Author: DW

Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, said on Friday she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after medical tests revealed the presence of cancer. The video announcement comes after she was hospitalized in January for abdominal surgery. Kensington Palace at the time said that Kate’s condition was not cancer-related. Kate had not been seen publicly since Christmas until a video surfaced of her with her husband, Prince William, walking to a shop near their home in Windsor. Kate’s absence from public view sparked weeks of speculation as to her condition. In her video announcement, Kate said that while her medical team initially thought that…

Malaysia has rejected an offer to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games – putting it at risk of being cancelled for the first time since the Second World War.Officials said the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) offer of £100m in funding was insufficient and they had not been left with enough time to plan. Malaysia, which hosted the 1998 games, had agreed to step in after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew as hosts for similar reasons in July last year.Malaysian government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said on Friday: “If we had a longer time, we would definitely do it, but because there’s…

Germany’s national soccer team will start having its kits made by US sportswear giant Nike, dropping its historic partnership with German company Adidas, the German Football Association (DFB) announced on Thursday. The deal with Nike will start in 2027 and run until at least 2034, the DFB said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Nike and thank them for the trust they have placed in us. The future partnership will enable the DFB to continue to fulfill key tasks in the coming decade with a view to the comprehensive development of football in Germany,” DFB President Bernd Neuendorf…

Since Umaro Sissoco Embalo became president of Guinea-Bissau three years ago, he has gradually led the West African country into a grave political crisis. Sissoco, as he is popularly known, has systematically clashed with political opponents, parliament and other state institutions.  It began with a failed coup attempt in 2022, to which he responded with a wave of arrests of opposition figures.  In December 2023, the country saw clashes between members of the National Guard and special forces of the presidential guard, which left two people dead. Sissoco described the violence as an “attempted coup” after which he dissolved the Bissau-Guinean parliament and dismissed…

Tensions at the United Nations around the Gaza conflict were on display yet again during this week’s Security Council meeting. On Friday, Russia and China, permanent members of the 15-member council, vetoed a resolution, backed by the United States, calling for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal. Algeria also voted against the resolution while Guyana abstained. This is the fourth attempt by the Security Council to pass a resolution aimed at halting the conflict in Gaza to allow aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave. The US had vetoed three previous resolutions in October, December and February. A never-ending…

A former Yoozoo Games executive has been sentenced to death over the poisoning of the company’s founder.Xu Yao poisoned Lin Qi’s food in December 2020 because they disagreed over how to run the business, according to the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court. Mr Lin, 39, died 10 days later and police arrested Xu.Xu, 43, had also poisoned drinks in the office between September and December that year, targeting two colleagues with whom he had also had differences.They became ill but recovered, as did two other employees who consumed the drinks. The court said Xu’s actions had been premeditated and had…

Why is the DFB changing its kit supplier after more than 70 years with Adidas? The decision in favor of Nike was the “result of a transparent and non-discriminatory tender procedure,” according to a DFB (German FA) statement announcing the move. “Nike made by far the best financial offer and additionally impressed with the content of their vision.” Under the deal, the US company committed not only to kitting out all DFB national teams, but also to promoting amateur football and ensuring that women’s football in Germany continues to develop sustainably. The DFB did not disclose the exact amount that Nike…

Russia added on Friday what it called the “LGBT movement” to a list of extremist and terrorist organizations. It comes after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled in November that LGBTQ+ activists should be designated extremists following a petition from Moscow’s Justice Ministry.Russia’s blacklist for extremist and terrorist groups is managed by the Rosfinmonitoring watchdog, which is authorized to freeze bank accountsImage: Peter Kovalev/Tass/dpa/picture alliance What else do we know about Russia’s blackist for ‘extremists’? The list is maintained by the Rosfinmonitoring agency, which has the ability to freeze bank accounts belonging to people or groups designed as extremists or terrorists. At present, the list…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel could launch major ground operations in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip without US support. Netanyahu made the comments after speaking with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken who arrived in Tel Aviv earlier on Friday. It was the final stop on Blinken’s sixth visit to the region since Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Stripfollowing Hamas terror attacks on October 7 that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel. Netanyahu insists on Rafah offensive after Blinken meeting “We have no way to defeat Hamas without getting into Rafah and eliminating the battalions that…

Two men have been arrested following an explosion at a service station in County Donegal which killed 10 people, including three children, in 2022.The blast on the afternoon of 7 October in the northwestern village of Creeslough, County Donegal, Ireland, caused the death of four men, three women and three young people, with ages ranging from five to 59. Police said the men, both in their 50s, were arrested on Friday morning for alleged offences contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.A statement by Garda police said: “Both men are currently detained under the provisions of section 4…