Author: DW

Royalty and world leaders will gather with veterans in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.The King and Queen will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the UK’s national commemoration event at the British Normandy Memorial, in Ver-sur-Mer. They will be joined by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.The site, which opened in 2021, pays tribute to 22,442 service personnel under British command who died on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.This will be the first major anniversary event hosted at the memorial,…

At least four people have been killed after a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train in the Czech Republic.Twenty-three people were injured in the incident that happened late on Wednesday night in the city of Pardubice – 62 miles (100km) east of Prague. Interior minister Vit Rakusan said the high-speed passenger train belonged to the private RegioJet company.He added that none of the injured was in life-threatening condition.Transport minister Martin Kupka said the main track between Prague and the eastern part of the country had to be closed while authorities investigate the collision. “We can’t and won’t speculate…

Vladimir Putin has warned he could provide long-range weapons to nations to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory.The Russian president also re-issued Moscow’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it sees a threat to its sovereignty. During an audience with international journalists on Wednesday, he said the recent actions by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”.”That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way.”It comes after…

Four people died and more than two dozen were injured after a passenger train collided with a freight train late on Wednesday in the Czech city of Pardubice, the regional governor said. “A head-on collision between a RegioJet train and a freight train claimed several lives and left dozens injured,” Martin Netolicky, governor of the Pardubice region,said on Facebook. Firefighters, paramedics and doctors, as well as at least one rescue helicopter, have been deployed at the scene of the accident, some 100 kilometers east of Prague. The country’s interior and transport ministers said they were headed to the accident scene, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala…

The potential for all-out war between Israel and Lebanon seems to have dramatically moved up a notch – or more – over the past few days.And the Israeli prime minister has done nothing to dissuade that notion – telling his troops on the northern border with Lebanon on Wednesday that they are prepared for “very strong action” inside Lebanon. “Yesterday the land was burning here,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in Kiryat Shmona to his audience of soldiers and emergency workers.”I’m glad you put it out, but the ground was also on fire in Lebanon. Whoever thinks that he will hurt us…

The first lab-confirmed human case of H5N2 bird flu has died, according to the World Health OrganisationIt said the 59-year-old Mexican resident developed a fever, shortness of breath, nausea and diarrhoea. They died on 24 April. It’s the first confirmed human case of this bird flu sub-type in the world – and the first H5 infection reported in Mexico.The victim had no history of exposure to poultry or animals, the WHO said.However, they had multiple underlying health conditions and had been in bed for three weeks for other reasons before the bird flu symptoms took hold. Before the H5N2 case…

French counter-terrorism investigators on Wednesday detained a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen who seriously injured himself in an explosion two days ago. He was detained on suspicion of planning a violent act after a homemade explosive device detonated in a hotel in Roissy, on the outskirts of Paris on Monday. The man was treated by a fire brigade on Monday with prosecutors saying he suffered serious injuries. What have French authorities said? According to two sources close to the case, the man was staying at a hotel in the town of Roissy-en-France, where Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport is located. “Products and materials intended to…

Yulia Navalnaya and the Russian Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), established by her late husband Alexei Navalny, received DW’s 2024 Freedom of Speech Award at a ceremony in Berlin on Wednesday.  Navalnaya told the audience that free speech had been her husband and his organization’s “most important weapon” during the last 13 years while trying to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin.  “During these years, Putin has destroyed elections. During these years, Putin has prohibited protests. During these years, Putin has suppressed independent media. And he has tried to silence anyone who said what he didn’t like. But he failed. Yes, he killed my husband,…

In recent weeks, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has taken to the road across all 27 EU member states armed with a simple slogan: “Use your vote.” At countless debates in town halls, schools and universities, Metsola has attempted to rev up young voters for the European elections. “That picture that you have in front of you when you think about the European Parliament: over 700 blue seats. Whether you vote or don’t, these seats will be filled. Now, you have a choice,” Metsola told young voters in Denmark. “Either you affect, you influence who sits on these seats, or you don’t.”…

The King and Queen appeared to be moved to tears as they paid tribute to the “courage and service” of veterans at commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.At an event in Portsmouth, the King said it was “our duty” to ensure the “sacrifice” made by the wartime generation in “replacing tyranny with freedom” was never forgotten.Pictures showed the King appearing to wipe a tear from his eye at an event which saw him make his first public speech and his most high-profile appearance since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.D-Day latest updatesThe Queen seemed to be emotional following words from…