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Belgian authorities uncovered a body on Sunday that they say is likely that of a fugitive soldier with suspected right-wing extremist views. Police launched a massive manhunt for the soldier, identified as Jurgen Conings, after he went missing on May 17. Prior to his disappearance, he'd threatened a top virologist and other public figures and hoarded heavy weaponry in an army barracks. Prosecutors said the body was discovered on Sunday by people walking through the woods in the eastern Belgian town of Dilsen-Stockem, near the Dutch border. Initial findings indicate that Conings appeared to have died by suicide, but that investigations are still ongoing, Belgian federal police said in a statement. "According to the first elements of the investigation, it is Jurgen Conings," the statement said. The Belgian Defense Ministry later confirmed that the body was Conings, saying in a statement that the soldier "has been found dead." Prior to his disappearance, Conings was placed on an anti-terrorism watch list. Hundreds of security forces and several helicopters scoured northeast Belgium for weeks looking for the 46-year-old, after his abandoned vehicle was found with four rocket launchers inside. He was believed to be armed and dangerous, as he was suspected of stealing weapons from a military base where he was the instructor. He'd threatened Belgium's most prominent virologist, Marc Van Ranst, and other public figures on Facebook in recent months, along with making racist remarks. Conings had a three decade-long career in the military and was reportedly an expert marksman. The case has sparked criticism of the Belgian government, after it was revealed that he'd still had access to weapons despite being on a watch list for his extremist views. rs/nm (AP, AFP) | 3Crime
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Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso signed a decree creating a massive new marine reserve north of the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific. The new reserve, named "Hermandad" (Brotherhood), expands the protected waters by 60,000 square kilometers (23,166 square miles). It builds upon the existing Galapagos Marine Reserve, which already protects about 133,000 square kilometers of water from extractive activities. "There are places that shape human history, and today we have the honor of being in one of those places," Lasso said while on a ship in the bay of Puerto Ayora, a town in the Galapagos. "These islands teach us something about ourselves," Lasso said. "What if we didn't set ourselves up as masters over this Earth, but as its protectors?" Lasso first announced the expansion in November in Glasgow, on the occasion of the COP26 climate summit. The project was in exchange for a reduction in Ecuador's international debt. "The seas are great regulators of the global climate," Lasso said. "Taking care of them is not naive idealism," he added. "It is a vital necessity." The new marine area will eventually link Ecuador's Galapagos Islands with Panama's Coiba islands, Colombia's Malpelo and Costa Rica's Coco. Colombian President Ivan Duque said the new reserve "will guarantee the survival of 40% of the world's marine species." Advocates say the passage can protect the migration routes of rare species. Matt Rand, who leads marine habitat conservation efforts for The Pew Charitable Trusts, said: "Safeguarding the pathway between the linked biodiversity hot spots of the Galapagos and Costa Rica's Cocos Island helps to preserve this spectacular array of marine life. "Ecuador's new protections recognize the critical importance of connectivity in effectively protecting highly migratory species such as sea turtles, sharks and whales," Rand said. Since 1978, the archipelago has been a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site known for its unique flora and fauna. It's thought to be home to more than 2,900 marine species, including rare ones such as marine iguanas and Galapagos finches. In 1835, English naturalist Charles Darwin spent time on the islands, which helped inspire his theory of evolution. The reserve was created in 1998. The expansion creates 198,000 square kilometers of protected marine area. fb/sms (AFP, dpa) | 6Nature and Environment
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Glencore Energy on Tuesday admitted to paying over $28 million (€26.5 million) in bribes across five African countries to secure preferential access to oil and generate illicit profit. The United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said the British subsidiary of Glencore Plc pleaded guilty in the Southwark Crown Court to "all charges of bribery brought against it." The company paid the bribes in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Sudan for preferential access to oil, including increased cargoes, valuable oil grades and preferable delivery dates. Sentencing will take place in November. The Swiss-based multinational last month said it expected to pay about $1.5 billion to settle fines and costs related to the investigations in the UK, US and Brazil. The US Department of Justice said Glencore agreed to a $1.1 billion settlement last month to resolve a decadelong scheme to bribe foreign officials across seven countries, and separate charges alleging a trading division manipulated fuel oil prices at US shipping ports. At the time Glencore said an independent compliance monitor would be appointed for three years "to assess and monitor the company's compliance with the agreements and evaluate the effectiveness of its compliance program and internal controls." Glencore has also agreed to pay about $40 million to settle bribery allegations in Brazil. The company still faces Swiss and Dutch investigations. The SFO added that its Glencore investigation was still ongoing. lo/msh (Reuters, AP) | 3Crime
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The powerful image of former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd sparked protests not only throughout the United States, but across the world. The memorials and murals that sprang up in his name shone a spotlight on lawmakers and police departments, spurring debate around how they would address and enact change in their policies and their approach. Months later, the nation watched the trial of Chauvin and eventually breathed a collective sigh of relief when he was found guilty. As many celebrated the outcome, only 10 miles from the courthouse in Minneapolis, protests erupted after the video of Daunte Wright was released, another African American man who died at the hands of the police. The moment was sobering, as some had hoped that the nation had reached a turning point regarding justice reform. During the past year, the country has watched police forces push back against calls for reforms; meanwhile, videos continue to surface showing police officers abusing their power through unnecessary force against Black people. Such images of abuse are playing a major role in changing the way people view policing and race relations. The Black Lives Matter movement, already underway for years before Floyd's murder, was instrumental in elevating Floyd's death at a national and international level. As protests spread from city to city, lawmakers and other officials came under pressure to listen to calls for change in policing, and other social justice issues. In Washington, DC, thousands of activists descended upon the city in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, to help keep Floyd's murder in the public eye. For several weeks, they were met with aggressive and at times violent retaliation from the US National Guard. In response, Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned a mural displaying the words "Black Lives Matter" outside the White House grounds. These symbolic gestures helped to bring the movement into mainstream culture. Brands, sports teams and celebrities have latched onto and been criticized for co-opting the demonstrations. One year later, however, the movement may be losing some of its momentum and identity. "Black Lives Matter is one of many heads that are emerging in terms of civil and human rights," said Maurice Hobson, an associate professor of Africana studies at Georgia State University. "And so, believe me, there's something that is going to happen in years to come — another shooting or the like — that is going to be more egregious than what happened to George Floyd. I mean, this is America." Although Floyd's death did push Black Lives Matter toward mainstream recognition, Hobson said this is just another iteration of other civil rights movements, and similar groups are likely to pop up in future. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Law enforcement officers handle calls ranging from criminal activity to mental health crises. As first responders, they are expected to deescalate situations — but training has emphasized firearm and self-defense skills for police recruits. "On average across the nation, police officers receive 60 hours of weapon training, and they only receive 10 hours of deescalation training," said Keturah Herron, a Black Lives Matter activist in Kentucky. "They're trained to attack first." "The structure of policing is not equipped to deal with issues, unless they're responding with force," Herron said. "I don't know that it's training ... I think we have to change the philosophy." Proposals ranging from diverting funding from police departments to adding transparency measures are beginning to take shape across the United States. In Ithaca, New York, the mayor and city officials have proposed replacing their police department with a new city agency. In Washington, DC, police will now not always be the first response to mental health calls. Instead, unarmed teams of health experts will be sent to the scene initially. At the same time, police unions remain defiant and have actively fought against reforms. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and a Democratic-majority Congress have pushed for legislation that would address issues regarding police brutality. The House of Representatives recently passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, along party lines, which addresses police training and tactics that could cause bodily harm. The bill is currently at an impasse due to a deeply divided Senate. Senate Republicans have said they cannot support the bill in its current form, but are willing to work on a slimmed-down version. Some observers worry that Biden and Harris are not the right leaders for the job. As Senator, Biden supported legislation that some say promoted the incarceration of African American men and women. He backed the 1994 crime bill, which imposed tough sentencing and contributed to the mass incarceration problem the US faces today. As the district attorney for San Francisco and later the attorney general of California,
Harris has a mixed record on criminal justice reform. Her office defended the state's "three strikes" law, which mandated decades-long prison sentences for many people convicted of multiple felonies. Harris also fought against a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that ordered California to release several thousand people convicted of nonviolent crimes from the state's overcrowded prisons after multiple courts had found conditions dangerous and unsanitary. After Harris was elected to Senate in 2016, she attempted to make amends by sponsoring numerous pieces of legislation supporting criminal justice reform. "I think that there's hope. And I think that there's an opportunity for the Biden administration to atone for his past indiscretions, but I'm not seeing that yet," Hobson said. "Until I see that, it's just history playing out." In his first address at the US Capitol, in late April, Biden called upon Congress to pass and send a criminal justice reform bill to his desk by the end of May. That deadline will be missed, and Biden's past agenda leaves many suspicious about whether he will follow through. "I don't think we can expect anything from them," Herron said. "I think that we have to continue to demand them to do things." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video | 7Politics
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The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague announced on Wednesday that her office would formally open a probe into reported war crimes in the Palestinian territories. In a statement, Fatou Bensouda said the investigation would be carried out "independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor.'' Bensouda said the decision to open an investigation "followed a painstaking preliminary examination undertaken by my office that lasted close to five years." "In the end, our central concern must be for the victims of crimes, both Palestinian and Israeli, arising from the long cycle of violence and insecurity that has caused deep suffering and despair on all sides," she said. "My office will take the same principled, nonpartisan, approach that it has adopted in all situations over which its jurisdiction is seized," she added. In December 2019, Bensouda declared that "war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip." She identified both the Israel Defense Forces and armed Palestinian groups including the Islamist group Hamas as possible perpetrators. Israel has strongly denounced the move and called it a "political decision". In a videotaped statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the court of "hypocrisy and anti-Semitism'' and promised to "fight for the truth." "I promise you we will fight for the truth until we annul this scandalous decision," he said. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi called it "an act of moral and legal bankruptcy'' and said Israel "will take every step necessary to protect its citizens and soldiers from legal persecution." "The decision to open an investigation against Israel is an exception to the mandate of the tribunal, and a waste of the international community's resources by a biased institution that has lost all legitimacy," he said. Ashkenazi also alleged that the prosecutor's decision would further polarize Israelis and Palestinians and "distance" them from dialogue.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In a statement, the PA Foreign Ministry called the ICC investigation "a long-awaited step that serves Palestine's tireless pursuit of justice and accountability, which are indispensable pillars of the peace the Palestinian people seek and deserve." It called for concluding the investigation swiftly because "the crimes committed by the occupation's leaders against the Palestinian people are lasting, systematic and far-reaching.'' US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was disappointed by the ICC prosecutor's announcement. "We will continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly, the ICC ... has no jurisdiction over this matter," Price told a news briefing. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Palestinians joined the ICC in 2015 and have long pushed for an investigation into Israel, which is not a member of the court. They have urged the court to look into Israeli actions during its 2014 war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, as well as Israel's construction of settlements in the occupied territories. Israel, meanwhile, has accused the ICC of overstepping its limits, saying the Palestinians are not an independent sovereign state. Israeli officials defend their military actions in Gaza as acts of self-defense and have called for negotiations regarding the highly disputed West Bank. Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967, and later annexed east Jerusalem. The Gaza Strip is blockaded by Israel and ruled by Hamas. According to the United Nations, at least five million Palestinians live under Israeli occupation. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the court's decision signaled a step toward justice for Israeli and Palestinian victims. "The court's crowded docket shouldn't deter the prosecutor's office from doggedly pursuing cases against anyone credibly implicated in such crimes,'' said Balkees Jarrah, a director at HRW. "ICC member countries should stand ready to fiercely protect the court's work from any political pressure," she said. "All eyes will also be on the next prosecutor Karim Khan to pick up the baton," Jarrah added, referring to the British prosecutor who will replace Bensouda on June 16. Bensouda is under US sanctions for her decision to probe reported US war crimes in Afghanistan. The US has also strongly condemned the Palestinian investigation. The next step will be to decide whether Israel or Palestinian authorities themselves have investigations and whether to examine those. mvb/nm (Reuters, AP) | 7Politics
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There have been reported claims on Wednesday that the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been surrounded by Russian forces, Reuters news agency reported. "Bakhmut is now operationally surrounded, our forces are closing the ring around the city," said Yan Gagin, an aide to Denis Pushilin — the Russia-backed leader of the illegally annexed Donetsk region, during a television address. Gagin claimed that fighting was now taking place for control of the Chasiv-Yar-Bakhmut highway. Ukraine's military leadership, meanwhile, said there has been no let up with Russian offensive operations on the Lyman and Bakhmut axes, but spoke of the heavy losses Russian forces were incurring in their battle to take the town. "The invaders are suffering heavy losses," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its latest situation report, adding that attacks had been repelled in Bakhmut, mentioned among a list of other towns in Donetsk. The city has been the scene of fierce fighting for months, with Russian forces and mercenaries from the Wagner group locked in a grinding battle with Ukrainian forces. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here are other updates on the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, February 1: German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany is in desperate need of new Leopard 2 tanks to replace the ones being sent to Ukraine. "For me, the crucial fact is that we have to order new tanks, not in a year, but swiftly, so that production can begin," Pistorius told journalists. Germany recently agreed to send Leopard 2 tanks after an enormous public pressure campaign. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was initially hesitant to send the tanks, fearing that the war in Ukraine could escalate further. The UK said it is still deliberating the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine. "I've been involved with this for a long time. And I've learned two things; never rule anything in and never rule anything out," UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told journalists regarding the possibility of sending fighter jets to Kyiv. "This is not a solid decision," he continued. "For now, I don't think that's the right approach. What'S going to move this conflict this year is going to be the ability for Ukrainians to deploy Western armor against Russia." "What they need now is armor and tanks," Wallace said of the Ukrainians. "I think we'd have to be pretty sure that (jets) is going to be the next battle winning requirement. But for now, I think we're focused on the tanks, the land battle." The US has imposed a new round of sanctions against 22 individuals and entities that it said were part of a network that aimed to get around previously imposed sanctions against Russia's military-industrial complex. The network is led by Russian arms dealer Igor Zimenkov who helps export Russian arms and acquires high-end technologies for the Russian military. Zimenkov is based out of Russia and Cyprus, but the network includes entities and individuals located in Singapore, Belarus, Bulgaria and Israel. The US Treasury says the network functioned as a proxy for already-sanctioned defense entities such as Rostec and Rosoboronexport. "Russia's desperate attempts to utilize proxies to circumvent US sanctions demonstrate that sanctions have made it much harder and costlier for Russia's military-industrial complex to re-supply Putin's war machine," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo in a statement. The European Union plans to train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian troops — doubling their training target to 30,000 soldiers, several news agencies reported on Wednesday. The initial training target is set to be reached by the end of June, AFP reported, citing unnamed EU officials. The training mission was first launched in November and seeks to provide individual, collective and specialized training to Ukrainian forces, according to an EU statement. Soldiers will be trained in Germany, Poland and other EU-member states. Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is expected to offer combat training and tactical exercises. An official announcement on the expansion of the training mission is expected on Friday during a visit by top EU leaders to Ukraine. The move comes as members of the 27-nation bloc seek to boost their military aid to Ukraine, with several countries pledging to provide German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. Ukrainian security services have conducted raids at the homes of oligarch Igor Kolomoisky and former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, according to Ukrainian media reports. The German dpa news agency reported that the raids had yet to be confirmed by authorities, but pictures surfaced in Ukrainian media appearing to show the businessman next to security officials at his home. Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had discovered embezzlement amounting to $1 billion at two oil firms run by billionaire businessman Kolomoisky. The SBU said in a Telegram post that the former management of oil refining firm Ukrtatnafta had been issued with suspicion notices relating to the case. A Russian court has sentenced journalist Alexander Nevzorov to eight years imprisonment after he was found guilty of spreading "false information" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The television journalist and former lawmaker fled Russia following the start of the invasion and was sentenced in absentia. Nevzorov was accused of manipulating coverage of the siege of Mariupol. He came under particular scrutiny for reporting that a maternity hospital in the port city was purposefully shelled by Russian forces. Russian lawmakers approved new laws after the invasion that criminalized the dissemination of false information. Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced to eight and a half years behind bars under the law, while another leading opponent, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is in custody facing the same charges. Spain is planning to send between four and six Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, according to a report from El Pais newspaper, citing government sources. The number of tanks being sent to Kyiv would depend on the condition of Leopards in storage and also on how many other countries would be supplying Ukraine, according to the report. There has been no immediate comment from Spain's Defense Ministry. A week ago, several countries pledged to send battle tanks to Ukraine to help fend off invading Russian forces, after continued requests from Ukraine's leadership. Ukraine's senior adviser in the presidency said that talks were underway to secure longer-range missiles and fighter aircraft to help in the fight against Russia's invasion. "Each war stage requires certain weapons. Amassing RF's (Russia's) reserves in the occupied territories requirespecifics from (Ukraine) & partners," adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted on Twitter. "So: 1. There is already a tank coalition (logistics, training, supply). 2. There are already talks on longer-range missiles & attack aircraft supply," Podolyak said. The Kremlin meanwhile said that Western deliveries of long-range weapons to Ukraine would not change Russia's military objectives in Ukraine. "This is a direct course to whipping up tension and to escalating the level (of fighting). But again, it won't change the course of events," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a response to a question about the possibility of the US supplying missiles with long-range capabilities. Read more about a Kharkiv architect's plan to help reconstruct the Ukrainian city destroyed by war. And will fighter aircraft be next on the list of pledges for Ukraine? More on that story here. kb/sms (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP) | 2Conflicts
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Sudanese protesters have taken to the streets to call for democracy and an end to military rule after the deposed civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, pledged to return to the government jointly led with the military. Nearly four weeks after a military coup, Hamdok was reinstated on Sundaywhen he signed a 14-point power-sharing deal with General Abdel-Fattah Burhan. "Sudanese blood is precious, let us stop the bloodshed and direct the youth's energy into building and development," Hamdok said after signing the deal. The new deal, however, was rejected by the civilian coalition Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), which shared power with the military before the October 25 ousting. Following last month's coup, when General Abdel-Fattah Burhan had dissolved the Sudanese government and declared a state of emergency, protests quickly turned violent. At least 41 people were killed and many others were detained. Rania Aziz, a 36-year-old activist in Sudan's capital Khartoum, was one of the protesters marching against the military's move. "We have been very clear in our demands since the revolution started. Actually, the people have never approved or agreed to the power-sharing deal," she told DW in a video call, referring to the 2019 protest movement that led to the establishment of the civilian FFC coalition. For her, the fact that Hamdok signed a deal with the coup's military leaders without the backing of the civilian coalition is "a setback, even a disgrace." One key reason for the recent protests by the FFC is that the deal only reinstates the prime minister — and not the rest of the civilian government. "We affirm our clear and previously declared position that there is no negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy for the coup," the faction said in a statement. Theodore Murphy, director of the Africa program at the European Council for Foreign Relations, told DW: "Sunday's political agreement is understood as not even a return to the status quo but a diminishment of the civilian's role to a junior partner." The difficult situation with the disputed joint-government, he adds, is further exacerbated by the impression that "the revolution has been betrayed by one of its most high-profile representatives: Prime Minister Hamdok." Contrary to the country's activists, many countries have signaled appreciation for Sudan's civilian and military handshake. "I am encouraged by reports that talks in Khartoum will lead to the release of all political prisoners, reinstatement of Prime Minister Hamdok, lifting of the state of emergency, and resumption of coordination," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted. "I also reiterate our call for security forces to refrain from excessive force against peaceful protesters," he said. Murphy believes that European states and the EU are also more likely to embrace "something that is already on the table and work to improve it, as failure to do so amounts to undermining the highest-ranking official civilian government counterpart, namely Abdalla Hamdok." Sudan's regional neighbors, however, seem to have laid out and stuck to their own agenda long before the coup. "Sudan has been experiencing a very threatening, transitional period since 2018, and the situation was aggravated by regional interests that consider building a democratic state amid the region as a threat," said Sudanese activist Aziz. Murphy echoes this view. "Since the transition brought about by the revolution in 2018 and 2019, Sudan's political map is a new reality and neighboring countries such as Egypt and the Emirates, as well as Saudi Arabia, have different relationships with different parts of that government which impacts their position." Egypt, in particular, has had long-standing ties with Sudan's armed forces. "They see some similarities with their own experience during their own travel through a kind of popular revolution and then establishing stability," Murphy said. However, instead of openly supporting Burhan, Egypt has remained silent. "We've seen an absence of Egypt's voice in public statements," Murphy observed. The two other regional key allies of Sudan — the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — have built a diplomatic formation called the "Quad" with the US and the UK. Together, they had issued a joint statement on November 3, highlighting the need to restore the civilian component of the civilian-military transitional government as well as the release of the then-detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, his wife and other senior officials — demands that were all met with Sunday's power-sharing deal. However, the current political turnaround has left many residents disappointed, angry, and with a bitter aftertaste. For activist Aziz, protesters will go on taking their demands to the streets. "We shall not delay it," she told DW. "Streets never betray, the fight continues." Edited by: Stephanie Burnett | 7Politics
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Western countries on Monday rejected Russia’s claims that Ukraine has plans to use a "dirty bomb." Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had phoned Western counterparts on Sunday to tell them Moscow suspected Kyiv of planning to use a a bomb laced with nuclear material. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of France, Britain and the United States said they had all rejected the allegations and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against Russia. "Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory," they said. "The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation." British Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin rejected Russia's allegations in a call on Monday with Russian military Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It also said both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said that Russia mustn't use false a "dirty bomb" claim to escalate Ukraine conflict. "NATO Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine," Stoltenberg tweeted after a meeting with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and British Defence Minister Ben Wallace. And US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that there would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a so-called "dirty bomb" or a conventional nuclear weapon. Asked if Washington would treat the use of a "dirty bomb" the same as any other nuclear bomb, Price said "there would be consequences" for Russia either way. "Whether it uses a 'dirty bomb' or a nuclear bomb. We've been very clear about that," Price told reporters. In an apparent reaction to Russian claims, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday it will send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request. "The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is aware of statements made by the Russian Federation on Sunday about alleged activities at two nuclear locations in Ukraine," the IAEA said in a statement, adding that both were already subject to its inspections and one was inspected a month ago. "The IAEA is preparing to visit the locations in the coming days. The purpose of the safeguards visits is to detect any possible undeclared nuclear activities and material," it added. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian accusation was a sign Moscow was planning such an attack itself and would blame Ukraine. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on October 24: The head of the Russian army Valery Gerasimov has spoken with his US counterpart Mark Milley for the first time since May. The Russian Defense Ministry in a statement said that Gerasimov discussed with Milley "the situation related to the possible use of a 'dirty bomb' by Ukraine." On Sunday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also told several NATO counterparts that Moscow was concerned Kyiv could be planning to use a "dirty bomb." Ukrainian officials rejected Moscow's claims. Meanwhile, a senior US military official said that the United States has seen no indications that Russia has decided to use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine. "We still have seen nothing to indicate that the Russians have made a decision to employ nuclear weapons," the official told journalists, later adding that the same applies to chemical and biological arms. At an economic forum in Berlin focused on the reconstruction of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the rebuilding of Ukraine is a "generational task that must begin now." "As we rebuild Ukraine, then let us do so with the goal of Ukraine as an EU member in mind," Scholz said, noting that over 2,000 German companies had invested and were active in Ukraine prior to the war. Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended the conference with German business leaders eager to help with the country's rebuilding. In an articlevon der Leyen co-authored with Scholz for German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the pair called for "nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Marshall Plan was the US funding plan for the postwar reconstruction of Western European countries after the Second World War. Hans-Ulrich Engel, the deputy chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, said funds should be "directed toward an efficient organization of emergency aid" to rebuild the devastated civilian infrastructure. Israeli media cited a report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that said the Israeli strike on Syrian territory on October 21 hit an Iranian drone factory. The rights group reported late Sunday, "military logistics and equipment used to assemble Iranian-made drones in Dimas military airport area in western Rif Dimashq were destroyed after being directly targeted by Israeli missiles. A radar and airstrip were also targeted at the airport." The report comes amid reports of the widespread usage of Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones against civilian targets in Ukraine. The US has also said that Iranian instructors are in Crimea to train Russian forces on the use of the kamikaze drones. Iran has denied that its drones or personnel are involved but has not offered proof to counter the substantial amount of evidence offered by the Ukrainians of their usage, including wreckage and significant amounts of footage of their deployment. Israel has come under fierce criticism for its stated neutrality in the war and for its unwillingness to supply Ukraine with air defense systems. Speaking in a recorded address at a democracy conference sponsored by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Russia would assist Iran with its nuclear program in exchange for the transfer of drones and missiles. "How does Russia pay Iran for this, in your opinion? Is Iran just interested in money? Probably not money at all, but Russian assistance to the Iranian nuclear program," Zelenskyy said. An editorial in Haaretz last week suggested the policy of providing only humanitarian assistance to Ukraine has incurred "the wrath of the Russians, the deep resentment of the Ukrainians and the disappointment of the Americans." Timothy Snyder, a well-known Ukraine scholar at Yale University, tweeted after the first day the Shahed-136 terrorized Kyiv, "Israeli neutrality in Russia's genocidal war on Ukraine was always an ethical error. It is now perfectly clear that it was also a strategic disaster." Alexander Slodeyev, a former employee of the notorious Wagner group who has sought political asylum in France, said the Russian Ministry of Defense is behind the mercenary firm's formation. At the center for asylum seekers in Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, AFP reports Slodeyev said, "I was there when this organization was founded." The 53-year-old said he became involved with Wagner in the period between 2014 and 2015 when Russia began to partially occupy the Donbass and was responsible for helping to organize the yearly "Russian March" of right-wing extremists and monarchists. "The organization was established by the Ministry of Defense," Slodeyev said. In late September, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the firm once known as "Putin's chef" said he created Wagner in late 2014, labeling it a "pillar" in Russia's defense industry. Slodeyev by contrast claims that after its creation the GRU, Russia's military intelligence, then placed Prigozhin at the helm. Slodeyev said, "We all got military uniforms directly from special GRU camps. We were given very nice uniforms," and paid in cash by GRU officials. Slodeyev said he spoke frequently to Prigozhin, keeping him abreast of developments such as the casualty figures in Palmyra, Syria during major fighting there. Slodeyev was previously granted asylum in France in 2003 but returned to Russia in 2010. Ukraine's military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov told Ukrainska Pravda that if Russia were to blow up the Khakhova dam, which it has reportedly partially mined, it would only slow Ukraine's advance by roughly two weeks. While Russia has countered by accusing Ukraine of much the same, Budanov said that mines alone would not destroy the dam and that many tons of explosives would be required to blow it up. He added that it would inevitably unleash an environmentally catastrophic flood that could threaten the water supply in Russian-occupied Crimea. Budanov also noted that the destruction of the dam would "destroy the possibility of the existence of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant because this facility is inextricably linked to it." Zaporizhzhia is Europe's largest nuclear plant. Russian forces have occupied it and abducted the Ukrainian management and forced other employees to work under humiliating and difficult conditions. Amid weeks of pressure after saying that the only way for Ukraine to end the war was to negotiate with Russia, Romania's defense minister Vasile Dincu resigned. An EU and NATO member, Romania shares a 650 kilometer (400 mile) border with Ukraine. The country is also home to a US ballistic missile defense system and a NATO battlegroup. More than 2.5 million Ukrainians fled Russia's invasion through Romania. Dincu said his resignation "comes as it is impossible to cooperate with the Romanian president, the army's commander-in-chief." At the start of October, Dincu said Ukraine needed allies to force Russia to offer Kyiv security guarantees through negotiations. