Author: DW

Low demand is not a problem the smuggler says he has to worry about. This individual, who takes young men across the Ukraine’s western border into Europe, says he is only able to assist a tiny fraction of those who make enquiries. Motivation is not an issue for ‘Stas’ either – the smuggler claims his purpose is all about saving young people’s lives.Russia-Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy responds to Trump’s ‘peace plan'”They simply aren’t ready to die, young people aren’t ready to bury themselves alive,” he says. “So they turn to us for help. A significant number of people are turning…

Mali’s junta has issued a decree suspending the activities of political parties, government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga said in a statement read on state television Wednesday night. “Until further notice, for reasons of public order, the activities of political parties and the activities of a political character of associations are suspended across the whole country,” Maiga said, citing a decree by junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita. Maiga justified suspending party activities by the “sterile discussions” during an attempt at national dialogue earlier this year. Opposition voices have been largely stifled under the junta’s rule. Opposition demands elections Goita’s decree came after…

German airline Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it had suspended flights to and from Iran’s capital, Tehran, probably until Thursday, “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” Meanwhile, an Iranian news agency Mehr briefly stoked tensions when it published a report on social media platform X, formerly Twitter,  saying that all airspace over Tehran had been closed for military exercises. The agency subsequently removed the report and denied that it had issued such a message. Tensions between Iran and Israel Countries in the region and the United States have been on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by…

An Israeli airstrike has killed three sons of Hamas’s top political leader in an attack on high-profile targets in Gaza.Hamas said four of Ismail Haniyeh’s grandchildren were also killed in the strike. The Israeli military said two of his sons, Mohammed and Hazem, were Hamas military operatives, while the third, Amir, was a cell commander.They are among the highest-profile targets to be killed in the war so far.Middle East latest: Netanyahu’s approach in Gaza ‘a mistake’, Biden says Image: Ismail Haniyeh. File pic: AP The killings threaten to undermine internationally mediated ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.Haniyeh accused Israel of…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s five-year term as Ukraine’s president formally ends on May 20. An election would have been held in late March, but the parliament postponed the vote as the country is still at war and under martial law. A major questions for Ukrainians is who might succeed Zelenskyy once he leaves office. In early 2024, few politicians and commentators openly pondered who could or should follow Zelenskyy. At the end of February, when Zelenskyy looked back on the past two years of fighting off Russia, the president dismissed any talk questioning his legitimacy as a “hostile narrative.” Speaking to journalists, Zelenskyy…

The European Parliament has approved a controversial shake-up of the bloc’s migration system which advocates claim will better “protect” its borders.After eight years of wrangling between the 27 member states, the compromise proposals aim to cut the time for asylum procedures and reduce immigration from the Middle East and Africa. The new system would mean the wider bloc would be obligated to take in migrants who arrive in mainly “frontline” countries like Greece and Italy – or be required to provide extra funds or resources instead.EU member states must now endorse the reform package, possibly in a vote in late…

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and its liberal allies looked set to increase their majority in the country’s parliament on Wednesday after initial exit polls projected up to 197 seats in the 300-seat legislature, up from 156. Voters in South Korea cast their ballots in legislative elections that have largely been seen as a test of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol’s popularity. But with Yoon’s governing People Power Party (PPP) and its affiliates only projected to win 85-100 votes, down from 114, the failure to restore a parliamentary majority could now see the president become a lame duck for the rest of a…

Three Tanzanian peacekeepers deployed to eastern Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission were killed by rebel mortar fire this week. Three others were wounded in the attack. Their deaths again raise questions about the capacity of the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as SAMIDRC, to neutralize the M23 rebel group in the country’s conflict-hit east. SAMIDRC is made up of forces from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania. They started deploying in December after DR Congo, one of SADC’s 16 members, sought support under the bloc’s mutual defense pact. The deaths of…

Lawyers have accused Amanda Knox of lying during an angry outburst as another slander trial against the 36-year-old started in Italy today. Along with her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, Ms Knox was convicted of the murder of her 21-year-old British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007. Both were exonerated in 2015. She has since established herself in the US as an advocate, writer, podcaster and producer – with much of her work drawing on her experience in the Italian legal system.Lawyers say the latest trial is the last legal stain against Ms Knox. It relates to a slander conviction where she…

Skip next section Russian air strikes damage electric system04/10/2024April 10, 2024Russian air strikes damage electric systemA Russian missile and drone attack targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure in southern Ukraine on Wednesday. A substation belonging to Ukrenergo state energy company was damaged in the strike on Mykolaiv, causing emergency blackouts that affected over 400,000 consumers. Regional governor Oleh Kiper said that the strikes on the Odesa region targeted critical and logistics infrastructure. Two employees of the state-owned railways were injured in that attack. Russia has targeted Ukrainian utilities throughout the war but has recently stepped up attacks.  In the last month it…