Author: DW

A Pakistani court on Saturday acquitted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife of charges of illegal marriage, his lawyer Naeem Panjutha said. An Islamabad District and Sessions Court “dismissed charges” against Khan, a spokesman for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party confirmed. Judge Afzal Majoka announced in court that the “appeals of both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are accepted.” But even though the court overturned the ex-premier’s conviction for illegal marriage, he remains in jail on charges of inciting riots. A court this week cancelled his bail over accusations he incited riots by his supporters in May 2023. What…

France’s sports minister has swum in the River Seine, with authorities hoping the move will show it is clean enough to stage swimming events at the Olympics.Amelie Oudea Castera took the plunge into the capital’s famous river, where she was joined in the water by Paralympic triathlon champion Alexis Hanquinquant, who won gold in the men’s PTS4 event at Tokyo 2020. X This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable…

On Monday, Belarus and China began a joint anti-terrorism military drill. Dubbed Eagle Assault 2024, the 11-day exercise will see troops practice night landings, overcome water obstacles and undetake urban combat drills. The joint exercise follows Belarus joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and defense organization led by Russia and China, earlier this month. DW asked experts in the region why Belarus needs the SCO and what the joint drills with China could mean for the region. Fighting terrorism? Belarus has become the 10th member of the SCO, which originally consisted of the founders China and Russia, as well as…

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a three-year, $7 billion (€6.4 billion) aid package deal after an emergency loan in the summer of 2023 saved it from a sovereign debt default amid multiple challenges. The new program, which the IMF announced on Saturday, still needs validation from the fund’s executive board. The South Asian country of more than 240 million is struggling to cope with economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and massive flooding that hit a third of the country in 2022. The country is also facing soaring inflation. What is the deal and…

Rescue teams in Nepal on Saturday searched  for 51 passengers and crew who went missing after a landslide a day prior swept two buses into a river swollen by relentless rainfall. Officials said that chances of finding any survivors were diminishing as search efforts press on. “Chances of finding survivors are slim because over 30 hours have passed since the buses were swept into the river. The water level has receded this morning, but it is still very murky,” Khimananda Bhusal, deputy chief administrator of the district, told Reuters news agency. Divers had only found a curtain from one of the bus windows and…

North Korea has decried a declaration recently signed by NATO members which condemned Pyongyang’s weapons exports to Russia, state media said on Saturday. The secluded country which has grown its military relations with Russia over the last several years, called the document “illegal.” The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the foreign ministry “most strongly denounces and rejects” the NATO declaration. The agency, citing a ministry spokesperson, said the declaration “incites new Cold War and military confrontation on a global scale,” and requires “a new force and mode of counteraction.” Ukraine on ‘irreversible’ path to joining NATOTo view…

President Joe Biden has insisted “I am running and we’re going to win” during a boisterous performance at a rally in Detroit.The 81-year-old is trying to shift the conversation from his mental sharpness after a shaky debate performance and two high-profile gaffes at the NATO summit. “I’m the nominee,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”It’s time for us to stop treating politics like it’s entertainment or a reality TV show.”And to wild cheers, he shouted: “Donald Trump is a loser!” Mr Biden also warned Project 2025, a conservative policy platform that would seek to slash the federal government if Donald…

An Ecuadorian court on Friday handed down hefty prison sentences ranging from 12 years to 34 years for five people found guilty of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The journalist and former legislator was fatally shot while leaving a rally in August 2023. This made him one of the most prominent victims of Ecuador’s uncontrolled violence. Six Colombian men were arrested hours after the shooting, but all of them were killed while in prison two months later. Another seven suspects were later arrested, one of whom died and another who was acquitted. The remaining five went on trial.Ecuador declares state…

Twenty-two pupils have been killed after a two-storey school collapsed in Nigeria.The Saints Academy college in the north-central Plateau state’s Busa Buji community collapsed shortly after pupils, many of whom were 15 years old or younger, arrived for classes. A total of 154 pupils were trapped with 132 rescued and treated for injuries in various hospitals, a police spokesman said.Twenty-two pupils were killed. Image: A student is rescued from the rubble. Pic: AP Rescue and health workers as well as security forces had been deployed at the scene, according to aid Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency. “To ensure prompt medical…

Five people convicted of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Ecuador have been jailed.The journalist and former legislator was shot as he left a rally in August 2023, becoming the most prominent victim of the South American country’s spiralling violence. According to the attorney general’s office, Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara, known as The Invisible, gave the order to murder Villavicencio from prison, while Laura Dayanara Castillo was in charge of logistics.Both Angulo and Castillo were sentenced to 34 years and eight months.Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores and Alexandra Chimbo were sentenced to 12 years. The ruling, read out by Judge Milton…