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and the leaders of the Bucharest's governing coalition were critical of comments Dincu said were taken out of context. Iohannis said it was up to Ukraine to determine when it wished to negotiate. The Valdai Discussion Club got underway in Moscow with the release of a report entitled, "A World Without Superpowers," that lays out Russia's logic and understanding of its war against Ukraine. Valdai is a 19-year-old event affiliated with the Kremlin that hosts Russia-focused experts who come to hobnob with Russia's political elite, including President Vladimir Putin whose address to the forum typically headlines the event. In the report, the authors, all affiliated with prestigious foreign affairs institutions in Russia including MGIMO University and the Russian International Affairs Council, declare that after the Soviet Union fell, Russia's "relations with the West have been based on the belief that Russia's interest in participating in a Western-centric international system is much more important than Moscow's interests in ensuring its own security." The report continues, "Everyone got used to this circumstance and began to take it for granted, especially in the West. Hence, the almost revolutionary nature of the events that unfolded in 2022, when Russia became the first major power which, guided by its own ideas of security and fairness, chose to discard the benefits of 'global peace' created by the only superpower (the United States)." The authors continue, "Those benefits were seen by the Kremlin as much too risky, since political and economic integration into the system of collective interdependence imposes excessive restrictions on any particular state's freedom of action." The report points a finger at Western sanctions against Russia, notably the freezing of gold and foreign currency reserves, as triggering the end of "the global nature of the global economy and the security of countries' financial assets placed with international markets." The Valdai authors note a more than threefold increase in the sanctions placed on Russia following its February invasion of Ukraine. In assessing that invasion, the report declares it "still premature to assess the results of Russia's special military operatiom," Moscow's official term for its unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. The Valdai report suggests a weakened West overtaken by such things as the financial crisis, hegemonic interests, and "cancel culture" is to blame for Russia's decision to invade Ukraine and the actions of its forces. The report singles out Germany and France as "post-heroic" societies likely to throw up the most resistance to what it describes as US plans for global domination. "Any incident can ignite a crisis that threatens the vital interests of European countries," the report says. Anton Krasovsky, a pro-Kremlin pundit already under Western sanctions, apologized after he was fired by Russian state television channel RT when comments he made about committing acts of torture and murder against Ukrainian children went viral on social media. On air, Krasovsky said Ukrainian children "need to be drowned," and called on Russian forces to "shove them into their huts and burn them up." Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT, announced earlier on Twitter that the network would suspend work with Krasovsky following the social media uproar. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's Foreign Minister, called on countries to "ban RT worldwide" for "aggressive genocide incitement." Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, many Western countries have done exactly that. Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev formally took up his post in Berlin, presenting his credentials to federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier at his official Berlin residence, Bellevue Palace. "Credentials presented!" Makeiev tweeted, editing his bio on the site to reflect that he was no longer the ambassador designate. In the guestbook of the president's residence, Makeiev reportedly wrote, "It is a great honour for me to be able to represent my Ukraine in Germany." Since 2020, Makeiev served as Ukraine's envoy for sanctions against Russia. He was appointed to the post last month by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to replace the controversial former ambassador, Andrij Melnyk, who was unusually critical of the host government. ar/rt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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"We announce to the world that Gadhafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution," Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga said on October 20, 2011. "It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship," he added. In February 2011 Libyans, inspired by the uprising in neighboring Tunisia, had stood up to the regime of the dictator Moammar al-Gadhafi, who rose to power after the 1969 coup he had led. By March, the United Nations had given its approval for a military operation to protect the civilian population from reprisals by the regime. NATO launched attacks on Gadhafi's military — significantly weakening the dictator's forces. Gadhafi fled the capital, Tripoli. After months on the run, he was found in the city of Sirte, about 450 kilometers (270 miles) east of Tripoli. Surrounded by opponents, the "revolutionary leader" was caught when he tried to escape through a sewer. The rebels promptly and violently killed him; a photo of the bloodied corpse went around the world. By the beginning of the uprising against Gadhafi's regime, food prices were rising and youth unemployment was extremely high, said Hager Ali, a research fellow at the Hamburg-based GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies who specializes in Libya. From the start, there were demands for democracy, too, as well as calls for an end to human rights abuses. Libyans wanted an investigation into serious human rights violations such as the 1996 massacre at Abu Salim prison in Tripoli, in which an estimated 1,200-1,700 incarcerated people were killed. "This crime was characteristic of the period under Gadhafi," Ali said. People were giddily optimistic for a new beginning, but even then some observers urged caution. "The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the time. "Now is the time for all Libyans to come together." He added: "Libyans can only realize the promise of the future through national unity and reconciliation." That was wishful thinking, however, and, in 2014, the turmoil of the uprising led to a civil war. Gadhafi's own power apparatus was very much to blame, Ali said. "He also bought protection from foreign mercenaries while keeping the lower ranks of the Libyan army out of power," she added. The strategy led to rivalries that continued for years after the dictator's death, in addition to conflicts of interest at regional levels. During the uprising, the various groups were briefly united by their intent to overthrow Gadhafi, but the alliances disintegrated after his fall. "There was no functioning civilian political arena in which differences could be worked out and negotiated," Ali said. Several elections also failed to produce national unity. State power disintegrated, and, soon, there were two governments: one in Tripoli, the other in Tobruk, in the far east of the country. To protect or enforce their interests, an increasing number of foreign countries intervened in the civil war, including Russia, Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Mercenary troops financed by foreign states remain in the country to this day. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to assert Turkey's claims to gas reserves in the Mediterranean Sea by forming an alliance with the internationally recognized head of government at the time, Fayez al-Sarraj. Russia, Egypt and the UAE supported the so-called government-in-exile in Tobruk, which is linked to the then-militia commander Khalifa Haftar. Egypt in particular hoped the cooperation would help Libya get a grip on Islamist forces, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. Various EU governments, in turn, were primarily interested in using Libya to keep migrants and refugees from launching Mediterranean journeys to the European Union — that's one reason why, in February 2020, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stressed the importance of including Libya's neighboring states in talks. There were numerous initiatives to end the civil war and reestablish stability in Libya. Several UN special envoys tried to get the warring parties to the negotiating table, which finally succeeded within the framework of several initiatives — including two Libya conferences organized by Germany in Berlin in 2020 and 2021. In February, Libyans agreed on Abdul Hamid Dbeiba as interim prime minister to support preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December. Parliamentary elections were recently postponed again by a month. The longed-for reconciliation is making slow progress at best. Many of the country's problems remain unresolved, Ali said. Control over the army and other armed forces is one of the fundamental challenges a future government faces. "There is a risk that the armed forces will not be controlled or will be insufficiently controlled and will not follow orders," she said. Several heavily armed groups could still override any election outcome. Ten years after Gadhafi's death, democracy, stability and independence from external powers are still a rather distant vision of the future in Libya. This article was originally written in German. | 7Politics
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The Gorch Fock, a three-masted sailing ship used by the German navy for training cadets, is being handed over to naval officials in the northern city of Wilhelmshaven on Thursday after almost six years of repairs. The refitting of the ship caused some controversy after the costs rose from the original estimate of €10 million ($11.6 million) to €135 million. Delays and financial irregularities at the first shipyard commissioned with the repairs added to the furor, which saw the Defense Ministry come under considerable fire. The first shipyard to be charged with the refitting work, Elsflether in Bremerhaven, went bankrupt in February 2019. The work was completed over the past two years by the Lürssen shipyard in the northern port city of Bremen. The repairs included the almost complete replacement of the hull plating, the renewal of decks, and the refurbishment of the engine. The Gorch Fock, which entered service as a training ship in 1959, is named in honor of the German author Johann Kinau, who wrote under the nom de plume of "Gorch Fock." Kinau was killed in the World War I battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916. The ship has been at the center of other controversies in the past, notably in 2010 when a 25-year-old officer candidate fell to her death from the rigging in the Brazilian port of Salvador da Bahia. That incident caused a rebellion among trainees that eventually led to the dismissal of the ship's captain. At least five other sailors have lost their lives in accidents on the ship. The return of the ship to service will be officially celebrated on Monday in its home port of Kiel. After that, the ship's main crew will train in the Baltic Sea in October before the first cadets are taken on again in January in the Canary Islands. tj/rt (AFP, dpa) | 8Society
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In a short statement to the media, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday announced an end to her time in office — after just over six weeks in the job and a day after she vowed to stay in office, saying she was "a fighter and not a quitter." Truss has faced mounting criticism after a tax-cutting mini budget unraveled spectacularly last month, sending markets and the pound sterling into freefall. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability," Truss said. "Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills, Putin's illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent and our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth." "We set out a vision for a low tax, high growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit," she said, adding: "I recognize, given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party." The head of the 1922 Committee of Conservative Party lawmakers Graham Brady had visited the prime minister at her 10 Downing Street residence and office earlier on Thursday. The committee arranges contests for a change of leader. "We've agreed that there will be a leadership election, to be completed within the next week," Truss said in her statement. "This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country's economic stability and national security." "I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen." The timing of the election indicates that the contest will not follow the usual process of being put to party members across the country by post. However, Brady has said there is an intention to consult them. If there is more than one candidate, it is expected that Conservative members of parliament would decide. According to UK media, former Cabinet members Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt — who were both contenders in the last leadership contest — are believed to be in the running. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Truss' predecessor, is also rumored to be considering entering the leadership race. However, opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer demanded an immediate general election. "The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people. We need a general election — now," the Labour Party leader said. The Conservative Party "has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern," he added. Truss won under a vote by Conservative Party members by 81,326, against 60,399 for Sunak, who was finance minister under Johnson. As the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Commons, that made her prime minister despite having only won votes from less than 0.2% of the electorate and a minority of her own lawmakers. Despite the resignation, the British government still intends to set out a medium-term fiscal plan on October 31. The London stock market bounced back following Truss' announcement she would resign, after weeks of uncertainty in the market due to her economic program. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3 percent. The yield on 30-year government bonds fell to 3.90 percent. The pound was also briefly trading at $1.1336, having surged more than 1% against the dollar. It had eased back to $1.314 by around 1445 GMT. US President Joe Biden said that he was not worried that the leadership crisis in the UK could affect the US economy. He said that Washington would continue its "close cooperation with the UK government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face." He thanked Truss for "her partnership on a range of issues," including the war in Ukraine. Late last week, Biden called Truss' unfunded tax cuts a "mistake." French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin called for "stability" following Truss' resignation. "We want, above all else, stability," Macron said. "On a personal level, I am always sad to see a colleague go." During her campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party, Truss had said of the French head of state that she wasn't sure whether he was "friend or foe" to Britain. "Stability is important during these times when a major war is under way on the continent in Europe," Martin said, while also underscoring Ireland's economic ties with its eastern neighbor. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he agreed with Truss on many issues and pointed out that her successor would be the fifth British prime minister to be in office during his term. A number of Conservative lawmakers said they had submitted letters of no confidence in Truss to Brady, whose committee sets the rules for selecting and changing the party's leader. Last month, Truss's government unveiled a policy of tax-cutting policy and higher borrowing that triggered financial turmoil. It sent the pound plummeting toward parity with the US dollar and spooked the market for UK government debt. While markets and the currency have since shown a degree of recovery, the political and economic crisis saw Truss fire her Treasury Chief, Kwasi Kwarteng. Earlier this week, Kwarteng's replacement as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced that he was abandoning almost all of Truss's fiscal plans. The prime minister's tenure had seen a general breakdown of discipline in the governing Conservative Party, with many lawmakers openly saying the prime minister should quit. Truss suffered a further blow on Wednesday when Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned after breaking security rules by sending an official document from her personal email account. Braverman used her letter of resignation as Britain's interior minister to condemn Truss, saying she had "concerns about the direction of this government." Later on Wednesday, there was widespread confusion among Conservative lawmakers about whether a vote on the practice of fuel fracking was a confidence vote in Truss's administration. Many of them did not vote with the government. It's expected that there will be a new party leader in place by October 28, meaning Truss will serve less time as prime minister than 19th-century leader George Canning, who died in office after serving for 118 days. Quentin Peel, associate at the Chatham House think tank and former commentator for the Financial Times, told DW that the Conservative Party will "try" to avoid another general election, despite the fact that polls indicate that a "a clear majority of voters, well over 70%, want" one to be held. Peel added that Conservative lawmakers would be liable to lose their seats in a general election. "Usually, turkeys don't vote for Christmas," he said, arguing that a new election wouldn't be in the Conservatives' interest. Asked on whether Labor is truly interested in a new general election, Peel said that the party would be "torn," as any government would have to deal with a series of issues, including a "very severe" economic crisis, the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next general election must be held no later than January 2025. This means the Conservative Party could seek to govern into 2024 after selecting a new leader, assuming it can demonstrate a majority of MPs will continue supporting the new government, allowing it to function. rc, sdi/msh (Reuters, AFP, dpa) | 7Politics
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Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar said on Friday he was in hospital after contracting COVID-19. He originally tested positive for the coronavirus on March 27 and said the hospitalization was taken as a precautionary measure. Tendulkar, who will turn 48 later this month, was previously quarantining at home, suffering mild symptoms. "As a matter of abundant precaution under medical advice, I have been hospitalized," the batting great tweeted. "I hope to be back home in a few days. Take care and stay safe everyone." Former India captain Tendulkar retired from professional cricket in 2013 after a prolific career spanning almost a quarter of a century. The highest run scorer of all time in international cricket, Tendulkar made a habit of tearing up the record books. He notched up 100 centuries for India, a feat unsurpassed by any player, of any nation, on his way to becoming the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket. Tendulkar is also the first batsman to score a double century in the one day version of the sport. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video He lives in Mumbai, the capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, which has been the hardest hit by a resurgence in coronavirus infections. On Friday, India registered 81,466 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily increase in six months. India is the third-hardest hit country in the world, in terms of cases, with more than 12.3 million recorded infections. | 9Sports
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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the closure of Memorial International, one of the country's most prominent NGOs. The organization faced charges under the Russia's controversial NGO laws, which demands groups which are funded from abroad to clearly mark all their material as issued by "a foreign agent." Opposition groups, however, believe Memorial prompted the ire of the government by gathering information on millions killed by the state under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Dozens of people gathered in freezing temperatures to support Memorial in front of the Supreme Court building in Moscow. Supporters chanted "Shame!" when hearing the verdict. The NGO tweeted images of police carrying away a protester. Addressing the Supreme Court, prosecutor Alexei Zhafyarov said Memorial International was distorting history. "It is obvious that Memorial creates a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state by speculating on the topic of political repression of the 20th century," Zhafyarov said during Tuesday's hearing. He claimed that the extensive lists of victims of Stalinist repression, compiled by Memorial International, also contained "Nazi offenders with blood of Soviet citizens on their hands." "This is why we, the descendants of [WWII] victors, are forced to watch for attempts to rehabilitate traitors of the motherland and Nazi collaborators," he said. Prosecutors claimed the organization is not only hiding "the fact of filling the role of the foreign agent" but is also trying to influence the government's policy and the public opinion. Memorial lawyer Henry Reznik described the prosecutor's comments in favor of the ban as "reminiscent of 1930s." "I am absolutely convinced that this demand was illegal," Reznik said. "But it is a political decision." Memorial is Russia's oldest human rights watchdog. It was founded in 1987, four years before the end of the Soviet Union, with Soviet dissident and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov serving as its chairman. It now consists of two legal entities — Memorial International, which deals with Soviet-era crimes, and Memorial Human Rights Center, which deals with political prisoners in modern-day Russia. The latter also speaks out in favor of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and other opponents of President Vladimir Putin. Russian prosecutors are also pushing fora ban of the Human Rights Center . The ruling in that process is expected on Wednesday. This week, Memorial representative and Gulag historian Yuri Dmitriyev was sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony for allegedly abusing his adopted daughter. Many view the push to ban Memorial as a bid to finally end the era of political freedoms started by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s. Moscow-based reporter Felix Light told DW that Memorial's activity "very much upset" parts of Russia's modern political establishment and "certainly Russian security services which are very, very influential in the current Russian government." "What we saw today from the prosecutors who spoke in the Supreme Court was almost an indictment of these attempts to memorialize the Stalinist crimes," he said. "Prosecutors argued that Russians should not pay attention to these crimes, they should not be ashamed and they should sort of revel in the legacy of the victory in World War II." Jan Raczynski, the chairman of Memorial International, told the Interfax news agency that his organization will appeal the verdict in Russia, and — if necessary — go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Memorial will continue to operate as usual until all appeals against the ban are exhausted, he added. "The prosecutors are not able to stop Memorial's work," he said, noting that there were "many people who identify with Memorial but do not belong to any organization." "Memorial is not just two organizations that are currently being targeted. There are many others, which are not listed as foreign agents," he said. Talking to DW, executive board member for Memorial in Germany Vera Ammer said the ban has not yet come into force. "Of course, we will try to reverse the verdict, but I don't think there is much of a chance of that," she said. She said that both the process against Memorial International and Memorial Human Rights Center were part of a "plan" to destroy them. "And, by doing so, to send a signal to all of Russia that this kind of work is unwanted, including both the protection of human rights and the critical analysis of the past ," Ammer added. Tatiana Glushkova, a lawyer for Memorial International, told DW that it would be legally difficult to continue their work. "We hope to continue our work until it is somehow legal. The problem is that continuing the work of an organization after its dissolution can be considered a crime of non-enforcement of a judicial decision, so that's why continuing out work appears to be a little bit problematic for us," she said. "Fortunately the judgement does not say that liquidation commission will be a governmental one, so we hope that we can give the archives to another NGO that can continue our work." Pavel Andreyev, one of the directors of International Memorial, said Russia was cracking down on human rights organizations as part of an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to consolidate his power. "Putin is more than 20 years in power and they are now preparing [for him to continue his rule]," he told DW. "That's why they are cracking down on all these independent organizations." He explained that Memorial collected contemporary evidence of human rights abuses as well as historical, possibly appearing as a threat to Putin. "Memorial isn't only a historical society, and we not only work with Stalin's repressions, but also, the biggest part of Memorial's work is human rights in modern Russia," he said. Another reason he cited for the crackdown was the soviet and KGB history of Putin and fellow oligarchs. He denied that Memorial constituted an opposition group, and said in a well-functioning society, it would be an uncontroversial organization. Putin himself criticized Memorial for advocating on behalf of "terrorist and extremist organizations" and pointed to mistakes in their data. Gorbachev, however, spoke out in favor of the organization last month, saying its continued operation was useful to the state. "Memorial's activity has always been aimed at restoring historical justice, preserving the memory of hundreds of thousands of causalities, disallowing similar events in the present and the future," Gorbachev said in a joint statement with a fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The German Foreign Ministry said the ruling was "more than incomprehensible" and stood in contradiction to Russia's international obligations to protect fundamental civil rights. "As part of an international network, Memorial makes an indispensable contribution to researching, documenting and preventing serious human rights violations and is thus also an expression of our common European identity to clearly identify and resolve violations of human rights," the ministry said in a statement. "Justified criticism from organizations like Memorial should be listened to. The decision causes us great concern not least because it deprives the victims of oppression and repression of their voice." A group of German watchdogs, including the German branch of Amnesty International, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation and the government agency in charge of dealing with crimes committed in former East Germany decried the ruling as a "heavy blow for the Russian society, the neighboring societies, and for all of Europe." By banning Memorial, the Russian state "gave a devastating account of itself — it is fighting the processing of its own history of injustice and wants to monopolize individual and collective memory." The ruling also "exposed the full absurdity of the law on 'foreign agents'," they said. dj/rt (AFP, Reuters) | 8Society
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Facing mounting criticism for the lack of heavy weapons deliveries to Ukraine, Germany on Thursday signaled that it was planning a three-way swap of armaments that will enable Kyiv to get more of the equipment it needs. Although Germany is the world's fifth-largest exporter of arms, it has long avoided sending weapons directly to conflict zones. Since Russia's invasion began in February, the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sent light equipment, ammunition, and given additional funding to German arms manufacturers sending supplies to Ukraine. This policy has been slammed — both inside and outside Germany — as not going nearly far enough, with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki saying that "the ambiguous position taken by Germany here is certainly not helpful." The weapons swap confirmed to the press by government officials appears to be part of Scholz's reponse to the disapproval. The planned workaround would see NATO ally Slovenia send a large number of its T-72 battle tanks to Ukraine. To replace these, Germany would then send Slovenia a number of Marder tanks and Fox wheeled tanks from its own supplies. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stressed on Thursday that her government knows that providing more military aid to Ukraine "must be done very, very quickly" because "the situation is dramatically coming to a head" as Russia launched a new offensive in Ukraine's east. To that end, she said Germany was also planning on providing training to Ukraine's military on some of the new weapons from both Berlin and other NATO allies, including howitzers from the Netherlands. Lambrecht said Kyiv had been provided with a list of German equipment that it could choose from. However, the list did not include tanks, helicopters, larger artillery, or the warplanes Ukraine has said it so desperately needs. Both Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock have pointed out that the German army, long plagued by equipment issues, does not have all the supplies it needs for its own missions, thus making it difficult to send more to Ukraine. Even from within the ruling coalition's own ranks, the lack of clarity and a stronger response from the government is becoming a source of frustration. Defense expert Alexander Müller, from the Free Democrats, told the news agency dpa that "the German public has a right to know whether we are supplying heavy weapons, like our NATO partners are doing. To date, the German government's line is still unclear." es/nm (dpa, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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1840s: Missionaries from the German-based Rhenish Missionary Society arrive in what is now called Namibia. 1883: Adolf Lüderitz, one of Germany's first prominent colonialists, signs an agreement with Chief Joseph Frederick of Bethanie in what is now southern Namibia. The treaty gives the German businessman rights to the area around a strategic natural harbor called Angra Pequena, which he renames Lüderitz. 1884/85: Following the Berlin Conference, the territory of present-day Namibia becomes a protectorate of the German Empire called German South West Africa. No local people are part of these decisions made by European powers. 1890: The Anglo-German Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty comes into force. Germany acquires access to the Zambezi River from South West Africa by creating a 30-kilometer-wide (18-mile-wide) ribbon of land known as the Caprivi Strip, named after German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi. 1893: Skirmishes between German soldiers sent to protect German settlers and local Herero, Nama and Witbooi clans increase. German Governor Curt von Francois's men attack Nama Chief Hendrik Witbooi and the village of Hornkranz, massacring women, children and the elderly. Witbooi retaliates and temporarily disrupts transport from coastal Swakopmund to central Windhoek. 1894: Theodor Leutwein replaces von Francois as governor of South West Africa. He negotiates protection treaties with communities but attacks and subdues those who refuse to surrender to German protection. Leutwein mounts a large-scale attack on Hendrik Witbooi in the Naukluft Mountains. When the Germans defeat Witbooi, he signs a protection treaty. 1895: The German Schutztruppe is established. This fighting force is to defend German interests in South West Africa and suppress any dissent against the colonial administration. Often employing scorched-earth tactics and making little distinction between combatants and non-combatants, the Schutztruppe at times includes over 15,000 German soldiers. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video August 1904: The Battle of Waterberg hands German forces under General Lieutenant Lothar von Trotha a decisive victory over Chief Samuel Maharero and Herero rebels. Von Trotha then gives an extermination order, warning that every Herero found in German-occupied land will be executed. Unarmed Hereros are routinely shot or hanged, their cattle are either stolen or killed and German settlers take over the land. This is in response to the killing of around 120 German settlers and soldiers by local tribespeople. Massacres of Herero and Nama people by German colonists and the Schutztruppe follow the Battle of Waterberg and Trotha's order. Hereros are driven into the harsh Omaheke region, where thousands die of hunger and thirst. 1904-1908: Clashes between German forces and Herero and Nama rebels continue, but Herero resistance is largely broken, with Schutztruppe soldiers rounding up survivors. The remaining refugees, including women and children, are forced into concentration and labor camps to work for German businesses and infrastructure projects to build up the German colony. Herero land is seized and distributed among German settlers. German scientists take some skulls of the victims to Germany to study and develop the now-discredited theory of eugenics, which sought to establish scientific reasons for the superiority of Europeans over other races. While figures remain disputed, conservative estimates say about 65,000 of 80,000 Herero (up to 75% of the then population), and at least 10,000 out of 20,000 Namas were killed under German rule. Up to 100,000 people are said to have died at the hands of German forces. This period of history is now widely accepted as the 20th century's first genocide. 1907: Berlin recalls von Trotha, whose brutal methods of establishing German control over South West Africa have been condemned in Africa and Europe. July 1915: Germany loses control of South West Africa to Allied and South African troops. 1919: After Germany's defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles forces it to give up its colonies. 1923: Chief Samuel Maharero dies in exile in present-day Botswana.
