Author: DW

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has called South Korea’s recent firing drills near the border “suicidal hysteria” and an “inexcusable and explicit provocation.” Describing South Korea as “the enemy” Kim Yo Jong warned of unspecified military steps if the North was further provoked. “In case it is judged according to our criteria that they violated the sovereignty of (North Korea) and committed an act tantamount to a declaration of war, our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission and duty assigned by the (North Korean) Constitution,” she said, according to state media, without elaborating. In the last…

France’s election result looks set to produce a hung parliament, with a leftist alliance in the lead but without an absolute majority.Below, we look at what happened in the election and what it means for the weeks and months ahead. WHAT HAPPENED IN SUNDAY’S SECOND ROUND VOTE?The left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) alliance secured the biggest number of seats but will fall short of the 289 needed to secure an outright majority in the lower house.As it happened: France elections latest Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:37 France’s left-wing coalition explained This result was a…

Skip next section French voters deliver a victory to the left and a blow to Le Pen07/08/2024July 8, 2024French voters deliver a victory to the left and a blow to Le PenFrance faced the possibility of a hung parliament after Sunday’s election, in which a left-wing alliance unexpectedly came out on top but no group won an outright majority. Voters dealt a major setback to Marine Le Pen’s nationalist, euroskeptic National Rally (RN). Polls had predicted the RN would win the second round, but it came in third. The result was also another blow to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who…

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived for a visit to China on Monday morning local time. “Peace mission 3.0 #Beijing,” Orban wrote on the social network X after his arrival in the Chinese capital. He also posted a photo of himself being greeted at the airport by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Orban will meet with President Xi Jinping on Monday “for in-depth communication on issues of mutual interest.” China and Russia’s strategic partnership has grown closer since Moscow invaded Ukraine. Beijing presents itself as a neutral party in the war, but it has offered…

This coming fortnight has all the ingredients to be historically consequential.We can expect big announcements on Ukraine from the NATO leaders meeting in Washington. We will discover who Donald Trump’s running mate will be and we will watch President Biden fight for his political life. The fallout from President Biden’s disastrous debate performance a little over a week ago continues. On the face of it, he insists he will remain the candidate, but the truth is the coming days seem set to be make or break for him.Don’t believe anyone who tells you they know what will unfold… but here…

Three weeks on from the disappearance of British teenager Jay Slater, life on the island of Tenerife has almost returned to normal.The main strip, Veronicas, in Playa de las Americas was packed with groups of young British holidaymakers on Sunday night with heavy drinking and open drug use on clear display in the neon-lit bars that blast out dance music. At the beachside Papagayo nightclub, where 19-year-old Jay partied into the early hours of Monday 17 June at the NRG music festival, people ate dinner and drank cocktails before the dancefloor filled up.Jay’s family still have no answers to why…

The centre of Paris has erupted into a street party of left-wing euphoria.”In the left, we rarely can be happy about what is happening right now,” Anne Cecile Cochet told Sky News, adding: “It’s a huge surprise, nobody thought it would be like that.” A surge of relief across the capital will propel celebrations into the early hours if final results confirm the exit polls.And that relief won’t be contained to France. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:26 France reacts to exit poll ‘Absolute shock’ in French election – follow latest The prospect of a…

National Rally has come third in the second round of voting in France’s parliamentary election – according to exit polls.Marine Le Pen’s far-right party was being tipped to emerge as the dominant force in French politics following President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to hold a snap poll. But the left-wing New Popular Front coalition won the most seats in the second voting round of parliamentary elections, according to the polls.An IFOP estimate for broadcaster TF1 said the New Popular Front (NFP) could win 180-215 seats in parliament in the second voting round, while an Ipsos poll for France TV projected 172-215…

A truck decked out in the red-white-green of Hungary’s national flag drives onto the main square in Szombathely in the northwest of the country. A man of around 40 is standing on its flatbed, wearing a shirt, jeans and sunglasses. A song is blaring from loudspeakers mounted on the truck with the lyrics “Tell me who you would choose.” The man with the stylish hairdo on the truck who is delivering a campaign speech to several hundred people is Hungary’s new political star, Peter Magyar. His address is mainly focused on a vow to overthrow Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the system he represents.…

This is an astonishing result, perhaps the biggest surprise in the history of French elections. Nobody saw it coming – the pollsters, the public or the politicians. France will not have a far-right government, but that answer, that single fact, does not cover another crucial point. The country is still cloaked in uncertainty. An election that was supposed to deliver clarity has done exactly the opposite. What lies ahead is a confused picture, dotted with political stalemate, public fury, long-standing feuds and a mass of unanswered questions.What’s clear is that the French parliament will be split between three factions.’Absolute shock’…