Author: DW

The government in South Korea on Thursday made a last-ditch appeal to striking doctors to end their mass walkout, or face having their medical licenses suspended and prosecution. Thousands of resident and intern doctors have walked off the job for the past 10 days in protest over government plans to raise the number of students enrolling at medical school by 2,000 each year. They argue that the government should first address pay and working conditions before attempting to raise the number of doctors. Return to work ultimatum “We’ve said that we won’t hold them responsible for leaving their worksites if they return by…

A tourist had her leg broken after being grabbed by an elephant and slammed to the ground.Footage of the incident has been released by the campaign group PETA to highlight animal welfare and public safety concerns. It happened in the main courtyard of the historic Amer Fort in Jaipur, India, where elephant rides are touted to tourists.The footage shows the female elephant – called Gouri or “ride number 86” – using her trunk to grab the woman.The animal then swings the Russian woman round and slams her to the ground. Gouri also severely injured a male shopkeeper in October 2022,…

Bhupa Raj Khadka, a journalist with three decades of experience in media, recently opened a retail shop in Bhaktapur, a suburb of Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. He had been running a current affairs news portal for six years. But now, he is struggling to pay his two remaining reporters due to dwindling advertisement revenue. “I saw no future in journalism, so I started a retail shop to make ends meet,” he told DW. Journalism no longer a viable career path Khadka’s situation reflects a broader trend in Nepali journalism. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) — an umbrella trade union…

US President Joe Biden “continues to be fit for duty,” his doctor decreed in a 6-page report after he concluded his annual physical on Wednesday, ahead of this year’s presidential race where the 81-year-old is almost certain to compete. Biden spent over two-and-a-half hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the annual tests. His physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, wrote that Biden “feels well and this year’s physical identifies no new concerns.” “President Biden is a healthy, active, robust, 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency,” O’Connor said. Why is Biden’s health in…

Ecuador is by no means the first Latin American country to try to take on the cartels and gangs that have embedded themselves into the societies of many countries across the region.But Ecuador, arguably more than others, faces a real challenge because of the involvement on its soil of two of Mexico’s most notorious and powerful drugs cartels – Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation. The authorities in Ecuador tell us that the Sinaloa cartel has broadly aligned itself with the Los Choneros gang, while Jalisco New Generation has aligned itself with Los Tiguerones.The 36-year-old president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, ordered…

Skip next section Orlov’s sentence in Russia ‘politically motivated,’ Nobel committee says02/28/2024February 28, 2024Orlov’s sentence in Russia ‘politically motivated,’ Nobel committee saysThe Nobel Peace Prize committee said it was “appalled” by the  prison sentence imposed on Russian activist Oleg Orlov, a leader of the disbanded human rights center Memorial, who shared the Peace Prize in 2022. “The sentence against Mr. Orlov is politically motivated and provides another proof of the increasing disrespect for human rights and freedom of speech in today’s Russia,” Joergen Watne Frydnes, head of the committee, said in a statement. Orlov was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison on Tuesday for “discrediting…

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have awarded victims of Ugandan child soldier-turned-commander Dominic Ongwen more than €52 million ($56 million) in compensation. Ongwen, who was himself abducted by Joseph Kony’s notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at the age of 9 before rising through the ranks, was convicted on 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2021, including rape, murder and child abduction. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail and is currently serving his term in Norway. On Wednesday, the ICC calculated the total value of reparations for an estimated 50,000 eligible victims to…

New satellite imagery reveals construction work at a former Wagner Group base at Modibo Keita International Airport in Mali. High-resolution imagery obtained by Sky News offers the first detailed picture of this site since the death of the Wagner Group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August 2023. Image: Map of Russian deployments in the region Since then, the organisation has been taken in-house, with its functions absorbed by the Russian Defence Ministry.The remnants of the Wagner Group are now reportedly being operated as Russia’s “Expeditionary Corps”.When he died, Prigozhin’s death prompted speculation concerning the future of Russian influence and military presence…

Richard Lewis, an acclaimed US comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frenzied diatribes while dressed in all black, earning him the nickname “The Prince of Pain,” has died at the age of 76, his publicist Jeff Abraham announced on Wednesday. Lewis, who revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, died at his home in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack, according to Abraham. “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham said in a written statement. One of the top comedians of his generation…

Berlin police are investigating an incident in which pro-Palestinian activists allegedly harassed Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday without providing details about the incident. According to media reports, several people intercepted Prosor at a private appointment.  A video posted to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, shows pro-Palestinian activists shouting at Prosor, who is accompanied by bodyguards. Prosor’s security detail prevented anyone from reaching him and escorted him into a building, according to Berlin daily BZ. Prosor was accused of having blood on his hands. In a video of the scene, the chant “Ron Prosor, you…