March 1998: German Federal President Roman Herzog visits Namibia. Hereros demand reparations for German atrocities during the period from 1904-1908. August 14, 2004: The German minister for development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, recognizes Germany's historical and moral responsibility for the genocide of the Herero and Nama people after 100 years. Germany's responsibility is to be enacted through development aid. September 30, 2011: Germany returns skulls from colonial-era killings to Namibia for the first time. More skulls and bones are returned during separate ceremonies in 2014 and 2018. March 29, 2014: Representatives of Nama and Herero again demand reparations from Germany for genocide during the colonial war 1904-1908. 2015: Negotiations start between the Namibian and German governments over an official apology and aid money. July 7, 2016: For the first time, the German government recognizes the mass murder of Herero and Nama by German troops as genocide in an official document. May 28, 2021: After six years of negotiations, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announces an agreement has been reached in which Germany recognizes the atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama people in the early 1900s as genocide. Berlin pledges to spend €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) over 30 years for infrastructure and development aid in Namibia. The payments do not include reparations and are derided by Herero and Nama leaders as "unacceptable." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video | 7Politics
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The head of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has cast doubt on the validity of an email which Chinese state media says was penned by missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Peng, a former Wimbledon and French Open doubles champion and one of China's biggest sports stars, has not been heard from since accusing former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault on November 2, prompting outrage and concern from the global tennis community. On Wednesday, Chinese state media outlet CGTN tweeted what it claimed was an email sent by Peng to WTA chief Steve Simon, in which the 35-year-old denies her allegations and claims she is "not missing" or "unsafe." "The statement released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my concerns as to her safety and whereabouts," said Simon in a written statement. "I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her." As of Thursday morning, no other Chinese media outlet had reported the letter besides CGTN, the English-language arm of state broadcaster CCTV. "The WTA and the rest of the world need independent and verifiable proof that [Peng] is safe," continued Simon, saying he has "repeatedly tried to reach her via numerous forms of communication, to no avail. "Peng Shuai must be allowed to speak freely, without coercion or intimidation from any source. Her allegation of sexual assault must be respected, investigated with full transparency and without censorship. "The voices of women need to be heard and respected, not censored nor dictated to." After they had a consensual temporary affair 10 years ago, Peng alleged in a post on Chinese social media network Weibo that Zhang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, had tried to coerce her into having sex against her will in his flat in 2018. "I can't describe how disgusted I was and how many times I wondered if I was still human," she wrote. "I feel like a walking corpse." The post was deleted a short time later and searches for Peng on Weibo ceased to yield any relevant results. The discussion had been censored and the tennis player's whereabouts remain unknown. When asked on Thursday morning as to Peng's whereabouts and whether the issue would damage China's image ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: "My answer is very simple. This is not a foreign affairs matter, and I am not aware of the situation you mentioned." Expressions of concern, outrage and support have come from across the tennis world. French professional player Alize Cornet has called on Twitter users to speak out for the Chinese player under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai, sayixng: "We should not be silent." Former tennis superstars Chris Evert and Billie Jean King also expressed concern about Peng's fate, before men's world number one Novak Djokovic spoke out following his win over Casper Rudd at the ATP Finals on Monday. "I did hear about it a week ago," wrote the Serbian star. "Honestly, it's shocking that she's missing, more so that it's someone that I have seen on the tour in the previous years quite a few times. There's not much more to say than to hope that she will be found, that she's okay. It's terrible … I can imagine just how her family feels that she's missing." The WTA had already sounded the alarm. "The recent events in China concerning a WTA player, Peng Shuai, are of deep concern," chief Simon said, adding that the Chinese player had shown "remarkable courage." "We expect this issue to be handled properly, meaning the allegations must be investigated fully, fairly, transparently and without censorship. Our absolute and unwavering priority is the health and safety of our players. We are speaking out so justice can be done." Former serial champion Martina Navratilova assessed Simon's statement on Twitter as "a very strong stance by WTA — and the correct stance." In recent years, the WTA has expanded greatly in the Chinese market. In 2019, nine WTA tournaments were held in the country, culminating in the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 season finale had been cancelled and moved to Guadalajara in Mexico this year. However, the WTA announced that the prestigious tournament would be staged in Shenzhen again from 2022 to 2030. Peng Shuai has so far been regarded as China's model tennis player, in whose achievements the leadership in Beijing liked to bask. In 2013, she and her doubles partner Hsieh Su-wei, from Taiwan, won the Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon, and in 2014 the French Open in Paris. For 20 weeks, Peng was at the top of the doubles world rankings. | 9Sports
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German officials confirmed Friday that they had received a request from the United Kingdom to extradite a suspected spy for Russia who had worked at the British Embassy in Berlin. David S., whose full name has not been made public due to German privacy laws, was arrested at his home in the state of Brandenburg in August. Brandenburg state prosecutor Marc Böhme told reporters his office could not give a time frame for how long the extradition might take. The accused is a 57-year-old British citizen who prosecutors believe passed official documents to Russian sources at least as far back as November 2020. He allegedly received monetary compensation for the information he provided. David S. has not publicly commented on the allegations, but his lawyer told Der Spiegel newsmagazine that he does not want to return to his homeland under any circumstances. Should the prosecutors' claims prove true, S. would be one of a number of Russian agents recently uncovered in Germany. In June, a Russian employee of a German university was charged with spying for Moscow. Four months later, a German man was convicted of passing the floor plans of buildings used by the parliament, the Bundestag, to Russian agents. es/sms (AFP, dpa) | 3Crime
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Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Thursday submitted an application for Kosovo to join the European Union, formally kicking off a process that could take years, and depends on normalizing relations with neighboring Serbia. Kurti handed the application to Czech minister for EU affairs Mikulas Bek, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. "This is a historic day for the people of Kosovo and a great day for democracy in Europe," Kurti told reporters in Prague. Kosovo is the last western Balkan country to apply for EU membership after Brussels recognized Bosnia's candidate status earlier in the week, with European government leaders ratifying that decision as expected on Thursday. The EU recently reiterated its commitment to the Western Balkans' enlargement process at a summit in Tirana, while Russia's war in Ukraine underscores the importance for Europeans of stabilizing the volatile region. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Albanian-majority Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with the backing of the West, following a 1998-1999 war in which NATO intervened to protect the territory. Kosovo's independence is recognized by around 110 countries. However, Belgrade along with its key allies Russia and China still considers it a part of Serbia, so Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations. But crucially for Kosovo's hopes of joining the bloc, five EU members — Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus — also do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, usually owing to fears about comparable independence movements within their own borders. Normalizing relations with Belgrade will be imperative for Kosovo's bid. Despite the EU-sponsored dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, the two neighbors have been at odds for decades. Belgrade encourages the Serb majority in northern Kosovo to defy Pristina's authority and the region saw an escalation of violence recently — including shootings and explosions. EU and US envoys this week called on Kosovo and Serbia to remain calm amid an ongoing ethnic crisis in the north of Kosovo where local Serbs have erected barricades to prevent police movement, part of tensions between authorities and Kosovo's Serb minority. Meanwhile, European Union member states and the European Parliament agreed on a plan to allow visitors from Kosovo to enter the bloc without visas. "The new rules would allow Kosovo passport holders to travel to the EU without a visa for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period," the European Council said on Wednesday. The new rules would apply from January 2024 if EU member states and the EU Parliament formally adopt the agreement reached. dh/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters) | 7Politics
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Chancellor Angela Merkel is paying a final visit to Greece before she steps down as head of the German government. On Friday, she held talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on an array of issues, ranging from energy policy, the coronavirus pandemic and immigration to Greece's tense relations with neighboring Turkey over territorial disputes and drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean Although Merkel's visit focused much on past bilateral relations and Greece's post financial crisis development, one current topic was also discussed at length, namely the dynamics of Greece-Turkey-EU relations. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed concern over Europe's approach to NATO partner Turkey, "I fear that Western composure encourages Turkish arbitrary actions, and it is time for European principles to be turned into European policy and mainly into European practices against those who offend it," he said. "No one is seeking a definitive rupture in relations between the European Union and Turkey," he said, "It would not be something that would be beneficial to Europe or to Greece or, ultimately, to Turkey." Chancellor Merkel, an advocate for dialog between Ankara and the West, said: "I believe that Turkey as a NATO member, and Turkey as our neighbor, should be treated in such a way that we make it clear that it is in our interest to have reasonable relations ... Even with disagreements that we have, for example, even on human rights issues.'' Tensions between Greece and Turkey over drilling rights in the Aegean came to a head in 2020 in a dispute that saw the neighboring countries dispatch warships to the area. In March 2020, Greece also denounced Turkey's stance on immigration after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his country's borders to Europe were open and encouraged migrants to head to Greece, which was already buckling under the weight of illegal immigration to the bloc. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video After meeting Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Merkel, who has seen no fewer than eight Greek prime ministers come and go, said relations with Athens "went through ups and downs, but are based on solid foundations." "What gave us strength during this period ... was that we always had the feeling that we belong together," the outgoing chancellor said. Sakellaropoulou said, "there were times of difficulty and tension." "The financial crisis that many countries of Europe faced put mainly Greece, which was called on to pay a heavy price, in a difficult position. It was an unprecedented situation ... and Greece felt — we justifiably often felt alone." But subsequent experiences, including Germany's help during the 2015 migration crisis, had "contributed to mutual understanding," the Greek president said. Merkel has not always been welcomed to Greece with open arms. Many there still see her as the woman who forced austerity on the country during the 2009 Greek financial crisis, which grew into the decade-long euro crisis. At the time, Merkel and her Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble were hated figures. Germany was the single biggest lender and Merkel and Schäuble, along with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded huge budget cuts and drastic tax hikes in exchange for their support for three different international bailouts of more than €300 billion ($350 billion). After she was greeted with mass demonstrations of Greeks waving posters showing her in a Hitler moustache in 2012, Athens banned protests during her 2014 and 2019 visits. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is one of many Greek officials who say the country has changed. And he has spoken positively about the chancellor, noting that she has a "special relationship" with Greece. Last week in Brussels, the conservative politician said: "I think she will be the first to admit — she has already done so — that she has repeatedly asked a lot from the Greeks and that austerity went beyond what Greek society could bear. But at the same time, it was she who went against the recommendations of her ministers to keep Greece in the eurozone." In September, Merkel told Greek journalists that bailout negotiations had been "the most difficult moment" of her 16 years in office. Indeed the crisis wiped out a quarter of Greece's economy and sparked massive unemployment. As Greece recovered, attitudes toward Merkel also softened. When she was welcomed in 2019 by then Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras — a fierce critic during the crisis years — she seemed relieved, saying "the difficulties now lie behind us." This is an updated version of a previous article. sri, js/rt (AFP, AP, dpa) To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video | 7Politics
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Fighting at a prison in the northern Syrian city of al-Hasaka entered a fourth day on Sunday as the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued to battle fighters from the extremist "Islamic State" (IS) group after a breakout at the facility. The Kurdish forces said the militants attacked the prison once more on Sunday and tried to break the security cordon around it. In a statement, the SDF said the attack had been repelled and the IS fighters driven back into a residential area. Another attack by IS militants coming from outside the city was also thwarted, a spokesman said. Almost 80 IS members and 39 Kurdish fighters have been killed in the violence at the Ghwayran jail since it was first attacked by IS militants on Thursday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group, affiliated with the Syrian opposition, has been monitoring the country's conflict since it broke out in 2011. The Observatory said that at least seven civilians have also been killed in the fighting, which has seen US-led coalition forces carry out airstrikes in support of Kurdish forces. US troops were also reported to have taken up positions around the prison, which houses people suspected of belonging to IS. Additionally, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday warned that nearly 850 children faced immediate risk from the violence. A representative from the organization based in Syria said nearly 10,000 children and their mothers lived in either camps or detention centers in northeast Syria and faces risks of being caught in the violence. On Thursday, IS militants set off a car bomb near the prison gates, enabling dozens of inmates to escape. The SDF said initially that it had foiled the prison breakout and arrested scores of militants. Later, however, it admitted that inmates had taken control of parts of the jail. The Observatory said that Kurdish forces had managed to recapture more than 100 detainees who had tried to escape but that many more remained on the run. Their exact numbers remain unclear. The Ghwayran jail is the largest facility where the SDF holds people suspected of affiliation with the IS group, though it is unknown how many inmates are at the prison. However, relatives of many inmates say they are young children or people who have been arrested on trumped-up charges for refusing to be conscripted into the SDF. IS militants once held vast parts of Syria and Iraq but lost most ground after a long military altercation with Kurdish forces from both countries, who were backed by the United States and other powers. The prison attack is their largest operation in the country since 2019. The US-based rights group Human Rights Watch says some 12,000 men and boys, including as many as 4,000 foreigners from almost 50 countries, are being held by the SDF in several detention centers. Civic groups have accused the SDF of employing torture at some, allegations denied by Kurdish authorities. The detentions, often in what rights groups call inhumane conditions and sometimes without charges or trial, have led to resentment on the part of Arabs living in the Kurdish-controlled part of Syria, who say they are suffering from racial discrimination. Local Arab elders say support for IS in their communities has grown as a result of the perceived mistreatment. tj/rs (AP, AFP) | 2Conflicts
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Niger edged towards its first-ever democratic transition of power as former interior minister Mohamed Bazoum won the presidential elections with 55.75% of the second-round vote, according to initial results published on Tuesday. Opposition candidate Mahamane Ousmane picked up 44.25%, the country’s election commission said. The results will now need to be approved by Niger’s constitutional court. Shortly before the results were declared, Ousmane's campaign alleged widespread fraud, including the theft and stuffing of ballot boxes and threats against voters. It did not provide any evidence for its claims. Authorities have not yet commented on the allegations. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "We demand the immediate suspension of the publication of these results, which do not in any way take into account the expressed will of the Nigerien people for change," Ousmane's campaign manager said in a statement. Outside Ousmane's campaign headquarters and in other parts of the capital Niamey, his supporters protested by burning tyres. Police fired tear gas to disperse them. Bazoum, 60, is close to outgoing president Mahamadou Issoufou. He picked up just over 39% of the vote in the first round. Ousmane, 71, became the country's first democratically elected president in 1993, only to be toppled in a coup three years later. He won just under 17% in the first round but gained pledges of support from a coalition of 18 opposition parties in the days before the runoff. Sunday’s vote was marred by deadly violence when seven members of the National Electoral Commission were killed after their car hit an explosive device. Niger has seenas many as four coupssince gaining independence from France in 1960. The world's poorest nation; according to the UN's development rankings for 189 countries, is also struggling with jihadist insurgencies that have spilled over from Mali in the west and Nigeria in the southeast. In January at least 100 people were killed when extremists attacked two villages near the border with Mali. Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced despite the presence of thousands of regional and international troops. Niger is also one of the most important transit countries for African migrants who want to reach the Mediterranean. In recent years, Europe has put pressure on the Nigerien government to curb people smuggling. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video jf/aw (AFP, dpa, Reuters) | 7Politics
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An explosion in an apartment building in Gothenburg, Sweden, injured up to 20 people early on Tuesday morning, according to Swedish media outlets. The explosion occurred in the early hours, and rescue services are still working to put out fires that spread to several apartments, the Swedish news agency TT and public service radio SR reported. Prime Minister Stefan Lövfen said at a press conference, "Gothenburg should feel that it has the support of the whole country." Police believe the blast was deliberate. TT reported the explosion occurred just before 5 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) in the Annedal district in the center of Sweden's second-largest city. Authorities said they had opened an investigation and that though the cause of the blast was not immediately clear, there was reason to "believe something has exploded that is not of natural causes," police spokesperson Thomas Fuxborg told a news conference. A spokesperson for the Sahlgrenska University Hospital said three women and one man were seriously wounded among those hospitalized. Emergency services said they were still working to evacuate people and extinguish fires. "Several apartments and stairwells are affected. It is at present unclear what has caused the explosion," said a spokesperson for the emergency services in the wider Gothenburg area, before adding that several hundred people had been evacuated from the vicinity of the blast. jsi/rs (AP, Reuters, dpa) | 1Catastrophe
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When it comes to the administration of Joe Biden, there is widely shared optimism in the German capital, Berlin. There is a palpable sense of yearning that the fabled trans-Atlantic bridge will once again bring the European Union and US closer together and rekindle the spirit of cooperation. But there are also those who warn that, though the United States often presents itself as a land of unlimited possibilities, the same does not necessarily apply to US-German relations. Peter Beyer, the German government's trans-Atlantic coordinator, said: "The problems are not going to go away automatically. But there is a real opportunity to engage with each other constructively and respectfully in a dialogue built on seeking shared solutions." That assessment is not shared by Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, vice president of the German Marshall Fund (GMF), a nonpartisan US think tank that promotes trans-Atlantic cooperation. "A nationalist," he said, "has been replaced by an internationalist." But, he said, that doesn't mean that one can simply turn back the clock. "Just announcing 'we're back' isn't going to repair the credibility gap that's opened up," he said. There is certainly plenty of work to be done to repair the old trans-Atlantic partnership — and build new ties. Biden has already announced that the United States will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. He is also determined to lead his country back into the World Health Organization (WHO). And he has even promised to reverse the US troop withdrawal from Germany, which was announced last year by Donald Trump. But for the Europeans, the top priority is trade — and, above all, the terms of trade, which are now set to come under renewed discussion. And much is at stake. After all, the US and the EU together make up over 30% of global GDP. It is deeds rather than words that are more likely to fill the credibility gap, says Peter Beyer. That's because if people in Berlin's government quarter are breathing a mighty sigh of relief, then their mood of hope comes mixed with some not inconsiderable expectation. "The Europeans would," Beyer says, "be well-advised to prioritize a raft of key economic issues and send clear messages to the American side. Such as: "The punitive tariffs must go!" That is a reference to American import tariffs on aluminum and steel, which have in recent years had a painful impact on Germany and Europe. This is no time for the faint-hearted, Beyer continues, "What's needed is a comprehensive transatlantic free trade pact that will help to shore up prosperity on both sides." Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff is more cautious. He, too, believes that a far-reaching German-American trade pact would send out an important signal. But the political realities in the US point in a different direction. "Joe Biden is under pressure to make no concessions to European demands — especially from his party's left-wing and the trade unions," says Kleine-Brockhoff. Instead, they are calling for economic policies that are hardly compatible with free trade. "And there's little point in putting a man under pressure in areas when he has nothing to offer," he adds. In Germany, too, there has been a perceptible dip in enthusiasm for large-scale trading agreements like TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that fell apart in 2017 with Donald Trump's rise to power. Surveys conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Center and Germany's Körber Foundation suggest that a large majority of Germans no longer view the US as a partner in efforts to protect international free trade. In years to come, smaller bodies and alliances could well become an alternative in efforts to find common trade standards. One example is the Joint Trade and Technology Council, proposed late last year by the EU. There are other problems that are not going to go away under Joe Biden. Top of the pile: The bitter and long-running dispute over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that is designed to transport natural gas across the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. US Congress only recently took cross-party action to impose new extraterritorial sanctions against the completion of the pipeline. Peter Beyer has called on both sides to maintain a sense of proportion. "The discussion is completely out of control. What we're talking about is in effect a second pipeline that augments a first that is already in place." There are, he insists, much more pressing issues where the would-be transatlantic partners are at loggerheads, "like trade, security, digitalization, and public health — especially in the era of coronavirus." Former journalist Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff does not agree at all. Nord Stream 2, he argues, has proved to be "one big strategic miscalculation on Germany's part." And, he says, it's not only damaged relations with the Americans but also with key European partners. This is why he's calling for an energy security initiative for an Eastern Europe "with or after Nord Stream 2." There remains one issue where, regardless of how long and how deeply the transatlantic partners draw breath, the air still feels disconcertingly thin: The seemingly inexorable rise of China looks certain to pose a grave and growing challenge to transatlantic relations in the coming years. The American response is "decoupling" — rewinding in large measure ties between the two countries and, most importantly, the two economies. The EU also sees China as a "systemic rival." But, for the time being, there is no sign that the Europeans, and especially Germany, are in any way inclined to run down trading relations with Beijing. On the contrary, between 2019 and 2020, German exports to China rose by a further 14%. The Germans and Americans, says Kleine-Brockhoff, must work out how to work together. The vice president of the German Marshall Fund says this could be a mixture of red lines and cooperation. The deal would have to look like this: The Americans pull back from their "decoupling ideology," while the Europeans show more understanding for US concerns about security and technology — for instance in the fierce debate over the development of 5G networks. The reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which analysts have long been calling for, is another potential milestone in the process of reining China on trade issues. A striving for common ground and a shared understanding that the US needs Europe and Europe needs the US, is fueling a new mood of hope among many close to the heart of German politics. It is a striving that, political analysts warn, must be seen to be non-partisan — in Germany and the US alike. Time is already tight for the new president. Crucial midterm elections will be taking place next year in the US. By then, observers across the Atlantic will probably have a clearer picture of just how much of this ambitious agenda the president is able to put into practice. This article was translated from German. | 7Politics
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has announced plans to run for vice president when his term ends in May, raising concerns about how it could bypass presidential term limits and keep him in power, while granting immunity from criminal charges. "Consider me a candidate for the vice presidency at this time, maybe to maintain equilibrium for all," Duterte told reporters on Thursday. Philippine presidents are limited by the 1987 constitution to a single six-year term. Under Philippine law, the vice president is elected separately from the president. Those who serve in the post could potentially be propelled to the top role if the president dies or is incapacitated for any reason. Duterte, a 76-year-old former mayor who made a name in politics with his extra-tough approach to crime, has gained notoriety for his profane rhetoric and contentious drug war, which claimed the lives of thousands of people in the Southeast Asian country. Human rights organizations and civil society activists have slammed his government, holding it responsible for what they say is a culture of impunity. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Last month, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced their intention to open a full investigation into the brutal anti-drug campaign and the alleged unlawful killing of possibly tens of thousands of people. The ICC's departing chief prosecutor said last month that a preliminary examination found reason to believe that crimes against humanity had been committed during the crackdown. The prosecutor sought authorization to open a formal investigation, and judges have 120 days to decide. Duterte could face charges of crimes against humanity, although Duterte has said he would never cooperate in a possible ICC investigation. Despite criticism from rights campaigners at home and abroad, Duterte's popularity in the Philippines has remained high. Duterte has a long track record of chipping away at democratic institutions. His actions range from the closing of the largest broadcast media network to the passage of an anti-terror law that critics say institutionalizes a clampdown on dissent and thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings. Political experts say the Duterte administration simply exposed the fragility of the country's democratic institutions. "The Philippine democratic systems were already broken, making it easy for Duterte to impose his authoritarianism. Duterte just pushed existing structural weaknesses to their logical extreme," political scientist Richard Heydarian told DW. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Philippines has a multiparty political system that critics characterize as "mere fan clubs" of politicians, who often switch parties for their own personal gains. The allegiance of politicians and voters is based on political personalities rather than on ideologies. Heydarian said that the defection of many members of Congress to Duterte's ruling party after he won the 2016 presidential election was facilitated by the absence of concerted institutional checks and balances. It also chipped away at democratic safeguards. "The Philippines may look like a promising and beautiful democracy but institutions were really up for grabs by authoritarian leaders," Heydarian said. Centuries of colonial rule make the Philippines a young democracy. The country was under Spanish rule for over three centuries before control passed on to the United States, which granted independence to the Philippines in 1946. Democracy took a downturn when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. The toppling of Marcos in a celebrated bloodless revolution in 1986 catapulted the widow of his main political opponent, Corazon Aquino, to the presidency. Successive administrations could not fix the systemic deficiencies of the multiparty political system or neutralize the dominance of political dynasties in government. Political analysts say the outcome of the presidential election in 2022 will now determine the democratic trajectory of the country. Sara Duterte, President Duterte's daughter, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the late dictator, are emerging as strong contenders for the highest office. Marcos Jr. ran for vice president in the 2016 election and lost by a razor-thin margin. "The Philippines is not a singular case. It is part of the broader trend of embracing authoritarian nostalgia and various forms of reactionary populism that we see in Asia," Heydarian said, citing the recent military coup in Myanmar. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The political strategist Alan German told DW that the Philippines cannot continue on the same trajectory, which is fostering a culture of impunity and causing an erosion of democratic freedoms. "It will take a strong and working opposition to counter this trend, but we don't have that yet and, well, the presidential elections are just around the corner," German said. Vice President Leonor Robredo, who is the most prominent member of the opposition Liberal Party, remains reluctant to run for president. The death of former President Benigno Aquino III in June and the outpouring of sympathy for him may have the potential to turn the tide in favor of the Liberal Party. "Aquino's death made a dent, but it is uncertain if it is enough. What is certain is that the Philippines cannot continue on this same trajectory of a culture of impunity and hatred of us vs them. I worry that civil unrest will ensue," said German. Social media manipulation — or the use of fake accounts, trolls and bots to shift public opinion — also plays a role in drastically shaping a political landscape where dissent is stifled. "Social media manipulation strategies reflect a wholesale adoption of corporate marketing into the political realm. However, political marketing is like the wild, wild, west. It is unregulated," Jonathan Ong, a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, who has studied disinformation networks in the Philippines, told DW. Social media and its algorithms enable the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy theories and targeted harassment of individuals on a personal level. "This creates a climate of fear not just among journalists but also general citizenry to express legitimate dissent," Ong said. | 7Politics
