Author: DW

An accident at a campaign event in northern Mexico on Wednesday night attended by presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez has claimed at least nine lives and injured dozens more, the local governor has confirmed. The casualties occurred when a strong gust of wind blew down a stage at the rally for the Citizens’ Movement party, which was being held ahead of presidential, state and municipal elections on June 2. What do we know about the accident? The governor of the state of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, has said at least 63 people were injured in addition to the at least nine who died, who reportedly…

Atalanta eased to a 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final in Dublin, bringing an end to the German side’s unbeaten season, as well as any hopes of a treble. Ademola Lookman scored a hat-trick as the Italian side won the title for the first time in their history. For Xabi Alonso’s side, it was their first loss of the season having gone 51 matches without tasting defeat, helping them lift their maiden Bundesliga title. And with the German cup final on the horizon, Bayer will have to settle for a domestic double, should they overcome FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday.  Lookman…

A small group of protesters awaits Ursula von der Leyen ahead of a campaign event in Rome. “Free Palestine! Stop genocide!,” they are chanting as her car arrives — angry with what they see as von der Leyen’s bias toward Israel.  As president of the European Commission, the European Union (EU) executive, von der Leyen traveled to Tel Aviv in October 2023 to offer the EU’s unconditional support for Israel in the war against Hamas. Later, she was criticized by some member states and EU diplomats for allegedly not representing the values of the EU as a whole.  Inside the building in…

In Bitterfeld-Wolfen they are used to chemical processing. But a lithium refinery is something entirely new to the eastern Germany town’s industrial park that looks back to more than a century of chemical industry history. So new, it’s the first of its kind in the whole of Europe. As the European Union is scrambling to ensure enough supplies for its resource-hungry industries, AMG Lithium has set up shop in Bitterfeld-Wolfen with the aim of playing a crucial role in the EU plan. The German subsidiary of US-based AMG Critical Materials N.V. wants to build a refinery plant for battery-grade lithium that it hopes…

There were numerous traces of gunfire on Vladyslav Yefarov’s car. He explained that a Russian sniper had opened fire on him and his colleague Yuri Yaremchuk not long ago. The two Ukrainian policemen were on their way to the town of Vovchansk to evacuate an elderly woman living there on her own. A US armored vehicle saved them, said Yefarov, but they were not able to pick up the woman. The two have been evacuating residents from the north of the Kharkiv region for almost two weeks — ever since the Russian army resumed its offensive on Ukraine’s border areas on…

Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi was a year away from the end of his first presidential term when he died on May 20. Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian, and six other people — including two pilots — lost their lives when the helicopter transporting them went down near the Azerbaijani border. Raisi “died as a martyr serving his country,” said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. State media outlets showed images and videos aimed to underline Raisi’s popularity during his commemoration. According to the head of Iran’s state broadcaster, millions of people had rushed to Tehran to attend the ceremony honoring the…

The current South African president and leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Cyril Ramaphosa, is still hopeful that he and his party will come out on top in the upcoming election. Ramaphosa took over the reins from former President Jacob Zuma in 2018 who was infamously embroiled in a corruption scandal and faces multiple charges of racketeering, fraud, tax evastion and money laundering. The 71-year-old promised a new dawn for South Africa but critics say he has failed to deliver. Under his watch unemployment has reached record highs, pushing the ANC towards what is expected to be its worst election result ever.  Current President…

Severe turbulence struck a Singapore Airlines flight from London Heathrow earlier today, with one man killed and many others “launched into the ceiling”.Authorities believe a 73-year-old British man, who had a heart condition, likely died from cardiac arrest, with at least 30 others injured as a result of the turbulence.Deaths from turbulence are extremely rare, and the US’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said 146 passengers and crew have been seriously injured by turbulence between 2009 and 2021.Read more:Images show damage in plane after one killed in turbulenceBut what could have caused the incident, what types of turbulence exist, and are…

In Belarus, there are currently 144 political prisoner per 1 million inhabitants, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna and United Nations estimates. In comparison, Russia, where repression has been drastically increasing, has a ratio of four per 1 million, according to the Russian human rights group Memorial.  Beyond the current estimates, many stories remain unheard: Merely reaching out to independent media can be grounds for punishment in both countries. Nadezhda and Vladimir are the leads of the Belarusian fantasy-folk band Irdorath. They received a two-year prison sentence for performing music at a protest against Alexander Lukashenko, the long-serving president of Belarus.…

Russia is conducting military drills in its Southern Military District that involve tactical nuclear weapons.  The Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, as the operations began, that the first stage envisioned “practical training in the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” including the nuclear-capable Kinzhal and Iksander missiles.  Tactical nuclear weapons are shorter-ranger, lower-yield weapons designed for use in battlefield scenarios against smaller targets, as opposed to the high-yield strategic nuclear weapons designed to target large population centers.  It’s the first time Russia had publicly announced drills involving such weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces hold regular exercises. The drills were…