Author: DW

Madagascar is set to castrate child rapists after its parliament passed a controversial law last week. The Indian Ocean island’s senate approved the law which will allow for chemical, and in certain cases, surgical castration of those found guilty of raping a minor.It must now be ratified and then signed into law by President Andry Rajoelina, who first raised the issue in December leading to the proposal of the new law.The move has drawn criticism from international human rights groups, but has also encouraged support from activists in Madagascar who say the law is an appropriate deterrent to curb a…

Hundreds of thousands of people took part in rallies across Iran on Sunday to mark the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The commemoration of the toppling of the US-backed monarch and the takeover by the Islamic cleric Ayatollah Khomeini comes amid rising tensions across the Middle East over Israel’s continued war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. How was the anniversary marked? Sunday’s processions took place across the country, with major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional phrases “Death to America” and…

When Roman Kaczmarczyk became mayor of Ladek-Zdroj in 2014, he envisioned a field outside the town full of solar panels instead of wheat. People thought he was crazy. At a time when renewable energy was still uncharted territory for most of the country, Kaczmarczyk pledged to turn the small spa town near the Czech border into Poland’s first energy self-sufficient community. This, he argued, would kill two birds with one stone: It would cut the town’s dreadful air pollution as well as its high energy costs. Kaczmarczyk, a computer engineer and economist by profession, has lived among Ladek-Zdroj’s 5,500 residents almost all…

NATO has criticised comments made by Donald Trump at a campaign event – claiming they “put American and European soldiers at increased risk”.The former US president had said he would let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” to members of the alliance that don’t pay enough for defence. At a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, Mr Trump recalled an exchange with an unnamed “big country” who asked if they would be protected if Russia attacked them.”I said: ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the…

A man has died after coughing up “litres of blood” on board a plane from Bangkok to Munich, passengers have said.The German national, said to be aged 63, looked ill as soon as he and his wife boarded the Lufthansa flight on Thursday, according to witnesses. The man was sweating heavily and appeared to be struggling to breathe – but his partner told the crew he was safe to fly and tired after running to catch the flight, reports claim.Passenger Martin Missfelder said the man’s condition rapidly deteriorated soon after take-off and he began spitting blood into a bag -…

Several of Iraq’s powerful armed groups have told Sky News in rare interviews that they will continue attacks against US forces based in Iraq and the region for what they see as America’s support of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. And one of Iraq’s leading MPs, who was put on the US terror sanctions list just a few weeks ago, accused America of deliberately trying to destabilise his country – telling us: “We don’t want war, but we are not afraid of it.” The language and warnings from all those interviewed bodes very badly for the stability of both Iraq and…

It’s going to be a flying visit, but a very significant one nonetheless. Donald Tusk is traveling to Paris on Monday for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, and then flying to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz  the same day. For Poland’s new liberal prime minister, the visit to Berlin will be a real balancing act. While Tusk is keen to repair his country’s battered relationship with Germany, he must guard against getting too close to Poland’s western neighbor. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has stepped up his anti-German rhetoric since losing last year’s parliamentary electionImage: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP The…

Polls opened in Finland on Sunday morning for the final round of the country’s presidential vote, which pits former prime minister Alexander Stubb, a conservative, against Green party lawmaker Pekka Haavisto, who had decided to run as an independent candidate. Both Stubb and Haavisto had at different points served as Finland’s foreign minister. Some 4.3 million people are eligible to cast their vote with polling stations open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (0700 to 1800 GMT).  The foreign policy experience is key for both candidates, as Helsinki seeks to reorient its security policy after decades of non-alignment.  Following Russia’s invasion of…

Former US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of NATO who had not met their financial obligations, in remarks that the White House rejected as “appalling and unhinged.” Speaking at a campaign rally in South Carolina Saturday, the Republican presidential nomination frontrunner appeared to recount a conversation with a fellow head of state at an unspecified NATO meeting. “One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent?'”…

Israel has been warned of repercussions if its military launches a ground invasion in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, while Israel has suggested civilians could evacuate and find refuge in tent camps that are not yet built.The warning came after Israeli air strikes killed at least 44 Palestinians, including more than a dozen children, in the city. Lord David Cameron has said he is “deeply concerned” about the planned ground invasion of the city, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are taking refuge.Israel says it is a hive of Hamas’s remaining strongholds.Follow latest updates: Germany brands Rafah…