Author: DW

Israel has probably broken international law – that’s the conclusion of a US State Department report that is both damning yet cautiously equivocal too.The report, released late last night, is highly critical of Israel, but will also be seen as intentionally non-committal by its critics. Eagerly anticipated – it was due on Wednesday – the report was written by the US State Department for the US Congress as part of an audit determining how US-supplied weapons overseas are being used.It concludes that it is “reasonable to assess” that some of Israel’s actions in Gaza have been “inconsistent with its international…

“What is it that scares our societies the most — but we think about it every 40 minutes?,” presenter Maria Elayan asks at the beginning of the video. There’s a drum roll, then the answer: “Sex. You’re surprised, right?” The character that Elayan plays in the video, who is also called Maria, is open and outspoken. The character is a woman from the Middle East and North African region who is courageous, has her own opinions and is not afraid to go her own way. “Why are our societies so afraid of desire? Especially women’s desire? And what is desire?”…

Some of the scenes in the film are almost unbearable to watch. One of them features abstract sketches that detail the execution of a man in the custody of an elite unit of the Bangladeshi army. The man is an opposition politician. The film is “Inside Bangladesh’s Death Squad” by the investigative journalists Christian Caurla, Naomi Conrad, Arafatul Islam, and Birgitta Schülke. The documentary, which was produced by DW Investigations in collaboration with DW Bengali and Netra News, a Sweden-based investigative and public interest journalism platform focusing on Bangladesh, is the first to provide evidence of targeted killings and torture by an elite unit in…

The strongest solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular auroras worldwide. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, the first of several coronal mass ejections (CME) occurred shortly after 1600 GMT. It was later upgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm. It was the first such storm since the Halloween storms of October 2003, which caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. The green and blue lights — which are expected to continue for a few days — were seen from Britain to Tasmania, with…

Tennis star Novak Djokovic was struck in the head by a water bottle after winning a match at the Italian Open.The Serbian star went down clutching his head after a bottle struck him from the stands. Tournament organisers said the object – thought to be an aluminium-type water bottle – fell out of a spectator’s bag as the tennis ace attempted to sign autographs.The 36-year-old – a 24-time Grand Slam champion – stayed on the ground for a while before being helped by a security guard to the changing rooms.He was checked over by doctors, according to tournament organisers, and…

For a while, it seemed like Bayern Munich had saved themselves. Then it looked like the referee had done the job. Then, finally, the VAR. In the end, though, the muscle memory and relentless pressure of the Champions League’s most successful club meant no one could now save their season. Two late goals from Real Madrid substitute Joselu, the second subject to that injury time VAR check, turned the tie around after Alphonso Davies had given Bayern a second half lead. When Nacho’s deflected strike was ruled out shortly afterwards, Bayern looked to be booking an all-German final for the first time…

Several thousand farmers, many in yellow vests, and other protesters marched through the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Friday to protest EU climate regulations they say are endangering their livelihoods. The march, which took as its slogan “Down with the Green Deal,” was called by Solidarity, a farmers’ trade union that vigorously opposes the EU’s climate-related farming policies. What do the protesters object to? Solidarity says the EU’s European Green Deal imposes restrictions that interfere with their work and cause higher costs. One banner read “Let Brussels eat worms, we prefer pork chops and potatoes,” a reference to a widespread belief that the EU will advocate eating…

Mozambique’s military is battling a major Islamist attack in the town of Macomia in northern Mozambique, according to President Filipe Nyusi. “Macomia is under attack since this morning. Fire exchange still continues,” Nyusi said in a televised address on Friday, adding that the militants initially withdrew after about 45 minutes of fighting, but then regrouped and came back. Macomia lies in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado, where Islamic State-linked militants launched an insurgency in 2017. What do we know about the attack? Local media reported that hundreds of militants took part in the Friday attack. The attack appeared to…

Hundreds of protesters wanting to stop the expansion of a Tesla factory near Germany’s capital of Berlin were blocked by police as they attempted to storm the site.Crowds of demonstrators gathered near the Grunheide factory, Tesla’s only European production base, on Friday carrying banners complaining about water consumption at the plant and advocating for public transport over private cars. The protests against water consumption and the felling of trees to make way for a planned expansion of the factory have been ongoing since February, with demonstrations taking place in a forest near the site.Several people were temporarily detained, German news…

The idea of talking to animals has fascinated humans for millennia. Stories are full of talking animals, like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland or talking lambs, wolves, asses and lions in Aesop’s fables. But the communication wasn’t always for good — it’s a talking serpent in the Book of Genesis which tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. In the real world, scientists are getting ever closer to understanding animal communication, if not talking back to them. And the one species we might soon understand is the sperm whale. Scientists have spent years recording sperm whales, trying to…