Author: DW

The European Union (EU) is looking for lithium to power its transition away from fossil fuels and help it compete in the global race for clean technology. Over the past three yearsm the bloc has been on a self-styled “raw material diplomacy” mission, inking resource deals with 13 countries including Canada, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, Argentina and Namibia. Now, the EU has a new name to add to the list: Serbia.  The Balkan country is more often at odds with the EU than on the same page. It’s kept close ties with Russia and China, and resisted Brussels’ longstanding expectation that aspirant EU…

American journalist Evan Gershkovich has been jailed for 16 years after being convicted of espionage in a trial widely seen as politically motivated.The Wall Street Journal reporter was first arrested and detained in March 2023 after Russia claimed he had been “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA. US President Joe Biden said Mr Gershkovich had been “targeted” and that they were “pushing hard” for his release.He added: “There is no question that Russia is wrongfully detaining Evan. Journalism is not a crime. Evan has endured his ordeal with remarkable strength. We will not cease in our efforts to…

07/19/2024July 19, 2024Ukraine’s Zelenskyy calls on the UK to allow it to use weapons for strikes inside RussiaIn an address to a British cabinet meeting, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Britain’s new government to allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russia to stop deadly missile attacks on his country. “I ask you to show your leadership” in lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons to strike inside Russia, Zelenskyy told Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The key to Ukraine’s defense, Zelenskyy said, is “long-range capability” to destroy sites where Russian weapons are concentrated. Zelenskyy received a standing ovation from senior ministers as he became…

The United Nations human rights chief on Friday called the attacks on student protesters in Bangladesh “shocking and unacceptable,” as the death toll from the crackdown by authorities crossed the 100 mark. Almost daily demonstrations broke out at the beginning of July against plans to reintroduce job quotas for public sector jobs, which were abolished in 2018 after earlier student protests. The students are demanding a merit-based system.Dozens killed in Bangladesh protests with death toll risingTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What did UN rights chief Volker Turk say? “I am deeply concerned by…

After 50 years in business and annual retail sales of $5bn (£3.87bn) last year, you may think Hello Kitty is the cat that got the cream.But she’s not a cat at all, according to her creators. “She’s actually a little girl – born and raised in the suburbs of London,” said Jill Cook, the director of retail business development at Sanrio, the Japanese company that made the iconic character.”She has a mum and dad and a twin sister Mimmy, who is also her best friend.” Image: The Hello Kitty balloon makes its way through Manhattan in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day…

The Chinese Communist Party has wrapped up a series of high-level meetings with a communiqué that China watchers have described as vague and lacking detailed policies. The meetings, called the Third Plenary Session, usually deal with major economic and political policy changes in China. This year, the session has approved decisions on “further comprehensively deepening of reform and promoting Chinese-style modernization.” According to the official communiqué released on July 18, the four-day meeting was attended by 199 Central Committee members and 165 alternate members. It stated that the Beijing authorities will focus on “improving the (Communist) Party’s capacity for leadership and…

A German man has been sentenced to death in Belarus over alleged crimes including “terrorism” and “mercenary activity”, the Viasna human rights group said Friday. Rico Krieger, aged 30, was convicted by a court in Minsk in a secretive trial at the end of June, the group reported. What do we know so far? AFP news agency reported that the conviction was said to be related to the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, a military unit made up of Belarusian citizens fighting alongside Ukraine against Russia. The regiment is named after the Belarusian-Polish writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary, who was executed in 1864 for…

Two large oil tankers have collided and caught fire off Singapore’s coast, the UN’s shipping agency has said.”Salvage and firefighting assets have been arranged by both vessel owners to support the firefighting efforts and subsequent towage of the vessels to safety,” a spokesperson with the International Maritime Organisation said. “Navigational traffic is not affected.”The status of the vessels and any pollution is currently unknown at this time.”Photographs released by the Singapore Navy showed thick black smoke billowing from one tanker and crew being rescued from life rafts and flown to hospital. The tankers – Singapore-flagged Hafni Nile and the Sao…

There’s no vaccine for HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS. And stories about people being cured of HIV are still read as miracles. HIV can, however, be prevented, controlled and treated with tablets — sold as Truvada. But since 2020, Europeans living with the sexually transmitted infection have had an alternative to a daily regimen of pills: an injectable medicine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved rilpivirine and cabotegravir (sold as Rekambys and Vocabria, respectively, and together as Cabenuva). They are used in combination to treat patients with HIV-1, the most widespread type of the virus worldwide.   In…

“The Russian police threatened to have me raped in prison,” recounts 21-year-old Yusif Muradov. He had to flee Russia after authorities started cracking down on him for being openly queer. As of 2024, 64 countries in the world criminalize homosexuality. In at least 10 countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Iran, consensual same-sex acts can even lead to the death penalty.  In several other countries, like Russia and India, same-sex relations are legally permitted, nevertheless LGBTQ+ people are still persecuted — leading to a de-facto illegality.  Four openly queer people spoke to DW about why they had to leave their country and come to Germany to live their lives freely,…