Author: DW

Hong Kong’s lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously passed a proposed national security law on top of a similar law imposed by Beijing four years ago that has already largely silenced opposition voices. “Today is a historic moment for Hong Kong,” said city leader John Lee, who added that the law would come into effect on March 23.  The vote was held in special session one day before the regular Wednesday meeting of the Legislative Council.  Government’s desire to fast-track legislation The bill was unveiled on March 8. The legislature, which is packed with Beijing loyalists, accelerated debate after Lee called for the law…

Five people have been injured after a bear went on a rampage through a town in Slovakia.It comes just hours after a 31-year-old woman from Belarus died after being chased by a bear in Slovakia’s Low Tatras mountain range. The latest bear attack on Sunday, which happened in Liptovsky Mikulas, in the north of the country, left a 49-year-old woman with a shoulder injury and a 72-year-old man with a cut to his head.A 10-year-old girl and two other adults suffered scratches and bruises, according to reports.Officials have declared a state of emergency following the spate of attacks. In a…

A German soldier has been charged with spying for Russia, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday. The suspect worked as a professional soldier at the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw). The institute is responsible for equipping Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr. It also develops, tests and procures military technology. “On one occasion, he passed on information that he had obtained in the course of his professional activities to a Russian intelligence service for forwarding,” prosecutors said in a statement. German officials said the country’s support for Kyiv has increasingly made it the target of Russian spying…

Poland and Germany are still haunted by their difficult past. Eighty-five years after the German invasion of Poland triggered the start of World War II, the question of whether Germany should pay reparations to its neighbor is back on the agenda. “Settling the bill would be historically justified,” Donald Tusk, the newly elected Polish prime minister, told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his first official visit to Berlin in February. Tusk, a former European Commission president, said that Germany “still has work to do” on the issue of moral and material compensation but added that the subject should not be allowed to poison relations between…

Unilever, the consumer goods firm behind brands including Marmite and Domestos, has revealed plans to cut 7,500 jobs across its global operations.The UK-based firm, which employs around 128,000 staff, said the proposed losses would come mainly from office roles as technology advanced. It admitted that the UK, where it has 6,000 workers, would be included in the three-year productivity drive, with the focus to be on head office staff.Money latest: The story of olive oil’s 110% price riseUnilever said it would begin consultations with those affected once the roles had been fully identified. Speaking at the Environment, Food and Rural…

Mining engineer Pierre Amani Kangenda peers into the mouth of a narrow shaft that plunges straight down to the belly of a cobalt mine. He can’t quite make out the silhouettes of the young men whose job is to heave 20-kilogram (44-pound) sacks of dirt rich in cobalt and copper composite up the mine wall to the surface. But he can see their headlamps in the darkness. The men use pickaxes and shovels to dig for cobalt in this small-scale mine known as UCK Drain on the outskirts of Kolwezi in the DRC’s southern copper belt, where great amounts of cobalt are mined.…

French authorities launched a large-scale operation against drug smuggling in the southern port city of Marseille on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron announced. Macron made an unannounced trip to the city, which he said had been tormented over the past year by gang criminality that had left dozens dead. Marseille will also host several events as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer. “In Marseille and other cities in France, we have launched an unprecedented operation to put a stop to drug trafficking and ensure republican order,” the president wrote on X, formerly Twitter. France in ‘battle’ against drug…

Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated his determination to carry out a ground invasion of Rafah, despite growing pressure from Western allies.The Israeli prime minister rebuked Joe Biden, saying he made it “supremely clear” to the US president he intended to go ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza city where he believes Hamas’s remaining battalions are hiding. But US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said he hopes to secure a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages in Gaza in his upcoming trip to the Middle East. Image: Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened an invasion of Rafah. Pic: Reuters…

It might seem strange for a practicing Muslim to say, but Kholoud Khardoum, a 53-year-old living in Iraq, is clear. “Not all of Ramadan is necessarily about religion,” the Baghdad-based writer said. “It’s also about the atmosphere and the tradition of people coming together.” Iraq is a Muslim-majority country, but in areas where different religious communities live together, you’ll often find non-Muslims participating in celebrations around the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, she told DW. In particular, the “iftar,” the sunset meal where friends and family come together to break the sunrise-to-sunset fast, can be a community occasion. “Sometimes Christian people…

Brazil’s Federal Police on Tuesday indicted former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination records.  Police: Bolsonaro wanted to ‘cheat current health restrictions’ The indictment said that Bolsonaro tampered with a public health database to make it look as if he and several others in his circle were vaccinated.   Police detective Fabio Alvarez Shor signed off on the indictment, saying Bolsonaro and several others wanted to use fake COVID vaccination records to “cheat current health restrictions.”  “The investigation found several false insertions between November 2021 and December 2022, and also many actions of using fraudulent documents,” Shor explained.  Despite…