Author: DW

Seven people, including two children, are missing in southeastern France after floods swept cars away.”Extremely violent episodes” brought “very heavy rainfall” in Gard and Ardeche overnight, Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, said on Sunday. Searches are under way for six people in Gard and one person in Ardeche after vehicles were found but without the people, Mr Darmanin added.In Gard, divers joined rescue teams to search for three members of a family who went missing when their car was swept away at about 11.30pm.The vehicle was about to cross a submersible bridge, according to France Info. The 40-year-old mother was…

The Saudi Arabian Oil Group, often referred to simply as Aramco, on Saturday reported a 24.7% decline in profits for 2023 compared to the previous year, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had driven oil prices well above current levels. Net income reached 454.7 billion Saudi riyals (roughly $121 billion or €111 billion) compared to profits in excess of $160 billion in 2022, the oil giant said in a filing with the Saudi stock market.  “The decrease mainly reflects the impact of lower crude oil prices and lower volumes sold, and weakening refining and chemical margins,” Aramco said.  Why the Middle East won’t…

Pope Francis has come in for fierce criticism over remarks that Ukraine should have what he called the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.  The head of the Catholic Church made the remarks in an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI, but partially released on Saturday. It sparked widespread criticism from Ukraine and its allies, as many interpreted it as a call for Ukraine to surrender. What did the pontiff say? “I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and…

Fireworks were ignited and eggs thrown as pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Amsterdam where a new National Holocaust Museum has been opened. The Israeli president’s visit to the newly-opened National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam has sparked protests in the city. Thousands of protesters were heard chanting “never again is now” and “ceasefire now” at Waterloo Square in central Amsterdam, near the museum, which held an opening ceremony on Sunday and invited guests including the Israeli president Isaac Herzog and Dutch King Willem-Alexander.They also held Palestinian flags and signs that said “Jews against genocide” and “the grandchild of a holocaust survivor says:…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended the opening of the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam on Sunday. The museum tells the stories of some of the 102,000 Jews who were deported from the Netherlands and murdered in Nazi camps during the Holocaust in World War II. Among the exhibits are a prominent photo of a boy walking past bodies at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after it was liberated, dress buttons excavated from the grounds of the Sobibor extermination camp, and walls covered with the texts of hundreds of laws discriminating against Jews enacted by the German occupiers of the Netherlands. The museum is…

The death toll has continued to climb after days of torrential rains triggered flash floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, officials said on Sunday. The West Sumatra capital of Padang has been inundated by flooding since Thursday, while masses of mud, rocks and uprooted trees tumbled down the mountains and tore through villages in Pesisir Selatan district to the south. “As of Sunday, 21 people were found dead and six people remained missing,” Fajar Sukma, an official from the West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency, told the AFP news agency. The National Disaster Management Agency said more than 80,000…

Days of torrential rainfall have led to flash floods and a landslide on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing 19 people with seven others missing.Mud, rocks and uprooted trees came down a mountain and reached a river that burst its banks, tearing through villages in the West Sumatran province. Seven bodies were pulled from the rubble in the village of Koto XI Tarusa by Saturday, said Doni Yusrizal, who leads the local disaster management agency. Image: Damaged houses in Langgai. Pic: AP Three others were recovered in two other neighbouring villages, while rescuers retrieved another six bodies in Pesisir Selatan…

India and the four members states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) on Sunday signed an economic pact worth over $100 billion (€91.4 billion). The EFTA’s members are Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, none of which are in the European Union. The agreement must be ratified by all five signatories before it can come into effect. Switzerland plans to do so by 2025. What do we know about the India-EFTA deal? Under the deal, India will lift most import tariffs on industrial products from the EFTA in exchange for investment of $100 billion over 15 years, Indian Trade Minister Piyush…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to attend the opening of the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam on Sunday. The museum tells the stories of some of the 102,000 Jews who were deported from the Netherlands and murdered in Nazi camps during the Holocaust in World War II. Among the exhibits are a prominent photo of a boy walking past bodies at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after it was liberated, dress buttons excavated from the grounds of the Sobibor extermination camp, and walls covered with the texts of hundreds of laws discriminating against Jews enacted by the German occupiers of the Netherlands.…

Pope Francis has called on Ukraine to have “the courage of the white flag” and negotiate an end to the war against Russia.The head of the Catholic Church said: “I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people, has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates.” And Kyiv, he said, shouldn’t be ashamed to talk to Vladimir Putin’s regime, “before things get worse”, as “the word negotiate is a courageous word”.”When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to…