Author: DW

The deaths of three American troops in a drone strike marks a major escalation in what the US says is an ongoing campaign against it by militia groups who are backed by Iran.Joe Biden vowed that Washington “shall respond” to the attack on US forces in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border on Saturday, which also left dozens of troops injured. The president blamed Iranian-backed militias for the first US fatalities after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East.Iran said “resistance groups” do not take orders from the Islamic Republic.Nevertheless, it is known that…

Pope Francis told an Italian daily that he understands where African bishops are coming from in their opposition to a new Vatican policy that authorizes same-sex blessings. “Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups,” Francis told Italian newspaper La Stampa in an interview published Monday, adding: “A special case are Africans: for them, homosexuality is something ‘bad’ from a cultural point of view, they don’t tolerate it.” “But in general, I trust that gradually everyone will be reassured by the spirit of the ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith: it aims to include, not divide,” he said referring to the new…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been registered as a candidate for the March 15-17 presidential election, the country’s Central Election Commission announced on Monday. According to commission secretary Natalia Budarina, 315,000 signatures were submitted in support of Putin, and 60,000 of them were randomly selected for verification. “As a result of the verification, 91 out of 60,000 signatures were recognized as invalid. Thus, 91 invalid signatures make up 0.15% of the number of verified signatures,” she said. Who else is running for president? Putin has become the fourth registered candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Russia. Earlier, the Central Election Commission…

Just days before Christmas, 78-year-old Eliza Supuni was bludgeoned to death near the town of Mulanje in the Southern Region of Malawi. Her motionless, bloodied body was rushed to a local health center just as she took her final breath. Supuni was pronounced dead on arrival. The perpetrators of the brutal killing were her three grandsons, who reportedly attacked the elderly woman with metal bars and stones, according to local eyewitnesses. “A post-mortem established the cause of death as internal bleeding as a result of fractured ribs on her right side of the body, secondary to assault,” Innocent Moses, the…

A wildlife charity which has Prince Harry as a board member is investigating allegations of human rights abuses by its guards in the Republic of the Congo.African Parks said it was “encouraging anyone with knowledge” of any abuse to come forward and said the investigation was its “highest priority”.In addition to sitting on the board, the Duke of Sussex is also a former president of the non-profit organisation, which manages 22 national parks and protected areas across 12 countries.Guards managed and paid by the charity had been engaged in the beating, rape and torture of indigenous people in the rainforests…

Several years ago in Belozem, a wisp of a village in south-central Bulgaria, two unlikely young energy pioneers set out on a mission: Even though it was not yet feasible according to Bulgarian law, they wanted to launch a clean energy collective like the ones they’d heard about elsewhere in the European Union. There are several thousand of these grassroots community energy projects dotted around the EU, mostly in northern Europe. In these DIY endeavors, not only do townspeople invest together in renewables, they also democratize the clean energy transition by actively participating in it. At first, Belozem’s interest in…

There was only one passenger strapped in the back of the bush plane. She said little during the flight and wore a look that revealed nothing about her ordeal. The pilot said he could only remember one thing about the 20-year-old, called Victoria Mishoni.Hidden beneath her shawl was a tightly wrapped bundle. She held on to it tightly – yet tenderly – and he noticed that it never left her arms.The bundle contained Victoria’s newborn baby, named Rose Jackson. But the child, who was born with a condition called gastroschisis, was dead.Ms Mishoni, from Manyara in central Tanzania, said she could…

A mere four months after Japan’s first attempt to land on the moon ended in failure, the country quickly set its hopes on a second attempt. It launched SLIM — the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon — in September 2023. The spacecraft is better known as Moon Sniper because it was designed as a “pinpoint” lander. Controllers on Earth wanted to use new technology to land this and future spacecraft at precise locations.  Is Japan’s moon mission successful?  So far, yes, the SLIM mission has been a success. Japan became the fifth nation ever to have landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface on…

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday said his government was ready to ease restrictions on access to emergency contraception measure the “morning-after” pill. Cabinet approved a draft law that seeks to undo the prescription-only policy introduced by the former Law and Justice (PiS) party government. Draft legislation to head to parliament “The topics at today’s meeting included the finalization of works regarding the so-called day-after pill. The matter has been finalized, the draft will be sent to parliament,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, told a press briefing. Tusk said the prescription-free emergency contraception would be available for women over…

Troubled property developer China Evergrande said Monday it would continue to operate despite a court in Hong Kong  ordering the firm to be liquidated as part of legal action by some of its foreign creditors. The legal proceedings were brought by Samoa-registered Top Shine, an investor in one of Evergrande’s subsidiaries, among others. High Court judge Linda Chan cited the “obvious lack of progress” in the company presenting a “viable restructuring proposal,” adding that the winding up order was “appropriate.” A crackdown three years ago by China on two decades of real estate speculation caused a deepening property crisis and left Evergrande owing $300…