Author: DW

A week that started with cautious optimism for a breakthrough in negotiations between Israel and Hamas has ended, perhaps unsurprisingly, with the prospect of peace in Gaza looking as distant as ever.It has taken two days of talks in Cairo, with a delegation from Hamas – and intermediaries from Egypt, Qatar and the United States – to expose the limitations of this exercise. There were indications in the lead-up to these talks that the parties had things to discuss usefully – even areas where they could reach an agreement.Israel was apparently open to a six-week cessation in hostilities in exchange…

Each day, buses driven by volunteers travel from the town of Sumy to the Ukrainian-Russian border and back. They’re collecting people who have crossed at the Kolotilovka-Pokrovka checkpoint, the former being a village in the Russian region of Belgorod and the latter in the Ukrainian region of Sumy. Since April 2022, this has been the only humanitarian corridor through which Ukrainians from the Russian-occupied territories can reach areas controlled by Kyiv. On this day, 11 people and a howling dachshund are on the bus to Sumy. The passengers are mostly women and older people, but two teenagers are also on board. Some people gaze wearily…

Rescuers in the southern Brazilian city Porto Alegre — the capital of Rio Grande do Sul state — used jets skis and boats to reach residents trapped on their roofs as floodwaters in the city continued to rise. Civil Defense officials say at least 103 of the city’s 1.4 million residents are missing and more than 88,000 have been forced to flee. The official death toll from the natural catastrophe now stands at 75. Sustained rains in the region have led the Guaiba River, which flows through Porto Alegre, to rapidly swell, triggering flooding and mudslides. Local officials say flooding has…

Two Australian brothers and a US tourist who went missing in northern Mexico were shot dead by thieves who wanted to steal their truck’s tyres, according to prosecutors. Three bodies found south of Ensenada, near where the men – Jake and Callum Robinson, from Australia, and American Jack Carter Rhoad – disappeared last weekend have yet to be officially identified. They were dumped in a remote, 15m/50ft-deep well, according to Baja California state prosecutors, who said family members of the victims are viewing the remains to see if they can be identified by sight.”The probability that it’s them is very…

Xi Jinping is visiting the European Union for the first time in five years. In France, the Chinese leader will face more pressure to influence Moscow. But in Serbia and Hungary, a friendlier welcome awaits. Source link

Antisemitic incidents are rising across the world at a rate unseen since World War II, with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza spreading “a fire that was already out of control,” an annual report released on Sunday said. The report, issued by the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the US, said that although antisemitism had increased since the atrocities carried out by the Islamist militant group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7 last year, the first nine months of 2023 also saw a rise in antisemitic incidents compared to 2022. The report…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected ceasefire proposals because he says Hamas’s call for a withdrawal of all troops from Gaza and an end to the war is unacceptable.Mr Netanyahu said agreeing such proposals would “leave Hamas intact” and leave the possibility of another attack in future.”Surrendering to the demands of Hamas would be a terrible defeat for the State of Israel,” he said in a video statement.Gaza latest: Major aid crossing shuts after ‘rocket barrage from Gaza’Mediated negotiations for a pause in the fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas have been going on…

Togo’s ruling party won a parliamentary majority in legislative elections, the country’s electoral commission announced on Saturday. According to the provisional results President Faure Gnassingbe’s Union for the Republic (UNIR) party secured 108 of the 113 seats in parliament.  The voter turnout was 61%, the commission said. Why does the result matter? The sweeping victory in the April 29 election follows a divisive constitutional reform approved by the outgoing parliament earlier this year. Critics say the approved amendments, from a presidential to a parliamentary regime, could further extend Gnassingbe’s 19-year rule. It stipulates that the president will be elected by parliament rather…

Estonia’s Tartu airport is very small. The flight by Finnish airline Finnair from Helsinki is the only one that lands there every day. But for the residents of the Estonian city, home of the Baltic Defence College, one of NATO’s educational institutions, this 45-minute flight opened up an opportunity to travel the world via the Finnish capital. Mysterious Russian jammers? This opportunity is no longer there — at least not until May 31. At the end of April, Finnair announced that it would be suspending its flights to Tartu until further notice due to the threats for its passengers and crews arising from…

The UK’s Eurovision Song Contest representative has addressed “extreme” remarks from fans over Israel’s inclusion in the competition.Olly Alexander was selected as this year’s representative for the UK for the popular singing competition. It’s set to take place in Malmo, Sweden, next week but tens of thousands are expected to protest Israel’s involvement and its ongoing war in Gaza.Alexander, the Years & Years singer, has found himself facing criticism from some who called for him to withdraw amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.Queers for Palestine circulated a letter, signed by thousands including actors Indya Moore, Brigette Lundy-Paine, and…