Author: DW

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to one count of espionage as part of a plea deal with US authorities. The agreement means Assange will be sentenced to time already served in a British prison. His court appearance took place on the US territory of Saipan. He left the UK on Monday after being released on bail from Belmarsh high security jail.Addressing the court, Assange said that he broke US law by encouraging classified leaks, but said he believed the Espionage Act violates free-speech.The US request to extradite the WikiLeaks founder on spying charges has been dropped and he…

Christian Tein, head of the pro-independence CCAT group in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, will be held in France after being charged Saturday over deadly riots last month, his lawyer said. Along with Tein, three other activists, including the group’s communications director, Brenda Wanabow, will be sent nearly 17,000 kilometers (10,500 miles) to France. Tein was charged by an investigating magistrate in the capital of New Caledonia, Noumea, on Saturday. He was the first of a group of 11 people arrested Wednesday to face charges over the violence that left nine people dead, including two police officers. Noumea’s…

UNESCO has warned that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef “remains under serious threat,” directing the country to take immediate action to protect the world’s largest coral system. “Urgent and sustained action is of utmost priority,” the United Nations’ cultural organization said in a draft decision released late on Monday. ‘Huge win,’ says environment minister UNESCO asked Australia to update its protection efforts by early next year, but did not recommend placing the reef on its endangered heritage list. The organization praised Australia’s steps on water quality and restrictions on gill-net fishing. It nevertheless expressed concern over land clearing and urged more ambitious emission…

As protesters faced off against heavy-handed police in Kenya’s capital, members of parliament passed the tax bill that pushed them into the streets.The financial bill will impose new levies on essential goods and push the burden of external debt repayment on the country’s increasingly unemployed and struggling citizens. When the marchers made it into the parliament chambers they had vowed to occupy, their rage and betrayal was on full show.Flags were flung, glass was shattered and the open buffet food was devoured.Lawmakers hid in the building for two hours until the storm had passed. Please use Chrome browser for a…

One person was dead in Switzerland on Sunday after severe storms hit the south of the country, causing flooding and a landslide. Three people initially went missing in the landslide, but police later announced that the body of one was found. The search for the other two remained ongoing. Dozens of people were evacuated due to a landslide in the Mesocco and Calanca valleys in the southeastern canton of Graubünden. The houses of those missing were destroyed in the landslide in Mesocco. Streets in the village were flooded, according to cantonal police. Another woman had been reported missing but was found…

Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday fired live rounds to break up demonstrations as thousands took to the streets across the country to protest proposed tax rises.  Follow updates on the deadly escalation of protests in Kenya here. What’s the latest on the protests? Reports emerged that some of the protesters had been shot and that several people had been killed. Reports varied significantly in the number of fatalities, from between one to 10. Some demonstrators entered parliament at about the same time, with the building set on fire soon afterward. The country’s youth-led protest movement has become a major headache for the…

South Korea has accused North Korea of firing a suspected ballistic missile towards the North’s east coast. South Korea’s joint chief of staffs said the launch was made on Wednesday morning, but did not give any further details. Japan’s defence ministry also said North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile.The missile reportedly landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone – an area of sea that a country claims the rights over to conduct economic activities – and no damage was reported, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said.Earlier this week, North Korea criticised the deployment of US aircraft carrier, the Theodore…

Mining giant Rio Tinto insists draft environmental impact assessments it has now released early prove its site in Serbia is environmentally safe to extract lithium. In an interview with DW, Chad Blewitt, the managing director of Rio Tinto’s Jadar mine in northern Serbia, said they want to “get out of the disinformation, all the false claims, and have a fact based dialogue.” The project has faced years of intense controversy and protests by Serbians who fear the extraction of a lithium compound will pollute rivers, destroy surrounding farmland, and force people off their land.Rio Tinto’s Chad Blewitt insists that agriculture will not be…

Israel and Lebanon have been exchanging fire for months, with the conflict threatening to escalate into a full-scale war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the end of the intense phase of fighting in Gaza would allow Israel to deploy more forces along the northern border with Lebanon. Israeli officials have threatened a military offensive into Lebanon if there is no negotiated end to push Hezbollah, a powerful Shia militia in Lebanon, away from the border. These rising tensions have led to a surge of unsubstantiated claims and fake videos on social media over the weekend. DW…

Protesters in Kenya have been shot dead and fires started inside parliament after politicians voted in favour of a controversial tax bill.The Kenya Medical Association said at least five people had been killed and 31 injured. Images from the scene appeared to show a number of motionless bodies on the ground.Paramedics at the scene said earlier they believed at least 10 people had been killed and around 50 hurt.It happened as police opened fire when protesters in Nairobi overwhelmed them and entered the parliament compound. Thousands were on the streets of the capital on Tuesday to demand politicians vote against…