Author: DW

In Bitterfeld-Wolfen they are used to chemical processing. But a lithium refinery is something entirely new to the eastern Germany town’s industrial park that looks back to more than a century of chemical industry history. So new, it’s the first of its kind in the whole of Europe. As the European Union is scrambling to ensure enough supplies for its resource-hungry industries, AMG Lithium has set up shop in Bitterfeld-Wolfen with the aim of playing a crucial role in the EU plan. The German subsidiary of US-based AMG Critical Materials N.V. wants to build a refinery plant for battery-grade lithium that it hopes…

There were numerous traces of gunfire on Vladyslav Yefarov’s car. He explained that a Russian sniper had opened fire on him and his colleague Yuri Yaremchuk not long ago. The two Ukrainian policemen were on their way to the town of Vovchansk to evacuate an elderly woman living there on her own. A US armored vehicle saved them, said Yefarov, but they were not able to pick up the woman. The two have been evacuating residents from the north of the Kharkiv region for almost two weeks — ever since the Russian army resumed its offensive on Ukraine’s border areas on…

Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi was a year away from the end of his first presidential term when he died on May 20. Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian, and six other people — including two pilots — lost their lives when the helicopter transporting them went down near the Azerbaijani border. Raisi “died as a martyr serving his country,” said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. State media outlets showed images and videos aimed to underline Raisi’s popularity during his commemoration. According to the head of Iran’s state broadcaster, millions of people had rushed to Tehran to attend the ceremony honoring the…

The current South African president and leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Cyril Ramaphosa, is still hopeful that he and his party will come out on top in the upcoming election. Ramaphosa took over the reins from former President Jacob Zuma in 2018 who was infamously embroiled in a corruption scandal and faces multiple charges of racketeering, fraud, tax evastion and money laundering. The 71-year-old promised a new dawn for South Africa but critics say he has failed to deliver. Under his watch unemployment has reached record highs, pushing the ANC towards what is expected to be its worst election result ever.  Current President…

Severe turbulence struck a Singapore Airlines flight from London Heathrow earlier today, with one man killed and many others “launched into the ceiling”.Authorities believe a 73-year-old British man, who had a heart condition, likely died from cardiac arrest, with at least 30 others injured as a result of the turbulence.Deaths from turbulence are extremely rare, and the US’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said 146 passengers and crew have been seriously injured by turbulence between 2009 and 2021.Read more:Images show damage in plane after one killed in turbulenceBut what could have caused the incident, what types of turbulence exist, and are…

In Belarus, there are currently 144 political prisoner per 1 million inhabitants, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna and United Nations estimates. In comparison, Russia, where repression has been drastically increasing, has a ratio of four per 1 million, according to the Russian human rights group Memorial.  Beyond the current estimates, many stories remain unheard: Merely reaching out to independent media can be grounds for punishment in both countries. Nadezhda and Vladimir are the leads of the Belarusian fantasy-folk band Irdorath. They received a two-year prison sentence for performing music at a protest against Alexander Lukashenko, the long-serving president of Belarus.…

Russia is conducting military drills in its Southern Military District that involve tactical nuclear weapons.  The Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, as the operations began, that the first stage envisioned “practical training in the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” including the nuclear-capable Kinzhal and Iksander missiles.  Tactical nuclear weapons are shorter-ranger, lower-yield weapons designed for use in battlefield scenarios against smaller targets, as opposed to the high-yield strategic nuclear weapons designed to target large population centers.  It’s the first time Russia had publicly announced drills involving such weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces hold regular exercises. The drills were…

Controversial comments made on old video footage by Mani Shankar Aiyar, a veteran leader of the opposition Indian National Congress (INC) party, have recently resurfaced — raising eyebrows as India’s elections enter their final two phases. In the footage, Aiyar described Pakistanis as the “biggest asset of India” and recommended that India should resume dialogue with Pakistan. His views were echoed by Farooq Abdullah, the former chief minister of the Muslim-majority state Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan plays into India’s elections The video’s reappearance provided Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an opportunity to corner the…

Tens of thousands of mourners have followed a funeral procession for Iran’s late president, foreign minister and the other victims of a helicopter crash.Ebrahim Raisi died along with seven others in the crash near the country’s border with Azerbaijan on Sunday.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for the victims at the funeral at Tehran University.The caskets of the dead, including the late foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, were draped in Iranian flags with their pictures on them.On the late president’s coffin sat a black turban, signifying him as a direct descendent of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.”Oh Allah, we didn’t see anything…

Laser technology is advancing rapidly within the military industry. Armed forces in countries including the US, China, the UK and Israel have reported significant developments in laser weapons that can heat, disrupt, or burn aerial targets such as drones and cruise missiles from tens of kilometers away. Meanwhile, the internet is inundated with dubious claims about the latest advanced laser weapons stationed in space, including claims related to the helicopter accident involving the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi.  Do space lasers capable of downing a helicopter exist? Claim: “The president of Iran obviously had his helicopter shot out of the sky by a space laser!” wrote…