Author: DW

Poland’s new culture minister announced the liquidation of all public media on Wednesday, deepening a political rift over the state-run broadcasters. The move, however, does not mean public broadcasters will be dissolved. After taking power earlier this month, the new pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk started an overhaul of state media outlets. Many critics of the previous government, which was led by the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), claim the broadcasters were reduced to the mouthpieces of the PiS and its allies during their eight-year rule. But the push to reform them faced an obstacle when Poland’s conservative President Andrzej…

Bullet holes at petrol stations, solitary tanks and charred buildings were among the starkest reminders of a war that had not ended when three US surgeons crossed over from Poland’s border into Ukraine to perform lifesaving surgery on victims of war.Kirtishri Mishra, 34, Laura Bukavina, 38, and Shubham Gupta, 40, from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Centre, took a 16-hour flight to the Polish border village of Medyka on 13 October before crossing over the border by foot into Ukraine. From there, they drove to Urosvit Hospital in western Ukraine’s Lviv to treat patients at the facility – that journey took…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday thanked “Joe Biden, Congress, and the American people” for the latest $250 million (roughly €225 million) military aid package announced late on Wednesday.  “Additional air defense missiles and components, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, mine clearing, and other equipment will cover Ukraine’s most pressing needs,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.  He said such assistance from the more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine with military aid “is critical to countering terror and aggression not only in Ukraine but around the world.”  The tranche of aid approved late Wednesday is the last for the year, and as the…

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty of fraud by stealing from his customers, will not face a second trial. Prosecutors told a US federal court that they do not intend to hold a second trial against Bankman-Fried as the evidence that would be presented during the second trial would be the same as already entered during the first one. The 31-year-old billionaire’s sentencing is due in March and is likely to include orders of forfeiture and restitution for victims of his crimes. In their letter, the prosecutors also said that holding a second trial would go against the “strong…

Maine’s top election official has disqualified Donald Trump from the state ballot in next year’s US presidential primary election – making it the second state to bar the former president over the Capitol riots.Maine secretary of state Shenna Bellows ruled that Mr Trump incited an insurrection when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol on 6 January 2021. “I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Ms Bellows wrote in her 34-page decision, which follows Colorado’s banning of the former president earlier in December.”I am mindful that…

Skip next section ‘2023 is ending as it began’ UN Security Council hears12/30/2023December 30, 2023’2023 is ending as it began’ UN Security Council hearsThe United Nations Security Council hastily convened Friday to discuss Russia’s assault, which Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari called “appalling.” “Tragically, 2023 is ending as it began — with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine,” he said, and noted that international humanitarian law forbids attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure. Most council members, including the US, France and the UK, condemned the attacks on Ukraine. Russia’s envoy to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, said in a lengthy response that Russia had only launched attacks targeting military…

Russia has launched one of its biggest aerial barrages on Ukraine since the start of the invasion, killing at least 31 people and wounding more than 160 others.Several cities were struck overnight as Russia launched more than 100 missiles and dozens of drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, with most of them being shot down. Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk suggested the strike was Russia’s largest aerial attack since the war began in February 2022, describing it on Telegram messenger as “the most massive attack from the air”.Army chief General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said the attack targeted critical infrastructure and…

Former Volkswagen (VW) chief executive Martin Winterkorn must stand trial again in an emissions cheating scandal, a German court said on Thursday. The market manipulation charges against him had been provisionally dropped by the court in January 2021 but has now been revived.  What is the case against Winterkorn? In an indictment sheet filed by the public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig in 2019, the former executive is accused of failing to inform the capital market of the installation of an unauthorized defeat device in diesel engines. Braunschweig lies in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony and is located near VW’s headquarters…

The Turkish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, on Friday was postponed because of a disagreement between organizers and the Galatasaray and Fenerbahce football clubs. According to Turkish media reports players from the clubs wanted to wear shirts featuring the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, during their warm-up. Friday’s match between Turkey’s league champions and cup winners would have coincided with the centennial anniversary of the proclamation of the Turkish Republic by Ataturk. They also wanted to use banners bearing Ataturk’s words “Peace at home, peace in the world” during the game but were reportedly denied permission…

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has criticised the Israeli army after an aid convoy was allegedly shot at in Gaza on Thursday.It said an armoured car was clearly marked with UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) branding and was hit despite prior coordination with Israel to ensure it would be protected.The vehicle was one of two returning to the south of Gaza after delivering supplies, including food, to Rimal in Gaza City in the north.UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told Sky News the team came under gunfire just south of Wadi Gaza on Salah al Deen, the…