Author: DW

Dutch world champion Max Verstappen won the second race of the 2024 F1 season in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, stretching his lead in the championship standings.  Verstappen finished 13 seconds clear of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who was able to hold second place despite a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release from the pit lane.  “It’s one of the more physical races, a tough one,” Verstappen said after his second win of the season. Red Bull tense off track but still dominant on it Excluding the shorter so-called sprint races, Verstappen has won every main F1 race…

German trade union UFO on Saturday called on its roughly 19,000 members working as cabin crew for Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cityline to strike on either Tuesday or Wednesday, March 12 and 13.  It’s the latest in a series of strikes to affect Lufthansa, with Verdi ground staff having downed tools for 27 hours on Thursday and Friday. The last impacts of this action, with isolated delays and cancellations, were still evident on Saturday.  Like trade union Verdi, UFO made reference to Lufthansa’s strong performance in 2023 announced this week — recovering from the major disruptions and losses during the COVID…

Fifteen drones fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have been shot down by the American military and its allies this morning, authorities say.US Central Command, also known as Centcom, said it had responded to a “large-scale” attack early on Saturday. The uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) presented “an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US navy and coalition ships in the region,” Centcom posted on X.It said its navy ships and aircraft, along with “multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft”, shot down 15 UAVs. X This content is provided by X, which may be…

The wife of a dual Russian-British citizen locked up in Siberia has told Sky News the UK government could have spoken out more about his detention.Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was arrested near his Moscow home in April 2022, was convicted of treason by a court in the Russian capital in April 2023. The political activist and prominent opposition figure, who claims he has twice survived poisonings which he blamed on the country’s authorities, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.The charges stemmed from a speech he gave in March 2022 to the House of Representatives in Arizona, where he…

Skip next section Sikorski says NATO troops in Ukraine ‘not unthinkable’03/09/2024March 9, 2024Sikorski says NATO troops in Ukraine ‘not unthinkable’Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has reacted positively to French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent comments that Western troops could deploy in Ukraine. “The presence of NATO forces in Ukraine is not unthinkable,” Sikorski wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday evening, more than a week after the French leader’s remarks at a meeting of European leaders caused a stir. “I appreciate French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative because it is about Putin being afraid, not us being afraid of Putin,” he added.  Last…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said municipal elections in March would be his last. Erdogan has been in power since 2003. “I am working non-stop. We’re running around breathlessly because, for me, it’s a final,” he said at a meeting for the Turkish Youth Foundation (TUGVA). “With the authority that the law confers on me, this election is my last election.” He said that he believed his conservative Justice and Development (AKP) party would stay in power after he leaves office, calling upcoming local elections “a blessing for the brothers who come after me.” “There will be a transfer of confidence,”…

<a href='https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/13089065/saudi-arabian-gp-live-f1-updates-and-video-highlights-from-practice-qualifying-and-race-in-jeddah'>Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Live updates and highlights from F1 race in Jeddah</a> Source link

Mykyta Horban chokes up. “Give me a moment,” he says, taking a long pause. “I’m sorry. It’s still very hard.” He proceeds to talk about what he experienced as a prisoner in a Russian-run jail. His gaze is empty, fixed at the ceiling and floor of a conference room in the European Parliament in Brussels. A Lithuanian member of the European Parliament, Petras Austrevicius, has invited Horban and other victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Belgium to share their accounts. “Two years ago, Russians came to our village in Ukraine. They took me and my father as prisoners, interrogated us,…

Dirk Rehahn isn’t popping the champagne corks just yet. “I still don’t quite dare celebrate,” the entrepreneur says. He already has good reason to, though: Traffic to his two websites has increased massively since February 23. That was the day the German parliament passed the government’s draft law “on the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for consumption purposes.” It stipulates that all adults will be allowed to grow three cannabis plants at home and keep up to 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of cannabis there, and may also carry up to 25 grams on their person. The law was scheduled…

Pakistan’s lawmakers on Saturday elected Asif Ali Zardari as president of the country for the second time. Zardari is the widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He previously held the post from 2008 to 2013. Zardari received 411 votes from national and provincial legislators. His opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who has the backing of the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, had 181 votes. The presidency is a largely ceremonial role in Pakistan, but Zardari is known as a conciliator. He could help the ruling coalition partners reach a consensus to put the shattered economy on a path…