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For the second time this year, Ons Jabeur has made a Grand Slam final. Victory in the US Open against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek would be a defining moment in African tennis history, but the achievement of reaching the final alone is already a game-changer for the sport in Tunisia and beyond. "Ons [Jabeur] is a breath of fresh air for many people in Tunisia," Anis Bouchlaka, national technical director of the Tunisian Tennis Federation, told DW last year. "I have seen with my own eyes people watching her matches at the cafe," Bouchlaka said, referring to traditional Tunisian cafes that are usually only ever filled with men. "I have seen workers, building and parking attendants watching her Wimbledon matches sitting on a chair ... It's really something incredible. If someone had told me that a few years ago, I wouldn't have believed it." Jabeur's rise is equally hard to fathom. For someone who first picked up a racket when she was 3, largely because her mother needed to get her to do something to be quiet, Jabeur's progress has been a slog rather than a sprint. She played her first event back in 2008 and, other than a 2011 Roland Garros juniors victory, it took nearly a decade for Jabeur to break into the top 100. Over the last two years, however, the Tunisian has risen to prominence. After winning in Birmingham in 2021, she won in Madrid and Berlin this year. Finishing runner-up at Wimbledon earlier this summer was the one that changed everything, with the Tunisian postal service even unveiling a stamp in Jabeur's honor. Jabeur's creativity on the court and her superb slice makes her fun to watch, but it's the legacy she is creating that takes her beyond just another player reaching their peak. As the first Arab tennis player to reach the top 10 in either ATP or WTA rankings history, Jabeur is constantly rewriting history every time she makes another round of a Grand Slam. She is changing the game for her country — in October, Tunisia will host a WTA 250 tournament for the first time, in Monastir, not far from where Jabeur grew up. "I just want to give an example for many generations coming from North Africa, from my country, from the African continent, that it's not impossible, that we can do it. I've been trying to carry this message for a very long time. Hopefully, it is working," Jabeur said after beating Swiatek in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021. Throughout it all, she hasn't lost her connection to Tunisia either. The 28-year-old still trains in her homeland, saying, after some experiences abroad, that to optimize her progression and her game she needed to reconnect with her roots. "I was also able to realize that abroad, several coaches have tried to standardize my game a little," Jabeur told Tunisian outlet Inkyfada. "In Tunisia, my coaches have always been able to adapt their instructions to my personality, which is reflected in my game." Fun to watch as a player, Jabeur is also endearing as a person. During her run at Wimbledon she ended up playing and beating Germany's Tatjana Maria, a close friend. "She loves children and sees mine almost as her own," Maria told German broadcaster SWR. "She's part of our family." During the same tournament, Jabeur raised nearly €18,000 ($18,142) for the renovation of a school in Tunisia by donating €100 for each ace and winning dropshot. When Jabeur presented the check it was nearly double that amount. During the pandemic, she put one of her rackets up for auction to help buy medicine for people in Tunisia. Jabeur's open nature and good sense of humor are a welcome change to a sport loaded with the usual professional athlete platitudes. After beating Ajla Tomljanovic in the US Open, Jabeur joked she was going to be fired as "Minister of Happiness," her nickname back in Tunisia, because she had been too down on herself during the match, even twice throwing her racket to the ground. "It's tough sometimes to manage the frustration, tennis is a tough sport and I apologize for my behavior," she said. "I really wanted to just keep calm but the racket kept slipping away from my hand!" It's no surprise that her favorite player growing up was US star Andy Roddick, famous for his big serve and funny jokes. Earlier in the year, she played doubles with Serena Williams and throughout it all acted in the only way possible around the greatest player of all time: with a huge smile of disbelief. The pair were nicknamed "OnsRena," further endearing her to tennis fans. Victory would cement her place in tennis history, especially against the world No. 1 Swiatek, but Jabeur has already done something very few in sport can dream of, namely leave a legacy beyond the court for future generations. Edited by: Matt Ford | 9Sports
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Japan's Praemium Imperiale is one of the world's most important art prizes. Since its founding in 1988, it has been given out by the Japan Art Association to artists and musicians at the top of their careers in five different categories each year. The award is so prestigious it is sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize of the Arts." German filmmaker Wim Wenders is among the 2022 winners, which were announced on Thursday. Born in Düsseldorf in 1945, Wim Wenders is one of the best known founding fathers of the movement known as New German Cinema, which revitalized the country's post-war filmmaking with new stories, formats and narrative styles from the 1960s onwards. The movement also included directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog and Volker Schlöndorff. Wenders' 1984 road movie, "Paris, Texas," won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, while the 1987 work "Wings of Desire" is considered a masterpiece of auteur cinema. In the 1990s, Wenders accompanied US musician Ry Cooder and the Cuban musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club on tour with his camera, filming a much-acclaimed documentary of the same name in 1999. Beyond winning the prestigious Japanese award, Wenders has developed a special relationship with Japan over the decades. His 1985 documentary "Tokyo-Ga" is a tribute to filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu, and in "Notebook on Cities and Clothes" from 1989 he devoted himself to Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. Earlier in 2022, Wenders announced he would be making a feature film about Japanese public restrooms. The upcoming feature film, to be shot in Japan this year, will bring together four short stories, and will star renowned Japanese actor Koji Yakusho in the role of a toilet cleaner. The fictional movie is based on a current project in the Japanese capital called "The Tokyo Toilet" — an urban renewal project through which 17 public toilets in the Japanese capital are being turned into works of art by star architects from around the world, including Tadao Ando. "There is something very Japanese about the idea, about the whole setting. And I almost think it's a utopian idea," Wenders told reporters back in May. Beyond Wenders, this year's other prizewinners are Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Italian painter Giulio Paolini, Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman and Japanese architecture firm SANAA. The Kronberg Academy foundation based in Taunus, which trains young string musicians from all over the world, was awarded a scholarship for young artists. The Praemium Imperiale was established by the Japanese Imperial Family to commemorate Prince Takamatsu, who died in 1987. The categories include painting, sculpture, architecture, music and theater/film, with each winner receiving 15 million yen (currently around $104,500, 105,000€). In 2021 no prize winner was named in the film/directing category due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prize was also not awarded in 2020 for the same reason. Previous winners include director Martin Scorsese, artist James Turrell, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Sofia Loren, the recently deceased director Jean-Luc Godard and architects such as Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas, fashion designer Issey Miyake and photo artist Cindy Sherman.. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article was originally written in German. | 4Culture
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DW: Is the pandemic out of control in Brazil? David Sufiate: It's hard to say what out of control means in the context of a pandemic. But we are definitely seeing too much strain on our entire health system, from private hospitals to state hospitals. The situation is very serious. At Fiocruz Hospital we have been filled to capacity for over a month, sometimes over. New patients are only admitted to intensive care units when others are discharged or die. I can't say that it's worse now because we've been overburdened for about three weeks. Older people have already been vaccinated. Who are the patients being admitted to hospitals at the moment? As of yesterday, there is no patient over 80 in the ICUs of the Fiocruz hospital. That shows very clearly the role that the vaccines are playing in the pandemic. At the moment, it's younger people who are affected. The politicians encourage them to leave the house and expose themselves to the virus, with the result that they, too, are getting ill. Which age group is most affected? The majority is between 30 and 70. If I were to isolate an age group, I would say the 40 to 60-year-olds. They're the ones who are most affected and being hospitalized. Has the virus changed? It seems clear that some mutations are more infectious. At Fiocruz we can carry out sequencing. Ninety percent of patients have the P.1 mutation at the moment. So, the virus has mutated and is more contagious. Whether that means that the development of the illness is worse is hard to say for now. According to some small studies, this mutation spreads faster. It is infecting more people. So, in terms of statistics, there are more people falling gravely ill. Whether this is due to the mutation is not yet clear. There haven't been enough studies. Are people staying in intensive care for longer now? The younger patients have greater reserves and it takes longer for their organs to fail. They have more endurance, that's one way of putting it That means they remain in intensive care for longer. What are you most in need of in the ICUs? We're most in need of personnel for intensive care. We don't have a shortage of medicine or equipment. But many doctors can't get used to working in intensive care. That's making a huge difference. This is also true of other areas — for physiotherapists, carers and all other areas. One year since the beginning of the pandemic, we still lack qualified staff. But many of those working in the health sector are simply tired after such a long time. So many of my colleagues are giving up their jobs as doctors. Many are no longer working in intensive care. They don't want to hear about COVID anymore. It's very dramatic indeed. What could the central government do for you? They should be vaccinating people! All the funds and all the political will should be going towards a mass vaccination program. Recently, 4,100 people died in one day! With vaccines, we could alter the situation. The central government has already said that there will not be a lockdown. Do you think that a lockdown would be appropriate? There's no doubt about it! Take the city of Araraquara, for example. There was a lockdown there, and there's another one at the moment. And they've just brought the death toll down to zero. We need more funds. We just can't let 700 people die because they were on the waiting list for an ICU bed. We simply can't get our work done. Vaccines won't stop people from catching COVID-19 but they will stop so many people from getting it at the same time. And a lockdown also means fewer people walking around. This has been talked about so many times. I refuse, in April 2021, 14 months after the pandemic began, to explain to people that a lockdown would help. It does help, and it's a useful instrument. Another issue that needs to be discussed is: How will the central government make sure that people do not go hungry? There are over 20 million Brazilians below the poverty line. This is very worrying. Have you noticed more poor people getting ill? Yes, that's true for all infectious diseases. The wealthier one is, the safer one is. Rich people can stay at home. They can afford it. The poor can't. They have to go to work to survive. As somebody on the front line, are you seeing a lack of government support? As an infectiologist on the front line, I'm very dispirited. It's regrettable that for the government, community is not a priority. It is not prioritizing what it should, and that's very sobering. Now that there's a doctor at the head of the Health Ministry, is there more hope? If he can actually do his work, then yes. But we know that in such posts, political commitments are more important than a person's expertise. I can only hope that the new health minister will have the freedom to advocate what has to be advocated. I hope that he won't become a puppet of individual political interests. Some scientists are predicting a higher death toll. Are you a pessimist or and optimist? I would say that we can expect a high death toll for two or three more months. There might even be 5,000 or 6,000 deaths per day. In such a case, there would be a complete collapse. Is that going to happen? It's not going to happen; it already is happening. The collapse happened a long time ago. We're in the middle. DW's Thomas Milz spoke with the Brazilian infectiologist David Sufiate, who works in several Rio de Janeiro hospitals. This article was adapted from German. | 7Politics
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Two Polish historians were ordered by a Warsaw court on Tuesday to apologize to the niece of a World War II-era Polish mayor whom they reported in their book was complicit in the killing of Jews. The ruling has been seen as a litmus test of whether independent Holocaust research is possible under Poland's nationalist government. The researchers, Professor Barbara Engelking, chair of Poland's International Auschwitz Council, and Professor Jan Grabowski from the University of Ottawa, co-edited a 1,600-page book called Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland. The work, published in Polish, documented cases of complicity of Catholic Poles during the Holocaust. The case against the authors was brought by the niece of Edward Malinowski, who was mayor of the village of Malinowo in northeast Poland during the war. The woman's lawyers had demanded the authors pay 100,000 zlotys ($27,000). However, the court rejected this, and ruled the authors submit a written apology for "providing inaccurate information." The authors have said they will appeal against the decision. Critics have accused Poland's nationalist government of attempting to cover up Polish officials' role in the genocide of Jews during Nazi German occupation in World War II and discourage academic research into cases of collaboration. In a statement, Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial said the charges "amount to an attack on the effort to achieve a full and balanced picture of the history of the Holocaust" and "constitutes a serious attack on free and open research." The niece, 81-year-old Filomena Leszczynska, is being supported by the Anti-Defamation League — an organization that seeks to defend "Poland's good name." The group claims the two academics smeared an innocent man and deprived the niece of her rights, including the right to pride and national identity. The book mentions that the mayor may have been implicated in the local massacre of Jews by German soldiers. But Leszczynska said her late uncle in fact helped Jews and points to "omissions" and "methodological errors" that make her uncle appear as someone who betrayed Jews to the Germans. According to the book, Malinowski allowed a Jewish woman to survive by helping her pass as a non-Jew. However, the survivor's testimony is also quoted as saying that he was an accomplice in the deaths of several dozen Jews. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Malinowski was acquitted in 1950 of being an accomplice to the killing by Germans of 18 Jews in a forest near the village of Malinowo in 1943. Grabowski and Engelking argue that the case is an attempt to discredit them personally and dissuade other academics from investigating the truth about the extermination of Jews in Poland. "This is a case of the Polish state against freedom of research," Grabowski told the AP news agency before the trial. Grabowski, a Polish-Canadian whose father was a Polish Holocaust survivor, said he has faced anti-Semitic harassment by nationalists, both online and at lectures in Canada, France and other countries. Poland's conservative ruling party Law and Justice, which rose to power in 2015, has focused on Polish heroism and suffering instead of wrongdoing during the wartime German occupation. In 2018, Poland sought to pass a law that would have criminalized the act of mentioning any responsibility of the Polish nation or state in crimes committed by Nazi Germany on Polish soil. The law would have carried a three-year prison sentence, had it not been dropped following international outcry and a major diplomatic row with Israel. The current case is instead a civil libel case tried under a pre-existing law, but academics warn that it will set a precedent for freedom of Holocaust research. Nazi Germany occupied Poland in 1939, annexing part of the country to Germany and directly governing the rest. Some people in Poland collaborated with the Germans in the hunting down and killing of Jews. An estimated three million Jews and six million Poles perished between 1939 and 1945 during Nazi occupation. Over 7,000 Poles have been named "Righteous Among the Nations" — the honorific used by Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews — more than any other nationality. An abridged English version of "Night Without End" is due to be published in a few months. wmr,mvb/dj (Reuters, AFP, AP, KNA) | 7Politics
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French President Emmanuel Macron told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin he hoped talks in Moscow could lead to an easing of tensions over Ukraine. "This discussion can make a start in the direction in which we need to go, which is toward a de-escalation," Macron said at the start of the meeting. He added that he hoped to "avoid a war" and "build elements of confidence, stability and visibility for everyone." Following their talks, Macron told reporters that he had made proposals of "concrete security guarantees" to Putin. The French presidency said the proposals include an engagement from both sides to to take any new military action, the launching of a new strategic dialogue and efforts to revive the peace process in the Donbass. "President Putin assured me of his readiness to engage in this sense and his desire to maintain stability and the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Macron said. "There is no security for the Europeans if there is no security for Russia," he added. Macron said that he had found elements of convergence with Putin, although differences remain. Macron told Putin that creating a new security architecture in Europe could not be done by denying canceling states' right to join NATO. The Russian president said Moscow and Paris had common concerns over the security situation in Europe, and that France has for years worked toward a solution to the Ukraine conflict. Putin said that the talks with Macron were useful, substantive and business-like, adding that some of Macron's ideas were "realistic" and could form a basis for further joint steps. Putin said that he hopes that the situation in Ukraine can be resolved peacefully and that Russia will "do everything to find compromises with the West." He added that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements and urged Ukraine to respect the accords. Putin warned that if Ukraine joins NATO and tries to retake Crimea, European countries will be drawn into armed conflict with Russia. Putin said that there would be "no winners" in such a conflict. Putin said that NATO had designated Russia as an "enemy." He scoffed at the idea that NATO is purely a defensive alliance, noting military campaigns by the US and its allies in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia. Responding to Western criticism of the Russian military buildup near Ukraine, Putin said that "NATO members consider it possible to lecture us about our troop movements in our own territory and cast them as a threat of Russian invasion in Ukraine." He went on to accuse NATO states of "moving military infrastructure close to [Russia's] borders" in equipping Ukraine's military and providing it with training. When asked about reports regarding the presence of the Wagner Group in Mali, Putin said that the Russian Federation has nothing to do with the work of Russian security contractors in Mali. He added that Mali has the right to work with Russian private Russian firms if it so chooses. Macron's visit to Moscow comes as Western leaders fear a possible Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine amid a massive buildup of Russian troops at the border. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Russia has denied it is planning to invade but has made a number of security demands to the US and NATO. These include calling on NATO to stop its eastward expansion and to give guarantees that it will not accept Ukraine as a member. The French president will travel to Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the situation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "The situation is too complex to expect decisive breakthroughs in one meeting," though he added that a "substantive and lengthy" discussion was expected. Peskov underlined the importance of Macron's visit in view of the fact that France currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. "Macron told Putin himself that he is coming with certain ideas to find possible options for defusing tensions in Europe," Peskov added. Monday is also seeing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visiting Kyiv with Czech, Slovak and Austrian counterparts for a two-day visit, as a week of intense diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions kicks off. On the other side of the Atlantic, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is to meet on Monday with US President Joe Biden in Washington, before holding talks next week with Putin and Zelenskyy. Scholz is also to meet Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda in Berlin on Tuesday, a German government spokesperson has said. sdi, lo, tj/rt (AFP, dpa, Reuters, Interfax) | 7Politics
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"Belarus is currently an experimental field for a new world view … a new perspective on history, which involves change without violence," said Belarusian investigative journalist and 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich. She was speaking during a panel discussion on Friday ahead of the Berlin International Film Festival premiere of Courage, a documentary on the protests in Belarus. Along with Alexievich, Courage director Aliaksei Paluyan was joined by political activist Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, considered by many to be the winner of the disputed Belarusian election of August 2020, to discuss the role of artists in their home country. "Artists played a tremendous role in the protests," said Tsikhanouskaya, pointing out that music, art, photography and cinematography were often more powerful than political speeches during the presidential campaign — and during the protests that followed the contested elections. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video For Alexievich, artists also have "a very important responsibility," as they now need to revisit and dissect the painful events in Belarus. Their work "will allow to live the revolution once more," she said. That is exactly what Paluyan does with his film, Courage. Maryna, Pavel and Denis were among more than hundreds of thousands of people who marched in Belarus last summer to protest what they claimed was electoral fraud by president Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994. The European Union no longer recognizes him as head of state. Typical of the rising resistance to the Belarus regime, the three worked in theaters in Minsk and are the subjects of Courage. Already 15 years earlier, Maryna, Pavel and Denis had left Minsk's State Theater to perform at the then newly founded underground theater group, the Belarus Free Theater. The play that they were working on during the filming of Courage is about opposition members who suddenly disappear. This was not a fiction but reality in the former Soviet Union. Belarus is widely considered to be Europe's last dictatorship, a country where free speech is suppressed and activists, artists and journalists are intimidated, tortured, imprisoned or forced into exile. Since the protests, suppression has increased, with the autocratic regime infamously redirecting a passenger plane to Minsk to arrest an opposition blogger, Raman Pratasevich. But it was the tip of the iceberg, according to Aliaksei Paluyan. Since shooting the film during the first wave of summer 2020 protests against the regime, the filmmaker says the repression has taken on "a more brutal character." The director describes people killed in custody whose mutilated bodies are handed over to their families. "Almost 30,000 people have been detained," he told DW, adding that many artists and activists have since fled into exile. "My protagonists are no longer in Belarus," said Paluyan of the three main characters in his film. In addition to the many artists in exile, Nobel Prize winner Alexievich and opposition politician Tsikhanouskaya have also left their homeland under the pressure of repression against dissidents. Tsikhanouskaya's husband, activist Sergei Tikhanovsky, has been imprisoned since May 2020. "Write letters to the political prisoners in Belarus," was Tsikhanouskaya's plea at the press conference on Friday. "Each letter can give them the courage to keep going for an extra day or week." After Pavel and Denis were detained in prison for 15 days, they left Belarus for Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Marina followed last week, partly due to fear of "more brutal repression" following the arrest of a journalist mid-flight. This is the price of wanting to "to be free," of having "this romantic idea to be an independent artist in such an authoritarian country like Belarus," said the director. "If there are no independent artists left within Belarus it could be a big problem," he says. "Artists have a responsibility to society to give an answer about what's going on." "These are the consequences you have to bear," says Paluyan, who came to Germany in 2012 to study film and television directing at the Kassel Art Academy. He hasn't been back to Belarus since completing the filming for Courage in September 2020. Fleeing into exile was the only way to continue his work, he says. He himself does not know why he was not arrested during the making of documentary. Denis, one of his protagonists, decided to commit artistic "treason," withdrawing from the theater stage while in Belarus to protect his family. "You can't be creative if you live in fear all the time," Paluyan explained. The young filmmaker worries about the future of his home country: "It takes longer to grow together than to divide." Nonetheless, he is convinced that it's only a matter of time before the democracy movement will prevail — even if carrying the emblematic white and red flag on the street now leads to immediate arrest. "If I lost hope I could not be an artist," he said. Paluyan hopes for increased international political pressure, including through tougher sanctions. "The people of Belarus feel abandoned," he said. Courage is intended to help keep the public discussion going: "I want to speak loudly with this film." | 4Culture
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Pope Francis hosted the players of his eponymous soccer team in Vatican City on Saturday ahead of a charity match that aims to combat discrimination against vulnerable groups, including the Roma community. The pope, who is a major fan of the sport, was meeting with the priests, migrants and Swiss guards who will play for Team Pope — Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers) against a team from the Croatia-based World Roma Organization on Sunday. The aim of the game is to raise money for a charity based in the diocese of Rome to promote the inclusion of Roma people and other marginalized groups. "It's a team where there aren't any barriers and which makes inclusion the simple normality,'' Pope Francis told the players and others in the audience. Soccer star Ciro Immobile from the Italian club Lazio, and a player on Italy's European Championship-winning team in the summer, will referee the match. Three of the Fratelli Tutti players are migrants now living in Italy. The pope said that they had arrived in Italy after a long "path marked by abuse and violence," including time on the Greek island of Lesbos — a major entry point for refugees and migrants into Europe. "It doesn't matter who will score the most goals, because the decisive goal you'll score together, the goal that makes hope win and gives a kick to exclusion," Francis said. The pope commended already-existing initiatives in Croatia that focus on boosting the inclusion of Roma people in the country. He also referenced a recent trip to Slovakia during which he visited a Roma community. He described to the audience the challenges faced by such groups. "Dear Roma friends, I know well your history, your reality, your fears and your hopes,'' Francis said, adding that "all too often you have been the object of prejudice and harsh judgments." But he was hopeful, saying Sunday's soccer match "indicates that the way toward peaceful coexistence is integration.'' ab/dj (AP, AFP) | 9Sports
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Disasters like the floods in Germany are a particular challenge for politicians. In crises, people look for leadership and expect empathy and resolve from politicians. Especially from those who are preparing to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel and lead Germany's next government. The candidate currently in pole position is Armin Laschet, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, which has been severely affected by the floods. Laschet initially lived up to expectations: He was on site, listened to those affected, and into the many cameras he announced to the electorate a faster pace in addressing climate protection measures. Unfortunately, the cameras also caught him laughing and even smirking, while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was just a few meters away, offering comfort to the flood victims. For a man who wants to become chancellor, this type of behavior is surprisingly insensitive and unprofessional. In this hour of need, Laschet should have shown statesmanlike compassion. Even more serious than this misstep is Laschet's indecisiveness in the policy area that has finally made it to the top of the agenda as a result of the disaster: climate protection. When he grasped the extent of the catastrophe in his state, he initially announced that he wanted to accelerate climate protection, only to emphasize later that same day that he would not change his policy because of a single day's events. Ironically, no one really knows what that policy is. For example, he is in favor of renewable energies, but his government in North Rhine-Westphalia has massively raised the hurdles for wind turbines. Laschet also rejects a requirement for solar panels to be installed on new buildings. When he addresses climate policy issues, he usually points out the negative impact: Climate protection should not make home ownership or vacation flights more expensive, should not endanger jobs and should not take away the fun of driving a fast car. At the same time, he seems to suggest that there is a climate policy — namely, his — that can be pursued without drastic and painful changes to the status quo. Laschet clearly sees himself in the tradition of Merkel, who in her almost 16 years in office has not demanded substantial sacrifices from citizens or industry in the name of climate protection. This lack of ambition was also highlighted by the German Constitutional Court in April, when the judges called on politicians to make significantly more efforts to protect future generations from climate catastrophes. The flood disaster has rammed home a point that many Germans have long since recognized: that carrying on as before will lead to climate chaos and that global warming is fueling extreme weather and becoming a deadly danger — not only in faraway countries, but also on their own doorstep. Their fear of losing everything is greater even than the fear of a speed limit on German highways. If Laschet wants to become chancellor, he must take these concerns seriously and finally come clean about how he intends to reduce CO2 emissions in concrete terms. He must stop painting climate protection as an overblown specter and talk honestly about opportunities and cuts. That means telling people the truth about how effective climate protection will change their lives: what they might have to do without in the future, which jobs are on the line and how he intends to cushion the social impact. Climate protection does not stop at our own borders. It needs international action. But if you shy away from being straight up with business and citizens at home, few voters will trust you to stand up to Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Jair Bolsonaro on climate protection and get them on board. Whether Laschet wants to or not, he has to show he's serious about climate protection, which is crucial to the election campaign. Otherwise, his dream of becoming chancellor will soon dissipate. This piece was translated from German. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video | 7Politics
