Author: DW

For the second time in four years, the popular Chinese shortform video app TikTok is in the crosshairs of lawmakers in the United States.  Ahead of the 2020 US presidential election, Donald Trump signed an executive order forcing owner ByteDance to sell the app within 90 days, but it failed after legal challenges. Lawmakers are once again seeking to force the sale of TikTok, threatening a nationwide ban of the app otherwise. On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted 352-65 to force ByteDance to divest of the app within six months or see it barred from the Apple and Google app stores in the…

Strikes by security personnel at several regional airports are set to cause flight cancellations and disruptions in Germany on Thursday and Friday. Trade union Verdi announced that further labor action was planned for Friday, a day after it said personnel would strike at five airports on Thursday. What airports are affected? Trade union Verdi said that security staff would strike all day Thursday at Hamburg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Cologne and Berlin airports. Additional strikes on Friday will hit Hanover, Dortmund, Weeze, Dresden, Leipzig and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports.  At Munich Airport, staff in personnel and goods control as well as cargo control are also set to…

Director Roman Polanski is facing a civil trial in the US after being sued by a woman who has accused him of raping her at his home when she was under 18 in 1973.The claim was aired in a news conference led by well-known US lawyer Gloria Allred. The claimant also appeared but did not give her name and was introduced as Jane Doe. “It took me a really long time to decide to file this suit against Mr Polanski, but I finally did make that decision,” she said. “I want to file it to obtain justice and accountability.”Polanski, now…

European Union lawmakers on Wednesday gave their final approval to landmark legislation to govern artificial intelligence. The Artificial Intelligence Act was passed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg with 523 votes in favor and 46 against. The new law aims to protect citizens in the bloc’s 27 member states from the possible risks associated with the fast-changing technology, as well as allow innovation to thrive. “Our ground-breaking AI law will allow us to be world leaders in digital and tech innovation based on EU democratic values, because Europe has the ability to set the tone worldwide and lead responsibly,” European Parliament…

Germany’s benchmark blue-chip stock index, the DAX, crossed the 18,000-point mark for the first time during trading on Wednesday morning shortly after opening. The DAX, which is made up of 40 large publicly traded German corporations, has been on a strong run recently despite struggles for the overall  German economy. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3%  in the last quarter of 2023. However, in January this year, Europe’s biggest economy recorded a jump with  German companies hitting a 6.3% increase in the value of goods exported.What’s wrong with Germany’s economy?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading…

Seoul and Washington have made early progress in talks on sharing the financial burden of US military units stationed on the Korean Peninsula, with both sides reportedly keen to bring forward the discussions out of concern that a future Republican administration in the US would dramatically ramp up its financial demands and undermine the security alliance. “It is clear that [US President Joe] Biden and [South Korean President] Yoon Suk-yeol really want to lock a new SMA [Special Measures Agreement] in early as there is a lot of anxiety in Seoul that Donald Trump could return to the White House…

A retired husband and wife from Britain have died after being found on a beach in Grenada.The couple were found on Paradise Beach on the island of Carriacou, on Saturday 9 March. Police said the husband, 76, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found lying on the sand.His wife, 77, was rushed to the Princess Royal Hospital on the island, where she was later pronounced dead by a doctor.The Royal Grenada Police Force identified the couple as David John Foster and Rosaline Foster. Local media reports said that it was an apparent drowning.Read more from Sky News:Rocket explodes…

Lithuanian police said they are devoting “huge resources” to investigate the attack in Vilnius on Leonid Volkov, the long-time aide to late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Police Commissioner Renatas Pozela said on Wednesday. Volkov was attacked Tuesday outside his home in Vilnius, the capital city of  Lithuania.  In a video on Telegram, Volkov said he was struck 15 times in the leg during the attack, and his arm was broken. The incident sparked an uproar from the Lithuanian government. Volkov, in a video on Telegram, said he was struck 15 times in the leg during the attack, and his arm was brokenImage:…

Japanese company Space One’s first attempt to make the country a contender in satellite launches ended in fire, smoke and debris after the Kairos rocket exploded shortly after its launch on Wednesday. Tokyo-based Space One’s Kairos was Japan’s first private-sector rocket to be launched. The 18-meter (59-foot) solid-fuel rocket blasted off from the company’s own launch pad in the Wakayama region of western Japan at 11:01 a.m. (0201 GMT). Local media livestreams showed the rocket exploding midair within seconds of its launch. Hundreds of spectators had also gathered nearby to watch the launch. Space One said in a statement that following…

Retired UFC fighter Mark Coleman has been hospitalised and is fighting for his life after he rescued his parents from a house fire.Family members and those close to the UFC Hall of Famer said he was in an induced coma after the fire in Toledo, Ohio, early this morning. It was said Mr Coleman was woken up by his dog, Hammer, barking as the house began to go up in flames.The 59-year-old pulled his father and then mother from the burning building. He then returned to try and save Hammer but was unable to.While his parents were not seriously injured,…