Author: DW

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…

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced 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 attacking us…

A South African footballer and Olympian has been killed in a hijacking in South Africa, the player’s club has said.Luke Fleurs, a 24-year-old defender for Kaizer Chiefs, was shot at a petrol station in Johannesburg, according to police. “Luke Fleurs tragically lost his life last night during a hijacking incident in Johannesburg,” Kaizer Chiefs said in a statement.”Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.” The attackers fled with Mr Fleurs’s vehicle and police are investigating a case of murder and car hijacking, according to police spokesperson Mavela Masondo. Mr Fleurs previously played for…

Almost all of the victims were young. They were mainly students, on their way from the Greek capital Athens to Thessaloniki in northern Greece, when their train collided with an oncoming freight train. Another 85 passengers were seriously injured. The exact causes of the Tempi train collision of February 28, 2023 have yet to be clarified, and almost 80% of the Greek population doubts that there will ever be justice for the victims and their families. Many believe that the government is to blame for the failures in the investigation, and that there has been a cover-up.It was the worst…

Fully 38% of German companies taking part in a recent business survey said they are relocating production facilities from China to Japan, while 23% are also shifting regional management functions in the same direction, with economic, political and social stability the primary considerations. The study was conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, and accounting giant KPMG in Germany, with 164 firms responding to the survey released on March 27. The report closely echoes the findings of another study, released by the Japan External Trade Organization a week earlier, which found that Japan is an attractive destination…

Peru lawmakers gave their support to the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen in a vote of confidence in Congress on Wednesday. It paves the way for Adrianzen to move forward in his post, which he took up last month. The vote of confidence passed by a margin of 70 votes in favor to 38 against and 17 abstentions and comes just days after six ministers tendered their resignations, including Interior Minister Victor Torres. What Peru’s prime minister said about the new Cabinet Adrianzen proposed “an administration with clean hands, a transparent government to face corruption and inefficiency,” in a speech which lasted nearly…