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In 2017, Bangladesh welcomed fellow Muslims from Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state to the southern coastal community of Cox's Bazar with open arms, food and shelter. Despite the presence of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in the already overcrowded settlements for decades, they didn't have to think twice about accommodating the new surge of people, albeit into an already overcrowded area of Bangladesh. Attempts to repatriate the Rohingya refugees have failed due to unstable conditions in Myanmar. As such, they have become victims of the worst refugee crisis in the last 50 years . In 1971, some 10 million East Pakistanis sought refuge in India during Bangladesh's independence war against Pakistan. But unlike the Rohingya, they returned home within nine months. "The conflicts between the host community and Rohingya refugees are increasing; they are frequently getting involved into conflicts these days," according to Imran Hossain, government administrator for Ukhiya town which hosts one of the world's largest refugee camps. Abdur Rashid used to be an affluent landlord in southeastern Bangladesh. He allowed refugees to stay next to his land when they arrived in August 2017. Now he walks past his once-agricultural land, angry and frustrated because it has since been transformed into a barren swamp full of polythene, excrement and mosquitoes next to Cox's Bazar's sprawling Balukhali camp. The 72-year-old retired farmer blames refugees for "ruining" his 10-acre plot of land. "This land was so fertile. We used to harvest paddies twice in a year that fed my family well," he said. "Look what they have done!" Rashid yelled, shaking in anger and breaking down in tears. But life is also tough for the refugees. With no scope of regular work, movement and meaningful education, 1 million refugees see no future, explained Rohingya community leader Abu Jafar. "It only makes sense how easy it has become these days to exploit fit-but-jobless Rohingya youths for organized crimes," he told DW, referring to crimes ranging from methamphetamine pill trafficking to murders. Salam Mia is a Tuk-Tuk driver in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya area who usually rents a rickshaw to earn a living. But in the last few years, he's had to deal with fresh competition for work. "If I delay reaching the garage, then I don't get to rent a rickshaw that day. Which means I cannot buy food for my children," the 25-year-old father of three said. "Why? Because a Rohingya driver probably would have booked it paying more rent! These refugees are literally kicking on our stomach by stealing our jobs." The standard salary for a Bangladeshi farmhand is 600 taka (just over €5; $5.6) per day when Rohingya men offer the same job for half the price, according to a local mason. "Even construction shroffs from nearby towns often take truck loads of Rohingya workers for masonry work," the mason said, on condition of anonymity. Syed Harunur Rashid, a police officer at the camp, admitted that it's "easy for the refugees" to sneak past the police in the hilly terrain. "They cut down the barbed wire at over 160 places and created passages to the outer world," he told DW. Mohammad Shahjahan, a 13-year-old Rohingya refugee from the Leda camp, was badly injured by a pellet which had been shot from a homemade gun by suspected drug traffickers. His was accused of being a drug mule, a charge he denies. A few of Mohammad's friends went missing from the refugee settlement. Days later, their decomposed corpses were seen floating in the Naf river which divides Bangladesh and Myanmar. Drug cartels in Bangladesh's coastal town of Teknaf are suspected of using Rohingya youths as lieutenants and drug mules. The narcotic traffickers have turned to violence and kidnappings. In late December, armed Rohingya men abducted eight Bangladeshi farmers. Four days later, they were returned only after paying a hefty ransom of 640,000 taka. "Families of these poor farmers had to borrow money with huge interest to pay the ransom," local councilor Rashed Mahmud Ali said. Law enforcement agencies also claimed that groups of Islamist extremists are trying to set up a base inside the camp. Last week, the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) exchanged fire with suspected extremists in Kutupalong refugee camp, which further angered the locals. Nur Sadek, a 19-year-old Rohingya — who was recently rescued after setting out on a perilous voyage towards Malaysia on a rickety boat — admitted that he "did not find any other option." "Though it was a mistake, I foresaw no end to this misery we are in and I became desperate," the teen said, breaking down in tears. "What is our destiny? What should we do then?" Refugee and migration crisis expert Professor Shahab Enam Khan said the end to this unrest solution lies only in Myanmar where a military junta has "no genuine interest" in repatriation. Until then, the refugee camps should become a self-sustaining economic ecosystem, he suggested. "The government and the international community must work to build entrepreneurial skills to let the refugees have gainful economic opportunities," the University of Delaware Fulbright professor said. The UNHCR says it receives regular complaints about abductions, disappearances, threats or physical attacks by armed groups and criminal gangs involved in illegal activities along with gender-based, domestic and neighborhood violence. "Mediation is provided to prevent escalation of conflicts. UNHCR has also enhanced its presence in the camps, and increased monitoring activities," UNHCR spokeswoman Regina De La Portilla said. "Protection and assistance services, including psychosocial support, are being provided to respond to the specific needs of individuals." But the once-warm welcome for the refugees has cooled. "The Rohingya have already overstayed their welcome," Rahman, also a lawyer, said. Refugee leaders say that such a belligerent attitude would only deteriorate the mutual respect. "We are just stuck and strangled in a very odd position. As if we don't even exist," said Sadek, wiping away his tears. Edited by: Keith Walker To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video | 2Conflicts
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Exhausted firefighters have been battling blazes in northern Argentina for weeks. Fueled by strong winds, little rain and dry conditions brought on by an unusually long drought, wildfires have already destroyed nearly 8,000 square kilometers (3,000 square miles) of forest, swamp and farmland, an area slightly smaller than the island of Puerto Rico. "It never happened to us, we never lived something like this, we were really overcome," one resident, Jorge Ayala, told The Associated Press news agency over the weekend. But wildfires like this are expected to become more prevalent, and more destructive, in the coming years and decades. Extreme fires — more frequent, intense and increasingly found in atypical areas like the Arctic — are projected to rise up to 14% by 2030 and 30% by mid-century, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Norwegian environmental nonprofit GRID-Arendal. By 2100, they say, fires could be as much as 50% more likely to occur. Even if we manage to significantly reduce emissions, the world is likely to see an increase in wildfires, the report said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Researchers have increasingly linked these disasters to human-caused climate change, a fact underscored by the report, which links the growing severity of fires to a higher incidence of drought, rising temperatures and strong winds. "At the same time, climate change is made worse by wildfires, mostly by ravaging sensitive and carbon-rich ecosystems like peatlands and rainforests," said the authors of the report. As these ecosystems are destroyed, they release stored CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, further contributing to global warming and reducing their potential to capture future emissions. "This turns landscapes into tinderboxes, making it harder to halt rising temperatures," they said. This dire prediction has already started to become a reality. The past few years have seen increasingly destructive fire seasons in places like North America, Brazil, parts of Europe, Siberia and Australia, which have devastated ecosystems and communities around the world. That destruction — to crops and homes, human health and the natural environment — means wildfires "disproportionately affect the world's poorest nations," according to the report. The fallout can linger for years after fires have been extinguished, especially in parts of the world that lack the resources to rebuild and adapt to the changing environment. "Fire impacts air, soil and water," said Glynis Humphrey of the University of Cape Town, who contributed to the report. "Fire interacts closely with the climate, in terms of carbon emissions and rainfall patterns, and it impacts human and ecosystem health. And it impacts people's jobs and the economic situation that people find themselves in." And yet, experts warned, most global government spending when it comes to wildfires is devoted to fighting blazes after they break out, with less than 1% going to planning, prevention and preparedness. To confront this increasing risk and to lessen the impact of destructive fires, governments will need to "radically shift their investments." "Current government responses to wildfires are often putting money in the wrong place," said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP. "We have to minimize the risk of extreme wildfires by being better prepared: invest more in fire risk reduction, work with local communities, and strengthen global commitment to fight climate change." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The report calls on governments to divert two-thirds of funding to planning, prevention, preparedness and recovery. "It's integral that fire be in the same category as disaster management [for] floods and droughts," said Humphrey, speaking at a media briefing. "It's absolutely essential." While some of that funding should go toward improved monitoring and analysis, to better understand how wildfires are evolving in a changing climate and what can be done to manage that, the authors also highlight the importance of Indigenous knowledge. This can include the use of prescribed burns, or "good fires," to reduce fuel that can feed larger blazes. Other methods include creating fire breaks or using controlled blazes to establish mosaic landscapes, which inhibit the spread of wildfires, or promoting the growth of grass and plants that help ward off drought. "As countries develop and as economies develop and demographics change, a lot of those traditional practices either wither or change or reduce over time, or [are replaced by] alternative land practices," said Peter Moore, who worked as a fire management specialist at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. In response to a DW question, Moore pointed out that Indigenous practices were starting to be recognized and implemented in Australia, Canada and the western US, with organizations such as the International Savanna Fire Management Initiative transplanting traditional Indigenous practices from Australia to places like Botswana. He stressed that documentation, and having that knowledge made widely accessible, is key to convincing people of the value of these traditional practices — "being able to map [Indigenous] experience, being able to work with it and reintroduce it back into the landscape." Edited by: Tamsin Walker | 6Nature and Environment
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A top US general warned the country could be plunged into civil war as Taliban fighters on Sunday pushed deep into the Panjshir province that is still resisting the group. Top US General Mark Milley said: "There's at least a good probability of a broader civil war" as the Taliban struggle to consolidate power. "That will then in turn lead to conditions that could, in fact, lead to a reconstitution of Al-Qaeda or a growth of ISIS (the Islamic State group)," he told Fox News. Meanwhile, Taliban official Bilal Karimi on Sunday said there were heavy clashes between the new rulers of Afghanistan and Panjshir forces. Although details on the advance into the northern region are scant, Italian aid agency Emergency said on Saturday that the Taliban had taken the Panjshir village of Anabah. "Many people have fled from local villages in recent days," Emergency said in a statement, adding it was treating "a small number of wounded." The village is 25 kilometers (15 miles) inside the 115 kilometer-long valley surrounded by its snow-covered peaks that provide shelter for its defenders. The Taliban are using their large arsenal of weapons — following the US withdrawal and Afghan army collapse — to conquer the last resisting province in a country they captured at lightning speed throughout July. "I think everybody got it wrong," General Sir Nick Carter, British armed forces chief, told the BBC over the consequences of the allied troops' withdrawal. "Even the Taliban didn't expect things to change as quickly as they did." "It was the pace of it that surprised us and I don't think we realized quite what the Taliban were up to," Carter added. The chief of the defense staff continued: "I don't think what anybody predicted was how fragile that Afghan government was and how fragile it was in relation to the command of its armed forces." Carter's comments come as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared to give a speech to parliament on Monday amid criticism over the evacuation from Kabul. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths spoke to Taliban deputy leader Mullah Baradur on Sunday to ask for safeguards for UN aid workers. Griffiths promised "impartial and independent humanitarian assistance and protection to millions of people in need." Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen thanked the UN and assured the organization of "cooperation and provision of needed facilities" in a statement. It followed a report to the Security Council by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that urged "the Taliban and all other parties to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and to ensure that humanitarian needs can be met." UN flights to several Afghan provinces started again last week in a country where 40% of the population relied on foreign aid. However, flights to evacuate citizens were grounded for a few days. jc/jsi (Reuters, AFP, dpa) | 2Conflicts
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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has backed a plan to begin using the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID vaccine in adolescents aged 12-15. The CDC gave the approval after trial evidence showed that there were no severe allergic reactions from the vaccine in the age group. Some US states, including Georgia, Delaware and Arkansas, have already started offering the vaccine to kids 12 and older. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had authorized the use of the vaccine on Monday. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, said the move will open up vaccination to around 17 million adolescents. Dr. Henry Bernstein, a member of the committee advising the CDC, said the vaccination will contribute to "community immunity, and it allows the kids to more safely go back to camps this summer, and back for in-person school." US President Joe Biden urged parents to get their children vaccinated following the CDC's authorization. "This is one more giant step on our fight against the pandemic." Here's a roundup of some of the other major COVID-related stories around the world. The US state of California is going to have guidelines and mandates for wearing masks indoors, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday. In an interview, Newsom said once California fully reopens, it will look "a lot like the world we entered into before the pandemic." California is planning to remove most restrictions on businesses and activities on June 15. The American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that fully vaccinated Americans could stop masking outdoors and in many indoor settings. In a statement, the CDC said the vaccines "work in the real world, they stand up to the variants, and vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus." The agency said everyone, including the fully vaccinated, should keep wearing their masks in crowded indoor areas, and on public transportation. It also encouraged people to continue to follow the rules in their communities, even if they were different from the CDC recommendations. Brazil will halt production of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine because the country will run out of raw materials by Friday. Authorities in the state of Sao Paulo said a supply shipment of the vaccines is being held up in Chinese export clearance, further exacerbating the supply issue. Joao Doria, the governor of Sao Paulo, said this is the second export clearance to hit production this year and he blamed "diplomatic ill will" for the delay. He added that the federal government should apologize to Beijing for its criticism of China. Dimas Covas, the director of Instituto Butantan, a Brazilian research center manufacturing the vaccine, told a press briefing on Wednesday that China may not clear the raw materials cargo by May 13. Covas said that there was no clear date when Chinese authorities could approve the shipment. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Cuba has started inoculating its citizens usingtwo locally produced vaccines. The vaccines Abdala and Soberana 2 - are yet to complete their clinical trials, but authorities expect an official approval by June. Health authorities in Cuba say that the phase II results of the vaccines had shown positive results. Cuba has a history of producing vaccines locally, following US sanctions on the country. Cuba is now working on five potential vaccine candidates for treating COVID-19. Whichever one gets approval will become the first vaccine to be developed in Latin America. Cuba has not bought any other vaccines produced by companies like BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna. It started inoculating health care workers with the Abdala and Soberana vaccines in March. More than two-thirds of the 47 million people in Spain will have been vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-August, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. "We are on track for herd immunity: 33 million compatriots will be vaccinated by mid-August," he said, using the term for when most of a population is immune to an infectious disease. In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute, the country's public health authority for disease control, reported there were 17,419 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours and 278 deaths. The country's seven-day incidence per 100,000 people fell to 103.6 from 107.8 last week. Russia has reported the first cases of the COVID-19 variant found in India, according to the Kommersant newspaper. About 16 cases of the variant were found among Indian students at Ulyanovsk State University, about 435 miles east of Moscow. Dilyar Khakimov, an official at the consumer health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said the students were put in self-isolation and were under observation. The Portuguese government has yet to decide whether it will allow English supporters into the Champions League Final later this month. The final was moved to Portugal, as the country is on the UK's "green list" which allows UK residents to travel to the country without quarantining on return so long as they test negative. "On flights from the United Kingdom…there is work ongoing, as soon as a decision is taken, it will be communicated," said a Portuguese government spokesperson. Australia has reached a supply agreement for 25 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Moderna. The government hopes that all Australian adults will have access to jabs by this year following the deal. Under the deal, 10 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered in 2021, while 15 million doses of an updated shot will be delivered in 2022. The Moderna vaccine is yet to be approved by Australia's drugs regulator. To date, only the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots have been approved in Australia. Australia is also in discussion with Moderna to potentially manufacture the vaccine in the country. Brendan Murphy, chairman of Australia's Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 said that locally made Moderna jabs could be available as early as 2022. India reported 4,120 deaths and 362,727 new infections in the last 24 hours, according to latest data from the health ministry. The South Asian country now has a total caseload of 23.7 million cases. On Thursday, multiple bodies in northern India were found buried in the sand along the Ganga River. This news comes days after bodies of suspected COVID-19 victims were found floating in the water in the state of Bihar. The buried bodies were found draped in a saffron cloth in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. A senior official of the government said that one of the sites was a cremation spot, but didn't confirm if the bodies were of COVID-19 patients. "Some people in the region do not burn bodies but bury them in the sand by the river. Several bodies appear to have been buried recently, our teams are on the spot and are carrying out a probe," said District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar. Japan's COVID-19 vaccine chief has blamed the country's "rigid" drug approval system for the country's slow vaccination campaign.Taro Kono, Japan's minister in charge of vaccines, said the slow approval process was a "disaster" during an emergency situation. "Even though we are in a state of crisis, we are still using the same rules to approve vaccines that we do under normal times," he said in a television interview on Wednesday. He called for a change in the system in the wake of the current situation. Japan has currently vaccinated just 2.9% of its population. The Japanese government has been particular about not skipping regulatory steps to determine the safety of the vaccines. This has led to delays in domestic clinical trials and approvals. Japan is hosting this year's Olympics, which are set to begin in July. The government plans to vaccinate almost all of its elderly population above 65 by the end of July. kbd,am/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa) | 5Health
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South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 20-year prison term for former President Park Geun-hye over bribery and other crimes. It is the final ruling in the historic corruption case that saw the country's first female leader impeached in 2017 and concludes a lengthy legal process. In total, she could serve up to 22 years, following a separate conviction for illegally meddling in her party's candidate nominations ahead of parliamentary elections in 2016. The court on Thursday also upheld fines and forfeits totaling 21.5 billion won (€16 million, $19.5 million). Park was not present in court on Thursday. She has boycotted court proceedings since October 2017, claiming they are biased against her. She was convicted of colluding with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to take millions of dollars in bribes and extortion from some of the country's largest business groups, including Samsung, while she was in office from 2013 to 2016. She was also indicted on charges of illegally taking monthly funds from her intelligence chiefs that were diverted from the agency's budget. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Park was impeached by lawmakers in December 2016, following weeks-long popular protests. She was officially removed from office in March 2017 after the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment. The Seoul High Court in 2018 had sentenced her to 25 years in prison after reviewing her of bribery, extortion, abuse of power and other convictions together. But the Supreme Court in October 2019 ordered the Seoul High Court to deal with Park's bribery charge separately from other charges. This was based on a law for cases involving a president or other elected officials, even when the alleged crimes are committed together. The High Court had handed Park a five-year term over the spy fund charges in July 2019, but the Supreme Court also ordered a retrial on the case in November. Prosecutors appealed after the Seoul High Court handed Park a 20-year term in July last year over the charges. Finalizing of her prison term makes Park eligible for a special presidential pardon. Lee Nak-yon, the leader of President Moon Jae-in's Democratic Party, said earlier this month he "plans to suggest" pardoning Park and Lee Myung-bak, another former president currently serving a jail term. This suggestion faced an immediate backlash from politicians across the spectrum. kmm/aw (AP,AFP) | 3Crime
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Finally, COVID-19 vaccines are available. However, any relief is diminished by Germany's rapidly increasing death toll. "The current lockdown is not particularly effective," Lothar Wieler, the president of Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German agency responsible for the control of infectious diseases, told the public broadcaster ARD on Thursday. Throughout December, he said, people were out and about in much greater numbers than they had been during the first shutdowns in spring last year. As a consequence, the total number of verified infections in Germany since the start of the pandemic has risen to almost 2 million. Much of that, according to the RKI, can be attributed to people gathering with one another. According to the RKI, there is an average of four days between the onset of symptoms and hospitalization for patients who develop severe COVID-19. The deaths that do result might occur up to 12 days later. Because certain preexisting conditions are likely to increase a person's chances of succumbing to the disease, deaths in Germany are often recorded as people who have die "of or with COVID-19." With that in mind, the current figures for COVID-19 deaths tend to reflect transmission that would have occurred around the New Year. So, even if the number of new infections drops, the number of deaths can be expected to continue to rise for now. The COVID-19 death rate is especially high among older people. According to a January 12 graphic provided by the market research company Statista and based on RKI figures, 89% of all COVID-19 deaths in Germany occurred in the age group of 70 and older. The highest proportion of all deaths since the beginning of the pandemic is found in the 80-89 age group, at 46.8%. According to the graphic, the proportion of deaths in the 0-49 age group amounts to 0.9%. Three death occurred in the 10-19 age group, and 11 children younger than 10 have died of COVID-19. The most common statistic for comparing disparate geographies and population sizes is to adjust the totals to deaths per 100,000 people. The rate of COVID-19 deaths is increasing across the world. In 2020, Elizabeth Lee led a research team at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US city of Baltimore to look at the causes of the rising rate of deaths. The team's conclusion, published in October in the journal Science, is that the majority of transmissions likely occur in residential settings. According to Johns Hopkins University, Mexico currently has the highest rate of deaths per confirmed COVID-19 cases, at nearly 9%. The rate in Germany is 2.2%, and the number in the United States is 1.7%. New virus variants have sparked new concern. Though they are believed to have originated abroad, "they could become established over here and lead to an increased number of cases within a shorter period of time," Wieler said, as cases have been identified within Germany. At a press conference on January 14, Wieler said people continued to circulate and travel far too much. There are reports that officials are considering new measures. | 5Health
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Germany's ground isn't quite as parched now as it was in June or September, according to the drought monitor at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ). But January 2021 is clearly proving to be drier than the same period last year. The UFZ's monitor uses shades of red to indicate degrees of dryness in the soil across the country. Its latest map shows widespread dark red patches in deeper layers of soil — in other words, very severe drought. When there's so little moisture deep underground, it's the trees whose roots draw water from these layers that suffer the most. "There has been a significant water deficit building up in many regions in Germany, especially in the last three years," explains Dietrich Borchardt, head of the UFZ Water Resources and Environment Research Unit. "But actually there have been deviations from the long-term average of the water balance there for several years." According to Borchardt, there has been too little rainfall so far this winter — just like the two previous winters. The water level in some dams is far below average. And that's a problem, because dams secure part of Germany's drinking water supply. So is fresh water already becoming scarce? Most drinking water in Germany — more than 70% of it — is sourced from groundwater. But Jörg Rechenberg, head of the Water and Soil Division at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), says it's difficult to draw a direct connection between the state of groundwater levels and the dryness of the soil. The last nationwide groundwater data come from 2015, with new measurements only expected to be taken later this year. Current surveys from individual states, meanwhile, do not bode well. The central state of Hesse, for example, reports: "At the end of December, 2020, groundwater levels in Hesse were below average at 73% of the monitoring sites." Rechenberg says it's too early to talk of water stress in Germany — a situation that would mean more than 20% of the available water is consistently withdrawn. Currently, the national average stands at about 13%. But Rechenberg is clear: "The past three dry years have shown that we have to deal with our water differently, otherwise we will soon find ourselves facing water stress." Rechenberg and Borchardt were both part of the National Water Dialogue in Germany, a forum launched by the federal government in 2018. It brought together more than 200 experts from the areas of water management, administration and research to discuss how the country could better deal with climate-related water scarcity in the future. Their recommendations are to be incorporated into a national water strategy, which the Environment Ministry plans to unveil in the middle of the year. "Summers like the ones in 2018 and 2019 could become the norm in Germany in 30 years' time, because we are in the midst of climate change," Borchardt said. "Currently we are facing a stress test. We have to find a new way of dealing with increasingly scarce water in many areas: in agriculture and forestry, in the water-intensive energy industry, as well as in inland navigation or water management in cities." Agriculture in Germany has so far hardly needed any additional irrigation. But the demand will grow in the future if rainfall continues to fail. And this could lead to competition with the public water supply, especially in the hot summer months, says Rechenberg. In that case, he adds, priorities would have to be clearly established — for example, there should always be enough fresh water for cooking or showering, but not necessarily for watering a private garden. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The intensity of the past two summers led some communities to declare a water emergency. Rechenberg says water suppliers could join forces in cases like this to provide affected communities with drinking water from other regions — an effort that would require new or optimized pipelines. The agriculture sector also has to change, he says — from using plants that are adapted to their respective locations, to boosting rainwater collection and using smarter irrigation techniques, such as drip irrigation in which soil pipes deliver water to the plant's roots with pinpoint accuracy. But most of the water in Germany is consumed by the energy sector, mining and industry — and in these areas there's been a lack of real incentives to save water. Rechenberg says that while every water withdrawal requires an official permit, these permits don't necessarily require that the water in question is used as sparingly as possible. That has to change, he adds. Regulations governing water use need to be overhauled from the EU level down to individual municipalities, says Borchardt. That's because existing rules don't take into account the fact that water levels will change in the future. Many of Germany's 16 federal states don't require the mining, industry or agriculture sectors to pay for water they extract from rivers or groundwater. But extraction for drinking water supply is subject to a fee almost everywhere, with the exception of Bavaria, Hesse and Thuringia. Against the backdrop of the climate crisis, it's not only the quantity of water taken that is likely to cause problems in the future. The water quality in rivers and streams is also falling short, according to EU standards — only 8% are in good condition. "The main reasons for this are the many pollutants, for example, residues from mining such as mercury, and phosphorus and nitrate from fertilizers used in industrial agriculture, and also the damming and deepening of rivers for shipping," explains Lilian Neuer, water expert at the German environmental organization BUND. If the amount of water in rivers or lakes dips due to heat and drought, the concentration of pollutants rises. That's a cause for concern, given that drinking water is taken from river water in some places. And so the environmental organization BUND is calling for riverine landscapes to be restored. "We urgently need more floodplain landscapes, because floodplains have an important sponge function," Neuer said. "During periods of flooding, they absorb water and return it to the river slowly when the water levels are lower." Under no circumstances, she says, should there be river straightening or deepening, which allows water to flow away more quickly. Polluted water is also dangerous for groundwater, Germany's largest drinking water reservoir. When it seeps down through the soil layers, some pollutants are filtered out — but not all. The fact that three major water suppliers in the Rhineland region have raised the alarm shows just how urgent the issue has become. In a passionate appeal, the companies from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands called on EU agriculture ministers to drastically limit the use of pesticides, liquid manure and other fertilizers in agriculture. Without curbs, they warned, the legally prescribed quality of drinking water could no longer be maintained. That means a lot is riding on the German government's soon-to-be-released national water strategy. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article was adapted from German by Natalie Muller. | 6Nature and Environment
