Author: DW

Russia will hold its tradition military parade at Red Square in Moscow on Thursday marking Nazi Germany’s 1945 capitulation in World War II.  President Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver a speech, and most likely to speak in defense of the war in Ukraine.  Russian media reported that some 9,000 soldiers, including some who have been fighting in Ukraine, would participate. An air show, canceled the last two years, is also anticipated. Western leaders will not be in attendance. But the Kremlin has said that heads of state or government from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenista, Cuba, Laos and Guinea Bissau…

Vladimir Putin used his Victory Day speech this year to warn that Russia’s combat forces were “always ready”.Every year, Moscow wraps itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Today marks the 79th anniversary and Mr Putin addressed the parade in the Red Square, trying to talk up his country’s military capabilities in a speech aimed as much at the foreign audience as a domestic one.During this year’s speech, Mr Putin said his country would “never forget” the Second World War but did say that Russia was going…

Setting red lines is all very well, as long as you follow through when they are crossed. President Joe Biden knows that all too well.But he also knows that if he follows through on this big new red line of withholding offensive weapons for Israel it could cost him dearly domestically. The push-me-pull-you balance of geopolitics and domestic politics is intensely difficult right now for the American president.Gaza latest: Follow live updatesI’ll break this down into two parts. The politics in a moment. First the challenges of red lines. Western leaders throw them down in interviews, like Mr Biden’s pronouncement…

Rescue teams in South Africa were racing against time on Wednesday to find more survivors after a deadly building collapse in the country’s Western Cape province, as search operations entered a third day. Rescuers used underground cameras and sniffer dogs amid the rubble, looking for nearly 40 construction workers still missing, two days after the collapse of an apartment building under construction in the city of George. At least eight people were killed as an under-construction five-story building collapsed on Monday for reasons that are still to be determined.Cranes and other heavy lifting equipment were brought in to lift some of the huge concrete slabs that came…

Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish football federation, will stand trial for kissing a female player after Spain won the women’s World Cup.The 46-year-old kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips following Spain’s 1-0 win over England last August in Sydney. Hermoso, 34, has testified in court that the kiss was not consensual.Rubiales faces one count of sexual assault and one of coercion for his alleged actions in the aftermath of the kiss.The offences carry prison terms of one year and 18 months, respectively. Spain’s High Court said it would also try the former coach of the women’s team,…

Russian forces will push into the heart of Ukraine if they succeed in capturing the frontline town of Chasiv Yar and the wider Donbas region, a Ukrainian governor has warned.Vadym Filashkin, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, told Sky News his country’s soldiers would not allow this to happen and would do “everything possible – and impossible” to push the Russian invaders back. But he said Vladimir Putin’s troops were attempting to break through Ukraine’s defensive lines, with between 1,500 to 2,500 artillery rounds and airstrikes fired in the region daily.Ukraine war latest: ‘Undeclared Russian military intelligence officer’ expelled from…

President Joe Biden has warned Israel in his toughest public comments so far that the US would stop supplying it with some weapons if Israel invades the southern Gaza city of Rafah.If Israeli forces launch an all-out assault on the city, the last major Hamas stronghold in the besieged enclave, the US president said “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, that have been used”. In an interview with CNN, Mr Biden acknowledged US weapons have been used by Israel which have killed civilians in Gaza during its seven-month offensive aimed at destroying Hamas.Middle East latest:…

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist who inspired the “Fridays for Future” movement, was ordered to pay 6,000 Swedish crowns ($550, €512) by a Stockholm court on  Wednesday. Thunberg was accused of ignoring police orders to leave two protests in front of Sweden’s Parliament in March calling for action to be taken against climate change. What did Thunberg say in court? The activist was being charged with two counts of civil disobedience. She has denied the charges in court. She told the judge she refused to move because “there was a (climate) emergency and there still is. And in an emergency, we all…

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Victory Day in Russia, which marks the anniversary of the end of the Second World War.The patriotic fervour has been building for the past fortnight. Moscow has been coloured red with giant flags on almost every corner. Buses, rubbish lorries and even tractors bear some reference to 9 May.The day will see a huge military parade on Red Square, involving troops, tanks and missile launchers. This year, the 79th anniversary, is not exactly a major milestone – so why is it so big?I think it can be summed up by three Ps: pain,…

Bayern Munich were two minutes plus added time away from setting up a repeat of 2013’s all-German Champions League final at Wembley before two late goals from Real Madrid’s Joselu sent the Spanish giants through to face Borussia Dortmund instead. After enduring waves of Madrid pressure, Bayern took the lead against the run play through Alphonso Davies, who cut inside and fired an unstoppable shot past Andriy Lunin in the Madrid goal. It was almost the winner, but 14-times Champions League winners Real Madrid inevitably had other ideas. First, Manuel Neuer, who had pulled off a series of spectacular saves throughout the game,…