Author: DW

A bear that was rescued from the war in Ukraine and rehomed in a Scottish zoo has died following an anaesthetic procedure.Staff at Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, West Lothian, are said to be “utterly devastated” over the death of Yampil at the weekend. The 12-year-old Asiatic black bear arrived at the visitor attraction in January after being rescued from the village of Yampil in Donetsk. Image: Pic: PA Ukrainian soldiers had discovered an abandoned zoo in the village when they arrived there in July 2022, five months after the Russian invasion.Out of nearly 200 animals at the zoo,…

Much of Germany’s Euro 2024 was about generating the same thrill and excitement around the country as the 2006 World Cup did or about giving the most decorated German footballer ever, Toni Kroos, a fitting farewell. But beyond collective unity, the end of this tournament marks not only the end of Kroos’s career but also the end of an era that peaked a decade ago. After many years of coming close to moving on from the golden generation of 2014, the departure of Kroos (34) and now Thomas Müller (34) signal that it is now starting to happen. There has also been speculation…

Senior Chinese Communist Party officials gathered in Beijing on Monday for a key meeting to discuss the future direction of the world’s second-largest economy. The agenda-setting “Third Plenum,” which brings together the ruling party’s 205-member Central Committee led by President Xi Jinping for four days of discussions, begins as China announced lower-than-expected second-quarter growth. Official statistics showed the economy grew by only 4.7% between April and June, significantly less than the 5.1% expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg. It is the slowest expansion rate since the first quarter of 2023 when the country was still emerging from its growth-crippling zero-Covid policy.…

Polls opened on Monday in government-held parts of Syria for a legislative election that was likely to yield no surprises.  The election is the fourth to take place in Syria amid an ongoing war, which started in 2011 following mass anti-government protests and a brutal clampdown on demonstrations by security forces.  Candidates’ campaigns largely revolved around general slogans, such as national unity and prosperity, in a country ravaged by a conflict involving foreign armies and jihadists.  Many people called for an election boycott in the southern province of Sweida, where anti-government protesters have regularly rallied over the past year. Online footage showed…

Ralf Schumacher has revealed he is in a same-sex relationship.The 49-year-old German, who won six grands prix over a decade-long career in Formula 1, shared a picture of him and a man who is believed to be his partner with their arms around each other. The caption below the post on Instagram reads: “The most beautiful thing in life is when you have the right partner by your side with whom you can share everything.”Schumacher is the younger brother of seven-time world champion Michael, who drove for Jordan, Williams and Toyota in an F1 career which ran from 1997 to…

Until a few months ago, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was a lead candidate in the race to replace Jens Stoltenberg as secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), but her reputation as a Russia hawk scuttled her chances.  Influential NATO member states, many from the European Union, agreed that with the war in Ukraine, it was no longer possible to keep the eastern members on the fringe  in Brussels’ hierarchy. However, there were concerns that handing the top security job to a Baltic leader was too strong a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Moreover, the possibility of a change in US leadership and calculations over who…

The start of the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia was delayed after crowd issues and fans breaching security gates.Hours before the 8pm (local time) scheduled kick-off at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, fans were seen jumping over security railings and climbing fences to get in. Videos posted on social media also showed fans – some of whom are believed to not have had tickets – running past police officers and stadium attendants while screams could be heard in the background.One young Argentinian fan was let inside the gate crying hysterically as the man who was…

Polls opened in Rwanda on Monday morning for presidential and parliamentary elections as President Paul Kagame’s fourth term in office seemed all but assured. Over nine million Rwandans are eligible to cast their ballot. The election feature the same two opponents as the last election in 2017, when prominent opposition candidates were also barred from running. Frank Habineza is the leader of the Democratic Green Party, and in the last election, garnered a mere 0.48% of the vote. Philippe Mpayimana, an independent, was the only other person approved to run out of eight applicants.How free and fair will Rwanda’s upcoming election be?To view this…

​​​​​​​Donald Trump, even if he didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, with adrenaline coursing through his veins, created a historic image of defiance just seconds after being repeatedly shot at.He scrambled to his feet, right ear and cheek bloodied, dishevelled and without his shoes, and pumped his fist to the skies, conjuring cries of “USA, USA” from his supporters. Even in awful circumstances, the former president demonstrated why he is considered the ultimate political performance artist. It is a picture for the ages. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:22 Trump rally victim ‘died a…

Thomas Matthew Crooks has been named as the gunman in the assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday evening.Described as a “outcast” who regularly wore hunting outfits to school, Crooks lived in a well-to-do city an hour from scene of his assassination attempt. Read more: Trump arrives for Republican National Convention after assassination attemptInvestigators say bomb-making material was found in a vehicle at his home. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:13 ‘The guy… he looks dead’ Who was the gunman? The FBI named him as Thomas Matthew Crooks around seven hours…