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British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca drew a sharp rebuke from the European Union after the company said late last month it would cut EU supplies of its COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter. EU leaders lashed out at the company for not honoring its contractual obligations, with some accusing it of diverting vaccines produced in the bloc to other countries. AstraZeneca, which has developed the vaccine in cooperation with the University of Oxford, has denied the charges, blaming the supply cut on production issues. The spat comes at a time the EU's vaccination drive is faltering and the bloc is taking much flak for trailing the United States and the United Kingdom in getting shots into the arms of its citizens. EU members, including Germany and France, are facing supply shortages, which has forced authorities in some regions to delay or suspend vaccinations. The EU has responded by introducing export controls on coronavirus vaccines to monitor doses leaving its shores. AstraZeneca has agreed to supply to the EU only around half of the 80 million doses it had committed to deliver during the first quarter. The production of AstraZeneca's vaccine broadly involves two steps: one is producing the actual vaccine or drug substance, and the other is putting the vaccine into vials. Those two steps can take up to 60 days each. AstraZeneca has said while it's facing no issues with the second step, it's struggling to produce high quantities of the vaccine at an EU production plant. "Essentially, we have cell cultures, big batches, 1,000-liter or 2,000-liter batches. We have cell cultures inside those batches, and we inject them with the virus, the vaccine if you will. Those cells produce the vaccine — it's biotechnology protection," AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told Italian newspaper La Repubblica last week. "Now, some of those batches have a very high yield and others have low yield. Particularly in Europe, we had one site with large capacity that experienced yield issues. "The yield varies from one to three, by the factor of three. The best site we have produces three times more vaccine out of a batch than the lowest producing site," he added Soriot also said the company faced similar glitches in other countries, including in the UK, but was able to sort them out because it had more time given that London had signed its contract three months before the EU. AstraZeneca has partnered with several contract manufacturers across the EU to scale up the production of its COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine, or the drug substance, is currently being produced at two facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium. It's the company's Belgian partner, Novasep, which has struggled with low yields. The vaccine is then filled into vials and packaged in Dessau in eastern Germany by IDT Biologika and by Catalent in Anagni, Italy. Spanish pharmaceutical group Insud Pharma will also undertake vial filling and packaging services for the vaccine in Spain's Castilla-La Mancha region. Russian pharma company R-Pharm's German unit has also signed up to produce the vaccine at its site in Illertissen in southern Germany. China's Wuxi Biologics could potentially use a former Bayer factory in Wuppertal, Germany, to manufacture the vaccine. AstraZeneca plans to deliver up to 3 billion doses across the globe by the end of this year. The EU has made a €336 million ($404 million) down payment to secure up to 400 million doses of the vaccine, which was approved by the EU's drugs regulator last week. Pfizer and BioNtech are also struggling to stick to their delivery commitments due to production and supply chain problems. But the EU has said that unlike AstraZeneca, the companies are distributing the impact of the disruption fairly among buyers. Several European governments confirmed last month that Pfizer-BioNtech would temporarily cut shipments of its vaccine due to "modifications" at its Puurs plant in Belgium. On Monday, the companies promised to deliver up to 75 million more doses to the EU in the second quarter. The companies said they would increase production with a new facility set to open in the German city of Marburg in February. The facility will have the capacity to produce 750 million vaccine doses each year. | 0Business
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The Australian national football team has called out World Cup host Qatar on its human rights record, becoming the first participating side to criticize the country collectively. A video released on Thursday features 16 players from the Socceroos delivering a message line by line, referring to the Middle Eastern country's stand on same-sex relationships — which are illegal — and reports of harm to Qatar's more than 1.6 million migrant workers. "We have learned that the decision to host the World Cup in Qatar has resulted in the suffering and the harm of countless of our fellow workers," midfielder Jackson Irvine said in the video. "As players, we fully support the rights of LGBTI+ people, but in Qatar people are not free to love the person that they choose," fellow midfielder Denis Genreau added. A statement from Football Australia also accompanied the video. "We acknowledge the significant progress and legislative reforms have occurred in Qatar over recent years to recognize and protect the rights of workers, and we encourage all stakeholders to continue this path to reform," it said. "However, we have also learned that the tournament has been associated with suffering for some migrant workers and their families and this cannot be ignored." Football Australia also called on the conservative gulf state to take a softer stance towards same-sex marriage. The players acknowledged reforms to date but pushed for more — including a migrant resource center, help for individuals who had been denied rights, and decriminalization of all same-sex relationships. The World Cup — which starts on November 20 — has been mired in controversy ever since Qatar was given the rights 12 years ago. The oil-rich nation has come under intense international pressure over its treatment of migrant workers and restrictive social laws. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video dvv/rc (AFP, Reuters) | 9Sports
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An inmate at the high-security Conde-sur-Sarthe jail in northwestern France surrendered after taking two guards hostage on Tuesday, the justice minister said. "The hostage-taking is over. The inmate surrendered," French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said on Twitter. The incident began at 10:15 a.m. local time (1215 UTC), when an inmate attacked two guards, the Justice Ministry said in a statement. At least one officer was injured in the eye, the ministry said. Authorities mobilized security units at the jail and dispatched extra forces to the facility, about 250 km (155 miles) west of Paris. French broadcaster BFMTV had reported that the two officers held were a man and a woman. The female guard was freed after several hours, according to BFMTV. The second guard was released after negotiations with ERIS, the specialist regional units charged with intervening during security incidents at penitentiary facilities, according to Dupond-Moretti. The suspected attacker was a prisoner serving a life sentence, local newspaper Ouest France reported in its online edition. According to the paper, he had been admitted to the facility less than a month ago. BFMTV said the man had been convicted of rape and murder. The prison in Conde-sur-Sarthe has a reputation for housing dangerous or radicalized prisoners. A similar incident took place in the same prison in 2019, when an inmate held a guard hostage and a trainee for hours before security teams rescued them. fb/wmr (Reuters, EFE) | 3Crime
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Polling began in the Pacific island state of Fiji on Wednesday, with about half million people eligible to cast their vote and choose Fiji's next prime minister. More than 1,000 police personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order. The island is holding its third democratic election since 2006. Observers from 16 countries will oversee the elections as voters elect 55 parliamentarians out of 343 candidates. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The polls will close on Wednesday evening and the results are likely to be announced on Sunday. The polls pit leaders who previously led separate military coups. Incumbent Frank Voreqe Bainimarama, who leads the FijiFirst Party faces off against former prime minister and opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka in the race for parliamentary majority. In 2006, Bainimarama, 68, led the country’s fourth coup in 20 years to seize control of Fiji. After eight years of holding onto power, he allowed general elections in 2014 and scored a sweeping victory. Rabuka, who is looking to end Bainimarama's 16 years in power, is a former army colonel. He led two military coups in 1987 to oust the elected government. "I'm feeling great and getting better. But victory belongs to the Lord," Rabuka said as he addressed the media after casting his vote at a polling booth in the capital, Suva. The elections hold significance for Fiji’s still-fragile democracy amid growing Chinese influence. Under Bainimarama, Fiji has come closer to China. He introduced the "look north" policy which allowed greater Chinese involvement in the country. Meanwhile, Rabuka has said that Fiji will pivot away from Beijing under his leadership. mf/dj (AFP, dpa)
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Burkina Faso's new self-declared leader Ibrahim Traore has accused the president he deposed in a military coup on Friday of plotting a counterattack, blaming him for the violence which continued on Saturday. Traore said that ousted President Paul-Henri Damiba was responsible for the gunfire reported earlier in the day in the capital Ouagadougou. He added that Damiba has taken refuge at a French base. "We have managed to calm the situation," Traore said. The French Foreign Ministry denied the Burkinabe coup leader’s claims of any French involvement. Traore's statements came in the midst of an outpouring of condemnation for the military coup, the second to take place in the West African state this year. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged "all actors to refrain from violence and seek dialogue." A group of Burkina Faso army soldiers announced late Friday that they ousted junta leader Paul-Henri Damiba, who had himself come to power through a military coup last January. The soldiers introduced Captain Traore as the West African nation's new strongman. They blamed Damiba for failing to put an end to the Islamist insurgency the country has been witnessing. Damiba's whereabouts were unknown following the military takeover. On Saturday afternoon there were still signs of violence in the capital Ouagadougou, despite a relative calm in the early hours of the day. Gunshots in the city center were reported. Security forces drove around in a convoy, while helicopters hovered above. Military troops blocked some of the city's main roads, including the vicinity of the presidential palace. The AFP news agency said that shops were soon to shut their doors after initially opening for business in the morning. The French embassy advised its citizens to limit their movements, saying that "the situation remains tense in Ouagadougou." French nationals in the country are believed to range between 4,000 and 5,000. Several international organizations in the African continent and beyond were wary of this second coup's impact on the country's already glacial return toward a constitutional government. The UN Secretary General's statement said that "Burkina Faso needs peace, stability and unity to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country." The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell deplored in a statement "the degradation of the security and humanitarian situation in the country." The African Union called for an immediate and total abstention of acts of violence or threats to civilians, civil liberties or human rights. The AU statement also urged for free and fair elections to be held by July 2024, as per the initial plan set out by the deposed Damiba. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video AU chief Moussa Faki Mahamat described the coup as an "unconstitutional change of government." The union had already suspended Burkina Faso after the January coup. The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), the political and economic union of fifteen countries in the region, echoed similar sentiments. Equally keen to reestablish democratic governance, it said it found "this new power grab inappropriate at a time when progress has been made." The United States called on all actors involved to return to "calm and restraint." Friday's coup came eight months after the military junta seized power on January 24, overthrowing President Roch Kabore, and dissolving the government. At the time, Damiba vowed to restore security, blaming the civilian government rather than his own military for years of violence perpetrated by Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State (IS) armed group. But attacks have persisted, and the army remained in disarray having seized power. More than 40% of the country is thought to be currently outside government control. rmt/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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With over 160,000 members, Schalke 04 are the second-biggest football club in Germany, seven times German champions and one of the biggest names in world football. As recently as 2018, they were Bundesliga runners-up. In 2011, they reached the semifinals of the Champions League. Schalke's youth academy, the famed Knappenschmiede, has produced such talents as Manuel Neuer, Leroy Sané, Julian Draxler, Mesut Özil and Leon Goretzka. But now, for the first time in 33 years, the Königsblauen (Royal Blues) have been relegated to the second division. The final nail in the coffin came with defeat away at Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday night, a result which merely confirmed the inevitable. In 15 miserable months, going all the way back to January 2020, Schalke have won just two Bundesliga matches. Earlier this season, they came within 90 minutes of equalling Tasmania Berlin's record 31-game winless streak from the 1965-66 season. They were spared that ignominy thanks to a 4-0 win over Hoffenheim. It remained one of only two wins so far in a season in which Schalke have lost 21 games, conceded 76 goals and scored only 18. They're down with four games still to play. And yet that's only the tip of the iceberg. The road to relegation is longer than the Schalker Meile, the iconic street that leads from the center of Gelsenkirchen in western Germany, through the working-class district of Schalke, to the club's 62,000-capacity Veltins Arena, a modern, spaceship-like structure that shares the Ruhrpott skyline with the headframes of closed mine pits. It's a journey which has left Schalke with €217 million ($257.8 million) of debt, an inexperienced coach, a squad unfit for the second division, a supervisory board divided in acrimony, a thoroughly disillusioned fanbase and a list of intrigues to rival any Netflix drama. "Bad decisions, bad decisions, bad decisions — from A to Z," said one club source. "It's a disaster." Where to begin? Thirty kilometers east of Gelsenkirchen in a city known to Schalke fans only as "Lüdenscheid North," Borussia Dortmund supporters have a song about their local rivals from "Herne West." It's called "Am Tag als der FC Schalke starb" or "On the day that FC Schalke died." There are several candidates for that precise day in Schalke's recent history, not least Tuesday night, when rival fans set off celebratory fireworks across the city and footage emerged allegedly showing Schalke fans chasing their own players upon their return from Bielefeld. But, for Kornelia Toporzysek, a lifelong Schalke supporter, lawyer and former member of the club's honorary board, it was August 7, 2019, the day on which her fellow board members acquitted Clemens Tönnies of racism. Earlier that week, Tönnies, Schalke's de facto club boss since 2001, had spoken at a business conference in nearby Paderborn, where he had advocated for the construction of power plants in Africa so that, when provided with electricity, "[Africans] will stop producing children as soon as it gets dark." Tönnies apologized but, despite calls from Schalke fans for him to resign, the honorary board, a form of internal club ethics commission, allowed him to temporarily step down from his position for three months of his own accord. Toporzysek resigned in protest. "For me, that was the turning point," she tells DW. "That was the moment when Herr Tönnies placed his own interests and his own reputation above the club. He didn't want to be cast as a racist and the club succumbed to his demands in order to appease him." The club's handling of the whole affair was symptomatic of what Toporzysek calls the "Tönnies System," in which Schalke's entire club structures were tailored to suit one man, the background against which Schalke's dramatic collapse and relegation has played out. For over two decades, Schalke 04 has been synonymous with the name of Clemens Tönnies. A local billionaire who made his estimated €1.4 billion fortune in Germany's meat processing industry, Tönnies, 64, joined Schalke's supervisory board in 1994 and became its chairman in 2001. Under his stewardship, Schalke established themselves as one of the top clubs in Germany and Europe, finishing Bundesliga runners-up four times, winning three German Cups, reaching the Champions League quarterfinals in 2008 and the semi-finals in 2011. Crucially, it was Tönnies' extensive business network that brought about Schalke's lucrative sponsorship deal with Gazprom, the Russian gas company whose name has adorned the club's royal blue shirts since January 2007, while he was also a driving force behind the development of Schalke's new Berger Feld academy and training facilities. "Of course, Tönnies has done a lot for the club; he's not the devil incarnate," says Toporzysek. "Tönnies is a leader, he's alpha alpha, a proper businessman who leads and decides." Another club source adds: "He appears friendly and approachable, it's not like you can't talk to him. He's the sort of person who'd turn up at a village festival and have a beer with everyone." But, simultaneously, another picture emerges. "Everyone at Schalke knows that there was just one powerful man and that was Clemens Tönnies," says Toporzysek, describing structures at the club as "patriarchal" and "autocratic." "Tönnies filled key positions with people whose loyalty was as much to him as it was to the club," she says. Another source agrees: "Everyone who gets close to him does so subserviently. Everyone is dependent on him. He's Clemens Tönnies, the rich man who is always right and won't be told 'no.'" Uwe Kemmer, a supervisory board member for nine years until December 2020, also confirms: "Clemens Tönnies is alpha alpha. There was a very distinct loyalty towards him." But he insists: "It's not as if we all sat there and did as we were told. We had our disagreements. I wouldn't suppress my opinion on Schalke just because Clemens Tönnies thought differently." Gradually, however, Tönnies' dominance of club affairs at Schalke became increasingly problematic. Between 2010 and 2016, Schalke almost halved their debts through regular Champions League and Europa League qualification and the lucrative sales of big-name players including Neuer (Bayern Munich, €30 million), Draxler (Wolfsburg, €43 million) and Sané (Manchester City €52 million). But Tönnies wanted more. The odd Champions League qualification was no longer enough, nor was simply paying off debt. Schalke had enviously watched Jürgen Klopp's success in neighboring Dortmund, but sporting director Horst Heldt had been continually frustrated in his own attempts to lure the young Thomas Tuchel from Mainz. It was time for a restart, or what one club source in hindsight calls a "paradigm shift." To great fanfare, Heldt was replaced by the charismatic Christian Heidel from Mainz, who installed Markus Weinzierl, previously of Augsburg, as head coach. Over the next two-and-a-half years, Heidel would sign off on four of Schalke's five most expensive ever signings, namely Breel Embolo (€26.5 million from Basel), Nabil Bentaleb (€19 million from Tottenham), Sebastian Rudy (€16 million from Bayern Munich) and Yevhen Konoplyanka (€12.5 million from Sevilla), while allowing Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Sead Kolasinac, Max Meyer and Goretzka to leave on free transfers. "We burnt through money under Heidel," recalls Kemmer. "You need to make sporting decisions together as a team, in conjunction with the coach, but Heidel wanted to do everything on his own. He burnt over €150 million." At the end of the first season under Heidel, Schalke finished 10th and missed out on European football for the first time since 2000. On the final day of the season away at Ingolstadt, Schalke's ultras unfurled a scathing banner reading: "We thank the team for following us in such great numbers this season." Heidel replaced Weinzierl with Domenico Tedesco, the young German-Italian tactician who had just rescued second-division side Erzgebirge Aue from relegation. Under Tedesco, Schalke stormed to a 2nd-place finish in a season which also featured an unforgettable derby away at Borussia Dortmund when Schalke came from 0-4 down to draw 4-4. When they then beat Dortmund at home, Tedesco was invited up onto the ultras' pedestal to lead the Nordkurve in celebration. "Tedesco was an absolutely friendly and sympathetic person," says one club source. "He had a good relationship with the players, and the players followed him." This reporter fondly recalls post-match chats with Tedesco, where he would listen closely to questions and respond articulately and in detail. Yet, despite the second-place finish, there was criticism of Tedesco's conservative football. Even Tedesco admitted to a club source at the time: "On a scale of Guardiola to Mourinho, you know I'm more Mourinho, don't you?" But Tedesco was also a workaholic and a perfectionist, and he tried to adapt his style the following season — unsuccessfully. Schalke lost their opening five games and rifts appeared in the dressing room, rifts which the young coach was left to deal with alone. "The hope was that Tedesco would be our Klopp for the next few years," says Uwe Kemmer. "But he was a young coach who wanted too much. He was close to burnout by the end, you could see it in his eyes." Kemmer recalls a trip back from Manchester in March 2019, where Schalke had been thrashed 7-0 by City. "I was sat behind him on the plane and he immediately took his laptop out to start preparing for the next game. He was never able to relax." Kemmer believes Tedesco needed more support from a management figure, who could have also helped Heidel with transfers and squad planning. "But when we suggested that to Heidel, he was insulted. That's why he ended up stepping down. He couldn't make the jump from Mainz to Schalke." Heidel had already resigned before the City defeat, and Tedesco was relieved of his duties shortly after. Schalke finished 14th. The paradigm shift had achieved little, but worse was to come. On Friday, January 17, 2020, Schalke beat Borussia Mönchengladbach to go fifth in the Bundesliga, mid-way through David Wagner's first season at the club. Little did anyone know that it would be 357 days before Schalke won again in the league, or about what other existential threats the club would face. By the time the Bundesliga was put on hold in March due to the pandemic, the winless run stood at seven games, but Schalke were still sixth. There was a feeling that the enforced break would do the team good, giving players time to come back from injury before pushing on for the Europa League. But the restart began with a 4-0 derby demolition in Dortmund, the winless run continued, and Schalke finished 12th. Having missed out on European football in three of the previous four seasons, vital revenue had fallen away and the club officially embarked on a new course with a reduced budget and aims. "We can't continue as we have been doing," said then marketing director Alexander Jobst. "Schalke have cut a miserable figure in recent months. We haven't done ourselves any favors, we've made mistakes, and we apologize." "Miserable" was putting it lightly. When the Bundesliga was forced to stop, it was reported that up to 13 of the 36 clubs in Germany's top two divisions could be facing existential financial trouble, chief among them: Schalke. "Everything came together at once," explains former supervisory board member Kemmer. "No Champions League money, then corona, losing €2-3 million for every home game without fans, the wasted money under Heidel. It was a massive tsunami." Like many clubs, Schalke took steps to save money, including requesting that season ticket holders waive, or at least defer, reimbursement for matches they would no longer be able to attend. But Schalke went a step further, asking fans to submit financial proof of why they couldn't afford to waive their refunds. Meanwhile, 24 youth academy drivers were also made redundant, often older fans who had been on part-time, €450-per-month, contracts. To make matters worse, less than a year on from the racism scandal, Clemens Tönnies was again in the headlines following a coronavirus outbreak at one of his meat processing plants. For Schalke, a club which prides itself on its working-class heritage and family values, it was a PR disaster. The Ultras Gelsenkirchen called their club "morally bankrupt." "The money-saving measures were incompatible with Schalke 04," says Kemmer. "They were remarkably detached from the reality faced by Schalke fans, a result of a bad leadership culture within the club." Toporzysek believes the club completely lost its feeling for what Schalke means to its supporters. "We members have a close, emotional attachment to our club," she says. "We're not just customers; we are the club! Somebody must have known how such measures would go down, but there was seemingly no alarm system, no radar, no alert." On the final day of last season, Schalke lost 4-0 away at Freiburg, extending the winless run to 16 games. Simultaneously, hundreds of Schalke supporters protested outside the club's offices in Gelsenkirchen. Tönnies resigned, but David Wagner, on a three-year contract, kept his job into a second season. "A massive mistake," believes Kemmer. Wagner still retained the trust of Jochen Schneider, the new director of sport who had arrived in Gelsenkirchen promising to modernize the structures at Schalke. He brought in additional therapists, psychologists and general staff who could help alleviate the load under which Tedesco had suffered. But his decision to hold on to Wagner proved to be the first of many missteps. Wagner was sacked anyway after starting the next season with defeats to Bayern Munich (8-0) and Werder Bremen (3-1), and replaced by another former Augsburg coach Manuel Baum, who lasted 11 winless games before being replaced by Huub Stevens (temporarily) and Christian Gross (permanently). Gross hadn’t coached in Europe for nine years, but at least ended Schalke's winless run with that 4-0 win over Hoffenheim. But after losing six of the next eight, Gross, Schneider and the entire coaching staff were also dismissed. The inexperienced Dimitrios Grammozis became Schalke's fifth head coach of the season. For Kemmer, who resigned from the supervisory board in December in protest at its inertia and seeming inability to act in the absence of Tönnies, the decision to sack Schneider came months too late. "I thought we needed assistance or a replacement for Schneider as early as autumn, but the board didn't even want to discuss it," he said. "The winter transfer window was a disaster, and it was clear then that we were going down. We needed to start planning for the second division with a new sporting director and coach immediately. It wasn’t as if the board were unable to act; they were unwilling to act. It was a lame duck board." In March, as Schalke's inevitable relegation edged closer, local media reported that a group of 14 influential people with close links to the club had contacted Ralf Rangnick, proposing to install the former Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig boss as director of sport and figurehead of a rebuild. But Rangnick, a former Schalke coach (2004-05 and 2011), ruled himself out, saying: "Given the numerous uncertainties inside the club, I don't see myself in a position to take over sporting responsibility for Schalke 04." Instead, the rebuilding job has been entrusted to Peter Knäbel, the 54-year-old former Hamburg sporting director perhaps best known for leaving a backpack containing sensitive HSV contract information in a local park in 2015, but who has nevertheless built a solid reputation with his work in Schalke's youth academy and who knows the club well. Even further-reaching structural changes are also on the agenda. With Schalke announcing a €52 million loss for 2020, ongoing construction work on the Berger Feld training facilities has been halted, with new financial director Christina Rühl-Hamers promising "no more gambles on Schalke's future. We will only spend the money we have, not the money we hope to have." Finally, there's one last elephant in the room: Schalke are one of only four remaining Bundesliga clubs who have not separated their professional football division into a limited company, theoretically making it more attractive to potential investors. The process, known as "Ausgliederung," stipulates that the parent club retain 50 percent of the voting shares in any separate company, plus one share, in accordance with the so-called "50+1" rule. But many of Schalke's 160,000 members are proud of their status as a 100% registered association, or "eingetragener Verein (e.V.)." Any motion to change that would require a three-quarter majority at the next annual general meeting in June, where the future of the club will be decided: a future without Clemens Tönnies and the system he built. "Schalke needs to get back to the roots," says Uwe Kemmer. "We need to be humbler; we need more identification with the club, and we need to focus on youth. But we also need businesspeople and visionaries, people who put their foot on the pedal." "We need people who are honest and trustworthy but who also bring sporting and economic competence," adds Kornelia Toporzysek. "We need to sit down together as a club and ask ourselves: who are we? What do we stand for? And what do we want to be?" After defeat in Bielefeld sealed Schalke's fate on Tuesday, it's time for those questions to be answered. | 9Sports
