Author: DW

The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on three Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday, accusing them of corruption. The three individuals were parliament speaker Anita Among plus two former ministers for the northeastern Karamoja region, Mary Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu. Kitutu and Nandutu are accused of stealing thousands of iron sheets from a government-funded housing project aimed at helping vulnerable communities in the isolated Karamoja region, and redirecting them to politicians and their families. The parliamentary speaker, Among, allegedly profited off the scheme, the UK said. “The UK is sending a clear message to those who think benefiting at the expense of others…

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he was told Ayrton Senna’s death in a Formula One race 30 years ago “would be the end of” the sport.The former F1 boss said Max Mosley, then president of the sport’s governing body the FIA, made the prediction after the Brazilian driver died at the San Marino Grand Prix on 1 May 1994. Senna, a three-time world champion and one of the biggest names in world sport, died instantly when his Williams car ran off the road at 190mph and hit a concrete wall on the seventh lap of the Imola circuit.The 34-year-old was the…

Skip next section Kyiv begins taking down Soviet monument to friendship with Russia04/30/2024April 30, 2024Kyiv begins taking down Soviet monument to friendship with RussiaAuthorities in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, have begun dismantling a giant Soviet-era monument. The granite structure was built in 1982 to celebrate “friendship” between Ukrainians and Russians. It depicts the signing of a 1654 treaty that binded Ukraine to Russian rule. “The dismantlement could take several days since the structure is quite massive. It includes around 20 pieces” weighing between six and seven tons each, the mayor’s office said. The monument will be transferred to a museum in Kyiv.…

Germany’s flagship airline convened at its Frankfurt HQ for its annual general meeting on Tuesday, releasing first quarter data for 2024 showing increased losses that it attributed in large part to repeated strikes in Germany in recent months.  Negative EBIT of €849 million, almost half of that attributed to strikes Lufthansa’s adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first quarter tracked a loss of €849 million (roughly $908 million), more than three times its figure from the first quarter of 2023.  The airline estimated that €350 million or so could be attributed to strikes in Germany impacting its services. Lufthansa…

Authorities in the United Kingdom have charged two men with criminal damage over the felling of the famous Sycamore Gap tree. The iconic sycamore had stood for hundreds of years beside a section of the Hadrian’s Wall UNESCO World Heritage Site in northeastern England. The tree was discovered cut down by the Northumberland National Park Authority in September 2023.Regrowing a piece of history: the Sycamore Gap TreeTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Much-loved ‘Robin Hood’ tree The two accused, aged 31 and 38, have also been charged with damaging…

Lord Cameron has appeared to rule out the Iranian regime’s military arm being proscribed as a terrorist group, as he wants to maintain diplomatic relations with Tehran.The foreign secretary explained the government’s stance in an appearance before the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee. Lord Cameron was asked about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which carries out operations both inside and outside Iran.Politics latest: Potential contender hints she will standThis is reported to include capturing ships and launching missiles at Syria and Iraq, and the recent attacks against Israel. There have been calls for the UK to…

Reliable, cheap and low carbon — since coming into use over a hundred years ago, hydropower has become a vital clean energy source, today providing more electricity than all other renewables combined. But recent power shortages in Ecuador and Colombia have highlighted its vulnerability in the face of climate change.  A drought fueled by the El Nino weather phenomenon has reduced reservoir water levels in hydropower plants, which both countries rely on for most of their electricity. This has led Ecuador to declare a state of emergency and institute power cuts. In neighboring Colombia, water has been rationed in the…

“We definitely don’t want to win the ‘Wolfsburg Cup,’ as some people might call it. We want to win the [German] Cup, and then maybe we can name it something different this year.” Footballer Georgia Stanway is not fazed. The England midfielder has helped Bayern Munich to be on the verge of the first domestic double in club history. A German Cup final on May 9 against Wolfsburg, the standard setters in German women’s football and winners of the last nine straight cups, is not something the 25-year-old is concerned by. “We know that whenever we play Wolfsburg, we don’t know what…

A New York judge on Tuesday imposed a $9,000 (€8,396) fine on former US President Donald Trump for defying a gag order in his hush money trial. Trump was held in contempt for violating an order to refrain from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors or court staff. Trump fined for 9 violations The former president was fined $1,000 each for nine violations and was told to remove seven posts from his Truth Social account and two others from a campaign website by Tuesday afternoon. Trump was also warned that he could find himself behind bars if he continued to violate the gag…

It may be just a small little detail, but it may manage what the German government hasn’t been able to do in the past decade: Invest large-scale in infrastructure. Since 2011, the country’s so-called debt brake has put strict limits on how much fresh borrowing the government can raise annually. It was enshrined in the German constitution in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. However, the limit on excessively raising sovereign debt has curtailed investments in schools, bridges, and the transition to more renewable energy. The law is contentious among the governing coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the…