Author: DW

Landslides are the most common geological event. That’s a fact. They affect millions of people and cause many thousands of deaths. They often occur in countries with poor or inadequate infrastructure — such as Papua New Guinea, where a reported 2,000 people were buried alive following a landslide on May 24 — but are also reported in high-income areas, like the United States. Thousands of landslides per year globally In 2020, the World Bank estimated the average annual number of significant rainfall-triggered landslides between 1980 and 2018, by country: United States of America: 36,150 China: 35,280 India: 31,430 Philippines: 23,110 Indonesia: 22,220 Russian Federation: 18,340…

“Who said that the flag doesn’t belong to us?” Abacaxi wrote in one of his Instagram posts. The photo shows models sporting the fashion designer’s Brazilian collection: Clad in flag-inspired yellow and green shirts, skirts and bikinis, they wave the Brazilian flag. The Rio de Janeiro-born designer released the clothing line in the middle of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, between 2019 and 2023. At the time, the Brazilian flag was seen as a political symbol of the populist right-wing politician and his followers. “He ripped the flag away from us,” Abacaxi told DW in Rio. “The Brazilian aesthetic disappeared from the favelas, Brazil’s…

Skip next section Netherlands to help source Patriot missile systems for Ukraine 05/28/2024May 28, 2024Netherlands to help source Patriot missile systems for Ukraine The Netherlands has said it will lead an initiative among some European countries to supply Patriot missile systems to Ukraine. “Ukraine, of course, is still under attack. Airstrikes continue,” Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said at an EU defense ministers meeting in Brussels. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted Ukraine urgently needs seven more Patriot air defense systems to stop Russia from hitting more civilian targets. “Patriot systems are scarce in Europe and NATO, but we are now taking a step…

Pope Francis allegedly used a highly offensive term to refer to LGBTQ+ people during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, Italian media reported on Tuesday. The major Italian daily newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera both cited anonymous sources as saying that the pope had made the remark while reiterating his position against gay people becoming priests. The 87-year-old pontiff was reported as saying that the Catholic seminaries were already too full of “frociaggine” — a highly derogatory term in Italian. What is the Pope’s stance on LGBTQ+ people? The incident was first reported by political gossip site Dagospia,…

Thousands more could be evacuated from a Papua New Guinea village over fears of a second fatal landslide, a UN official has warned.The UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that 670 villagers died from Friday’s landslide in Yambali, in the country’s highlands. More than 2,000 people were believed to be buried alive, according to the country’s disaster agency, with five bodies already retrieved from the rubble.Serhan Aktoprak, chief of the IOM’s mission in Papua New Guinea, said on Tuesday his agency is hearing “that another landslide can happen and maybe 8,000 people need to be evacuated”.”This is a major…

Thousands of residents in Papua New Guinea have been ordered to evacuate the path of what authorities say is a still-active landslide on Tuesday, after parts of a mountain collapsed last week, burying over 2,000 people. Enga province disaster committee chairperson Sandis Tsaka told the Reuters news agency that a state of emergency has been declared across the disaster zone and a neighboring area, with a combined population of between 4,500 to 8,000. He said that the number of people asked to evacuate was around 7,900. Aid agencies estimate more than 1,000 people have already been displaced by the catastrophe. Meanwhile, military personnel have set…

Argentine President Javier Milei accepted the resignation of cabinet chief Nicolas Posse on Monday, marking the first cabinet shake-up in his five-month-old administration. Posse will be replaced by current Interior Minister Guillermo Francos, according to a government statement. It comes amid strains over major economic reforms pitched by the government.Argentines struggle with austerity measuresTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Francos will be given more political power, including that of the interior ministry, despite the cabinet chief already being the highest-ranked minister. “Doctor Guillermo Francos will assume the function of…

A teenage boy was saved by his brother after a black bear barged into his cabin and left him with scratches across his face and arm – with the animal having a sit down on a sofa on the family’s porch after the attack.Brigham Hawkins, 15, was “just chilling” in one of two cabins on his family’s property in Alpine, Arizona, when the bear “walked in through the front door and swiped him across the head” on Thursday evening, his mother Carol said. Ms Hawkins told Sky News’ US partner NBC News that Brigham has a “neurological disorder” and she…

Just over two weeks ago, President Biden drew a clear red line for his “old friend Bibi”.He told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu not to go into Rafah. “If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons… to deal with that problem,” he told CNN.It was widely interpreted as the moment the American president was no longer going to be taken for a ride by Netanyahu.But then Netanyahu’s soldiers entered Rafah. They avoided the city centre though, thus allowing Biden the wiggle room to say his line hadn’t been crossed. Israeli forces instead took over the border crossing on the…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Spain on Monday where he will meet Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for talks. Sanchez “will receive the president of Ukraine” at noon (1000 GMT), after which they will hold a press conference, the Spanish prime minister’s office said in a statement. Spain’s royal family said that Zelenskyy would be received by King Felipe VI at the palace. “Afterwards, King Felipe and Queen Letizia will host a lunch in his honour,” it added. The trip is Zelenskyy’s first official visit to Spain and comes amid heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine, as Russian forces continue…