Author: DW

All decisions have intended consequences and unintended consequences.The intended consequence of President Biden’s threat to stop sending some weapons to Israel is straightforward: to stop the Israeli military from going into Rafah without a clear, deliverable plan for the civilian population. But there are so many unintended consequences. In Tel Aviv and on Capitol Hill they are beginning to play out already.Both geopolitically and domestically for Mr Biden this decision could come to haunt him.Even before we consider the unintended consequence, there is a key point: the perils of setting red lines. Follow live: Israel-Gaza latestToo often they turn out…

The tide in German women’s football had appeared to be turning. Bayern Munich had wrapped up a second successive Bundesliga title the weekend before the cup final, with big names like Pernille Harder and Georgia Stanway helping them ease away from perennial powerhouses Wolfsburg. But goals from Jule Brand and Dominique Janssen saw the She Wolves win the German Cup for the tenth time in a row on Thursday in front of a sold-out crowd of about 44,000 in Cologne. Having lost 4-0 and 2-1 to the big-spending Bavarians in the league, Wolfsburg’s veteran captain Alexandra Popp admitted to feeling “extremely…

Skip next section WATCH: Putin blasts the West in Victory Day speech05/09/2024May 9, 2024WATCH: Putin blasts the West in Victory Day speechPutin lashes out at West at Russia’s Victory Day paradeTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video https://p.dw.com/p/4fg5JSkip next section Putin says Russian military tech must be a ‘step ahead’ 05/09/2024May 9, 2024Putin says Russian military tech must be a ‘step ahead’ As part of the May 9 festivities, the Kremlin also released video footage of Putin speaking to army commanders a couple of days ago following his swearing-in. …

After long discussion, Germany’s main opposition party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), this week voted to put a gradual return to mandatory military service back on its agenda. That means that if the CDU returns to power, it would try to introduce legislation making it mandatory for young people either serve in the military or the social sector for one year. Germany used to have a system like that, but axed it in 2011. The reason for the CDU’s about-face is concerns about Russia and a lack of personnel in the Bundeswehr. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius of the governing center-left Social Democrats (SPD), has…

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel will “stand alone” if it has to in its war against Hamas, after the US threatened to stop sending some weapons to its ally.President Joe Biden earlier said the US would halt offensive munitions supplies to Israel if it attacks the southern Gaza city of Rafah.The Israeli prime minister said in a video statement on Thursday: “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.”If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”Follow latest:Updates on Israel-Hamas warAn unnamed Israeli official said Israel will press ahead with…

Press freedom and human rights groups are demanding the release of investigative journalist Daniel Ojukwu. These groups say Nigerian authorities ordered police to arrest Ojukwu after he reported on alleged corruption involving a high-ranking government official in an article published last November. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ojukwu, who works for the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was arrested a week ago and has not been heard from since. Under Nigerian law, any person detained must be brought before a judge to be charged within 48 hours or be released. The FIJ said Ojukwu had been detained…

Some 5,000 people opposed to Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest demonstrated ahead of this year’s second semi-final, where Israeli contestant Eden Golan was set to perform her song “Hurricane” on Thursday in hopes of qualifying for Saturday’s final. Metal barricades and large concrete blocks have been put up around Malmo Arena in the Swedish city hosting the competition, and local police have received back up from Danish and Norwegian colleagues. Though police said the march through the city was “quiet,” demonstrators set off smoke flares in the colors of the Palestinian flag during a noisy rally where participants chanted the contentious slogan, “from…

FIFA has been warned of a threatened mass revolt and legal action by the world’s footballers and leagues over its new men’s Club World Cup amid welfare concerns.A letter has been sent by global players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum to FIFA president Gianni Infantino demanding the 32-team competition is not played as planned in June and July next year. Chelsea and Manchester City have qualified for the event, lined up for the United States as part of Mr Infantino’s expansion of FIFA competitions. The union fears this has congested the calendar and endangered the health of players.Sky…

Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok received Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest on Thursday with a ceremonial welcome before the latter was due to hold talks on possible further cooperation between the two countries.  Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, was at the ceremony , where Xi and Sulyok walked down a red carpet and listened to the Chinese and Hungarian national anthems. Xi arrived in Hungary on Wednesday evening, after meeting leaders in France and Serbia on his first state visit to Europe since 2019. In the Hungarian pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet, Xi wrote that he “developed deep friendships” with Hungarian politicians. He also described Hungary as…

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed at least seven workers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, police said on Thursday. According to police official Mohsin Ali, gunmen stormed into a house some 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of the port city of Gwadar, and shot the workers while they were asleep.  The coastal town of Gwadar is the site of several Beijing-backed projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor investment, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative.Gwadar is the site of several Beijing-backed projects under the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic CorridorImage: Xinhua News Agency/picture alliance The victims, who were from the central Pakistani…