Author: DW

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was in West Africa on Monday as instability in the Sahel threatens to spread to other regions. “Security here in the region, the future prospects of this region, are also closely linked with our own security and our own development,” Baerbock said in Dakar on Monday as she began her two-day trip including stops in Senegal and then the Ivory Coast. The two countries are some of West Africa’s last remaining democracies amid coups and outbreaks of violence that have seen many countries in the area turn their back on the West and instead seek support from Russia and China.…

Britain’s armed forces must have the ability to confront a “deadly quartet” of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, the surprise pick to lead a major review of the UK’s shrunken defences has warned. Lord Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and former NATO chief, is being brought back to frontline military policy by Sir Keir Starmer after he led Labour’s last Strategic Defence Review (SDR) more than a quarter of a century ago. In another novel twist, the government on Tuesday announced two other external experts will work with the peer on crafting the new blueprint for the future…

The executive arm of the EU in Brussels is partially boycotting Hungary’s six-month stint holding the bloc’s rotating presidency, in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s self-styled “peace mission” that he embarked on after taking up the position at the start of the month.  In the first days of Hungary’s presidency, Orban visited Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing, and Washington for a NATO summit, and then Donald Trump in Florida. The trip to Kyiv was Orban’s first since Russia’s invasion, despite Hungary bordering Ukraine. He called the trip a peace mission and tried to portray himself as one of the “very…

Protesters in Dublin have attacked police officers and set vehicles on fire at a site designated to house asylum seekers. Violence erupted on Monday as preparations were made to turn a disused paint factory into accommodation. Irish PM Simon Harris called the violence “reprehensible”, saying: “No person has a right to burn cars, damage property or attack members” of security and emergency services.”These actions are criminal and are designed to sow fear and division.” Image: Officers use pepper spray after violent protests outside a site designated to house asylum seekers in Dublin. Pic: PA Protesters gathered in the morning, some with…

More than 9 million Rwandans were called to vote for a new president on Monday, and according to official results, more than 99% of them supported the incumbent Paul Kagame for a fourth term. Soon after polls closed on Monday evening, the election commission said that Kagame had won 99.15% of the votes.  It also put turnout at a staggeringly high 98%. By comparison, even in those few countries where citizens are legally obliged to vote or face a fine, such as Australia, turnout only ever tends to be between 90 and 95%.  Same opposition candidates, similarly poor performance The apparent…

One of the world’s rarest whales, about which scientists know “practically nothing”, may have washed up on a New Zealand beach.The dead mammal found at Otago, on the South Island, is thought to be a spade-toothed whale, which has never been seen alive in the wild. There is little information on how many of the creatures exist, what they eat, or even where they live in the vast expanse of the southern Pacific Ocean.New Zealand’s conservation agency said the animal was identified by its colour patterns and the shape of its skull, beak and teeth, after it washed ashore earlier…

Toyin Ogundeko, a resident of Lagos and a caterer by profession, lives with asthma. Her son has the condition, too.  But medicines have become so expensive in Nigeria that they can’t afford the inhalers they need. Amid a worsening economic crisis, Ogundeko isn’t sure how they will get by. “With the way the economy is going, things are really getting tough. You’re struggling to buy foodstuffs, and you’re also trying to stock up on your medication,” she told DW. “So, for me I can cut down on the inhaler for myself. I won’t cut it for my child,” she said. What’s causing the crisis? The worst economic crisis…

The 2024 US presidential election will take place on November 5. Here are all your questions about the US election process answered.  Who can run for presidential office? The US Constitution has three basic requirements for presidential candidates: Individuals must be natural-born citizens of the United States, at least 35 years old and resident within the country for 14 years. There are some exceptions to the 14-year requirement for members of the US armed forces.  What are the requirements for candidates? “Almost anybody who’s an adult citizen can run for president,” Wayne Steger, a professor of Political Science at DePaul University in the…

A man has confessed to killing 42 women in Kenya, as police have found nine dismembered bodies.The remains were discovered in a quarry in the Mukuru slums in Nairobi.The head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Mohamed Amin, said that Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, had confessed to killing 42 women, including his wife, since 2022. Image: Bags with humans remains were removed from the quarry in Nairobi. Pic: AP They gave no evidence to support his claims, but Mr Amin added: “It is crystallising that we are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect…

07/15/2024July 15, 2024Over 40% of Ukrainians support starting peace talks with Moscow — Ukrainian mediaA relative majority of Ukrainians are in favor of starting peace negotiations with Russia, according to a survey published by the Ukrainian weekly newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. Not included in the survey were people who reside on the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, or other areas of the east and south of the country under Russian control. The survey found that 43.9% of Ukrainians in Kyiv-controlled areas considered that “the time has come for the start of official peace talks between Ukraine and Russia,”…