Author: DW

The angry comments began as soon as the announcement was made. NATO said at its summit in Washington last week that Jordan would host its first liaison office in the Middle East.  “The opening of a NATO Liaison Office in Amman is a natural progression of the longstanding relationship between NATO and Jordan,” a press release said. It also acknowledged Jordan “as a beacon of stability in both regional and global contexts.” Others didn’t see things in such a positive light. “Betrayal runs in their veins,” one social media user based in Algeria wrote on Facebook under a news article…

Rising sea levels caused by climate change are making the Earth “fatter” at the equator – slowing down its rotation and making the days longer. As polar ice caps have melted, water has shifted from the poles to the equator, “significantly” increasing how oblate – or fat – the Earth is since 1900, and lengthening its days. Adding a few milliseconds to a 24-hour day may not sound much, but it has “implications for precise timekeeping and space navigation”, the authors of the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said.The pace of change is higher than at…

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock moved on from Senegal to the Ivory Coast on Tuesday on her two-day trip to West Africa.  Insurgent violence and military takeovers in the region were high on the agenda, as Baerbock visited counterterrorism training in the Ivory Coast aimed at preventing a spillover of terrorism from the central Sahel region.  Baerbock observed training at an international academy in Jacqueville, roughly 35 kilometers (around 22 miles) outside the capital Abidjan, simulating the prevention of a bomb attack in a rural village. International governments including Germany help to fund this international academy in Jacqueville, while their security forces…

Israel continued to bomb the Gaza Strip on Tuesday shortly after the US renewed its criticism over the high civilian death toll in the war on Hamas. At least 57 Palestinians were killed in bombardments on central and southern parts of the enclave, health officials said. Later in the day, the Israeli military said half of the leadership of Hamas’ military wing had been eliminated. What did the US say about Israel’s offensive in Gaza? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced Washington’s “serious concern” to two senior Israeli officials following deadly Israeli airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip, his…

Gibraltar has accused Spanish players of making “rancid” and “hugely offensive” statements while celebrating their Euro 2024 win over England.Manchester City star Rodri sang “Gibraltar is Spanish” as he took the mic in front of thousands of fans in Madrid on Monday night. Gibraltar has been a British Overseas Territory since 1713, but many in Spain believe it should be returned and it remains a delicate diplomatic topic.Rodri’s on-stage antics happened as he and the other players partied in front of supporters a day after their 2-1 win over the Three Lions. Image: Madrid’s Plaza Cibeles was packed with fans.…

Authorities in Bangladesh ordered schools and universities across the country to remain closed for an indefinite period. This decision came after six students were killed in protests over reforms to quotas for jobs in the public sector. On Tuesday, there was a significant increase in violence as protesters and pro-government student groups clashed, while police dispersed rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets. Education Ministry spokesman M. A. Khair told AFP the shutdown order was issued for “the security of the students”. Three of the victims died in the southern port city of Chattogram, more than 300 kilometers from the capital…

The French Football Federation (FFF) said Tuesday that it decided to lodge a complaint with world football’s governing body FIFA and take legal action after racist chants were directed at French players by members of the Argentine football team after they won the Copa America tournament. In a statement, FFF president Philippe Diallo “condemned with the greatest firmness the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks made against players of the France team.” He is going “to contact its Argentinian counterpart and FIFA directly to file a legal complaint for racist and discriminatory remarks,” FFF said. French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who described the…

Chelsea are investigating a video midfielder Enzo Fernandez posted on social media which the French Football Federation (FFF) allege shows them singing a racist song.Fernandez posted on Instagram after Argentina’s Copa America victory over Colombia, showing him and his teammates chanting about the France national team.Wesley Fofana, Fernandez’s Chelsea teammate, has reposted the video on social media with the caption: “Football in 2024: uninhibited racism”.The FFF has alleged that the song sung by the South American national team is “racist and discriminatory”.In a statement they said: “The president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, condemns in the strongest terms…

Following the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump at a campaign event for the 2024 election, a wave of misinformation has spread across social media platforms. One particular claim that has lately garnered significant attention is, that Trump was not injured at all in the incident. The claim is accompanied by a “recent photo” of him showing no ear injury. This fact check investigates the validity of this claim and the origin of the photo in question. Claim: In this post (archived here) an X user claims: “This image of Trump was taken today. There is absolutely nothing wrong…

Politics on the playing field? Some Turkish fans and footballers, as well as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hoped to score political points during the Euro 2024 football tournament. This hasn’t gone down well with everyone in Germany’s Turkish community. Turkish national player Merih Demiral sparked a heated debate when he gave a “wolf salute” after scoring a goal in the match against Austria on July 2. Immediately afterward, the chair of the Turkish Community in Germany, Gökay Sofuoglu, told the German news network RND that “political symbols have no place on the football field.”Gökay Sofuoglu, the chair of the Turkish Community…