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US magazine Consumer Reports said on Thursday its engineers were able to trick a Tesla into driving in the car's Autopilot mode — with no one at the wheel. The publication's engineers were able to operate the vehicle with the car's inbuilt system failing to realize the driver's seat was empty. The experiment comes just days after a Tesla crashed in Texas, killing the two men in the car. Authorities say neither of the victims were in the driver's seat when the car hit a tree just north of Houston. Tesla's partially automated system can keep a car centered in its lane, whilst also maintaining a safe distance from vehicles in front, and can even change lanes — but Tesla has said the driver must be on hand to intervene at all times. Consumer Reports, however, said that during several ventures on its closed tracks, with an empty driver's seat, the Tesla Model Y automatically steered along painted lane lines without recognizing that nobody was at the controls. The Tesla that crashed in Texas was a Model S, but also had an Autopilot function. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldn't tell if there was a driver there at all," said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' senior director of auto testing. "The car drove up and down the half-mile lane of our track, repeatedly, never noting that no one was in the driver's seat, never noting that there was no one touching the steering wheel, never noting there was no weight on the seat,'' Fisher added. And Tesla is lagging behind its rivals when it comes to driver protection, according to Fisher. "Tesla is falling behind other automakers like GM and Ford that, on models with advanced driver assist systems, use technology to make sure the driver is looking at the road." "It was a bit frightening when we realized how easy it was to defeat the safeguards, which we proved were clearly insufficient," Fisher summed up. US regulators are in the early stages of a probe into the Texas crash. Local authorities said one man was found in the passenger seat, while another was in the back, after the car veered off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video jsi/rc (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa) | 0Business
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A senior member of the German parliament, Georg Nüsslein, pledged Friday to fight allegations of taking bribes from a face mask producer. The lawmaker also temporarily stepped down from his position as deputy leader of the ruling conservative bloc in the Bundestag. Speaking to DW, Bundestag deputy Dirk Wiese said he was surprised and angered by the scandal. "The fact that something like this is possible is quite appalling," said Wiese, who is a member of the center-left Social Democrats. "And it is also infuriating, because in those cases, the reputation of politicians as a whole is stained," he said. "And that always angers me." Wiese also accused his conservative colleagues of "blocking" a proposed registry of lobbyists that would prevent such cases in the future. He described the latest allegations as a "warning shot." "We need to finally get this moving, get more transparency. And we need to finally get a lobby registry for the parliament," Wiese said. Also on Friday, the general secretary of Nüsslein's CSU party, Markus Blume, admitted that his colleague was facing "serious charges" that would need to be "cleared up without any gaps." At the same time, a party representative confirmed that CSU leaders spoke with Nüsslein. "There is still the presumption of innocence," the spokesperson said. The CSU is the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. Media reports claim the 51-year-old received €660,000 ($800,000) via a consultancy firm to ensure a face mask producer was awarded government contracts. The Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament, voted unanimously to lift his immunity. Nüsslein's lawyer reiterated the politician's claims of innocence. "Our client will defend himself from the charges raised by the prosecutors," Gero Himmelsbach told the Reuters news agency. However, it was unclear when Nüsslein will be able to publicly comment on the charges amid the "obviously complex investigation." The move comes after investigators raided 13 properties in Germany and Liechtenstein over the charges. dj/rt (DPA, Reuters) | 7Politics
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Accepting the Sakharov Prize in Strasbourg in her father's name, Daria Navalnya said, "they were close to killing my mother, they almost killed my father, and no one will guarantee that tomorrow European politicians won't start falling dead by touching a doorknob." "When I wrote to my dad and asked: what exactly would you like me to say in front of the European Parliament, he answered: 'Say that no one can dare to equate Russia to Putin’s regime. Russia is a part of Europe, and we strive to become a part of it. But we also want Europe to strive for itself,'" Navalnya told the European Parliament. She added that she believes "that one day, my country [Russia], will be a part of the European Union." The Navalny team was loudly applauded by the broad majority of MEPs attending the ceremony. Speaking to DW ahead of the ceremony Navalny's chief of staff Leonid Volkov said, "the Sakharov prize is a very important recognition of our anti-corruption activities as a whole and the achievement of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny 10 years ago." "He's not a lonely man in an ocean of silence, he is a man who managed to build a large political organisation in an innovative and creative manner, navigating Russia's political and media landscape," he added. Alexei Navalny has been held in a corrective labor colony in Russia's Vladimir Oblast region, east of Moscow, since February 2 and is serving part of a three-and-a-half year sentence, for alleged parole violations. He faces six additional charges, including allegedly starting an "extremist group." The European Court of Human Rights, as well as many western powers, have demanded his immediate release. Awarding the prize in October, European Parliament President David Sassoli said, "He has fought tirelessly against the corruption of Vladimir Putin's regime. This cost him his liberty and nearly his life. Today's prize recognizes his immense bravery, and we reiterate our call for his immediate release." Other nominees this year were a group of Afghan women fighting for equality and human rights and former interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Anez. Swedish Socialist MEP Evin Incir told the Navalny team during the award ceremonies, "your struggle for democracy and human rights is our struggle. For us in this parliament, our solidarity will never see any borders. We will continue to fight for Mr Navalny's release and all other political prisoners." When MEPs chose Navalny in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said "we respect the institution of the European Parliament, but no one can force us to have respect for such a decision." Former winners of the Sakharov Prize include Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Malala Yousafzai. Navalny has spent over a decade as one of the most vociferous Kremlin critics. His poisoning in August 2020 drew increased international attention to his campaign. Independent United Nations experts uphold Navlany's claim that Russia is responsible for administering the Novichok nerve agent to try to kill him. He fell violently ill on a domestic flight and was later flown to Germany for emergency medical treatment. After recovering he returned to Moscow and was arrested immediately after disembarking the plane. The day before Navalny officially became the Sakharov laureate, one of the prize's past winners, Memorial, a long-standing civil rights organisation in Russia, was facing a Russian Supreme Court hearing where the prosecution is pressing for its closure. The organization won the Sakharov Prize in 2009 for its work to document and preserve information around the crimes committed by the Soviet Union. The European Union and the United States have both called on Russia to stop its legal case against Memorial which it claims is a "foreign agent." Earlier this month, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize for "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace." The editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta won the award alongside Maria Ressa, a Filipino-American journalist and author. Muratov says that he was the "improper" recipient of the prize and insisted that he would have given it to Navalny instead. Jonathan Katz, Director of Democracy Initiatives at the German Marshall Fund, told DW that the awards to Kremlin critics this year do not make them "anti-Russia" prizes. "This isn't about calculating whether you can have a positive relationship with the Kremlin. This is about human rights and democracy," he said. Navalny's chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, says he hopes the situation for critics and dissidents will improve. "The recent crackdown against the opposition, like hundreds of journalists who are declared as foreign agents is, of course, a very disturbing transformation of Russian society. It is very painful," he said. "But the good news is that we don't believe that Putinism as such, could survive Putin." Edited by: Rob Mudge | 7Politics
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Iran, Venezuela and Sudan have lost their right to vote at the United Nations due to unpaid dues, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. In total, 11 countries are behind in their payments, of which eight have lost their right to vote in the UN assembly. The five other countries that have lost their right to vote are Antigua and Barbuda, Congo, Guinea, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu. Under the UN charter, if a member's arrears equal or exceed the amount that should have been paid over the preceding two full years, the member loses its voting rights. If the outstanding debt is deemed to be "due to conditions beyond the control of the member," the member may still be allowed to vote. In 2022, this is the case of Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia. The minimum payment for Venezuela to restore its voting rights is around $40 million (€35 million), Iran must pay just over $18 million (€15.8 million), and Sudan must pay nearly $300,000 (€262,000). The five other countries each must make a minimum payment of less than $75,000 (€65,550) to get back their vote. In January 2021 Iran lost its vote over unpaid dues. After months of negotiations, the country was granted an exemption and got back its vote in June. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the country is committed to "full and timely payment of membership dues," but that it has not been able to do pay "due to the oppressive and illegal US sanctions." The UN's operating budget approved in December is around $3 billion (€2.6 billion). Its separate peacekeeping budget approved in June is around $6.5 billion (€5.7 billion). sdi/aw (AFP, AP) | 7Politics
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A dormant mine dam burst in central South Africa on Sunday, killing at least one and injuring some 40 others. The diamond mine dam was in Jagersfontein, a town which lies some 110 kilometers (68 miles) southwest of Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province. The flooding swept away houses and cars, as it made its way to a residential area, resulting in the collapse of some houses. The provincial department of social development assisted with the evacuation of scores of residents. Some members of the community were forced to "escape with only the clothes on their backs," the department was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. The incident also resulted in a power cut in Jagersfontein, as the substation powering it was submerged in mud. Officials said they were working to restore power at the earliest, yet stressing that it was not possible to provide a clear timeframe for when it could be restored. Those injured included one pregnant woman, as well as four whose limbs were fractured. The search and rescue efforts remained ongoing, according to a statement by the government. The office of the Free State Premier said a report detailing the circumstances surrounding the incident was being prepared. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The mine was once owned by global diamond mining giant De Beers. The company sold it to Superkolong Consortium in 2010. At the time, De Beers said the mine sourced some of the largest gems in the world during the century it operated — from 1870 to 1971. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released last July that over 6,000 abandoned mines exist in South Africa, posing a threat to the communities around them. rmt/wd (AFP, Reuters) | 1Catastrophe
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Bad news from the Donbas, the region that covers most of eastern Ukraine, continues to make its way back to Russia. Even in a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, news of the renewed Ukrainian assault on the Russian-held town of Lyman was recently posted. In Russian mainstream media, the fighting in eastern Ukraine is omnipresent. "On the front of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, desperate fighting continues," was how prominent Russian news anchor Dmitry Kiselev started his weekly news show on Sunday. "The past week has probably been one of the worst so far." At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that thousands of Ukrainian fighters have been wounded and killed. It called Russia's large-scale retreat around Kharkiv a successful regrouping operation. But experts on some of the country's biggest political talk shows — airing at prime time and watched by millions across Russia — aren't buying into this version of events. Karen Shakhnasarov, the director general of Russia's largest film studio Mosfilm, said, "We need to admit that we suffered a defeat in the Kharkiv area. We need to admit it! Because a defeat is meaningful when you admit to it and draw conclusions from it."
Widely circulated on Twitter is a video from NTV, a state-owned television channel, where a former politician stated the war could not be won. "We are now at the point when we have to understand that it's absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using those resources and colonial war methods with which Russia is trying to fight," said Boris Nadezhdin, a former Russian parliamentarian. "The Russian army is fighting against a strong army that is fully supported by the most powerful countries in the economic and technological sense."
Calls for a mass mobilization of the Russian population to join the army are getting louder. On Tuesday, the leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, spoke to Russia's lower house of parliament, saying the special military operation had escalated into a full-scale war. "War and special operations differ radically," he said. "A special military operation can just be ended. But you can't just stop a war, even if you want to. You must go all the way." "War only has two outcomes: either victory or defeat." The Kremlin was quick to quash any demands for a full-on mobilization, with President Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating this is currently not on the agenda. Russia expert Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at the UK's UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, said even a partial mobilization is a "big deal." "It would mean that firstly, the war isn't going to plan." "And secondly, it's going to alarm a lot of people for whom the war is a long way away," he added. Until now, the war is being fought by professional soldiers, who are largely ethnically non-Russian. A mass mobilization would draw in many more ordinary Russian families. "If you start moving to a mobilization, you're going to get Russians in the main cities getting swept up, and you're going to get a lot of wives, daughters, mothers and girlfriends very concerned about what's going to happen." But the Russian army remains desperately low on personnel. Due to this, soldiers can't be rotated off the front lines to rest. At the same time, professional soldiers whose contracts are ending are refusing to renew. To solve such manpower issues, right-wing propagandists have been calling for a mobilization for months. So far, their calls had been falling on deaf ears in the Kremlin. Galeotti believes a mobilization is possible but currently unlikely. "It's going to take about three months from the point where you declare mobilization to the point where you have troops, maybe 100,000-plus, actually available," he says. Three months from now would be the middle of the winter when offensive operations are hardest, Galeotti said. "I think it's more likely that if we see a mobilization, it'll be later so that they have the forces for a spring offensive; or more likely, to resist a Ukrainian spring offensive." But the word mobilization is beginning to pick up traction. Despite criticism of the military, the general tone in the media remains patriotic. It may be possible that the Russian public is being prepared for the next escalation in the war. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Kate Hairsine, Sonya Diehn | 2Conflicts
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Sayida al-Kunissi sits at the entrance to the Tunisian cemetery known as the "Garden of Africa" and weeps softly. She believes that somewhere here, in this graveyard on the edge of the coastal city of Zarzis in southeastern Tunisia, are the remains of her grandson, Omar Karimi. Karimi was 15, had just finished school and was about to start training as a mechanic. But right before he was supposed to begin the course, he decided upon a different plan altogether. With 17 other people from Zarzis, he boarded a boat that was supposed to take them all to Italy. They never made it. Karimi's family is not alone in this tragedy. Many other local families are also feeling the pain of similar loss. It is made worse by their belief that the local authorities have not yet told them the whole truth about what happened to their loved ones. It all started over a month ago. The boat carrying Karimi and the others left Zarzis early on September 21. But after 48 hours, relatives of the passengers say they lost contact with those on board. For three weeks, nobody knew what had happened to them — until the bodies of two young men washed up on the coast. Local officials did not initially send any search and rescue boats out to sea. Later on, city residents discovered that other bodies from the boat had also washed ashore and that they had been buried without anything being done to ascertain their identities. As a result, they were all buried without their families being informed. Local authorities justified their actions by saying they thought that the drowned people were foreigners from other countries. Zarzis is well known as a place where many would-be migrants embark on their journey to try and get to Europe. This includes many non-Tunisians, particularly people from Africa. The news of how the incident was handled has caused anger and outrage in Zarzis and throughout the rest of the country. Many thought the way the corpses were treated was dishonorable. In mid-October, the funeral of one of the young victims who had been identified was followed by several days of demonstrations and then a one-day general strike in Zarzis. This week, Karimi's grandmother, Sayida al-Kunissi, would very much like to go into the graveyard. She doesn't know for sure if her grandson is in there but she fervently believes he is. The "Garden of Africa" was created by Algerian artist Rachid Koraichi so that unidentified individuals who had drowned nearby in the sea, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa, could be given a proper burial. There's another older cemetery nearby for the same purpose, called the "cemetery of strangers," but it's in the middle of a wasteland — that's one of the reasons Koraichi wanted to create the "Garden of Africa." Police currently stand guard in front of the graveyard. The local prosecutor's office, reacting to national outrage, is finally investigating. The remains of those recently buried here will undergo DNA testing to confirm identities; the police are there so the procedure can happen without disturbances. DW inquired with local city officials but received no comment. At the time of writing, seven of the missing locals had been identified; a further 11 are still missing, presumed drowned. Which is why al-Kunissi can only wait outside and hope that soon she will know what happened to Karimi. "We are just here to catch his scent," she told DW. Her daughter, Hajar, Karimi's mother, is more determined. "I won't back down in the fight for my son's rights. Why did they bury him like a stranger? I want to visit him, to read the Koran to him. Peace to his soul," she declared angrily. Another local man, Bassam al-Warimi, is also in mourning. He lost two relatives in the accident at sea. At first, local authorities told him that the passengers of the boat had been stopped in Libya. But then, al-Warimi told DW, the employee of a beach club discovered another corpse and informed the Tunisian coast guard. They were able to identify the body because of a bracelet, he said. "Now, we are accusing the authorities of deliberately trying to deceive us regarding the identity of the deceased," he explained. Al-Warimi believes the authorities in his city deliberately misled the families to cover up for their own inaction. After the mid-October demonstrations, a meeting point was established in the center of Zarzis. Above it floats a banner that holds the names of the 18 people who drowned, one of them a 1-year-old infant. "As parents, we lost touch with our young ones," said Salim Zardat, a father at the meeting point who lost his 15-year-old son, Walid. "We older people were too focused on our own problems, things like the cost of living. So we left our kids to themselves. Now we no longer understand what it is that they want and how they think," he lamented. Zardat's son had achieved good grades at school and could have gone on to tertiary study at a prestigious school, he explained. "Instead he decided to leave with his friends. They all left our city in search of a better life," Zardat said. He is now undertaking a sit-in with the goal of finding out everything about the accident that killed his son and also about the reactions of local officials. For example, he and other families want information from the navigation satellites that monitor the Mediterranean. Local citizens have become involved in looking for victims, too. In particular, local sailors have volunteered to help. "The fact that the authorities were conspicuously reticent [to help] prompted us to search for the missing ourselves," said Shams El-Din Bourasin, head of the local seafarers' association. "The state can't hide [its mistakes] anymore." But the people of Zarzis are not just unhappy with their local government. The death of a young woman called Mona Oweida, together with her infant daughter, once again shows how difficult it is for families to be reunited when one member is in a European country. In this particular case, the focus is on Italy. Oweida's brother told DW that his sister's husband has been living and working in Italy for several years. However, Oweida was never able to get a visa to go there, so she felt she had no choice but to try to join her husband illegally. A lot of Tunisians who apply for visas to Europe run into major bureaucratic difficulties, explained local activist Anwar Muslimi. He himself said he has a cousin who's been living in Italy for years but who has never managed to bring his family there. Muslimi thinks the Tunisian government should also be doing more to facilitate family reunifications. "Why doesn't President [Kais] Saied do anything? Where is our freedom of movement? A visa like that is a human right," Muslimi argued. Although it has caused more reactions and anger than most other similar accidents near the city of Zarzis, such a tragedy is not unique. Because of the economic and political situation in Tunisia, locals regularly try to leave the country for a better life somwhere else. Additionally, would-be migrants coming from Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East often also use this coast as a departure point. As a family member of another one of the victims told DW, "Thousands have left safely for Italy. But this time, tragedy struck." The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, a human rights group, says that by the end of September, it had counted 507 dead or missing, presumed drowned, as a result of attempts to leave the country illegally via the Mediterranean. This month, the Italian government said a total of around 77,000 migrants who lack legal permission have reached the coasts of Italy this year. This story was adapted from Arabic. | 7Politics
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At least three supporters of the recently banned far-right Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan (TLP) were killed in Lahore on Sunday during clashes with the police, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported. Amid a crackdown by the police, TLP supporters have protested in Lahore over the past few days, demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador over publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed. Five police officers were taken hostage and at least 11 officials were hospitalized for their injuries after "brutal torture" by TLP members, Dawn cited a police spokesperson as saying. A TLP leader said in a video statement that several party members were killed and others injured as security forces attacked their protest. "We will not bury our dead till the French ambassador is expelled," TLP's Shafiq Ameeni said in a video message. In a vague statement, authorities said that officers were trapped in a police station under attack by armed criminals who stole an oil tanker. "Police did not plan or conduct any operation on the mosque... The action, if any, was in self defense and to protect public property," the police statement read. Lahore Police spokesperson Arif Rana told the Pakistani news outlet Arab News that they started an operation against protesters after officers were taken hostages. "The operation against the protesters has been halted for a while to avert any untoward situation as they are armed with petrol bombs and a 50,000 oil liter tanker," Rana was quoted as saying by Arab News. Videos circulated on social media platforms showed a violent and deadly crackdown by the police on protesters. Over the past week, police arrested hundreds of TLP protesters. The arrest of the party leader, Saad Rizvi, further fueled the tensions. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters as they blocked crucial transport routes overnight, demanding the release of Rizvi. The death toll is unclear, but several casualties have been reported. Protests erupted across Pakistan as the radical Islamist party was outraged by French government support for the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad. Police had arrested Rizvi on Monday for giving the government an ultimatum to expel the French ambassador or face protests. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government did not ban the TLP because it disagreed with the party's sentiments but rather because they "used street violence & attacking the public and law enforcers." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video President Emmanuel Macron had defended the right for magazines to publish images of Prophet Muhammad, which the TLP and several other Muslims have deemed offensive. The French Embassy in Pakistan's capital Islamabad has advised its nationals to temporarily leave the country over "serious threats." According to the French AFP news agency, many of the French nationals it contacted in Pakistan seemed to not want to leave. They reportedly questioned the timing of the embassy's message after he Pakistani government banned the TLP. Some AFP interviewees criticized how the embassy's message delivered a negative image about Pakistan. Umer Ali contributed to this article. | 7Politics
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Scores of people were hurt after clashes broke out between Israeli police forces and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in East Jerusalem on Friday morning. The complex is a frequent flashpoint for inter-religious violence. Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and the complex is also the location of the holiest site in Judaism, known as Temple Mount. Clashes came as Muslims celebrated the holy month of Ramadan, while Jews around the world were set to mark the beginning of Passover on Friday evening. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Christians will also celebrate Easter on Sunday, marking a time when Jerusalem, which has sites sacred to all three religions, is expecting an influx of people from all over the world. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency services said at least 152 Palestinians were injured by stun grenades and beaten with batons. The Israeli Foreign Ministry tweeted that "dozens of masked men carrying Hamas and PA flags marched into Al-Aqsa mosque... chanting inciting messages and setting off fireworks." Authorities added that people gathered at the mosque "collected stones and large rocks, which were then hurled in the direction of the Mugrabi Gate," or in the direction of the Western Wall, sacred to Jews. Israeli police said they were "forced to enter the grounds to disperse the crowd and remove the stones and rocks, in order to prevent further violence." Police said they did not enter the mosque itself. Online videos showed Palestinians hurling rocks and fireworks and police firing tear gas and stun grenades on the complex surrounding the mosque. Israeli police said its officers were wounded from "massive stone-throwing" at the complex and two officers had been evacuated from the premises for treatment. Around 400 people were arrested, the Palestinian Prisoner's Club said. The mosque was later re-opened, and some 60,000 people attended the main Friday prayers, according to the Waqf, the Islamic endowment that administers the site. Germany, France, Italy and Spain condemned the violence in a joint statement. "We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint as well as to refrain from violence and from all forms of provocation," spokespersons for the countries' foreign ministries said. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price called for the easing of tensions and urged all sides to exercise restraint. "We call on all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount," Price said. UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland echoed the statement, urging all sides to "help calm the situation, avoid spreading inflammatory rhetoric and speak up against those seeking to escalate the situation." Palestinians view the Al-Aqsa mosque site as a symbol of their struggle for a state and view any large-scale deployment of police there as a major provocation. Clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan last year, including at the Al-Aqsa mosque, led to an 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas, a militant Palestinian group that rules the Gaza strip. Both Israel and Jordan stepped up talks before Ramadan this year in order to avoid similar violence. sdi, mm, rm/aw, jsi (Reuters, AP) | 7Politics
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At least 25 people in Mumbai were killed and many others injured on Sunday when several houses were crushed by a collapsed wall and a landslide triggered by heavy rain, authorities said. As many as 11 incidents of houses or walls collapsing and landslides were reported in the Mumbai area within the past 24 hours, officials said. Early Sunday morning, a falling tree demolished a wall in the eastern Chembur district of India's financial capital, burying nearby residents, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said. Rescue workers had recovered 19 bodies from the rubble and were searching for more survivors and bodies believed to be trapped underneath the debris. In another neighborhood in the city's northeast, half a dozen shacks located at the base of a hill were hit by a landslide, collapsing on top of each other, the NDRF said. Six people were killed, it added. Rescue operations were underway in both areas, but were stymied by the incessant downpour and difficult access to the congested localities where heavy equipment was needed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths and announced financial compensation for those injured and families of those killed. The weather office has forecast "moderate to heavy rain or thundershowers" for the next two days. Several areas of the city have been inundated after heavy rains, crippling train services and road transport, effectively paralyzing daily life in the metropolis, which is home to some 20 million people. Such scenes are common in Mumbai during the June-September monsoon, as the old foundations of poorly built structures often buckle under days of non-stop rain. adi/rc (AFP, Reuters, dpa) | 1Catastrophe
