Author: DW

A Polish police spokeperson said farmers in Poland blocked two crossings on the German border in protest Monday. The farmers parked their tractors on the A2 highway, blocking traffic in both directions at the Swiecko and Gubinek crossings, both western towns in Poland. The demo first began on Sunday. Marcin Maludy, a spokesperson for the police in Gorzow Wielkopolski said: “Traffic in Swiecko and Gubinek is blocked, you cannot travel in either direction,” and the protest “will continue until Wednesday evening.” Why are Polish farmers demonstrating? Polish farmers staged the protest against farm imports from outside the  European Union  and the bloc’s environmental red tape.The current demo is expected to continue through Wednesday, but it…

Around 2,000 Nepali men have been recruited by Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, Sky News understands.Driven by poverty, many of the Nepali mercenaries are now desperate to return. Ganesh, 35, is one of the few recruits lucky enough to have made it home. He spent four and a half months fighting in Donetsk and he says Nepalis were “treated like dogs”.”It was very frightening. It wasn’t man to man, bullet to bullet. We were attacked by drones and it was terrifying,” he said.We spoke to him in Kathmandu as he prayed at a temple, relieved but traumatised…

Skip next section ‘Ukraine’s survival is in danger’ US defense secretary says03/19/2024March 19, 2024’Ukraine’s survival is in danger’ US defense secretary saysUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned that Ukraine’s ability to keep fending off Russian forces is at risk as US urgent aid continues to be held up by lawmakers in Washington. “Ukraine’s survival is in danger,” Austin said in a press conference after Kyiv’s allies met at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate state.  “Our allies and partners continue to step up, the United States must also,” he added. The Republican-run US House of Representatives has…

Hong Kong’s lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously passed a proposed national security law on top of a similar law imposed by Beijing four years ago that has already largely silenced opposition voices. “Today is a historic moment for Hong Kong,” said city leader John Lee, who added that the law would come into effect on March 23.  The vote was held in special session one day before the regular Wednesday meeting of the Legislative Council.  Government’s desire to fast-track legislation The bill was unveiled on March 8. The legislature, which is packed with Beijing loyalists, accelerated debate after Lee called for the law…

Five people have been injured after a bear went on a rampage through a town in Slovakia.It comes just hours after a 31-year-old woman from Belarus died after being chased by a bear in Slovakia’s Low Tatras mountain range. The latest bear attack on Sunday, which happened in Liptovsky Mikulas, in the north of the country, left a 49-year-old woman with a shoulder injury and a 72-year-old man with a cut to his head.A 10-year-old girl and two other adults suffered scratches and bruises, according to reports.Officials have declared a state of emergency following the spate of attacks. In a…

A German soldier has been charged with spying for Russia, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday. The suspect worked as a professional soldier at the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw). The institute is responsible for equipping Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr. It also develops, tests and procures military technology. “On one occasion, he passed on information that he had obtained in the course of his professional activities to a Russian intelligence service for forwarding,” prosecutors said in a statement. German officials said the country’s support for Kyiv has increasingly made it the target of Russian spying…

Poland and Germany are still haunted by their difficult past. Eighty-five years after the German invasion of Poland triggered the start of World War II, the question of whether Germany should pay reparations to its neighbor is back on the agenda. “Settling the bill would be historically justified,” Donald Tusk, the newly elected Polish prime minister, told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his first official visit to Berlin in February. Tusk, a former European Commission president, said that Germany “still has work to do” on the issue of moral and material compensation but added that the subject should not be allowed to poison relations between…

Unilever, the consumer goods firm behind brands including Marmite and Domestos, has revealed plans to cut 7,500 jobs across its global operations.The UK-based firm, which employs around 128,000 staff, said the proposed losses would come mainly from office roles as technology advanced. It admitted that the UK, where it has 6,000 workers, would be included in the three-year productivity drive, with the focus to be on head office staff.Money latest: The story of olive oil’s 110% price riseUnilever said it would begin consultations with those affected once the roles had been fully identified. Speaking at the Environment, Food and Rural…

Mining engineer Pierre Amani Kangenda peers into the mouth of a narrow shaft that plunges straight down to the belly of a cobalt mine. He can’t quite make out the silhouettes of the young men whose job is to heave 20-kilogram (44-pound) sacks of dirt rich in cobalt and copper composite up the mine wall to the surface. But he can see their headlamps in the darkness. The men use pickaxes and shovels to dig for cobalt in this small-scale mine known as UCK Drain on the outskirts of Kolwezi in the DRC’s southern copper belt, where great amounts of cobalt are mined.…

French authorities launched a large-scale operation against drug smuggling in the southern port city of Marseille on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron announced. Macron made an unannounced trip to the city, which he said had been tormented over the past year by gang criminality that had left dozens dead. Marseille will also host several events as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer. “In Marseille and other cities in France, we have launched an unprecedented operation to put a stop to drug trafficking and ensure republican order,” the president wrote on X, formerly Twitter. France in ‘battle’ against drug…