country,” director James Gunn said at a press event following the release of the film’s first trailer. This Superman symbolizes an America that’s in a beat-up state yet still stands for goodness, Gunn explained. Superman has often been considered the archetypal US superhero, embodying ideals of truth and justice, as well as the American dream. However, in the new film, Gunn decided…

A jury in Australia has found Erin Patterson guilty on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. The murder weapon: Toxic mushrooms. Prosecutors argued Patterson intentionally served four of her family members with meal portions containing toxic death cap mushrooms in 2023. Patterson denied being guilty, originally telling police she had used store-bought mushrooms from a supermarket, then an Asian grocer in Melbourne. A search of such stores found no evidence that poisonous mushrooms had ever been sold.  During the trial, Patterson said she may have foraged for the mushrooms but could not say for certain where she had obtained the…

More than a year after being accused of “inappropriate, controlling behavior” by a female colleague, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been sacked with immediate effect. The Formula One team released a statement on July 9, saying that Christian Horner would be released of his role after 20 years in the job. Red Bull did not give a reason for Horner’s departure, but former RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff thanked him for his work, saying he would “forever remain an important part of our team history.”  French engineer Laurent Mekies, of sister F1 team Racing Bulls, will replace Horner…

The bridge that connects the German city of Frankfurt an der Oder and the Polish city of Slubice is quite a strange sight these days. Rows of EU flags have been hoisted on it and on either side of it. Those crossing from the German side see a sign that reads “Frankfurt Oder – Slubice” and the words “Ohne Grenzen. Bez Granic” — “without borders” in German and Polish. But the slogan, which both cities have been using in their joint marketing campaign for years now, no longer applies the way it used to. Germany began carrying out spot checks…

South Korea’s disgraced ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol returned to prison on Thursday as prosecutors investigate accusations of insurrection after he declared martial law last December. He is being held in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Center, where he spent 52 days earlier in the year before his release four months ago on technical grounds. The Seoul Central District Court said it approved a second warrant because of concerns Yoon could seek to destroy evidence. What is Yoon accused of? Yoon triggered months of political turmoil in South Korea after declaring martial law in early December, and then sending armed soldiers to parliament…

US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on 14 countries on Monday night, the majority of them in Asia. He said the tariffs would kick in on August 1 but left the door open for further negotiations, saying the suggested tariffs were “more or less” final offers. “If [countries] call with a different offer, and if I like it, we’ll do it,” he said. Which countries has Trump targeted and why? Among the countries that Trump hit were Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar. Analysts say the focus on Asian countries is part of a move by the…

When incoming US president Donald Trump moved to revoke birthright citizenship, stripping people born in the country of their US nationality if their parents are non-citizen immigrants, some saw echoes of Nazi Germany. However Germany, a nation formed in 1871 from diverse independent states, never gave automatic citizenship to those born in the country. Citizenship was ruled by the right of blood, based on the idea that German nationality was inherited, meaning one or two parents had to be German. Yet citizen rights did not depend on race and religion. Some 400,000 Jews in the country, or 80% of the population,…