Author: DW

World Athletics seems to have poked a hornet’s nest, with the federation’s recent decision to pay athletes bonuses for Olympic medals sparking global debate.  Last week, the governing body of athletics announced that it would pay $50,000 (€46,800) for victories in each of the 48 athletics disciplines at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris (July 26 to August 11). The organization said there will also be bonuses for silver and bronze at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. This is the first time in the 128-year history of the modern Olympic Games that a world federation of a single sport has…

Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Monday said forces had captured the eastern village of Novomykhailivka in Russian-annexed Donetsk. Russia’s defense ministry said in a post on Telegram that troops had “liberated” the village and “improved the tactical situation along the front line.” Ukraine’s military leadership on Monday morning said that Russian forces had made 23 attempts to break through defensive lines in areas around Georgiyivka, Novomykhailivka, Vodyane and Urozhayne but had been contained. Ukraine is battling with dwindling resources and manpower in its defensive effort against Russia’s continued invasion. Over the weekend, US lawmakers approved  $61 billion (€57 billion) in military and financial aid for…

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that flights deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda would start in the next months, just hours before Parliament was set to vote on the controversial bill. “We are ready, plans are in place and these flights will go, come what may,” Sunak told a news conference. Lawmakers in the House of Commons, dominated by Sunak’s Conservatives, are expected to reject amendments suggested by the unelected House of Lords. What is the legislation that is being voted on? Monday’s bill is a response by Sunak’s government to a ruling by the UK’s Supreme Court that…

Four Germans have been caught laying white roses in memory of Adolf Hitler at the house where he was born on the dictator’s birthday.One of the quartet was seen performing a Nazi salute as they posed for photos, according to police. Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn in the Austrian province of Upper Austria.Officers said the four Germans – two sisters and their partners, all in their 20s and early 30s – went to the building on Saturday to lay white roses in its window recesses.They posed in front of the house for photos and…

More than 53,000 people have been evacuated, and 11 people are missing, amid ongoing heavy rainfall in southern China, state media reported Monday.  Three people were later reported dead in Zhaoqing City by the state-run Xinhua news agency. Days of torrential rainfall have swelled rivers and waterways in the Pearl River Delta, with authorities warning heavy flooding is expected.  State broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that floods as high as 5.8 meters (19 feet) above the warning limit would strike in Pearl River tributaries on Monday morning. “Three were killed and 11 others remain missing after continuous heavy rainfall hit many parts of…

Some 16,700 Filipino and US troops began annual joint military exercises in the Philippines on Monday, amid tensions with China over  Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region. The drills, dubbed Balikatan, or “shoulder to shoulder,”  include maritime drills and retaking “occupied” islands in the South China Sea. In recent months, China and the Philippines have been at odds over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, with Chinese coast guard vessels frequently harassing Philippine boats with water cannons.  Lieutenant General William Jurney, the US Marine Corps Pacific commander, said at an opening ceremony in Manila the drills are going to “show the people of…

Opening statements are due to be heard in the trial of Donald Trump over hush money payments to a porn star.A jury has been selected at the New York court which will witness the first criminal trial of a former US president. Opening remarks by the prosecution and defence teams will be followed by evidence from witnesses.Donald Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records. They relate to $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged affair in the days before the 2016 US presidential election, which Trump won.He is accused of criminally altering…

As the world increasingly feels the impacts of fossil fuel emissions, the climate in Europe is also changing. Last year, the continent experienced a host of contrasting weather extremes, according to the latest European State of the Climate report. “In 2023, Europe witnessed the largest wildfire ever recorded, one of the wettest years, severe marine heatwaves and widespread devastating flooding,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which authored the report alongside the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The three warmest years in Europe have all occurred since 2020 and the 10 warmest since 2007. Billions…

A tram crash at Universal Studios Hollywood has left 15 people injured.The Los Angeles County Fire Department was called to the theme park shortly after 9pm local time on Saturday. It said 15 people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.The crash occurred when the final car of one of the trams collided with a metal guardrail, which caused it to “tilt and eject multiple passengers”, the California Highway Patrol said.The Highway Patrol said some of the injuries were “moderate” but did not specify how many. The trams are used to take park visitors on behind-the-scenes tours of the sets…

On Monday, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) updated its Military Expenditure Database for 2023 as top spenders such as the United States, China and Russia ratcheted up their military budgets. Military spending is up in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North and South America. It’s the first time since 2009 that annual spending was up in all geographical regions examined by SIPRI at once. With a budget up 105%, the Democratic Republic of the Congo stood out as the country with the single largest increase in military spending in 2023 by percentage. Researchers attributed this to the…