Author: DW

Social media platform X has blocked posts in India involving political speech following orders from the country’s election commission ahead of upcoming polls, the company said late on Tuesday. “In compliance with the orders, we have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period,” X said in a statement. Despite complying, X expressed disagreement with the action and maintained that “freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general.” The posts, which will be hidden from Indian audiences during the election period, included unverified claims about political opponents, the Election Commission of India said in…

Julian Assange’s wife has accused the United States government of “blatant weasel words” as she tries to stop her husband being sent to America to stand trial.The US wants the WikiLeaks founder to be extradited from the UK to face 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse stemming from his website’s publication of classified documents nearly 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege Assange, 52, put lives at risk when he helped former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks put online in 2010. Image: Activists show their support for Julian Assange…

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun on Tuesday in the first such engagement in almost 18 months. In the video conference call, the two superpowers’ defense leaders laid out where they stood on “defense relations and regional and global security issues,” according to a Pentagon statement. Austin: US, China must continue ‘open lines’ of communication The call comes after US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping resumed direct military talks last year in an effort to manage rising tensions in the region, especially over Taiwan and other Chinese territorial claims in the South China…

A United Nations-led donor conference in Geneva raised almost $630 million (€592 million) on Tuesday to assist millions of Ethiopians impacted by climate change and conflict. “The humanitarian situation in Ethiopia is critical — but there is a window to act right now to break the downward spiral,” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. However, the funds raised fell short of the $1 billion urgently needed, according to the UN, to tackle the crisis in Africa’s second-largest country where over 21 million people require assistance amid an escalating food shortage. ‘Humanitarian situation very fragile’ According to OCHA, “cycles of…

Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, according to the country’s military government.Ms Suu Kyi’s government was overthrown by a military coup in 2021 and she has been detained since then, facing 27 years in prison for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violating telecommunications law. Junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun said the 78-year-old had been moved “since the weather is extremely hot”.In comments reported by four media outlets, he added: “It is not only for Aung San Suu Kyi… for all those who need necessary precautions, especially elderly…

04/16/2024April 16, 2024US House leader sets date for separate votes on aid for Ukraine and IsraelThe US House of Representatives will vote this week on separate aid bills for Israel and Ukraine, Speaker Mike Johnson said late on Monday. The announcement comes after Johnson stalled a vote for months on the US Senate’s combined $95 billion (€89.52 billion) package passed in February, which included funds to help Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion. “We know that the world is watching us to see how we react,” Johnson said. “They’re watching to see if America will stand up for its…

A third man joined a weekslong hunger strike near the office of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Tuesday. The “Starve until you are honest” campaign is demanding that Scholz show “honesty on the climate castastrophe.” Why are three people on a climate hunger strike in Berlin? The activists are camped out in a tent near the Chancellery and are calling for Scholz’s government to set a more radical course when it comes to fighting climate change. Scholz belongs to the Social Democrats (SPD), and his coalition also includes the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). Those on strike…

Tourists visiting Catalonia in Spain could be subject to water restrictions as the region battles a “drought emergency”, the regional government has said. Catalan officials warned a restriction of 100 litres (26 gallons) per tourist per day for hotels would go into effect if a municipality fails to keep domestic water use by residents below established limits for three consecutive months. Currently, each resident in the northeastern region uses 160 litres of water per day – including for both washing and drinking – while the average tourist in the capital of Barcelona uses 163 litres of water a day.This figure…

Iran and Israel are exchanging blows, as global fears rise that the conflict in the Middle East could widen. On Saturday, Iran launched some 300 ballistice missiles, drones and cruise missiles   toward Israel, according to Israeli defense officials. Tehran says the attack was in retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus that killed seven people in early April. Peter Lintl, a research associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, says Israel’s response to this most recent attack will have far-reaching consequences for the wider Middle East. Who decides on Israel’s response? Shortly after…

Riot police started on Tuesday evening to clear protests organized outside Georgia’s parliament building in Tbilisi, as lawmakers approved a draft of a controversial NGO bill for further reading. Thousands of protesters gathered for the second day outside parliament, decrying the Russian-styled “foreign agents” bill. The controversial bill stipulates that non-commercial organizations and news media that receive 20% or more of their funding from overseas would have to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” What happened at the protests? Inside parliament, the controversial bill received 78 votes in favor of further debate, with only 25 votes against. The…