Author: DW

A jury convicted armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter relating to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin, a producer and actor on the film, was holding a Colt .45 during rehearsals for the low-budget Western in New Mexico when it discharged a live round, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Gutierrez-Reed was supposed to load Baldwin’s revolver with dummy rounds, but one round was live. The involuntary manslaughter charge against Gutierrez-Reed carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Gutierrez-Reed cleared of evidence tampering…

Ireland will hold a referendum on Friday – International Women’s Day – to delete references to a woman’s “duties in the home” from its constitution.After years of pressure, the government agreed to hold two referendums, with the other seeking to expand the constitutional definition of a family from being based on marriage to “durable relationships” instead. Article 41.2 of the Irish constitution, which dates from 1937, reads: “The state recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the state a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”The state shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers…

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will host her British counterpart David Cameron in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war. The ’Strategic Dialogue’ was established to discuss co-operation on foreign and security policy between the two countries. The meeting however comes at an awkward time for Berlin; days after Russian media published an intercepted online call between senior German military officials about Ukraine. During the call, the officials discussed alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine. Russian leak to overshadow discussions  During the second UK-Germany “Strategic Dialogue,” the top priority was to discuss further military assistance for Ukraine…

The ambitious Paris opening ceremony plans could be scaled back further due to security concerns, the Olympic chief managing the event has told Sky News.But Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi insisted they want to preserve the spectacular, unique parade by athletes down the River Seine while not risking their safety. Mr Dubi was speaking as the French government ordered new restrictions on the crowd for the 26 July extravaganza – with tickets no longer freely available to the public but by invitation only.”You can adapt according to the level of risk,” Mr Dubi told Sky News at Paris 2024…

The world’s oceans have reached their highest temperature on record, raising fears that coral reefs are on the brink of a massive and potentially lethal heat shock.New satellite data from the European Copernicus Climate Change Service shows the global average sea surface temperature in February was 21.06C, higher than the previous record of 20.98C set in August last year. Maps released by the organisation show huge areas of the world’s oceans were much warmer than the long-term average. The Atlantic was particularly warm, including the sea around the UK.The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has warned sea temperatures…

Polls by the US-based political news company Politico have indicated that both  the right-wing populist and the far-right extremist faction in the European Parliament could end up holding even more seats after the upcoming  election in June.           Its analysis suggested that the Euroskeptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group could secure around 76 of the 720 available seats, while the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group could win as many as 84 seats. That means the ID group, which has a sizeable constituency from Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, could gain 25 more seats than it holds now.…

A jury convicted armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter relating to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin, a producer and actor on the film, was holding a Colt .45 during rehearsals for the low-budget Western in New Mexico when it discharged a live round, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza Gutierrez-Reed was supposed to load Baldwin’s revolver with dummy rounds, but one round was live. The involuntary manslaughter charge against Gutierrez-Reed carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Gutierrez-Reed cleared of evidence tampering…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy witnessed a deadly Russian missile strike just a few hundred metres away as he visited Odesa in Ukraine.A hangar housing naval drones in the Black Sea port was hit, according to the Russian defence ministry. Five people were killed in the attack, said a Ukrainian navy spokesperson.President Zelenskyy was touring the war-ravaged southern city with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Image: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visit Odesa. Pic: Reuters The attack happened about 500 to 800 metres from where the leaders were, Reuters reported. In a joint news conference after the strike,…

Senegal’s government announced on Wednesday that the delayed presidential election will take place on March 24. On February 3, President Macky Sall announced the postponement of elections scheduled for February 25, triggering widespread uproar in a country that many observers view as a stable democracy. The Senegalese Constitutional Council declared Sall’s postponement of the election null and void and on Wednesday said arranging the vote for a date after his mandate expires on April 2 would be unconstitutional. Government dissolved The electoral crisis emerged after a thwarted bid by authorities to postpone the vote to December. “The President of the Republic…

At least 47 women are missing after suspected Islamist insurgents carried out a mass kidnapping in a remote area of northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state. The incident happened days ago, but details only started emerging Wednesday due to the area’s remote nature. Some 50 woman were initially taken, but some managed to escape. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are both known to have operated in Borno state. What do we know about the kidnapping? Women from displacement camps in Ngala, near the borders with Cameroon and Chad, were gathering firewood when they were “rounded up by ISWAP…