Author: DW

A US congressional delegation met new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Monday on a visit aiming to show Washington’s continued commitment to Taiwan amid growing assertiveness from China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own. The visit, the first congressional visit to Taiwan since Lai’s inauguration, comes days after China carried out military drills nearby that Beijing said were to test its ability to seize the island.  Beijing also said it had ordered the exercises as “punishment” for an inauguration speech by Lai, whom it calls a “dangerous separatist.” What was said during the visit? Michael McCaul, the head of the House Foreign Affairs…

Israeli airstrikes on Rafah have reportedly killed at least 35 people and injured dozens more after Hamas launched rocket attacks towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months.The strike in the southern Gaza city hit tents for displaced people, according to Palestinian medics. Footage from the scene shows heavy destruction.However, Israel’s military said it struck a “Hamas compound” in Rafah and killed two senior Hamas militants. It said it was investigating reports civilians were harmed.It said the attack took out Hamas’s chief of staff for the West Bank and another senior official behind deadly attacks on Israelis. Image: Pics:…

Eight people have been taken to hospital due to turbulence on a flight to Dublin. Dublin Airport said six passengers and six crew members on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin were hurt after experiencing turbulence over Turkey. In a later statement, the airport said all passengers were assessed for injury before getting off the plane and eight were taken to hospital.Graeme McQueen, a spokesman for DAA, the operator of Dublin Airport, told Sky News the aircraft was met by emergency services upon landing shortly before 1pm on Sunday. Qatar Airways described the injuries sustained by passengers and…

A fire at a crowded amusement park in Gujarat State in western India on Saturday left at least 27 people dead, police said. Four of them were children younger than 12. Local government officials said forensic specialists were collecting DNA samples from the dead, as some of them were “charred beyond recognition.” “The toll in the fire incident is now 27. Police have arrested two persons and the investigation is continuing,” local government official Prabhav Joshi told AFP news agency on Sunday morning. Officials said at least four people had been detained for questioning, and warned the death toll is likely to rise. The blaze occurred in…

The Zelena Ruza farm in the village of Klacno in western Slovakia comprises a beautifully renovated guest house loaded with amenities. The owners even set up a small zoo for their guests to admire sheep, goats, Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs and even an ostrich. But most of the animals died last year when female brown bear went on a rampage and tore them apart. “We have footage from the surveillance camera that shows our ostrich being killed. It was very brutal, you don’t want to see that,” said Ludmila, the young woman who welcomes guests at reception. The bear had to be shot.Last year,…

PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray took his own life, his parents have said, as they urged people to be “kind to one another”.The 30-year-old American withdrew from a competition in Texas with two holes remaining of his second round on Friday citing an illness, a day before he died.In their statement, Eric and Terry Murray said “life wasn’t always easy” for their son and “although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now”.The couple said that losing him was a “nightmare” and they have “so many questions that have no answers… but one”.”Was Grayson loved? The answer…

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…

Tens of thousands of residents from Bangladeshi coastal villages fled their homes on Sunday for shelters further inland as an intense cyclone approaches over the Bay of Bengal before hitting Bangladesh and parts of neighboring India. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said Cyclone Remal would make landfall between 6:00 pm and midnight (1200-1800 GMT), bringing high waves and gales with gusts of up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour. The number of cyclones hitting the region has increased in recent years under the impact of climate change. Airports, seaports closed The airport in Bangladesh’s second-largest city of Chittagong has closed,…

The Monaco Grand Prix was halted during the opening lap after a huge crash involving Formula One drivers Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen’s Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg was also caught up in the collision, but all three drivers escaped unscathed. Perez, who was 16th on the grid, was sent into the wall after Magnussen’s front-left wheel made contract with the rear-right of the Mexican’s Red Bull.The Red Bull car was destroyed on impact, with all but one of the four wheels ripped off the vehicle.Perez was not even required to head to the medical centre. But with debris scattered…

Vital aid from Egypt again began entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing while the Rafah border crossing remains closed. The change of crossing comes after a deal between the Egyptian and US presidents to circumvent Cairo’s refusal to coordinate aid through Rafah — some 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Kerem Shalom — while Israeli troops control the Palestinian side amid their offensive in the enclave. All aid from Egypt is inspected by Israeli authorities and distributed by the United Nations. The deliveries from Egypt are the first in nearly three weeks, according to the state-linked al-Qahera News TV outlet.…