Author: DW

A number of African nations have a deep historical relationship with Russia going back to when it was the Soviet Union and supported their independence struggles. Russian President Vladimir Putin started rekindling these ties and seeking new ones about a decade ago. His support ranged from more conventional military assistance and weapons sales to running mass disinformation campaigns against political rivals. Russia is widely recognized to have made remarkable advances in strengthening both its diplomatic and economic ties on the continent in this time. As for Ukraine, before it was invaded by Russia, it had scant diplomatic infrastructure in Africa, with…

Tensions between China and the Philippines escalated rapidly following a violent clash last week between their sailors in the South China Sea (SCS). Videos published by the Philippine military showed Chinese Coast Guard personnel ramming and boarding Philippine naval boats and confiscating their weapons. Philippine officials claimed the Chinese boarders were armed with swords, spears and knives. They said several Filipinos were injured in the incident, including one sailor who lost his thumb. While Manila described the Chinese as behaving like “pirates,” Beijing justified its actions by claiming the Chinese side simply took “necessary measures” such as interceptions and boarding…

Afghans flooded the country’s streets in their thousands on Tuesday to rejoice in their men’s cricket team reaching the T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time.Celebrations erupted throughout the Taliban-run country as people in Kabul, Khost, Jalalabad and beyond enjoyed the dramatic victory over Bangladesh. Rashedullah, a resident of the southeastern Khost province said: “This event has given reason for hope for the youth who were previously disappointed”. Image: Male fans celebrated their victory Tuesday. Pic: AP That group of young people won’t include women, of course, whom the Taliban have forbidden from playing cricket.The Taliban seized power again…

Wins against Australia and Bangladesh have secured Afghanistan a first men’s cricket World Cup semifinal berth. It is a remarkable achievement but, for many observers, it’s also troubling. Source link

The case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, which has now dragged on for some 14 years, has a political and legal dimension that goes far beyond the documents Wikileaks once published. DW documents the developments: 1. Biographical Julian Assange was born on July 3, 1971, in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. As a young man, he was interested in computer technology and learned to program. In the 1990s, he made a name for himself in the Australian hacker community and ended up in an Australian court in 1996 for hacking attacks. The judge sentenced him, but also attested to his “intellectual curiosity.”…

Maxim from Vilnius is soon to be 22. He’s Lithuanian, from a Russian-speaking family. Last year, he was conscripted for nine months of military service. “There was a man in our unit who showered every other day at best — in the summer,” Maxim recounted “Can you imagine the smell? I showered twice a day. After a few weeks, we and the commanders gave him a serious talking-to.” Stationed with an infantry brigade in Taurage, a small city in southwestern Lithuania near the Russian enclave Kaliningrad, he said in his service he was confronted with people he hardly would have met outside…

Scientists tracking the spread of a dangerous new strain of the Mpox virus have said it is time to “get prepared”.Researchers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are warning it could spread internationally – with potentially more severe symptoms and higher mortality. Known as Clade 1b, the strain first emerged in September among sex workers in the DRC mining town of Kamituga, around 170 miles (273km) from the border with Rwanda.There have now been around 1,000 confirmed cases in the country’s South Kivu province.On Monday, the first cases were confirmed in the city of Goma, which is also close…

China’s lunar probe landed safely in the remote steppes of northern China’s border region with Mongolia on Tuesday.  It returns bearing the first samples ever taken of rock and soil from the largely unexplored far side of the moon, the side that is never visible from Earth. “I now declare that the Chang’e 6 Lunar Exploration Mission achieved complete success,” Zhang Kejian, the director of the China National Space Administration agency said in a televised news conference shortly after the landing. State TV carried live footage of the vessel touching down.  China’s President Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations…

With his save near the end of the Switzerland match on Sunday, Manuel Neuer once again showed why he is still considered one of the world’s best goalkeepers. The 38-year-old fended off a powerful long-range shot from Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka, preventing Switzerland from increasing their lead to 2-0. Just moments later, late Niclas Füllkrug headed home at the other end to equalize – and put Germany top of the group. In addition to making good saves, Neuer has been something of a playing assistant coach in this tournament. Not only in Germany’s matches against Scotland and Hungary but also…

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague said on Tuesday it is seeking the arrest of former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and current military Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.  The charges pertain to alleged crimes committed during Russia’s war in Ukraine.  Attacks on energy infrastructure at heart of the warrants The court said in a press release on Tuesday that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.” …