Author: DW

There were audible gasps in the room when Alexander Zverev, a pre-tournament contender for the French Open title, was drawn against Rafael Nadal, the 14-time champion in Paris and one of the sport’s greatest ever players. With Nadal in the twilight of his career and struggling with injuries, the intriguing first-round matchup on Monday is likely to symbolize a changing of the guard in men’s tennis. But looming large for Zverev, the reigning Olympic champion, is a very different court battle, one whose outcome could have major implications for his own career, as well as the way tennis handles domestic…

NATO member Poland on Monday elaborated on a plan to reinforce anti-drone surveillance and construct fortifications along some 700 kilometers (430 miles) of its border with Russian exclave Kaliningrad, and Russian ally Belarus. The system, called Shield-East, is to be completed in 2028 and aims to protect Poland from hostile actions across the border, which up to now have included pushing migrants illegally into the country, an EU member. The presentation of the plan comes as many countries from the former “Eastern Bloc” increasingly fear Russian aggression in view of Moscow’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. What has Poland said about the plan? The…

Despite mass pro-EU rallies and pressure from the West, Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has shown no sign of repealing the “foreign influence” bill. Critics of the bill, who have dubbed it the “Russian law,” have said the Georgian government intends to implement similar tactics used by the Kremlin to crack down on opposition, civil society and independent media. If signed into law, it would require nongovernmental organizations and individuals receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities “bearing the interests of a foreign power.” The government has claimed the bill is aimed at transparency. But opponents have said its goal is…

Doug Ingle, the last surviving member of the original line-up of heavy rock band Iron Butterfly, has died aged 78.Ingle was the lead vocalist and organist in the band he co-founded in 1966 – singing their 17-minute long signature hit In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, which featured in a 1995 episode of The Simpsons. The musician’s son announced his father’s passing on social media but did not give a cause of death.In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida featured on Iron Butterfly’s 1968 album of the same name, which spent 81 weeks in the top 10 in the US.The record was eventually certified quadruple-platinum, meaning it sold at least 400,000…

Coastal regions of India and Bangladesh were battered by strong winds and heavy rain from cyclone Remal as the storm made landfall late Sunday night.  The storm crossed the coastal regions of Bangladesh’s Mongla port, and the adjoining Sagar Islands in India’s West Bengal state, around midnight, with wind speeds measuring up to 135 kilometers per hour (about 84 miles per hour), the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Strong winds, rain and flooding is expected throughout Monday as the storm moves inland and weakens.  “The system is likely to move north-northeastwards and gradually weaken into a Cyclonic Storm,” the IMD…

Russia is producing artillery shells around three times faster than Ukraine’s Western allies and for about a quarter of the cost, according to an analysis shared with Sky News.The figures, produced by the management consulting firm Bain & Company, underline a major challenge faced by the Ukrainian armed forces as they rely on supplies of ammunition from the United States and Europe to battle Russia’s full-scale invasion. The war has been described from the start as a “battle of fires” because of the volume of artillery rounds used.It prompted the US, the UK and other European allies to seek to…

Leaders from China, Japan, and South Korea said Monday they want to speed up negotiations to reach a free trade deal.  Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met in Seoul for the first three-way talks in more than four years. “We will keep discussions for speeding up negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement,” they said after the rare trilateral summit, adding that they wanted the deal to be “free, fair, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial.” US ties complicate economic talks Negotiations between East Asia’s economic powerhouses on a three-party trade agreement stalled in 2019, but Li said Monday’s trilateral summit was “both…

The European Union is expected to publish a provisional list of planned import duties on Chinese electric vehicles in June, following an investigation launched last October into whether Chinese carmakers have received market-distorting subsidies to the detriment of EU carmakers. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, says it has found “sufficient evidence” that the imports of new battery electric vehicles from China had increased sharply by 14% since it launched its investigation and that many of those imports had received government subsidies in the form of tax breaks or direct transfer of funds. If the EU goes ahead with imposing tariffs, how high would…

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:…