Author: DW

North Macedonia’s parliament elected right-leaning Hristijan Mickoski as the new prime minister on Sunday. The vote tally in the 120-seat parliament was 77 lawmakers in favor and 22 against, with 21 absentees. Following the results, Mickoski said it was time to “roll up the sleeves and start solving problems in the country.” He added that the immediate government priorities were to attract new investment, cut taxes and increase pensions and wages. Replacing the previous Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) government, the nationalist-dominated government coalition includes the Albanian alliance VLEN and the liberal party ZNAM, an ethnic Macedonian splinter from…

Six police officers have been killed and 12 were wounded after gunmen opened fire in a series of shootings in Russia’s Dagestan region, its interior ministry says.The attacks targeted a synagogue and an Orthodox church in Derbent as well as a police post later in Makhachkala.A priest was also killed in the attacks, according to reports.Two of the gunmen have reportedly been shot dead.It was reported attackers were holed up in a building in Derbent, which police were preparing to storm. Image: The scene in Derbent. Pic: BNO News A counter-terrorist operation is ongoing to search for gunmen in Makhachkala…

Deutsche Bahn doubled its beer sales in the first six days of Euro 2024, the country’s national rail operator said on Sunday. The European soccer championships are being held at stadiums in 10 cities across Germany, until July 14. Bahn said in a statement that fans had necked 44,588 liters of beer — twice the usual volume — that were bought on board between June 14 and 19. That’s in addition to alcohol carried on board from outside vendors. Snack and beverage sales have also been boosted by the tournament, with a 63% increase in demand for Bratwurst sausage in rolls.Deutsche Bahn is the official mobility partner of…

A 37-year-old woman was seriously injured after three wolves attacked her at the French Thoiry zoo and safari park near Paris, French media reported on Sunday. The extent of her injuries was not immediately clear, with Versailles Chief Prosecutor Maryvonne Caillibotte telling the French AFP news agency that her life was in danger. Meanwhile, French BFMTV said her life was no longer at risk. What do we know about the incident? The woman was staying with her family at one of the lodges at the zoo. She had spent the night at the park and is believed to have gone out…

“Basically, if there is more damage, someone has to pay for it,” said Ernst Rauch, a climate expert with Munich Re, a major reinsurance company. Either insurance companies, the state, or the person who suffered the damage must foot the bill. The logic behind insurance is that many people sign up, but only a few suffer losses and receive compensation. If a growing number of people are hit by losses, however, insurance companies will pass on the risk and increase premiums for insurance holders.  As some previous extreme events have proven too costly to cover, insurance companies have in turn passed…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Argentinian President Javier Milei to employ socially acceptable policies as he rolls out a radical austerity program to try to stabilize the troubled Latin American country’s economy, Scholz’s official spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Sunday. The pair held talks in Berlin as part of Milei’s trip to Europe where the rightwing populist and libertarian continues to court controversy. What did Scholz tell Milei? During the hourlong talks between the two leaders in Berlin, Scholz emphasized that social cohesion needed to be protected as Milei’s economic reforms are implemented, Hebestreit said. Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, took office in December. He has since enacted deep…

A mysterious monolith that baffled police in Las Vegas has been taken down over “environmental concerns”.Police said members of a volunteer search and rescue team found it near Gass Peak in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. It was unclear where it had come from, and officers were hoping for help on social media. Image: The monolith was in a remote mountain range. Pic: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/X In an update on Friday, they revealed they had “assisted” in removing the item “due to public safety and environmental concerns”.The mirrored object is six feet five inches tall and…

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday that 23 of its 32 member states were expected to meet the alliance’s defense spending commitments this year. That is 13 countries more compared to last year’s data, and five more than an earlier estimate in February. “This is good for Europe and good for America,” Stoltenberg said in a speech unveiling the newest numbers in Washington, “especially since much of this extra money is spent here in the United States.” The NATO defense investment target was agreed upon in 2014. The goal of the pledge was for members of the alliance to spend 2% of their gross domestic product…

German Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck landed in Beijing for a three-day visit Friday amid tensions over recent talk of imposing high import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) sold into the European Union (EU). Habeck is the first high-level European minister to visit China since the EU announced its tariff proposal. Brussels argues that Beijing’s largesse with government subsidies gives Chinese carmakers an unfair advantage over European manufacturers. China has railed against the proposal, threatening a trade war as its automakers urge leadership in Beijing to level import taxes on European internal combustion vehicles. “The European side…

A Swiss court has sentenced four members of the wealthy Hinduja family to up to 4 1/2 years in jail on Friday for exploiting their domestic workers. Members of the family were accused of trafficking mostly-illiterate domestic workers from India, confiscating their passports, and forcing them to work 16-hour days in their Geneva villa without overtime pay. The domestic workers were paid between 220 and 400 francs ($250-450) a month — a wage far below what they could expect to earn in Switzerland. However, this wage was paid in Indian rupees into banks back home that the workers could not physically access. “They’re…