Author: DW

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati denied any wrongdoing after two anti-corruption organizations filed a complaint against him and his family alleging financial fraud including money laundering. The complaint was submitted in France this week by anti-corruption watchdog Sherpa and the Collective of Victims of Fraudulent and Criminal Practices in Lebanon. Sherpa’s lawyer William Bourdon called for an investigation despite any legal protections  granted to Mikati through his office. “That’s the kind of mechanical consequences of being a billionaire politician — you consider your position to be a kind of shelter against prosecution,” Bourdon told the Reuters news agency. Echoes of Riad Salameh’s scandal…

On death row, there’s the man you meet and the man you Google. When I walked into East Block, San Quentin, there was a genial wave from inside the condemned cell of David Carpenter. His internet history has him as the serial rapist and murderer known as “The Trailside Killer”. Raynard Cummings was on good form, mimicking my Scottish accent as he stood the height of the cell door that separated us.”I don’t think lions and tigers should be locked up like this,” he told me, reverting to Californian drawl. Search his name and you find it’s a view formed in…

Far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Petr Bystron has pushed back on allegations that he took money from an online Russian disinformation network, according to a letter seen Thursday by German news outlets Tagesschau, Welt and others. Bystron has been accused of taking payments from the now-defunct Russian web portal “Voice of Europe” (VoE), which was based in Prague.     “At no time have I received any payment or cryptocurrencies from an employees of VoE (or any Russian),” Bystron said in the letter to AfD leadership. He complained of a “defamation campaign” regarding the matter against politicians from six European political parties. …

On the morning of April 3, Taiwan was shaken by the worst earthquake to hit the island state in at least 25 years. Several people died and hundreds were injured. Social networks are full of videos and images of the natural disaster. Most are authentic, but there is also footage that has been taken from other contexts and manipulated. Claim: One video currently circulating on X, formerly Twitter, purports to show several high-rise buildings that toppled almost like building blocks in the wake of the Taiwan earthquake. One post with at least 10,000 views reads: “See the condition of skyscrapers after 7.5…

Civil servants overseeing arms exports to Israel have requested to “cease work immediately” over fears they could be complicit in war crimes in Gaza.Officials in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) have raised concerns with senior civil servants that they may be liable if it is deemed Israel has broken international law. Politics Live: Ex-Foreign Office minister hits back after probe into Israel commentsIn correspondence seen by Sky News, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents civil servants, has requested an urgent meeting with the department to discuss “the legal jeopardy faced by civil servants who are…

A cycling champion was rushed to hospital after a mass pileup at the Tour of the Basque Country bike race on Thursday. Several riders slid off a corner in the final stages of the run from Etxarri Aranatz to Legutio and fell into a concrete ditch. Danish two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard was carried away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask and a neck brace. Vingegaard had won last year’s edition of the race. “Jonas is on his way to the hospital. An update will follow later,” his team Visma-Lease a Bike said on social media.  Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel was seen…

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced plans for a major restructuring of the military on Thursday. The changes include the establishment of a fourth branch of the armed forces that specializes in cyber warfare, which will operate alongside the army, the air force and the navy. The expanded Cyber and Information Domain Service (CIR) will be tasked with fending off cyberattacks, protecting electronic infrastructure and analyzing disinformation and other hybrid threats. It’s the latest step in an overhaul of the German army, or Bundeswehr, that was launched in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “No one should have the idea of…

A tiny remote island off the coast of Sicily has started donating its 600 goats, with the animals overwhelming the human population of just 100.Local mayor Riccardo Gullo told Sky News the goats were creating “tension” among the local community as they were wreaking havoc on the environment, storming people’s homes and eating their crops. Mr Gullo said it all started with a few goats supposedly escaping from their owner and going on to reproduce themselves to a point where they have now become too hard to manage.”They represented a problem, you would meet them everywhere,” he said.”Six hundred goats…

A mishap involving a missile launcher on a Danish navy ship has halted traffic at one of the world’s busiest sea lanes on Thursday. An area of the Great Belt Strait was closed to air and sea traffic after a missile launcher malfunctioned during a Danish naval exercise. “The problem occurred during a mandatory test where the missile launcher is activated and cannot be deactivated,” the military said in a statement. “Until the missile launcher is deactivated, there is a risk that the missile can fire and fly a few kilometers away,” the military added. The Great Belt Strait is the…

Mauro Congedo has been finding and renovating small architectural treasures with his brother and father for 25 years in Salento — a peninsula in the southeast of Italy that makes up the “heel” of the boot-shaped country. The apartments and houses that Congedo restores in this rather remote region are now suddenly finding buyers from Germany and England. “Things are going well again,” said the 50-year-old architect. During the coronavirus pandemic, business almost came to a standstill. But what happened afterward in Italy’s industry was “crazy” he says, dragging out the “a” for a long time. Congedo isn’t the only…