Author: DW

Security forces in Senegal on Sunday used tear gas and made high-profile arrests as pockets of protests broke out in the capital, Dakar, against the delayed February 25 presidential election. President Macky Sall announced on Saturday the vote would be postponed to an unspecified date due to a row over the candidate list. Sall said he made the call after the Constitutional Court ruled that several candidates could not take part. Lawmakers are investigating two of the court’s judges whose integrity in the election process has been questioned. Some opposition and civil society groups have criticized the delay, which came a day before campaigning was due to begin, as…

The father of nine-year-old Emily Hand, the Irish-Israeli girl held hostage by Hamas for 50 days, said she was threatened with a knife during her ordeal.Emily, who was released in November after her capture on 7 October, suffers from panic attacks and often speaks in whispers, her father said in an interview with Israeli station Channel 12. Thomas Hand, who is originally from Dublin, said Emily talks “very little” about her time in captivity. Image: Thomas Hand. Pic: Channel 12 Israel “Just every now and then, [she gives] little snippets of information. But we’re not actually even allowed to question…

The latest airstrikes by the UK and the US against Houthi military targets in Yemen came after “repeated warnings” to the Iran-backed militant group, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Sunday. The strikes, which were carried out late Saturday, hit buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems, launchers and other capabilities the Houthis have used to attack Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said. What did Cameron say? Confirming the strikes in a social media post on Sunday, Cameron stressed that the “Houthi attacks must stop.” “Their reckless actions are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening the freedom of navigation and destabilizing the…

I put my ear plugs in and take a step back. The flash from the tank barrel comes first, then the boom. Snipers to my left open fire. Red machine gun tracer fire zips towards the village and laser guided artillery thuds into walls.Israeli paratroopers are attacking a mock Hezbollah village. It’s a drill, but any day now it could be for real. A decision whether to invade Lebanon has not been made yet, but the Israeli government has made increasingly hawkish statements and all the soldiers I spoke to privately said they thought it would happen.It would be a…

Amid the 150,000 protesters surrounding the Reichstag on Saturday, holding up a sea of colorful flags and placards, were a number of banners emblazoned with the crests of Berlin football clubs and messages like “No football for fascists!” and “Football welcomes refugees.” “It’s important that everyone speaks out about the far right now, because it is a crucial moment. And sports, and football in particular, have to stand up because so many people come together to play and watch football,” David Hoffmann told DW. Hoffmann is a part of “Gesellschaftsspiele,” a Berlin organization focusing on football fan culture and political education. He helped…

Russia has maintained the world record for total time spent in space, with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko logging over 878 days in orbit, Russia’s space corporation announced on Sunday. Roscosmos said Kononenko broke the record set by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka on Sunday morning. “I am proud of all my achievements, but I am more proud that the record for the total duration of human stay in space is still held by a Russian cosmonaut,” Kononenko was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency quoted him as saying. What do we know about Kononenko? The 59-year-old Kononenko broke the record while…

Raging wildfires in Chile have killed at least 51 people and the number of dead is likely to keep rising as emergency workers battle the flames threatening urban areas.Thousands of people have been forced to flee and hundreds of homes have been destroyed by the blazes which have sent black smoke billowing over many parts of the central Valparaiso region and caused power cuts. Four hospitals and three old people’s homes have also had to be evacuated. More than 450 firefighters have been drafted in and 19 helicopters deployed to try and tackle the outbreaks in Chile.Areas around the coastal…

At least 28 people have been killed in shelling at a bakery in the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, Moscow-installed officials have said.The deaths come on the same day Ukrainian military officials claimed Russian forces shelled the Sumy region in the northeast of the country in 16 separate attacks on Saturday – firing on the border communities of Yunakivka, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, and Esman. At least one child is among those who died after the “armed forces of Ukraine opened fire on a bakery” in Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, local leader Leonid Pasechnik wrote in a…

In 2023, the names of two women were on everyone’s lips: Barbie, and Taylor Swift.Both are represented at the Grammy Awards tonight. Swift’s music needs no introduction of course, while Barbie makes the cut thanks to the contributions to the film’s soundtrack by Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa (Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken sadly didn’t make it a hat-trick, despite the Oscar nod).After cementing herself firmly as the biggest pop star on the planet with the start of her Eras tour last year, this year’s Grammys ceremony could be a record-breaker for Swift. Image: Barbie gets some Grammys action thanks…

Namibia’s President Hage Geingob has died aged 82.Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba announced Mr Geingob’s death in the early hours of Sunday morning. “At his side was his dear wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children,” Mr Mbumba said in a statement.He had been diagnosed with cancer and publicly revealed his diagnosis last month.His office announced he would be travelling to the US for treatment, but would return to Namibia on 2 February. Mr Geingob became president in 2015 and was serving his second and final term in office.He underwent an aortic operation last year, and in 2014 he revealed that he…