Author: DW

Germany’s government is considering ways to support automaker Volkswagen (VW), Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday. Habeck, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor, made the comments in response to a question about the threat of job cuts at the firm. What did Habeck say about possible support for VW? “VW is of central importance to Germany,” Habeck told reporters in the city of Papenburg in the state of Lower Saxony. Habeck is scheduled to visit a VW plant in Emden, also in Lower Saxony, on Friday. Government sources said that the Economy Ministry was considering how to address weak electric vehicle sales.…

The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution recognizing opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate president, after incumbent Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in the disputed vote. The vote is non-binding and does not reflect the stance of individual EU member states. What else do we know about the resolution? The resolution passed with 309 votes in favor and 201 against. “The EU should do its utmost to ensure that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela, can take office on January 10, 2025,” the European Parliament said. Venezuela’s opposition claims Gonzalez Urrutia won the July presidential election. Gonzalez…

A Hungary-based company remains firmly in the spotlight after the pager attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.Sky News looks at what we know about BAC Consulting and its Italian-born chief executive after exploding pager communication devices killed at least 37 people and wounded around 3,000 others.Images of destroyed pagers were consistent with those made by the Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo – which says the pagers were made by BAC Consulting, which has a licence to use its brand.Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it was behind the coordinated blasts on Tuesday and Wednesday.However, a New York Times report citing three…

A Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting, has been linked to the thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and leaving nearly 3,000 wounded. The name of the Budapest-based firm first cropped up in a statement by a Taiwanese manufacturer, Gold Apollo, whose label appeared on the devices. Gold Apollo said it did not manufacture the devices and that they were made by its Hungarian partner, BAC Consulting. “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” Gold Apollo founder and president Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters at the company’s offices…

With the stunning Sagrada Familia basilica, whimsical Parc Guell, and the historic old town, it’s no surprise that Barcelona is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. In 2023, 15.6 million holidaymakers visited the Spanish city. Yet such high tourist numbers have seriously affected the city, as locals struggle to find affordable accommodation because apartments are transformed into vacation rentals. “This is the biggest problem in our city,” Mayor Jaume Collboni said at a June press conference. He then caused a sensation by announcing that the city would no longer renew vacation rental licenses and also not grant any new…

Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire or explode, but in the attack on pagers in Lebanon, the devices are more likely to have been hacked.

Londoners walking from the underground station to the Powerleague football pitches in Shoreditch pass a makeshift bedroom under a railway bridge: a damp mattress, an empty wooden crate and scraps of cardboard strewn across the concrete. It’s one of countless signs of street homelessness in the shadows of the financial center of one of the world’s richest cities. On those small football pitches, a young team are being put through their paces, with their Scottish coach barking out instructions and encouragement. They all wear red shirts with “England” emblazoned across the front. But these aren’t replicas of the Euro 2024 finalists, this is…

The EU said on Wednesday that it planned to withhold €200 million ($222 million) in funds earmarked for Hungary. It said that Budapest had failed to pay an equivalent fine for violating international asylum rules.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) fined Hungary for violating asylum rulesImage: Patrick Scheiber/imago What do we know about the withheld funds? In June, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) fined Hungary for failing to comply with a 2020 ruling on upholding international procedures for asylum-seekers. A deadline to settle the penalty expired on Tuesday. “That means that the commission is in accordance to the applicable…

Colombia’s government has halted peace talks with the leftist rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) following an attack on a military base which left two soldiers dead and more than two dozen injured. “Today the peace process is on hold. Its viability is severely diminished and its continuation can only go ahead with an unequivocal demonstration of peace by the ELN,” government negotiators said on social media platform X on Wednesday. The attack — blamed on the ELN — occurred on Tuesday in a rural part of Colombia’s Arauca province, near the border with Venezuela. Officials said the attackers detonated explosives in a…

Lebanon has been rocked by a second wave of blasts, this time linked to hand-held radios, as reports have emerged that solar energy systems have exploded in several areas as well.Multiple reports have come in from Lebanon saying that communication devices, thought to be hand-held radios, have exploded across the country’s south, and in the southern suburbs of the capital. Reuters cited a security source and a witness as saying the devices were used by Hezbollah.Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, which were said to be the result of the radios detonating.Middle East latest: Fresh…