Author: DW

At least 300 political prisoners have been released within 48 hours in Senegal. Most of them had been detained after being arrested by security forces during protests. For days, Senegalese authorities restricted protests with police operations and the arrest of opposition activists. Then the government imposed a ban on demonstrations and cut off mobile internet service. It now seems that people are slowly reclaiming their right to demonstrate and their freedom of expression, with authorized marches through the streets of Dakar and other cities over the weekend.Many protesters took to the streets of Dakar to demand their right of expressionImage: John Wessels/AFP Protesters arbitrarily detained Nina Penda Faye, a civic activist,…

Donald Trump has broken his silence on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny – but avoided casting blame on President Vladimir Putin.Mr Trump, who drew criticism for praising the Russian ruler during his presidency, spoke out in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The former US president wrote on Monday: “The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country.”It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction. Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and…

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, released a video message Monday accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of killing her husband. “Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Alexei Navalny,” she said in the message released ahead of her attendance of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. She accused Russian authorities of hiding Navalny’s body, which his family and lawyers have not been allowed to access.  Navalnaya said she believes her husband was killed with Novichok nerve agent, and said Russian authorities were holding his body until traces of the agent disappear. She did…

The German central bank, the Bundesbank, on Monday warned that a technical recession was possible by the end of the first quarter of 2024, particularly given recent strikes and their impact on infrastructure like public transport and airports.  The Bundesbank said it could “not be ruled out, that the various strikes, among other places in areas like rail and air travel, reduce productivity.” The next round of such strikes scheduled for Tuesday this week will affect German airports, with Lufthansa ground staff from trade union Verdi stopping work. Germany’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.3% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2023, as…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t mince words. On Saturday, he said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will march into the city of Rafah in southern Gaza — even if negotiators manage to arrive at a deal that would see Hamas release all remaining Israeli hostages. “Even if we achieve it, we will enter Rafah,” Netanyahu said in a televised address. “We’re going to do it.” According to Israel, 130 hostages are still held by Hamas. There are currently an estimated 1.4 million people crammed into Rafah. Many of them have fled, some multiple times, from elsewhere in the Gaza…

A mum-of-two who has just completed a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean is already planning another adventure – but this time she’s staying on dry land and will be joined by one of her young sons.Leanne Maiden, 42, was reunited with her family at the weekend after completing The World’s Toughest Row race. Ms Maiden spent 66 days at sea – rowing 3,000 nautical miles from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean.During the epic quest she navigated 20ft waves, swinging temperatures, and overcame a capsized boat.As well as sleep deprivation and salt sores, the…

The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been refused access to his body, his spokesperson said. Spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said Navalny’s lawyers and his mother weren’t allowed into the morgue in the northern Russian town of Salekhard on Monday morning. “One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexei’s body was there, they did not answer,” she wrote in a social media post. She added that the investigative committee looking into the 47-year-old’s death was extending their probe and that the cause of death was still “unknown.” “They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even…

A grand total of 1,776 days: That’s how long Julian Assange will have been detained in Britain’s maximum-security Belmarsh Prison by Tuesday, when he faces what could be the final hearing in the tug-of-war over his extradition to the US. Before that, the 52-year-old founder of the whistleblowing platform Wikileaks had spent seven years under diplomatic asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. And if US prosecutors have their way, he will soon be facing another 175 years in prison. The hearing before the High Court in London will take up the question: Has Assange already exhausted all legal options…

A former Chinese takeaway worker on trial after police seized Bitcoin worth £1.4bn has told a jury she was “duped” by the woman who defrauded the money.Jian Wen, 42, is alleged to have acted as a “front person” to help launder some of the profits of a £5bn investment fraud carried out in China by Zhimin Qian between 2014 and 2017. Qian, which means money in Chinese, fled the UK after police raided the six-bedroom house the women rented for more than £17,000 a month near Hampstead Heath in northwest London, a court has heard.Officers seized devices from the property,…

Germany is pressing for more European Union sanctions against Russia, German top diplomat Annalena Baerbock said Monday ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting due to be attended by the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia’s prison service said. Germany calls for sanctions, summons Russian ambassador Baerbock said Germany would propose new sanctions against Moscow, expressing hope that they would be approved soon by the 27-nation bloc. “We have seen the brutal force with which the…