Author: DW

Indonesia’s presidential candidates held their last election rallies on Saturday before the February 14 vote. There is now a cooling-off period ahead of the election on Wednesday which is the largest single-day vote in the world.  The three candidates for the election are former governors Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan and former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto.  The current president, Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, is barred by the constitution from running for a third term. Final pitches from presidential hopefuls Subianto, the frontrunner according to polls, and his running mate, Widodo’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, held their final rally at a Jakarta…

The joy and excitement were palpable in Sarajevo on Wednesday, February 8, 1984. The city’s residents had been preparing for this day for months: building, organizing, cleaning and generally getting Sarajevo ready for this major international sporting event. On the day itself, 60,000 spectators in Kosevo Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo and millions of television viewers across Yugoslavia and around the world watched the opening ceremony of the XIV Olympic Winter Games.Winter Olympics 1984: When all eyes were on SarajevoTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video At the time, Sarajevo…

Pakistan is in political limbo after an election result that few in the establishment predicted.Independent candidates backed by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) have delivered a major upset. Many seemed to underestimate the level of discontent and desire for change in a country that’s experienced years of turbulence.The army generals who have for decades dominated Pakistan looked far less in control now.Their presumed candidate, Nawaz Sharif, was the first to claim victory yesterday, declaring his party the largest. Technically, he was correct – the independents aren’t a party and don’t have a leader to run the country.But Sharif also…

Three children are among seven people who were killed in a Russian attack in northeastern Ukraine, according to officials.Large fires broke out after the drone strike in Kharkiv – with at least 15 houses and a petrol station among the sites reportedly destroyed. The regional prosecutor’s office said on Telegram that the bodies of three boys – age four, seven and seven months – were found in one house alongside their mother and father.A married couple in their 60s died in another property and three people were hurt elsewhere, the Telegram post added.The fires are believed to have started when…

Rescue operations that had been underway following a deadly landslide in the Mindanao region of the Philippines were forced to stop on Saturday after the region was hit by a strong earthquake. According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.6 quake struck the region at 11:22 a.m. (0322 GMT). The quake was 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep, GFZ added. The Philippine seismology agency recorded a different reading, saying it was a magnitude 5.9 earthquake with a depth of 27 km (16.8 miles). There were no immediate reports of any injuries or damages from the earthquake. The…

Pakistan needs “stable hands” and must move on from the politics of “anarchy and polarization,” the Chief of Army Staff said Saturday. General Syed Asim Munir’s statement came after no party was able to gain a simple majority in parliament in Thursday’s general election. “The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization,” Munir said.  Pakistan’s powerful military wields massive political influence, with generals having run the country for nearly half its history. Three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party had been expected to win the most seats and according to some analysts had the…

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday it had recorded the highest number of Chinese balloons around the country since it started regularly releasing data on balloon sightings in December. Eight balloons were spotted on Friday, one day before the start of the Lunar New Year, at varying altitudes of 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) to 38,000 feet. China considers Taiwan part of its own territory and has regularly carried out military drills around the self-ruled island. It has not discounted using force to take control of the territory. In September, China sent naval vessels, including the Shandong aircraft carrier into waters near…

On London’s Park Lane there is a private jet showroom.You can relax in a section of the cabin taken from an executive airliner, complete with cocoa-cream leather sofas and the plushest of swivel armchairs. Steve Varsano, founder of The Jet Business, runs me through my brand options if I have an appetite for luxury and at least £10m to spare: the Citation, Gulfstream or Embraer. But he disputes my description.”I’m allergic to the word luxury because I think corporate aircraft are a business tool. It’s a time machine. 70% of all the passengers that occupy corporate jets are middle management.…

Senegalese security forces clashed with protesters on Friday as frustration continued over the postponement of the presidential election. Police in riot gear fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in an attempt to stop the protesters from reaching Place de la Nation in Dakar. According to the AFP news agency, a student protesting the delayed election died during the clashes, which saw demonstrators throw stones at the police and set fire to tires. The  presidential election scheduled for February 25 was delayed by President Macky Sall until December.Senegal’s young artists criticize political crisisTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider…

After months of speculation about a rift with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has been removed from his post, with the president saying it was “time for renewal”.Gen Zaluzhnyi is seen as a national hero by many Ukrainians so why has he been replaced, and will this change Ukraine’s fortunes in the war with Russia? It is not unusual for military leadership to be rotated during an extended period of combat operations. Gen Zaluzhnyi is considered to have been instrumental in resisting the Russian invasion and is an immensely popular figure in Ukraine.But, military leadership requires a broad spectrum…