Author: DW

Alexei Navalny’s mother and mother-in-law have laid flowers at his grave in Moscow the day after thousands of people attended his funeral in a public show of defiance.Both women, dressed in black, stood quietly at the opposition leader’s burial place before leaving. Mr Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony on 16 February. Image: Both women, dressed in black, stood quietly before leaving. Pic: AP Image: Flowers left by mourners cover Mr Navalny’s grave Supporters said he had been murdered, while the Kremlin has denied any involvement…

A letter sent to FEI, the international governing body of equestrian sports, left no room for interpretation: “Our sport is in serious danger. The current scandals and the bad reputation threatens its existence and could mean the end of dressage and para-dressage as Olympic disciplines.” The letter was sent by leading athletes, trainers and officials from the world of dressage, including seven-time Olympic champion Isabell Werth from Germany. She is the president of the International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC). The correspondence, addressed to FEI president Ingmar de Vos and FEI secretary general Sabrina Ibanez, came as a reaction to the most recent…

Serbian authorities announced on Saturday a rerun of Belgrade’s election, part of local and parliamentary polls from last December, amid fraud allegations. Following a meeting with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Belgrade’s acting mayor and former waterpolo star, Aleksandar Sapic, announced the new vote in the capital. Sapic denied it had to do with the fraud allegations or with the SNS’s failure to secure majority seats in the Belgrade city council. He described the decision as raising “the bar [of legitimacy].” “We made a decision that does not work in our favor but we are not afraid,” Sapic said. Earlier on…

Police in Spain, Italy and Greece have dismantled a criminal organization of Pakistani origin that has produced and distributed over €1 million ($1.1 million) in counterfeit €100 notes. The authorities arrested 14 people, including the ringleaders of the operation. Spanish police said on Saturday that the arrests were made in the cities of Barcelona, Rome and Naples. The police launched their investigation last November after a large number of counterfeit notes were discovered in Barcelona. A gang distributed the notes in Italy, France, Greece and Spain, police said.  Authorities also said the fake money was passing through ATMs and other devices undetected. “The banknotes…

The US military has carried out its first airdrop of aid into Gaza, where a quarter of the population is facing starvation.The joint effort with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, using C-130 Hercules transport planes, saw the US dropping 66 bundles containing more than 38,000 meals along Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline. A US military official said planning was also under way for “potential follow-on airborne aid delivery missions”.The war between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October last year when the militant group killed 1,200 people and seized around 250 hostages.Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death…

Skip next section Scholz reiterates ‘no’ to sending soldiers to Ukraine03/02/2024March 2, 2024Scholz reiterates ‘no’ to sending soldiers to UkraineGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz has again defended his decision not to deploy soldiers to the Ukraine war. “We are not going to send European soldiers to Ukraine. We do not want a war between Russia and NATO and we will do everything to prevent it,” he told the Party of European Socialists (PES) congress in Rome.  According to Scholz, there is a clear understanding among Western partners that NATO and none of its countries should become a party to the war.…

King Harald of Norway had a temporary pacemaker implanted on Saturday at a hospital on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi. Europe’s oldest monarch was being treated there for an infection while on vacation this week, the Norwegian royal house said. “The pacemaker was implanted due to a low heart rate,” the palace in Oslo said in a brief statement. It added that the procedure was successful. Following the operation, 87-year-old Harald is expected to be transported back to Norway “within the next couple of days,” the statement said. “His Majesty is doing well under the circumstances, but still needs…

Lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic saw changes in newborn babies that may have protected them against allergies, according to a study.Infants raised when coronavirus social distancing restrictions were in place were found by Irish researchers to have more of the beneficial microbes acquired after birth from their mother, which could act as a defence against disease. The scientists believe this led “pandemic babies” to have lower than expected rates of allergic conditions, such as to food, compared to pre-COVID babies.The findings, published in the journal Allergy, highlighted the gut health benefits for the youngsters as a result of the…

Haiti witnessed a second day of extreme violence on Friday as gangs looking to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry rocked the capital Port-au-Prince with heavy gunfire near the city’s international airport and a prison. Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier said on Friday held a press conference and said that he would keep trying to remove Henry. “The battle will last as long as it needs to. We will keep fighting Ariel Henry. To avoid collateral damage, keep the kids at home,” the powerful gang boss, known by the nickname Barbecue, said. Cherizier, a former elite police officer runs a gang federation…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican for a private audience. Although the two leaders have met before, this would be their first private face-to-face meeting. Neither the Chancellory nor the Vatican said what they would discuss, but the situation in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine were likely to come up.Scholz also met Italian President Sergio Mattarella during his two-day visitImage: picture alliance/ANSA/ZUMA Press Scholz arrived in Rome on Friday and met Italian President Sergio Mattarella. He will not meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is currently visiting the United…