Author: DW

Shortly before Christmas last year, the German government’s budget problems abruptly hit the country’s electric vehicle (EV) sector. As part of a wider belt-tightening, Berlin ended a seven-year subsidy scheme known as the Umweltbonus (‘environmental bonus’) which had seen consumers get purchase grants of several thousand euros when they bought electric cars. It compounded a challenging few months for the EV market in Germany. A few months earlier, the government had already ended the subsidy scheme for corporate fleet buyers, which account for around two-thirds of the German car market.  That goes some way to explaining why new EV registrations…

A man disposed of his five-year-old daughter’s body “like it was trash” after brutally beating her to death, a US court has heard.Harmony Montgomery was last seen in 2019 but New Hampshire Police did not learn she was missing until December 2021. Lawyers for Adam Montgomery, 34, say he did not harm his daughter, whose body has never been found, and the last person to see Harmony alive – his estranged wife – will not say what happened.Police said Harmony was killed on 7 December 2019, having decided on the date of her death following interviews with Montgomery’s wife, Kayla.Adam…

The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on February 10 this year. Also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, the festival marking the advent of spring is widely celebrated in China and several East Asian countries. Families traditionally gather during this time to share sumptuous meals, while children are often given money in red packets known as “hong bao.” The start of the Lunar Year also sees the rotation of the Chinese zodiac that runs over a 12-year cycle, each represented by an animal. There are several stories explaining the zodiac: One legend goes that…

Southeast Asia has published its long-awaited artificial intelligence (AI) governance and ethics guidelines that map out a voluntary and light-touch vision of how national governments can constrain the worst aspects of this new technology yet profit economically from its advance. The ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to the guidelines, which were first drafted last year, at the 4th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore earlier this month. Southeast Asia’s more business-friendly approach to AI regulation could cause some upset within the European Union (EU). The bloc has been lobbying for other parts of the world…

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party is slightly ahead in early election results, after vote counts were hit by delays following a mobile phone shutdown.Early on Friday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced 47 results for the 265 contested seats in the National Assembly. Mr Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) has secured 17 and supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan 14. Image: Pic: AP Twelve seats were taken by the Pakistan Peoples Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, it said.The rest were won by small parties or non-aligned independents.…

An enormous fiery flow of lava is engulfing a road in Iceland, after the third volcanic eruption in the same area in recent months.Iceland’s Meteorological Office has said the Sylingarfell volcano, near Grindavik, is erupting again.The spread of the hot smoking flow was captured in extraordinary live footage from the scene.At one point on Thursday morning, a work crew – in what appeared to be a digger – moved along a road towards the mass of lava as it edged towards them.Footage also showed a car on the road in the path of the lava. Please use Chrome browser for…

Hiding behind the picture of a handsome American soldier stolen from a real Instagram account, Chris Maxwell would try to make women fall in love with him online.The 25-year-old Nigerian says he conned up to 30 victims out of more than $70,000 (£56,000) over five years, enjoying “lavish” spending on nights out in clubs and designer clothes. “When I was doing this, I used to think about people – I used to feel guilty,” he tells Sky News.”I used to feel bad but as time goes on and I started making good money – big money – I stopped feeling…

Vladimir Putin has said Bill Clinton misled him over Russia’s potential membership of NATO two decades ago.During a lengthy interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Russian president said he asked the outgoing President Clinton if his country could join the alliance when he visited the Kremlin in 2000. He claims Mr Clinton initially suggested he believed that would be possible, before rowing back on the statement later that same evening.Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin claims Clinton suggested Russia joining NATOExplainer: Poisoned, jailed and mysterious fall from window: What’s happened to Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics?Speaking through a…

Joe Biden won’t face criminal charges over the handling of classified documents, after he portrayed himself as an “elderly man with a poor memory”, said the special counsel.Robert Hur said President Biden had “wilfully retained and disclosed classified materials” after he was vice president and when he was a “private citizen”, and his actions “present serious risks to national security”. But the prosecutor said he chose not to bring criminal charges following a 15-month investigation because Mr Biden cooperated and would likely be difficult to convict.”We have considered that, at trial, Mr Biden would likely present himself to a jury,…

A man has been awarded the Guinness World Record for the world’s tallest structure using matchsticks – after first having his effort rejected.The Frenchman, Richard Plaud, had built a model of the Eiffel Tower using over 700,000 matchsticks, but said that they rejected him because the structure must be built from matches that are available to the public for purchase and don’t have flammable red tips – and they must “not be cut, disassembled or deformed to the point where they are no longer recognised” as matches. Mr Plaud told French media outlet TFI he started off the tower with…