Author: DW

For months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that come winter, there would be even heavier Russian attacks from the air. In the late fall, Russia started launching increasing numbers of drones, before December 29 saw the biggest attack since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began almost two years ago. More than 100 different missiles and huge swarms of drones were sent over Ukraine, with some 30 people killed in the capital, Kyiv, alone. With some 700 drones launched, December was a record month. Russia targeted not just Kyiv, but the large cities of Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Kherson and Lviv as well. Shortly before the…

A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador after one of the country’s most-notorious drug gang bosses escaped from prison.Adolfo Macias – also known as Fito – was first reported missing from his cell on Sunday. Ecuador’s prosecutors then filed charges against two prison guards as part of their investigation into the alleged escape.The leader of the Los Choneros gang was serving a 34-year sentence in La Regional prison for drug trafficking and murder.His reported escape occurred on the same day he was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility in the city of Guayaquil. President Daniel…

Skip next section Polish farmers suspend blockade at border crossing01/06/2024January 6, 2024Polish farmers suspend blockade at border crossingFarmers in Poland suspended their blockade of a major border crossing with Ukraine on Saturday. The farmers had joined truck drivers to protest against “unfair competition” from their Ukrainian counterparts and against the relaxation of access rules to the European Union for Ukrainian firms. They were blocking the border crossing at Medyka. “We have signed an agreement with the government and we are waiting for its implementation. The blockade has been suspended until our demands are met,” Roman Kondrow, a protest organizer, told the AFP…

German and World Cup football legend Franz Beckenbauer – widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time – has died at the age of 78.The sublimely talented defender won an array of trophies and honours across his glittering career, including a World Cup with West Germany as both a player and a manager, and two Ballon d’Or awards. He was also famed for carving out his own role as a sweeper – sitting slightly behind his team’s defensive line and sweeping up any man or ball that broke through.Former England striker Gary Lineker, paying tribute to Beckenbauer,…

The mayor’s office in Madrid has apologized for distributing videos for the holiday of Epiphany that featured a white actor wearing blackface. The videos showed King Balthazar, one of the legendary Three Wise Men from the Bible, depicted by a white man wearing thick black makeup. Early Christian texts describe Balthazar as African, and Renaissance paintings often depict him as Black. In the video, the man addressed children watching and promised them lots of presents while putting on a fake foreign accent and speaking with grammatical errors. “It is obviously not the right person to feature in these videos. It’s a regrettable mistake…

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on track to gain an overwhelming majority in Bangladesh’s parliamentary election that was boycotted by opposition parties, according to local media reports on Sunday. TV stations with networks of journalists across the country reported that Hasina’s governing party, the Awami League, won 216 out of 229 seats, meaning Hasina wins a fourth consecutive term in office. The general elections were boycotted by the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and their allies. Independent candidates took 52 seats, while the Jatiya Party, the third largest in the country, took 11 seats. The results for the rest of the constituencies were still trickling…

France’s prime minister Elisabeth Borne has resigned after two years in the role.Her resignation comes ahead of an expected reshuffle by French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr Macron faces a tough fight in the European Parliament vote later this year, in which Eurosceptic candidates are expected to make gains in France.He has also faced recent turbulence with domestic policy, including large-scale protests over pension reforms last year.His government recently scraped through new immigration legislation which will strengthen their ability to deport migrants. But it only passed after his centrist alliance was able to strike a deal with the conservative Republican Party.The…

The start of the new year in Ukraine has been marked by a massive wave of aerial attacks from Russia. In response, some in Germany are renewing the call for Berlin to supply Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles. On Friday, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the defense expert from the Free Democrats (FDP), one of the coalition partners in the three-way German government, told the daily Rheinische Post that “Germany must finally deliver it in order to disrupt Russian supply lines” — “it” being a reference to the medium-range Taurus missile. Zimmermann also chairs the parliamentary defense committee, However, just two days earlier, a government spokesperson reiterated Berlin’s…

Thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh were left without shelter on Sunday after a fire tore through their camp in the early hours of Sunday morning. No deaths were reported from the incident, which occurred at Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. “The fire was big, and it destroyed about 1,040 shelters in the camp,” local fire brigade chief Shafiqul Islam told the Associated Press. “We took about two hours to get the blaze under control, engaging 10 fire units from Ukhiya and other stations in the district.”Firefighters took around two hours to get the blaze under controlImage: Shafiqur Rahman/AP Photo/picture…

United Airlines says it has found loose bolts on plug doors on multiple 737 Max 9 aircraft during inspections.It comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced all 171 Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft will remain grounded after a window and chunk of fuselage blew out of one of its Alaska Airlines passenger planes in mid-air. Industry publication Air Current reported that United found loose bolts on other parts on at least five panels that were being inspected following the accident over the weekend.”Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues…