Author: DW

A Polish police spokeperson said farmers in Poland blocked two crossings on the German border in protest Monday. The farmers parked their tractors on the A2 highway, blocking traffic in both directions at the Swiecko and Gubinek crossings, both western towns in Poland. The demo first began on Sunday. Marcin Maludy, a spokesperson for the police in Gorzow Wielkopolski said: “Traffic in Swiecko and Gubinek is blocked, you cannot travel in either direction,” and the protest “will continue until Wednesday evening.” Why are Polish farmers demonstrating? Polish farmers staged the protest against farm imports from outside the  European Union  and the bloc’s environmental red tape.The current demo is expected to continue through Wednesday, but it…

Now the three-day electoral spectacle is done – a shiny semblance of democracy, unfree, unfair and underpinned by Soviet-style repressions – what is next for Vladimir Putin and for the country he leads?Expect the state to clamp down still further on what remains of Russia’s enfeebled civil society. Putin’s authoritarian course was set way ahead of his invasion of Ukraine, but over the last two years there has been a galloping momentum to the erosion of civil liberties and to the numbers jailed for minor infractions suddenly deemed subversive.Russia-Ukraine war latest: Election most corrupt ‘in Russia’s history’ Image: Pic: Reuters…

It is 6am and lights in small bungalows are starting to turn on in the small Kenyan town of Iten. Here, around 2,400 meters above sea level and 350 kilometers northwest of the capital Nairobi,  athletes are getting ready to start their day at the place called “Home of Champions.” The high altitude training camp is where hundreds of running elite prepare for marathons and the Olympic Games. German marathon runner Fabienne Königstein is one of them. Together with her husband and young daughter, Skadi, the 31-year-old has taken up residence in Iten for four weeks to get herself in shape for…

When it finally came down to it, everything went very quickly. After a brief yet heated debate, the Croatian parliament last week passed a highly controversial amendment to the criminal code during the last session of the legislative period. The bill was passed with the votes of the ruling coalition. According to the new law, the forwarding of information from police investigations to journalists is now a criminal offense in Croatia. If caught, whistleblowers face several years in jail. The government has faced intense criticism from journalists and the opposition in the six months since Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced the…

Russia’s election commission on Monday hailed what it called Vladimir Putin’s “record” victory in the presidential election, claiming that he had won 87,28% of the vote. It claimed that turnout was also a record high of 77%. Putin’s three rivals each received between 3.2% and 4.3% of the vote, according to the commission. The results came amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the country’s crackdown on opposition and free speech. Only three candidates were allowed to run against Putin, and none of them opposed his war in Ukraine.Putin’s post-election speech touches on Ukraine war, NavalnyTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider…

Eyewitnesses have suggested that Israeli forces have launched a “reinvasion” of Gaza City after the al Shifa hospital was raided overnight. Residents said military activity had not stopped after the hospital raid, which the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said was a “precise operation to thwart terrorist activity”. But Palestinian authorities described the raid as a “war crime” that had resulted in multiple casualties. Image: IDF launch another raid on Gaza’s largest hospital. Pic: AP Mohammad Ali, who lives a short distance from the hospital, told Reuters: “Suddenly, we started to hear sounds of explosions, several bombings,…

Imagine this: You’re 17 and have never left home. Your father and uncle, merchants who have been absent your whole life, return home before they set off again on their next trip. Only this time, you join them. The journey will cover 15,000 miles (24,000 km) and last 24 years. You’ll see things you could not have imagined and be catapulted into the upper echelons of a powerful empire. And, eventually, you’ll become one of the most famous travelers in Western history.Marco Polo became famous in medieval Europe for his Silk Road journeyImage: akg-images/picture alliance What could be the outline for a…

Christian Streich will leave SC Freiburg at the end of the current Bundesliga season. The 58-year-old has been in charge of the southwestern German club for the past twelve years, making him the Bundesliga’s second-longest serving coach after Heidenheim’s Frank Schmidt. “It is with a very heavy heart that I can announce that I won’t continue my job as Freiburg coach,” said Streich in a simple video posted on the club’s social media channel. “After twelve years, it’s the right time to bring in new energy, new people, new opportunities. I believe the players need this new energy.” “This club is…

Russia’s election commission on Monday hailed what it called Vladimir Putin’s “record” victory in the presidential election, claiming that he had won 87% of the vote. It claimed that turnout was also a record high of 77%. With more than 99% of the votes counted, “almost 76 million people” voted for Putin, said election chief Ella Pamfilova. “This is a record figure,” she said, adding: “In the face of the West we have shown that we are united.” The results came amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the country’s crackdown on opposition and free speech. Only three candidates were allowed to run…

Vladimir Putin has cemented his place in Russian history, with a controversial reelection victory securing him a fifth term as the country’s president. With opposition nonexistent and the media completely under his control, the 71-year-old’s win was no surprise.   Putin begins this next term at the helm facing huge challenges triggered by his 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has made relations with the West increasingly belligerent. Breakup with the West  As the war continues, Russia’s break with the West seems unbridgeable. A new Putin term is likely to see increased emphasis on Moscow’s ties with Eastern powers, experts have observed. International conflict and war have made relations between Russia and the…