Author: DW

China said late on Friday that it had completed two days of military drills around Taiwan that have been widely seen as a further bid to intimidate the democratically governed island and its allies. Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory, said the drills were a “punishment” for the recent inauguration speech by the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, an address denounced by China as a “confession of independence.” Taipei has slammed the military exercises, calling them a “unilateral provocation.”  What happened during the war games? Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that 111 Chinese aircraft and dozens of naval vessels participated…

05/25/2024May 25, 2024Germany delivers another IRIS-T air defense system to UkraineGermany’s Defense Ministry on Friday confirmed that another IRIS-T air defense system had been delivered to Ukraine. “We have once again delivered a combined IRIS-T SLM and IRIS-T SLS fire unit to Ukraine,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Pistorius spoke of a “highly modern and well-proven medium and short-range air defense system, manufactured directly by German industry.” Together with the recently delivered Patriot system, Germany is thus “strengthening Ukraine’s air defense in its defensive battle against Russia’s brutal war of aggression, which violates international law,” Pistorius said.  Each IRIS-T…

Russia has detained the deputy head of the army’s general staff for allegedly accepting bribes, local media reported on Thursday. The Interfax news agency said that Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin was being held in pretrial detention on charges of large-scale bribe taking, amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. The charge carries up to 15 years in prison. Newspaper Kommersant reported that authorities searched Shamarin’s home. Russia’s military shake-up Shamarin is the latest high-ranking military official to be detained in Russia in recent months. Among those who were arrested include Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, the Defense Ministry’s deputy head of personnel Lieutenant General…

The alliance of populist right-wing parties at the European Parliament, called Identity and Democracy (ID), on Thursday removed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from its ranks.  “The Bureau of the Identity and Democracy Group in the European Parliament has decided today to exclude the German delegation, AfD, with immediate effect,” it said in a statement.  The development follows a pair of scandals this month centered around the AfD’s lead candidate for next month’s European Parliament elections, Maximilian Krah. First, he suspended a senior staff member, amid news they were being charged with spying for China. Krah’s own ties to both China…

Not many people predicted the big defection of footballers from Europe to the Saudi Pro League last summer – except maybe the Saudis themselves and a handful of key agents.In all, 23 players swapped the Premier League for the heat of Arabia and massive tax-free pay rises. Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ruben Neves left Fulham and Wolves respectively to join Al Hilal with no regrets.Mitrovic, originally from Serbia, said: “After seven years in England I think the first thing was the sun. I never had summer sun in my life.”It’s been different you know, different culture, different football, the mentality of…

The European Union has issued a €337.5 million ($366 million) fine to Mondelez, the US confectionary giant behind like likes of Toblerone, Oreo, Cadbury, and Milka, for anticompetitive behavior. The EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, accused Mondelez of “restricting the cross-border trade of chocolate, biscuits and coffee products within the European Union.” “This harmed consumers, who ended up paying more for chocolate, biscuits and coffee,” she told reporters in Brussels. “This case is about the price of groceries. It’s a key concern to European citizens and even more obvious in times of very high inflation, where many are in a cost-of-living crisis.” Mondelez,…

China has tested its ability to “seize power” by launching mock missile strikes on Taiwan and pretending to bomb foreign assets.The two-day tests were staged to punish Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, who China has previously denounced as being a “dangerous separatist”. China dispatched fighter jets carrying live missiles along with bombers on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV said.The bombers set up several attack formations in waters east of Taiwan – which China views as its own territory. Mock attacks were carried out in coordination with naval vessels, CCTV added. Image: China launched mock missile strikes on Taiwan. Image: Chinese warships…

These are exactly the headlines that the German government was desperate to avoid. “Scholz spokesman hints: Germany would arrest Netanyahu,” ran the headline of the country’s highest-circulation broadsheet, Bild, on Wednesday evening. Die Welt newspaper chimed in: “Germany would extradite Netanyahu, government spokesman hints.” Is it really conceivable that Germany would arrest or even extradite the leader of Israel if the International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? For the leader of the biggest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, the mere thought of this is absurd. “The silence of the German…

The International Court of Justice, which is colloquially known as the World Court, ordered Israel to cease its offensive in southern Gaza on Friday in yet another blow to the country’s international standing. Judges said evacuation efforts were insufficient to alleviate the “immense risk” for civilians. “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive or any other action in the Rafah governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” ICJ President Nawaf Salam said. Two weeks ago, and despite warnings from its allies, Israel launched…

Meals will be halted and crew will be told to strap in during turbulence, Singapore Airlines has said, as it introduces new safety measures following a fatal flight earlier this week.Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Gloucestershire, died from a suspected heart attack as the SQ321 flight he was on encountered sudden extreme turbulence on Tuesday and was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok. The Boeing 777-300ER, carrying 211 passengers, was travelling from London to Singapore when people were jolted out of their seats as the aircraft shuddered in mid-air. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player…