Author: DW

Former Irish taoiseach John Bruton has died aged 76.Mr Bruton was Taoiseach from 1994 until 1997. In a family statement, it was announced that he “died peacefully in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, surrounded by his loving family, early this morning following a long illness”.”He was a good husband, a good father and a true patriot,” the statement added. Image: John Major and Taoiseach John Bruton pictured in 1996 Pic: PA “We will miss him greatly.”John is survived by his wife, Finola, son Matthew and daughters; Juliana, Emily and Mary-Elizabeth, grandchildren, sons-in-law, his brother, Richard and sister, Mary, nieces,…

A Ukrainian-born woman who won the title of Miss Japan has relinquished her crown following reports she had an affair with a married man.Karolina Shiino won the beauty pageant just two weeks ago, sparking a public debate in Japan over her heritage. Opinion was divided in the country with some welcoming her coronation as a symbol of diversity, while others accused the competition of favouring “Western beauty standards”.In the midst of the controversy Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun published an article accusing her of an affair with a married influencer and doctor.The man in question has not yet publicly commented on…

A British-owned cargo ship suffered minor damage in a drone attack off Yemen in the Red Sea, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and security firm Ambrey on Tuesday. The attack occurred 57 nautical miles west of Hodeida, Yemen, with the Barbados-flagged ship incurring slight damage to the bridge windows from a projectile but no injuries, the UKMTO said. Despite the incident, the ship managed evasive maneuvers and continued its journey. More details to follow… ss/jsi (AFP, Reuters) Source link

Canadian police confirmed on Monday that sexual assault charges have been levied against five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior ice hockey team – four of whom currently play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The incident in question was first reported to police in June 2018 by a woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by members of the team in a hotel room after a Hockey Canada charity event in London, Ontario. An initial police investigation was dropped in 2019 but reopened in July 2022, a delay for which police also apologized on Monday. “I want to extend,…

Senegalese lawmakers backed a bill to postpone the presidential election until December 15, amid cries of foul play from both opposition lawmakers and the general public. Protesters had gathered earlier on Monday outside the parliament in Dakar to decry the presidential election’s postponement, after authorities restricted internet access on Sunday evening ahead of the demonstrations. President Macky Sall announced on Saturday that the vote would be postponed to an unspecified date amid a row over the candidate list, prompting angry protests. The vote had been scheduled for February 25 and campaigning was about to begin. Additionally, lawmakers are investigating two judges from the country’s Constitutional Court,…

A South Korean court on Monday cleared Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong of financial misconduct charges related to a 2015 merger that prosecutors said was aimed at consolidating his power within the conglomerate. The verdict potentially eases Lee’s legal troubles following the Samsung heir’s pardon for a separate conviction of bribing a former president that toppled the government of Park Geun-hye. What the court said about Lee Jae-yong’s conviction The Seoul Central District Court found insufficient evidence to support the claims that the merger between two Samsung affiliates — Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries — was unlawfully intended to bolster Lee’s grip over Samsung Electronics. The court…

The common perception in Pakistan about the February 8 general elections is that the results have already been decided. The powerful military establishment, many Pakistanis who spoke with DW say, wants to keep former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party out of power at any cost.  “I am not planning to cast my vote. I support Imran Khan, and he is not eligible to contest elections. That is why I am not interested in these polls,” said Aliya Durrani, an Islamabad resident. Khan, possibly the most popular politician in Pakistan, is barred from standing in the polls. He has…

A former Trump administration official has died after he was shot during an attempted carjacking.Mike Gill, who worked as chief of staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the former president, was shot in Washington DC last Monday as a man tried to get into a car before fleeing the scene, police said. The incident lasted over three minutes and involved a Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.Later, the attacker failed at an attempt to steal a Mercedes, according to authorities.The attacker then approached a man and woman demanding their car keys and proceeded to shoot and kill 35-year-old Alberto Vasquez…

During Gabriel Attal’s last visit to Germany, this past December, he was already the center of attention. As France’s then-education minister, he spoke in front of delegates at the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly — in the former plenary chamber of the German parliament in Bonn, where chancellors like Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schröder once held court. The 34-year-old, named as France’s youngest-ever prime minister in early January, spoke with concern about how there was dwinding interest in France and Germany to learn each other’s languages. He pointed out it was still a problem more than five years after both countries signed…

For Maryam abo Atban, it’s hard to believe an entire year has passed since her life was wrecked by a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Memories of the early hours of February 6, 2023, remain painfully vivid for the 42-year-old mother. “When the sun rose, half of my family was dead,” she said. “We now live in a tent, only a few meters from the place where two of our children died in the rubble of our house,” she told DW in Jindires, a small town in northwestern Syria . “My husband wanted to leave, but I refused as it doesn’t matter where we go, their…