Author: DW

Elon Musk’s SpaceX started providing Ukraine free access to its Starlink internet service shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. The strategic benefits were clear: Access to the internet for the people of Ukraine and the country’s military after Russia disrupted internet connections early on in the war. The technology has been instrumental in guiding Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian tanks and positions. But according to Ukraine’s intelligence services, Russian soldiers have been using the technology for months in the territories they occupy. That would mean Russia was circumventing sanctions by importing products via third parties or unspecified “Arab countries”. Starlink’s operator and the Russian government have both…

Last week, India’s northern Uttarakhand state passed a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which seeks to replace religion-based personal laws governing things like marriage, divorce and co-habitation with a common set of rules that apply to all citizens equally. In the South Asian country, personal laws governing marriage, divorce and inheritance are rooted in religious scriptures and traditions. Major religious communities like Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs each adhere to their respective personal laws. Political debate on creating common civil laws in India has gone on for decades.  And the nation’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now prioritizing making the UCC a…

What will it take for Europeans to work more? That’s the question facing some of the continent’s wealthier countries as they confront worker shortages despite record employment.  Governments and businesses in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria are now debating how to make additional hours more attractive to workers, from expanded child care to friendlier tax policies and more flexible work schedules. They’re competing with an employee preference for more free time. Average work hours continue to fall as part-time positions grow and unions push for cuts to full-time hours.  “There’s this saying, ‘work to live, don’t live to work,'” Martin…

Counter-terrorism police in Turkey have arrested a suspected member of the so-called “Islamic State” group who was working at a nuclear plant, authorities said on Tuesday. Local media reported that the suspect was a Russian national who had been working at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant under false identity papers. The suspect was brought before a court and jailed pending trial. Turkish authorities crack down on IS suspects The Akkuyu nuclear facility is a $20 billion (€18.5 billion) project being built by Russian state-owned energy giant Rosatom in Mersin province on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. It is slated to start generating…

Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand and Manchester City owner, has been granted parole after six months in prison.Thaksin, 74, returned from a 15-year self-imposed exile in August last year to serve a prison sentence for corruption and abuse of power committed while in office. Justice minister Tawee Sodsong announced the ruling on Tuesday, and while he did not confirm the date that Thaksin will be released, it is expected it could be as soon as this weekend.The official also told reporters in Bangkok that the former premier is one of 930 inmates who qualified for early release…

With Nigeria’s current minimum wage set to expire in April, a federal panel consisting of state governors and trade unionists, private sector and labor leaders is reviewing by how much the minimum wage should increase. Currently, the minimum monthly wage stands at 30 000 naira ($20, €19). Economic reforms introduced after Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration nine months ago, have left ordinary Nigerians battling to keep their heads above water amid soaring living costs. “The cost of everything has gone up from food items, rent, school fees, tariffs, water, electricity, transport,” says Benson Upah, spokesman for the unions’ platform Nigerian Labour Congress.Nigerian…

More than 200 farmers’ unions have called on their supporters to march to the Indian capital to protest against unfulfilled demands on a wide range of issues including prices and pensions.Tear gas was used on farmers who tried breaching the barriers at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana, about 145 miles from the capital, New Delhi. Drones were also used to drop tear gas canisters on the thousands gathered, while several farmers were detained at the border. Image: Police guard a highway near Delhi to stop farmers entering the capital. Pic: AP The farmers – who have a 12-point…

The red carpet is once again rolled out to greet stars and filmmakers from all over the world, while hundreds of films will be screened over 10 days at the Berlin International Film Festival. Alongside Cannes and Venice, it is one of the world’s major film festivals. Taking place from February 15-25, the 74th Berlinale kicks off on Thursday with the world premiere of “Small Things Like These,” an Irish-Belgian production directed by Tim Mielants and starring Cillian Murphy, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley and Emily Watson. Cillian Murphy stars in opening film ‘Small Things Like These,’ based on Claire Keegan’s 2021 bestselling novelImage:…

Russia declared Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas a “wanted” person on Tuesday. The website of Russia’s interior ministry included Kallas in a database as being “wanted under the criminal code.” Estonia’s State Secretary Taimar Peterkop and Lithuania’s Culture Minister Simonas Kairys were also named on the wanted list. What are the charges? Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said that Kallas and the other Baltic lawmakers had been put on the wanted list for hostile actions against Russia and the “desecration of historical memory.” “These are people who take hostile actions against historical memory and our country,” Peskov told reporters. A Russian security source,…

Global defence spending on everything from ammunition to nuclear weapons has jumped 9% to a record $2.2trn (£1.7trn) from a year earlier and will rise again in 2024 as the world enters “a more dangerous period”, new analysis has found.Russia – locked in a war with Ukraine – allocates more than 30% of annual government expenditure to its armed forces, according to the assessment on the balance of global military power by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published on Tuesday. It said the Russian armed forces have lost more than 3,000 main battle tanks in Ukraine – roughly…