Author: DW

US President Joe Biden has said he is “contemplating” steps to punish Moscow after he blamed Vladimir Putin and his “thugs” for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.Mr Biden said he was “outraged” but “not surprised” by the death of the prominent Putin critic as he joined other world leaders in saying the Kremlin should be held accountable.UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described Mr Navalny as the “fiercest advocate for Russian democracy”, while Canadian leader Justin Trudeau said his passing is a reminder of “exactly what a monster Putin is”.Mr Navalny had been serving a 19-year sentence on…

Skip next section Zelenskyy signs security pact with Macron in Paris02/16/2024February 16, 2024Zelenskyy signs security pact with Macron in ParisUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a security deal with France. He traveled to Paris on Friday evening after signing a separate deal with Germany. “It’s an ambitious, very substantive security agreement … We can’t talk openly about all the details,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. “Each of the agreements strengthens Ukraine in its own way,” he said, comparing the deals reached with France and Germany. The agreement, which is set to last…

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is increasingly influencing Saudi Arabia’s foreign and domestic policies. “The situation has become a delicate balancing act for Saudi Arabia,” Sebastian Sons, senior researcher for the German think tank CARPO, told DW. “The current war offers a possibility to correct years of relatively little Saudi commitment on behalf of the Palestinians, while at the same time, Saudi Arabia, the guardian of two holy sites in Islam, continues to pursue its normalization efforts with Israel,” Sons said. For months, the process of normalizing Saudi-Israeli ties, one promoted by the US, was seen by Saudi Arabia and Israel as offering…

Does the death of Alexei Navalny reveal weakness within Putin’s regime as it tries to project confidence about the direction of its war in Ukraine?Many in the West will assume Vladimir Putin ordered the assassination of Navalny, given his track record of killing so many others. His agents tried to poison him with Novichok four years ago, after all. But Navalny was in jail out of the way and unable to pose much of a threat. Why kill him now?Follow live – Russia-Ukraine: Putin blamed for Navalny’s death Image: Alexei Navalny behind a glass panel in court in 2021. Pic:…

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) eastern city of Goma is struggling to deal with an influx of internally displaced people (IDPs) from the territories of Masisi, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo in North Kivu province, where M23 rebels control swathes of land. Clashes between the M23 rebels and government forces has been intensifying in Sake, which is a strategic town on the road to Goma and a flashpoint in the latest fighting. Tensions flared in March 2022 when the rebels, after a decade of relative calm, attacked Congolese army positions near the border between Uganda and Rwanda, causing locals to flee for their safety.  But M23 has…

February 2024  — Navalny dies in Arctic penal colony, authorities say The Kremlin’s most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny, died on February 16 in an Arctic prison, according to the Russian Penitentiary Service. His death comes a month before an election poised to extend Vladimir Putin’s hold on power. Navalny, 47, led campaigns against corruption in Russia and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests. He was serving a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges in a remote penal colony. According to the Russian Penitentiary Service, he felt unwell after a walk, lost consciousness and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila…

Ukraine’s military has said outnumbered troops have been withdrawn from part of the eastern city of Avdiivka.The decision comes as battles escalate in the region, but Ukraine insists the withdrawal from the southeastern part of the city provides no strategic advantage for Russia. Speaking on Telegram, the commander of Ukraine’s southeastern sector Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said units were removed with minor losses.”In a difficult battlefield situation, when only ruins and a pile of broken bricks remain from the fortification, our priority is to save the soldiers’ lives,” he said.Follow live: Putin blamed for death of Navalny One of Ukraine’s most prominent…

Skip next section Biden says ‘Putin is responsible’ for Navalny’s death02/16/2024February 16, 2024Biden says ‘Putin is responsible’ for Navalny’s deathUS President Joe Biden said he was “outraged” at Navalny’s reported death. “Like millions of people around the world … I am not surprised and outraged at the news,” he said, adding that Navalny had stood against the “corruption” and “violence” committed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government. He said that Putin was “responsible” for Navalny’s death. “What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality,” he said. The US president said that Washington did not know “exactly…

Senegal’s Constitutional Council on Thursday overturned the postponement of this month’s presidential election, creating a sense of uncertainty across the West African nation. Senegalese President Macky Sall had announced the delay on February 3, just one day before the election campaign was scheduled to get underway. But the council invalidated Sall’s decree to postpone the vote from February 25 to December 15. It acknowledged that it was “impossible to organize the presidential election on the initially scheduled date” but invited “the competent authorities to hold it as soon as possible.”Protesters took to the streets in response to Sall’s decision to delay the elections.…

Alexei Navalny’s wife has said she does not know whether to believe he is dead – but that President Putin and his regime must be held accountable if it is true.Yulia Navalnaya was speaking at the Munich Security Conference hours after Russian authorities said the 47-year-old had died in prison. She said she did not know whether to still speak or fly to her children, but that she asked herself what her husband would have done.Russia-Ukraine latest: Putin blamed for Navalny’s death”I’m confident he would be here on this stage,” she told the audience. Mrs Navalnaya said she was unsure…