Author: DW

Just over two weeks ago, President Biden drew a clear red line for his “old friend Bibi”.He told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu not to go into Rafah. “If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons… to deal with that problem,” he told CNN.It was widely interpreted as the moment the American president was no longer going to be taken for a ride by Netanyahu.But then Netanyahu’s soldiers entered Rafah. They avoided the city centre though, thus allowing Biden the wiggle room to say his line hadn’t been crossed. Israeli forces instead took over the border crossing on the…

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…

An 81-year-old man will appear before court on Tuesday for harassing residents of a southern California neighborhood with a slingshot, US police said. Detectives “learned that during the course of 9-10 years, dozens of citizens were being victimized by a serial slingshot shooter,” according to a statement from police in the city of Azusa, which lies some 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. No injuries were reported. ‘Malicious mischief’ Police said that the man broke windows and windshields with his slingshot. He also nearly hit people with ball bearings, they said. The suspect was arrested on Thursday after officers…

Rishi Sunak is facing calls for the UK to recognise the state of Palestine, on the day that Ireland, Spain and Norway officially do so.The Scottish first minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader John Swinney has written to both the prime minister and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urging them to “do the right thing” and “immediately” recognise a Palestinian state. He said the SNP would force a binding vote at Westminster after the general election if they failed to do so.Mr Swinney said recognition would offer “hope” that a “durable political solution” was possible between Israel and Palestine.”I…

French President Emmanuel Macron said authoritarianism posed a serious threat to Europe’s future in a speech delivered in the eastern German city of Dresden on Monday. The French president pointed to the rise of far-right political parties as one key source. “Everywhere in our democracies these ideas thrive, pushed by the extremes and in particular the far right. This ill wind is blowing in Europe, so let us wake up,” Macron said. Citing the ongoing war in Ukraine, Macron said that Europe is at a crossroads.  He made this point by speaking in German — a gesture that was met with applause…

North Korea said a rocket that it launched to carry a spy satellite into space exploded mid-air on Monday. “The launch of the new satellite carrier rocket failed when it exploded in mid-air during the flight of the first stage,” the deputy director general of Pyongyang’s National Aerospace Technology Administration said in a report carried by state media. An “expert review concluded that the cause of the accident was the operational reliability of the newly developed liquid oxygen and oil engine,” the report added. The launch followed just a few hours after North Korea issued a warning saying it would…

There have been many potential turning points in this war, and every time Israel has remained determinedly on the path it’s set: to destroy Hamas.The deadly strike in Rafah on Sunday night feels like another of those moments, and, possibly, could be the point that Benjamin Netanyahu is forced to turn. The White House is yet to comment fully, but Joe Biden had been openly opposed to a major Israeli offensive inside Rafah – this will surely have confirmed their fears.Israel-Gaza latest: Follow live updatesThat position is only likely to harden if it’s found US-supplied weapons were used. This strike…

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…

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a keynote address in German in Dresden on Monday, with much of the introductory segment in German met with applause from the crowd. Macron said he was the first French president to visit Dresden since the reunification of East and West Germany. It comes on day two of his state visit to the country. “I’m speaking here to a part of Europe that has found unity again — German unity. But at the same time [a region] which has allowed us not only to enhance Europe, but to allow Europe to be what it was always…

North Korea has said its latest attempt to launch a new military reconnaissance satellite failed after a newly developed rocket engine exploded in flight.”The launch of the new satellite carrier rocket failed when it exploded in mid-air during the flight of the first stage,” North Korean state media said, citing the deputy director general of the National Aerospace Technology Administration. Large amounts of debris from the rocket were found in the sea just two minutes after launch, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said. Image: Pic: AP It appeared to come from the northwestern region of Dongchang-ri, at around…