Author: DW

Russian opposition politician and outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza has been moved to a prison hospital, his wife Evgenia said on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday. “Vladimir Kara-Murza was transferred to a prison hospital. His lawyers weren’t allowed access to him,” she wrote, adding that she was unaware of his condition. Kara-Murza, 42, is currently serving a 25-year jail sentence for treason in an Omsk prison after he repeatedly condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine and urged Western sanctions against Moscow. The jail sentence was the harshest sentence imposed on an opposition politician since the start of Russia’s full-scale…

US President Joe Biden called on Friday his debate performance against Donald Trump on June 27 “a bad episode,” as the president continued attempts to reassure skeptical Democrats following the critical debate. In his first TV interview since the debate, Biden suggested it was a one-time occurrence because he was exhausted due to a heavy cold and lingering jetlag. What did Biden say about the debate? Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he had a “bad night” the evening of the debate, according to a clip released ahead of the interview. He added that there was “no indication of any serious condition.” He took full responsibility for…

Slovakia’s prime minister has appeared in public for the first time since an assassination attempt left him fighting for his life.Robert Fico was shot four times at close range in mid-May in what prosecutors have described as a terrorist attack. Speaking from a podium at a castle ruins dating back 11 centuries, Mr Fico hit out at progressive ideologies he said were “spreading like cancer” and hurting the country.”I don’t want Slovakia to be among the countries that make a caricature of Western civilization,” he said.Mr Fico’s leftist-nationalist government has quickly shifted policy since taking power last September, including changing…

Germany’s last few tournaments have ended in recriminations, rage and retirements. Though it still stings, the feeling of a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 on Friday comes with plenty of pride and no little optimism for the future. “It’s sad that it’s over,” said striker Niclas Füllkrug, who went desperately close to sending the game to penalties in the dying moments. “There was a euphoria, a sense of community that hasn’t existed for a long time. It’s getting harder by the second to realize that [it is over]. There is silence in the dressing room. The…

Life is becoming ever more difficult for Tanzania’s ethnic Maasai, as a representative for the group’s women told DW. She did not want her name to appear in print over concerns for her safety. Numerous representatives of the ethnic herding people have been arrested over the past several years whenever they have criticized the policies of the Tanzanian government. “Two pregnant women recently died,” said the representative. She reported that there had been heavy rain and roads were impassable. “Nearly every week there is a pregnant woman dying in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and in Loliondo,” she said. Other DW…

Daniel Dahan, the chief rabbi of Lyon, made it clear from the start that he wasn’t advising anyone in his synagogue to leave France. He said that would be just what antisemites wanted — to let Jewish people believe they didn’t belong in France and should “go back to where they came from.”  Instead, Dahan is advising those in his congregation to remain in France and to stand up for democracy. His approach is quite different from that of a rabbi in Paris who recently advised French Jews to emigrate to Israel. Still, something else Dahan made clear when speaking about the…

An ultra-conservative archbishop has been excommunicated by the Vatican after being found guilty of schism. Schism is one of the gravest crimes in canon law and occurs when someone withdraws submission to the Pope or his Catholic subjects. Carlo Maria Vigano served as the Vatican’s ambassador to the US from 2011 to 2016 but went into hiding in 2018.This came after he alleged Pope Francis knew about US cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual misconduct and did nothing about it.The Vatican has rejected this claim. Vigano also branded the Pope a “false prophet” and a “servant of Satan”, before calling for him…

Germany are out of Euro 2024, eliminated 2-1 after extra time by Spain following a fierce battle in Stuttgart on Friday.  Mikel Merino scored the decisive goal in the 119th minute, dashing the host nation’s hopes of a run all the way to the final in Berlin. Both sides had chances during extra time and were broadly even throughout the match.   Toni Kroos, who is retiring from professional football, said the result was not the toughest defeat of his professional career, but that it was still “a game where we gave everything to avoid defeat.” “Given that we came so close, it’s…

Sicily’s main international airport suffered disruption on Friday, with it even shutting down briefly, as Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, erupted. Mount Etna spewed fiery lava and large columns of ash and smoke up to five kilometers into the air overnight, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said. The flow of lava into the sea calmed down as of late Friday, INGV said. Mount Etna shoots bright lava into the air earlier this weekImage: Etna Walk/Giuseppe di Stefano/REUTERS Catania Airport said it was “unusable due to volcanic ash: both arrivals and departures are suspended,” earlier in the day. Later, the…

On Monday, Israel released several Palestinian detainees, including Mohammed Abu Selmia, a prominent pediatrician and the director of al-Shifa Hospital in the beleaguered Gaza Strip. Abu Selmia had been detained in late 2023 while traveling with a UN convoy carrying wounded civilians away from the besieged hospital compound. Israeli officials alleged that the hospital was being used as a command center by Hamas, a militant, Islamist, Palestinian group designated as a terrorist organization by Germany, Israel, the US and others. The release of Abu Selmia sparked mixed reactions in  Israel and the Palestinian territories. Some Israeli officials, such as the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, criticized the decision…