Author: DW

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that he planned to pardon Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik, two former members of the ousted nationalist conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. PiS and their main political rivals, led by new Prime Minister Donald Tusk, have been fighting over whether Kaminski and Wasik should be in custody or not for years now.  PiS’ October election defeat that brought a broad coalition headed by Tusk back into power swung the scales back against the two politicians, who were originally convicted in 2015. In December, they lost an…

John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate, is stepping down from his post in the coming weeks, US media reported on Saturday. The 80-year-old politician has played a key role in the Biden administration’s efforts to fight climate change over the past three years. The decision to step down comes a month after Kerry played an important part in helping broker an international deal in Doha for countries worldwide to transition away from fossil fuels. It wasn’t immediately clear who would succeed him. Kerry, however, wants to help Joe Biden’s presidential reelection campaign by publicizing the president’s work in…

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is still in hospital and is in a good condition, the Pentagon has said.The 70-year-old was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on 22 December with prostate cancer. He returned to the hospital on 1 January due to complications including a urinary tract infection and has remained there ever since.Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement: “He’s in contact with his senior staff and has full access to required secure communications capabilities and continues to monitor DOD’s day-to-day operations worldwide.”More US news:Hunter Biden to face trial after…

Electric car maker Tesla will suspend most car production at its factory near the German capital of Berlin for two weeks, the company said on Thursday. “Due to a lack of components, we are forced to suspend vehicle production at the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg between January 29 and February 11, with the exception of a few sub-areas,” Tesla said in a statement. The company blamed the component shortage on shifts in shipping routes caused by the crisis in the Red Sea, where Iranian-backed Houthi militants have been attacking ships in solidarity with the Palestinian militant-Islamist group Hamas, which is fighting Israel…

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday upheld a ruling stripping former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of its cricket bat symbol.  Pakistan’s Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa announced the ruling on live television, saying the PTI had not held intraparty elections. Political parties in Pakistan must hold these elections in order to take part in the national election. In December, the Election Commission of Pakistan first announced the ban on PTI for using the symbol for the same reason. The PTI then challenged that decision in the nation’s top court.  PTI on ruling: A ‘sad day for democracy’ “This,…

Despite an international coalition providing a protective umbrella over the Red Sea – Op Prosperity Guardian – the Houthi attacks against merchant shipping continued.Shortly before midnight on Thursday, the US and UK launched a wave of attacks on 60 Houthi military targets using over 100 guided munitions, predominantly Tomahawk cruise missiles. The UK contribution to the strike package was four Typhoon fighter jets.Although cruise missiles can be launched from hundreds of miles away from their targets, once launched they can take some time to reach them and, while en route, the ground situation can change.Fighter missions place the pilots in…

With 24 Bundesliga players included in their respective countries’ provisional squads for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast from January 13 until February 11, 2024, several of Germany’s top sides are facing a month without some top performers. Final AFCON squads of between 24-27 players are not due to be confirmed until January 3, so there’s no guarantee that all 24 players will make the cut – but the final number is still likely to be higher than the 11 Bundesliga players who featured at AFCON 2022 in Cameroon. Simultaneously, a further eight Japanese and South…

Sunak arrived in Kyiv on Friday where he is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyyImage: Stefan Rousseau/AP Photo/picture alliance The United Kingdom is set to increase its military support for Ukraine by an additional 200 million British pounds (€233 million/$255 million) for the next financial year. London announced the “major new package of support” to coincide with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s trip to Kyiv on Friday. The extra funds would bring the UK’s total support for Ukraine to 2.5 billion British pounds. “The Ministry of Defence will work with international partners to significantly scale up the number of…

The next generational change in one of Europe’s seven reigning royal houses is underway. After the Netherlands (2013), Belgium (2013), Spain (2014) and Britain (2022), it is Denmark’s turn: 83-year-old Queen Margarethe II is handing over the scepter to her son Frederik on Sunday after exactly 52 years on the throne. The surprise announcement from the Danish royal family follows a trend. With the exception of Britain’s royal family, many monarchs no longer die on the throne. Instead, they retire and make way for their children. At 55, Frederik of Denmark has already spent a lifetime preparing for the job. But it…

The language being used by Biden administration is interesting.”Iran is a primary – if not the primary – enabler or supporter, sponsor of the Houthis and Iran has been involved operationally in the conduct of these attacks,” a Biden administration official said. They don’t talk about Iran directing the attacks against shipping or US military in the region in the way that they might have done not long ago.They talk about Iran being the “enabler” rather than the puppet master. And that’s because they know that the “Iranian proxies” in the Middle East are no longer puppets.Hezbollah in Lebanon, the…