Author: DW

The number of fatalities and people injured in the recent Taiwan earthquake continues to rise. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) southeast of Hualien county, a mountainous region on the country’s east coast, where dozens of buildings collapsed. News agencies report that strict building codes prevented an even larger catastrophe. The last time a similarly strong earthquake hit Taiwan was in 1999. Back then, more than 2,400 people died. Earthquakes aren’t rare in Taiwan. The island lies on a fault line, where two of Earth’s tectonic plates collide. How do earthquakes happen?…

The sex crimes trial of the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has been held up after the defence accused prosecutors of creating worldwide prejudice against him.Lawyers for Christian B, 46, told a German court that he could not get a fair trial on rape and sex assault charges because prosecutors had consistently accused him of abducting British toddler Madeleine McCann who vanished in Portugal 17 years ago. Defence lawyer Atilla Ayak asked judges to remove one of the prosecutors in the trial that is being held in the city of Braunschweig, Germany.Christian B – as he is known…

An earthquake in Taiwan has injured more than 700 people and killed at least seven, the island’s government said on Wednesday. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the island on Wednesday morning. It said the quake hit at a depth of 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles) with the epicenter around 25 kilometers southeast of Hualien county. The deaths all occurred in Hualien county,  Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS posted footage of a collapsed building.   The fire department was cited in reports that at least 26 buildings had collapsed with more than half of that number in the eastern county of Hualien. Footage broadcast…

The population of brown bears in the Pyrenees mountains has continued to grow, French authorities announced on Tuesday. Brown bears had nearly vanished from Pyrenees until a reintroduction program brought in three bears from a healthy population in Slovenia. Since then, the population has grown steadily. In 2022 there were at least 76 bears recorded in the region. That number has grown to 83 for 2023, the French Biodiversity Agency said. “With a minimum of 83 individuals detected in 2023, the size of the brown bear population is gradually continuing to increase in the Pyrenees,” it said. Conservation efforts continue…

The cause of death of a two-year-old who went missing in the French Alps in July remains unexplained, despite the discovery of his bones and clothing.Last week, forensic tests showed that a skull found by a walker near Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence belonged to the boy, known as Emile. Some of his clothes – including a T-shirt, shoes and shorts – have now been found close to where the remains were discovered, according to the AFP news agency. Image: Pic: Gendarmerie Nationale But prosecutor Jean-Luc Blanchon said the evidence found so far “does not indicate what the cause of…

In the time it takes to read this article, around 10 million photographs will be taken. Most will come from the smartphones of users who are compelled to constantly document their lives. By contrast, award-winning US photojournalist Ron Haviv has mostly taken photos to document conflict. He has photographed more than 25 wars, from the US-led invasion of Iraq to conflicts in Afghanistan, Panama, Haiti, and most recently, Ukraine. Born in 1965, he is co-founder of the photo agency VII and works with UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders and the International Red Cross, in addition to numerous publications.  While his thought-provoking images have become a way to raise awareness about the horrors of war and violence, this was…

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has proposed military support for Ukraine worth €100 billion ($108 billion) over the next five years, according to multiple diplomats. The aim is to have an aid package finalized in time for a NATO summit which will be held in Washington in July. NATO members and aid for Ukraine The proposal is expected to be debated during a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels over Wednesday and Thursday. Stoltenberg will be chairing the talks at NATO headquarters. The push for more aid comes amid mounting concern that support for Ukraine’s defensive efforts against Russia’s invasion…

One of Jared Kushner’s planned ventures in the Balkans concerns the redevelopment of a site in Serbia’s capital Belgrade, negotiations for which were started a decade ago by his father-in-law. Two years before Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he put his feelers out, telling Serbian authorities that he was interested in building a luxury hotel and apartment complex on the site of the former headquarters of the Yugoslav army, the General Staff building, destroyed in 1999 by NATO’s bombing campaigns. Although that project fell through, Kushner, who was a senior White House official during Trump’s tenure, has now reportedly reached…

Republicans in the US House of Representatives are seeking to name the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia after the 45th president, Donald Trump.  We have now landed at ‘Donald J. Trump International Airport’  US Republican Representative Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania said in an X post on Tuesday that Trump is the “best president of my lifetime” and that his leadership stood for freedom, prosperity and strength. Therefore, he was introducing legislation to rename Dulles as “Donald J. Trump International Airport.”      The short two-page bill, which was filed Friday, has also been co-sponsored by several other pro-Trump Republicans, such as Troy…

A rare macaque has been stolen during a raid on a zoo in Germany.Leipzig Zoo says the female lion-tailed macaque – named Ruma – was stolen from its cage during a “violent” overnight break-in. Police in Germany have launched an investigation.”We do not know what motive is behind the theft, but we are extremely concerned about the welfare of the animal, whose proper care requires expert knowledge,” the zoo said in a statement.”We very much hope that the animal will be secured unharmed or returned.” Police in the German state of Saxony, where Leipzig is located, said the burglary took…