Author: DW

Legally Blonde actress Selma Blair has apologised for a social media post condemned as Islamophobic which “resulted in hurting countless people”.The 51-year-old reacted to a post by a supporter of immigration reform, Abraham Hamra, who had criticised Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush for voting against a measure banning anyone who took part in the 7 October attack on Israel from immigrating to the US. In her previous comment, now deleted and which attracted strong criticism, she had written: “Deport all these terrorist supporting goons. Islam has destroyed Muslim countries and then they come here and destroy minds. They know…

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto appeared poised to win Wednesday’s presidential election in a single round, according to unofficial tallies. Independent pollster Litbang Kompas said that Prabowo was leading with 59.84% of the vote, based on 50.7% of the votes counted at a sample of polling stations across the country. Meanwhile, pollster Poltracking showed Subianto leading with 59.77% and Cyrus Network-CSIS had him with 58.62%. His rivals, Anies Baswedan, the former governor of Jakarta, and Ganjar Pranowo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, had just under 23% and 17.3%, respectively, according to Kompas. Private pollsters count the votes at a…

Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian warship off the coast of Crimea, Ukraine’s military claims.The Caesar Kunikov large landing ship was attacked by naval drones on Wednesday, Kyiv says, as videos emerged showing a column of smoke rising over the water. Ukraine’s military intelligence, known by its Ukrainian acronym GUR, said its special operations unit “Group 13” sank the Kunikov. The Russian military did not immediately comment on the claim, saying only that it downed six Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight.It comes after Moscow’s ambassador to the UK insisted on Tuesday that “Russia cannot be beaten” because of its…

I was often sad or gloomy as a kid growing up in northern England, so much so that friends often said: “Keep your pecker up.”  It turns out this was very good advice — they were talking about my courage, enthusiasm, good spirits. But “pecker” is also English slang for penis — and a new study shows that regular erections — keeping your pecker up — are important for maintaining erectile function. The study, published in the journal Science, found that the number of fibroblasts in the penis is linked to the frequency of erections. A higher number of fibroblasts means…

Indonesians voted for a new president, vice president and members of parliament and local legislative bodies on Wednesday with no major incidents reported across the archipelago. Early and unofficial results were expected by the end of Wednesday by quick-count outlets certified by the General Elections Commission.  The election was a massive undertaking, with over 204 million of the country’s 270 million people registering to vote across some 17,000 islands. The voters are spread across three time zones, from Papua in the east to the tip of Sumatra over 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) away in the west.Election officers used a boat to distribute ballot boxes to polling…

Polls have closed in Indonesia for the world’s biggest single-day election that will see a new president succeed Joko Widodo, also known as President Jokowi. The voters are also deciding on new lawmakers and parliamentarians. Voting took place across three times zones with polling stations opening at 7:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) in the easternmost region of Papua and closing at 01:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) at the other end of the country in jungle-clad Sumatra. Thunderstorms caused flooding in some parts of the capital, Jakarta, with Reuters news agency reporting that dozens of polling stations had been affected.Indonesia holds the world’s…

A car has crashed into an A&E department in Texas – killing one person and injuring five others.A child is in a life-threatening condition after the vehicle smashed into the lobby of the emergency room at St David’s North Austin Medical Centre shortly after 5.30pm on Tuesday. The driver received CPR but died at the hospital. Image: Pic: AP Four of those who were hurt – two adults and two children – have been transferred to other hospitals.One of the adults has “serious, potentially life-threatening injuries”, officials said. The crash is being investigated, with the Austin Police Department saying it…

The two traditional powerhouses of Pakistani politics and rivals to Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced late on Tuesday that they planned to form a coalition. This ends the deadlock which followed last week’s parliamentary election, where no party secured a simple majority. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said it was joining forces with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as well as other smaller parties.  Together, the parties would have enough seats to command a majority in parliament. The PML-N controls 75 seats and the PPP, 54. Candidates from Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party mostly had to run…

Among the crowds of homeless people now packed into southern Gaza, there is a five-year-old boy called Mu’min who was hit by a grenade.A fragment from the device passed through his left eye and is lodged in his brain – but the injury he sustained in the kitchen of his home forms just a part of this story. The incident is just one of an innumerable number of catastrophes experienced by children in Gaza.Follow latest updates: ‘Dreaded scenario unravelling at alarming speed’, UN warns More than 10,000 have died according to the territory’s ministry of health. At least 17,000 children…

The US’ Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden’s top border official, with migration policies taking center stage ahead of November’s presidential election. Conservatives blamed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a surge in crossings of illegal migrants from the US-Mexican border. The vote narrowly passed with 214 in favor and 213 against. It was the second attempt to impeach Mayorkas. Last week’s impeachment attempt failed, in the absence of Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was receiving cancer treatment. Scalise attended Tuesday’s session and gave the motion the decisive vote. Mayorkas’ impeachment…