Author: DW

David Cameron has backed Ukrainian strikes against targets inside Russia using British-supplied weapons.Speaking in the Ukrainian capital, the foreign secretary said it was Ukraine’s decision on how to use the supplied equipment and Kyiv “absolutely has the right” to strike back. Britain has supplied billions of pounds worth of equipment, and on a visit to Kyiv, Lord Cameron said: “In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view, it is their decision about how to use these weapons, they’re defending their country, they were illegally invaded by Putin and they must take those steps.”We don’t discuss any caveats that…

The United Kingdom’s opposition Labour Party inflicted a series of defeats on the governing Conservatives, gaining control of a string of councils and the only constituency seat that was up for grabs. The losses could prove embarrassing for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and difficult for him to ride out ahead of an upcoming general election. How bad are the results for Sunak? Labour took the constituency of Blackpool South in the northwest of England. The electoral district is part of the so-called “Red Wall” of normally Labour seats that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson flipped to the Conservatives in the last election in 2019. …

Rahul Gandhi, one of India’s top opposition figures, will contest in the ongoing general elections from Raebareli in the country’s north, his party, the Indian National Congress announced Friday. Gandhi is seen as a key challenger to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is vying for a third successive term after being in power since 2014. As India enters the third phase of the world’s largest democratic election, all eyes were on whether Gandhi would contest from Raebareli or the adjoining Amethi, where he lost in the last general election in 2019. The announcement came on the last day of…

At least 29 people have been killed in floods in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, in what has been described as “the most critical flooding recorded in history” by local authorities.The storms, which have caused the greatest devastation in the state in recent years, also left 60 people missing and 10,242 displaced in 154 cities, according to Rio Grande do Sul’s civil defence. “It’s not just another critical case; it’s the most critical that the state will probably have recorded in its history,” state governor Eduardo Leite said in a live broadcast on social media, adding that…

No dam is flood-proof, as flooding after days of heavy rains in southern Brazil has shown. But dam failure needn’t be deadly. Here’s what you need to know. Source link

Turkey on Thursday suspended all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in Gaza. “Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said in a statement. It said the measures would stay in place until Israel allowed “an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.” The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion (€6.3 billion) in 2023. Katz blames Erdogan for breaking agreements Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of breaking agreements by blocking Israeli exports and imports. “This is how a…

Taiwan detected a renewedincursion by Chinese aircraft around the democratically-governed island, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Friday, as China reported that its navy had conducted combat exercises with landing craft. A statement from Taipei said that at least 14 Chinese military aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and central ADIZ (air defense identification zone). The median line is used to serve as an unofficial border between the two sides. However, China does not recognise the line’s existence and Chinese military aircraft now cross it regularly. The sorties come ahead of the May 20 inauguration of President…

A scuba dive boat captain has been jailed four years for criminal negligence over a fire that killed 34 people.Captain Jerry Boylan was also sentenced to three years supervised release by a federal judge in Los Angeles, California.The blaze on the vessel named Conception in September 2019 was the deadliest maritime disaster in recent American history.Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year. Image: Captain Jerry Boylan. Pic: AP The charge is a pre-Civil War statute, known colloquially as seaman’s manslaughter, and was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for…

“There was no such word as ‘rest’ on Chinese fishing vessels,” explained a former crew member to a group of investigators from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a London-based NGO. “If there were a lot of fish, the work could be up to 22 hours long.” The testimony was part of a recently released report by the EJF accusing China’s fishing fleets of environmental and human rights abuses in the southwestern Indian Ocean.  As a leading fishing nation, China’s distant water fishing (DWF) industry is the world’s largest in both catch volume and fleet size. And according to the Illegal, Unreported and…

Senior officials from the United Nations, European Union and United States have condemned Georgia’s attempt to pass a “foreign influence” law that critics say would muzzle independent media and rights groups. “I urge Georgian authorities to withdraw this draft law, and to engage in dialogue, including with civil society and media organizations,” UN rights chief Volker Türk said on Thursday. “Labeling NGOs and media outlets receiving foreign funding as ‘organizations acting in the interest of a foreign power’ poses serious threats to the rights to freedom of expression and association.”Tens of thousands of Georgians protested against the bill outside the…