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It has been a year of emergency meetings between Chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts who lead Germany's 16 states. Often long, late and argumentative, their increasingly confusing outcomes have become symbolic of, and a cause for, shortcomings in Germany's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For Merkel, who has usually favored tougher measures than many of the state leaders, last week's meeting with them was the last straw. "That was a turning point,"she told Anne Will, a journalist for German public broadcaster ARD. "We can't just keep doing it this way." She criticized state leaders who want to ease restrictions despite rising infection rates. Her rebuke extended to her ally Armin Laschet, new CDU chairman and head of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state. "There is no leeway for places over 100. That is clearly written in our agreement," Merkel said, referring to the seven-day incidence rate that is the agreed threshold for re-tightening measures. Laschet, who has his sights set on running for chancellor, has denied he is undermining the so-called emergency brake for loosening lockdown rules. "North Rhine-Westphalia has implemented the emergency brake for all its districts," he told a gathering of party leaders on Monday. The back-and-forth has frustrated Merkel, pushing her to consider increasing her own influence in further decision-making. That would suit some of the state leaders just fine, such as Bavarian leader Markus Söder, who hails from the CDU's sister party, the CSU, and is also believed to have ambitions for the chancellorship. "If Chancellor Merkel wants to take more initiative at the national level to change the rules and set out clear guidelines, she has my full support," he told ARD on Monday. Merkel's Sunday night interview on Will's popular political talk show was a rare media appearance for the outgoing chancellor. With the exception of moments of extreme crisis, such as the influx of migrants in 2015 and earlier in the pandemic last year, Merkel tends to let her spokesperson and other government officials do the talking in TV interviews. However, Germans are growing restless from repeated lockdowns — none of which have ever gone as far as those in countries like Italy or France — a sluggish vaccine rollout and stubbornly rising infection rates. The frustration is showing in the polls. Merkel's conservative party, the CDU, has been crashing, down some 15 points from last year when the government was widely praised for its competent handling of the first wave of the pandemic. The Greens, long seen as a likely junior partner in the next government with the CDU, have been making steady gains. They have benefited from new urgency to address climate change and the electorate's disenchantment with the current "grand coalition" of CDU/CSU and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the other traditional big-tent party. Cascading misfortunes for the conservatives, which include a pay-for-play face mask scandal that has led to resignations of CDU/CSU lawmakers, may have changed assumptions about general elections in September and Germany after Merkel. This has put the Greens within striking distance of taking the top spot in a possible coalition, and would give Germany its first postwar government not led by either the CDU or SPD. "The CDU doesn't have any claim on the chancellory," Merkel told Will, although her party has led Germany for all but 15 years since 1949. The CDU needs a lot to go right over the next several months if the party is to get back on track. Germany's total COVID-19 cases and deaths are still far below comparable countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France, and the European Union overall. But Germany has fallen behind on testing and vaccinations, and more than 80% of the country's 75,000 deaths have come since the second wave began in the late fall. That was when Merkel again bowed to pressure from state leaders to go softer on pandemic restrictions. Within weeks, the resulting "lockdown light" was roundly deemed a failure and a somewhat harder lockdown began. Despite nearly 16 years in office and steady popularity among voters, Merkel's powers are limited. Germany's federal system transfers considerable authority to the states, including over key areas like health and rule enforcement. The division of power is enshrined in the Basic Law, Germany's constitution, as a way to promote regional differences, check centralized power and level the playing field between richer and poorer states. In the pandemic's early days, Germany's federalism was credited with giving local and state authorities flexibility in how they responded to outbreaks in their areas. Yet it has also been cause for confusion and lack of coordination against a virus that does not recognize state borders. "The participation of many decision-makers generally doesn't get praised for protecting political freedom, but criticized as an efficiency problem," Nathalie Behnke, a public policy professor at Technical University Darmstadt, wrote last year for Germany's Federal Agency for Civic Education. Merkel told Anne Will her patience with state leaders is wearing thin, and signaled her readiness to override them if they failed to act "in the very near future." "I have a duty and an obligation to see how we can take action at the national level," she said. "One possibility is taking another look at the infection protection law and amend it." The infection protection law grants the federal government additional powers during a national health emergency. Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, has amended it a few times since the beginning of the pandemic. Critics fear it hands the government too much power and requires increased legislative oversight, although the option is constitutional. Changing the law to put more power in the hands of the federal government would require signoff from the Bundestag as well as the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament that represents the states. Merkel said she has not yet decided if she will push for the change. "We are legally responsible to curb infections, and that's not happening right now," she said, rejecting an offer to hold another meeting with state leaders. "We don't need a meeting. We need the states to take action." While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round-up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year’s elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era. | 7Politics
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It was already dark when around 30 people gathered in front of the private home of Petra Köpping, health minister of the German state of Saxony, in the small town of Grimma on Friday evening. Some carried flaming torches in their hands, others large placards. The Free Saxons, classified as a right-wing extremist group in Germany, has taken credit for the action on Twitter. Shouting loudly and blowing whistles, they staged a protest against Germany's measures to counter the COVID-19 pandemic and against compulsory vaccination, which the country may introduce in the year to come. Police said an investigation is underway to determine whether the spectacle violated regulations regarding assembly during the pandemic's fourth wave, or other laws. "When our officers arrived, people sought to leave," the Saxony police said later that night. "Fifteen vehicles were identified, the identities of 25 people were established, and misdemeanor charges were filed." The public prosecutor's office and state security are also investigating. The demonstrators organized the protest on the messenger service Telegram, and were quick to play down the act of intimidation as a "citizens' visit" and a "stroll." But the Saxon state government labeled it "trespassing with the aim of intimidating responsible people." Petra Köpping — who is a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the party that will likely head Germany's new coalition government — stated that factual criticism of coronavirus restrictions is completely legitimate. "I am always ready to talk. But torch-lit protests in front of my house are disgusting and indecent," she said. The incident is not an isolated case, Köpping added. She described a trend of "organized intimidation attempts by right-wing extremists and conspiracy believers" as seen outside doctors' offices, vaccination centers and hospitals. Threats are also being made against mayors and others involved in legislation around the coronavirus pandemic, she clarified. Nationwide, the torch-lit protest has been met with outrage. "These are methods invented by the SA," said the state of Baden-Württemberg's Green Premier Winfried Kretschmann, referring to the Nazi party's paramilitary branch, also known as the Brownshirts. SPD co-leader Norbert Walter-Borjans also called what happened in front of Köpping's house "fascist-esque." He said it had nothing to do with "concern and desire for freedom." And SPD Secretary-General Lars Klingbeil called for consequences. Politicians should not be threatened, he said, and "right-wing conspirators and swindlers" should not gather with torches in front of a minister's house. This crosses the line of freedom of expression. "This needs a response with the full force of the rule of law," he said. "And it calls for a response from all that is decent in this country." This is also the view of Saxony's deputy premier Wolfram Günther of the Green Party, who spoke of a further breach of taboos. "They were encouraged by the fact that COVID-19 deniers can all too often move unhindered through Saxony's cities," he said. "COVID-19 deniers and the right-wing extremists are becoming more brazen and radicalized," Günther added. He expects dealing with this issue to become a clear priority for the Interior Ministry. People who are against vaccination, COVID-19 deniers, conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists have become increasingly radicalized in Germany. In certain Telegram group chats, people are mobilizing ever more aggressively in calling for protest actions. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Saxony, which lies in former East Germany near the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic, has among the highest infection rates — and lowest vaccination rates — in Germany. Public rallies are limited by law to a maximum of 10 people. But for weeks now, groups of people have been marching through Saxon cities on what they describe as "strolls." So far, the police have only rarely intervened. In the city of Chemnitz, police confirmed that strolls — if the minimum social distance is observed — do not count as demonstrations. Free Saxons was founded as a party in February 2021 to "give an organizational structure to a wide variety of pro-freedom and patriotic initiatives," according to its website. The group is officially classified as far-right, and some of its founders have been active in the far-right scene for some time. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video More than 91,000 users are currently registered on the Telegram channel "Free Saxons" (the population in the state is around 4 million). In this group, the rising infection numbers and the resulting tightening of measures to fight the pandemic are hot topics. There is discussion of revolution. Police and military are called upon to join the COVID-19 protests. Police officers who enforce the restrictions are referred to in the group as "CoStaPo," short for "Corona State Police," a play on "Gestapo," the term for the Nazi Secret State Police. For some time, the Free Saxons have been campaigning against Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer of center-right Christian Democrats, who is referred to in the Telegram channel as a despot or dictator. Under a post accusing him of preparing to announce a tough lockdown, several users made death threats. "Arrest Kretschmer immediately! Reinstate the death penalty in Germany!" one writes, while another comment contains only the word "gallows." In a recent TV talk show, Michael Kretschmer spoke of malicious propaganda, hatred and incitement — and called on Marco Buschmann, the likely future federal justice minister of the neoliberal Free Democrats, to take legal action against it. "We have to do something about it, such things may not come to pass," he said. But Buschmann rebuffed the call, saying there were more urgent things to do at present, most importantly further implementation of Germany's vaccination campaign. But other politicians are also calling for regulation. From February 2022, social network providers will have to report illegal content to the German Federal Criminal Police Office — but messenger services are exempt. This is a loophole that may not remain in place, interior ministers of the federal and state governments demanded last week. This story was originally written in German and is an expansion of an article that was first published December 4. While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era. | 7Politics
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The Afghani General Directorate for Sports has confirmed that one of the people who fell to their death from a departing airplane at Kabul International Airport was national youth team footballer Zaki Anwari. The 19-year-old had been clinging to a US military aircraft in an attempt to flee the country after the takeover of power by the Taliban. Anwari was a player for Afghanistan's international youth football team. In a Facebook post on Thursday, the Afghani General Directorate for Sports confirmed his death in what it called a "tragic accident." "Anwari, like thousands of Afghan youths, wanted to leave the country, but fell off a US plane and died," the Directorate wrote. The US military has also confirmed that two people were killed as one of its Boeing C-17 aircraft departed Kabul. A spokeswoman for the US Air Force said that human remains were found in the wheel well of the plane upon landing in Qatar, and that the events were now being investigated. There were scenes of chaos at Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul on Monday as thousands of Afghanis sought desperately to leave the country. With the Taliban already in control of the land borders, a flight departing from the capital was the last hope for many. Video from the tarmac showed hundreds of people running alongside an airplane as it taxied along the runway, with many clinging desperately to the fuselage. Images also emerged that appeared to show bodies falling from the aircraft shortly after take-off. | 9Sports
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Leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday that rioters backing his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro may have had inside help when they recently stormed Brazil's capital, Brasilia. The rioters managed to enter the buildings of the presidency, Congress and Supreme Court during the unrest on Sunday. They were angered by Lula's victory over Bolsonaro in last year's presidential election. "I am convinced that the door of the Planalto [presidential] palace was opened for people to enter because there are no broken doors," Lula told journalists in Brasilia. The rioters ransacked presidential offices and clashed with police. "That means that someone faciliated their entry," Lula said, while mentioning he ordered a "thorough review" of staff at the presidential palace. During his time in office, Bolsonaro, a former military captain, employed members of the armed forces to work in state institutions like the presidential palace. Lula was in Sao Paulo during the insurrection, with lawmakers also not in session. "What happened was a huge warning, we won the election but fanatic Bolsonaro supporters are very dangerous," Lula said of the unrest. "Going forward we will be tougher and even more cautious." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Lula also dismissed calls to fire Defense Minister Jose Mucio Monteiro, saying "I trust him." Monteiro, a conservative appointed by Lula, had taken a softer stance towards dismantling pro-Bolsonaro encampments outside of military barracks and bases in key Brazilian cities in recent weeks. "If I had to fire a minister every time they made a mistake, it would be the biggest staff turnover in Brazil's history," Lula added. Brazilian security forces prepared for a repeat of the violence on Wednesday, ramping up operations in the capital and other cities. This time, however, the pro-Bolsonaro protests fizzled out. As Bolsonaro supporters stirred up mayhem across Brazil this past weekend, the former Brazilian president found refuge in Florida. US Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives have called on President Joe Biden to revoke any US visas held by Bolsonaro. "We request that you reassess his status in the country to ascertain whether there is a legal basis for his stay and revoke any such diplomatic visa he may hold," the letter said, referring to Bolsonaro. "The United States must not provide shelter for him or any authoritarian who has inspired such violence against democratic institutions," it added. The lawmakers compared the riots in Brasilia with the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol by followers of former Republican President Donald Trump. State Department spokesperson Ned Price has refused to comment on Bolsonaro's visa status, citing privacy issues. Bolsonaro has said he will return to Brazil from the US, after he was shortly hospitalized. He has previously condemned the riots in Brasilia and said he did not incite the violence. Bolsonaro defeated leftist Workers' Party Fernando Haddad candidate in the 2018 Brazilian election, while running on a pro-gun, pro-evangelical, anti-corruption platform. Known for his controversial views towards the LGBTQ community, Bolsonaro's term as president was marked by downplaying of and a much-criticized government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. wd/msh (Reuters, AFP, LUSA) To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video | 7Politics
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Former United States Vice President Walter Mondale, who served under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, died on Monday at the age of 93. Mondale is probably best remembered for losing one of the most uneven presidential elections in recent history, to a Ronald Reagan who was at the height of his popularity. Mondale lost by 525-13 electoral votes in 1984 — the widest margin in the Electoral College since Franklin Roosevelt beat Alf Landon in 1936. He carried only his home state of Minnesota. The selection of Geraldine Ferraro as Mondale's running mate made him the first major-party nominee to put a woman on the ticket. Years after the vote, Mondale said his campaign message — that taxes needed to rise — had proven to be correct. Former presidents Carter and Bill Clinton, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were all reported to have spoken to him in recent days. Mondale's death was announced in a statement from his family, with no cause cited. His career traced that of his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, who also became vice president after a career in Minnesota politics and the US Senate. He later served as US ambassador to Japan. In a statement after news of Mondale's death broke, Carter said he considered Mondale to have been "the best vice president in our country's history.'' "There have been few senators, before or since, who commanded such universal respect," Carter said. "It was Walter Mondale who defined the vice presidency as a full partnership and helped provide a model for my service.'' Fellow Minnesotan Senator Amy Klobuchar mourned Mondale's death, calling him "kind and dignified to the end." rc/rt (AFP, Reuters, AP) | 7Politics
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North Macedonia is set to enter a new phase of political instability after Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced his resignation following the heavy defeat of his Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) in Sunday's local elections. "I take responsibility for the outcome of these elections and therefore I'm resigning as prime minister and as president of the Social Democratic Union," Zaev said during a press conference at party headquarters. The announcement came after it became clear that the main opposition party, nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, won at least half of the country's 80 municipalities, while Zaev's Social Democrats won fewer than 20. The result marks a major turnaround on North Macedonia's political stage: Four years ago, the Social Democrats won 57 municipalities and VMRO-DPMNE only five. Ahead of the elections he told voters he had already resolved to step down if his party failed to secure a majority. "On October 31, we are 'all in'," he said, using the English expression. "The decision is made, and the people will choose. This is not a threat," Zaev told a local TV show a week earlier. As he later explained, his aim was to mobilize the "progressive part" of society to support his government's pro-European and liberal policies. His plan backfired. Many people unconvinced by either of the two main parties decided to stay at home rather than vote for candidates they see as unfit for the job. Seen as a rare moderate voice in the historically volatile Western Balkans region, Zaev was praised internationally for resolving the decades old dispute with Greece and changing the country's name to "North Macedonia" in 2018. The former Republic of Macedonia became NATO's 30th member in March 2020 under the new name. But vetos from France in 2019 and Bulgaria blocked North Macedonia's path towards the European Union — leaving Zaev's most important promise to his voters unfulfilled. Already labeled a "traitor" by the nationalist opposition, which still strongly opposes the deal with Greece, many of the government's domestic policies alienated the majority of Zaev's voters. Promised reforms in the fields of rule of law, the fight against corruption, chronic nepotism and cronyism in Macedonian society failed to materialize. The stagnating economy and poor management of the COVID pandemic added to voters' sense of disappointment. Most importantly, many of the "progressive voters" — as Zaev calls them — simply lost hope in the country's chances of EU accession. Confidence that North Macedonia will one day become a member of the European Union is at a historic low among the general public and many people no longer see the point in voting for pro-European politicians and policies after years of bitter disappointments and broken promises from Brussels and other European capitals. North Macedonia's governing coalition, consisting of the Social Democrats and the DUI, the country's largest ethnic Albanian party, has a small majority, with 62 seats in the 120-seat parliament. After Zaev's resignation, it remains to be seen if the Social Democrats will continue governing under a new leader. For now, the alternatives — a VMRO-DPMNE-led government or early elections — seem unrealistic. While Zaev and his party are opposed to early national elections, after the last ones held in July 2020, Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, on Sunday called for an early parliamentary election but did not mention a more specific timeline. "The governing party is now delegitimized, and this is a new reality. The best way forward is with early elections,'' Mickoski said, after declaring victory in the local election. The opposition party would likely be happy to wait until spring, knowing that its lead in the polls will presumably only increase considering the difficulties ahead for the government. North Macedonia faces some difficult months. In addition to the tough economic situation and the coronavirus pandemic, the country is in a state of uncertainty due to the energy crisis threatening the whole of Europe. There is already talk of electricity restrictions and price increases in the winter months. The government was planning to relaunch talks with neighboring Bulgaria after the elections, hoping that a compromise would open the door for the beginning of long-awaited EU accession talks during the December summit of European heads of state. Sofia has blocked the beginning of talks for the last two years, insisting that Skopje should first admit that the Macedonian language is a Bulgarian dialect, and that the identity of modern-day Macedonians is actually Bulgarian. While the Social Democrats were ready to compromise on the issue, opposition VMRO-DPMNE is strongly against any talks about national identity. After leading the then opposition Social Democrats through one of the most difficult periods for the country, during the rule of the previous 10-year regime of Nikola Gruevski and VMRO-DPMNE, and after four years at the helm of the government, Zoran Zaev leaves disappointed with both voters and the international community. "It is not difficult to leave politics," Zaev said on Sunday. "What is difficult is the fact that this is how the people voted." The fact is that the Macedonian people have lost faith in the path to the EU that he and his party promoted, and also in his ability to lead them there. The Social Democrats now need to elect a new party leader quickly and then hope that he will be accepted by the majority in the parliament. Unfortunately, Zaev did not leave behind a clear successor in either the party or the government. And, as one Social Democrat party official told DW on condition of anonymity, while there are many candidates willing to fight for the party leadership, there are not many that would be interested in taking over the reins in midst of a deep political and economic crisis. | 7Politics
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Around 2,000 people took to the streets of the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Saturday in protests against lithium mining. The demonstrators demanded the government bar international mining firm Rio Tinto from building a lithium mine in western Serbia. Rio Tinto had pledged $2.4 billion (€2 billion) to the project in July, with lithium being a necessary component of electric vehicle batteries. Banners in the city carried slogans such as "Rio Tinto go away." The protesters also temporarily blocked one of the major bridges in Belgrade. "Our demand is that the government of Serbia annul all obligations to Rio Tinto," protest organizer Aleksandar Jovanovic said. The demonstrations were organized by 30 environmental organizations in Serbia. Over 100,000 people have endorsed a petition against the Rio Tinto mine. The Serbian government has backed Rio Tinto's mining project to boost the economy. Rio Tinto's CEO has vowed to abide by both national and EU environmental regulations. The protesters also called for more regulations to protect the country's nature and combat pollution. Controversial coal-powered plants run by Chinese companies have caused a negative impact on air quality, while industrial waste has polluted Serbian rivers. "We were thirsty this summer, we breathe toxic air and land is being sold out," protest organizers said in a statement. "Forests are being cut and mines are expanding." According to Swiss air quality monitoring company IQAir, Serbia is the fifth most polluted country in Europe as of 2019. The Balkan nation, which has aspired to EU membership, will need to enact stricter environmental standards to join the 27-member bloc. wd/fb (Reuters, AP) | 6Nature and Environment
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The 193 members of the UN's General Assembly held a minute's silence on Monday for the victims of the war in Ukraine as delegates met for an emergency session to discuss a resolution condemning Moscow's "aggression." Russia found itself increasingly isolated but defended its "military operation," blaming the violence on Kyiv during only the 11th special session in the UN's 77-year history. The members of the assembly are set to vote on a symbolic denouncement of Russia's actions, but one that is seen as an important barometer not just for its condemnation of Moscow aggression, but also for the global stance against creeping authoritarianism around the world. Also, unlike the more prominent Security Council, where a single vote against from veto holder Russia can thwart any motion or resolution, as it did in Friday's emergency session, the General Assembly can move on a two-thirds majority vote rather than a unanimous one. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Certain countries, such as Syria, China and India, are expected to vote against or abstain from condemning Moscow on Wednesday, while those behind the resolution are hoping for more than 100 votes in favor. Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, was unsurprisingly critical of Russia in his address to the assembly, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to increase his country's nuclear readiness "madness." He accused Moscow of targeting residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, which he condemned as "war crimes." Kyslytsya went on to warn the other delegates of the consequences of Russia's invasion. "If Ukraine does not survive, international peace will not survive. If Ukraine does not survive, the United Nations will not survive. ... If Ukraine does not survive, we cannot be surprised if democracy fails," Kyslytsya said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the violence. "Enough is enough. Soldiers need to move back to their barracks. Leaders need to move to peace. Civilians must be protected," he said. Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, reiterated claims made by Putin when he launched the invasion last week. He blamed Kyiv for the war, claiming that it had violated the Minsk agreements and repeating the line that Moscow wants to "demilitarize and de-nazify" Ukraine. Russia also claimed that it had acted in "self-defense," in line with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, but other UN members have rejected this account, saying Russia violated Article 2, which says states should not use force to resolve a crisis. Nebenzya also told the assembly that "the Russian army does not pose a threat to the civilians of Ukraine, is not shelling civilian areas." This goes against multiple reports of Russian strikes hitting residential areas and killing civilians from officials in Ukraine. The ambassador of China, Zhang Jun, told the assembly that "nothing can be gained from starting off a new Cold War." Beijing has refused to condemn Russia's actions but has called for negotiations to end the violence. ab/msh, jsi (Reuters, AFP) | 2Conflicts
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There are only a few hours of daylight in Kiruna in January. The snow crunches under your feet during a walk through the town, located about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland. This is where Sweden's government has decided to officially kick off its EU presidency — a mining town known for its northern lights and a vibrant Indigenous Sami culture. The European Union's rotating presidency is meant to drive forward work on EU legislation and ensure cooperation among member states. And, of course, it is an excellent opportunity to show off one's nation. Smooth and efficient, aka "Sweden-style," is how officials here say they intend to handle the job. "Our leadership this six months ahead will focus on the ambition to make Europe greener, safer, freer," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised. The prime minister said preserving the bloc's unity in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was key. "Ukraine's victory is essential," he said during a press conference. Other priorities include strengthening the European Union's competitiveness, the rule of law and green energy transition. Sweden's new minority government — made up of the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals — would not be able to govern without the support of the nationalist Sweden Democrats. The party, founded in the 1980s by right-wing extremists, "has a long history of being against the European Union," Karlstad University professor Tobias Hübinette told DW. Until recently, the party advocated for Sweden to leave the European Union. This position has changed. But Hübinette, who has been studying the party for years, argues that the Sweden Democrats remain a deeply euroskeptic party, and could take the country's EU presidency "hostage." Migration, for instance, "cannot be a priority of Sweden's presidency because the Sweden Democrats would never accept the EU to stipulate a common migration policy," Hübinette said. He pointed to climate action as another example. The government in Stockholm promises to work toward delivering on Europe's climate goals. The visit to Kiruna in Sweden's far north is supposed to underline that: Just recently, Europe's largest deposit of rare earth metals was located in the Kiruna area — metals that are essential for the production of electric vehicles and wind turbines, according to Kiruna's mining company. The Sweden Democrats, however, question the science, Hübinette said. Their spokesperson for environmental issues, Elsa Widding, called fighting climate change "gesture politics" and denied the reality of the crisis in a speech in parliament. Kristersson seemed to shrug off any concerns about the party's influence, indicating that the government's cooperation with the Sweden Democrats was going smoothly and in accordance with the agreement. EU Affairs Minister Jessika Roswall has also played down any worries. "I think that will work very well," she told DW. "It's like in the EU, where 27 member states have to compromise. We also sometimes have to compromise. It's not more complicated than that." But the Sweden Democrats seem to be very clear about their role and clout. "We will clearly have influence," Charlie Weimers, a member of the European Parliament, told DW. Weimers mentioned migration policy in particular. "We don't want any mandatory mechanism on migration whether in the shape of relocations or economic contributions from EU countries," he said. "We do not want more asylum migration for the moment." That would be a "red line" for the Sweden Democrats, he said, suggesting that crossing it would have consequences for the government in Stockholm. On one issue, however, the party has promised not to cause any problems: Continuing support "for the Ukrainian war effort against the illegal Russian invasion" is very high on the Sweden Democrats' agenda, Weimers said. After appearing to be rather pro-Russia for many years, the Sweden Democrats now seem to be behind the government's position on Ukraine. That should provide at least some relief for Prime Minister Kristersson and his agenda for Sweden's EU presidency. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Milan Gagnon | 7Politics
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Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was in the Pacific Island nation of Palau on Saturday where she discussed the threat of rising sea levels. "When we stand here, looking out at the ocean, we see what truly looks like paradise. But we can also easily imagine what will happen to this peaceful paradise if sea levels rise even further," Baerbock said. The Green party politician pledged closer ties between Germany and the Pacific region and called for greater international focus on fighting climate change. "The climate emergency is not an isolated crisis. It is the most challenging security issue of our time," she said. "But we have to admit that our response as an international community has been insufficient and our support too limited." Baerbock, the first German foreign minister to visit Palau in 120 years, announced the appointment of a special envoy to the Pacific Island states. "I think it's actually about time that we not only listened to you from afar, but that we actually came here," she said. The foreign minister also said it was a "blatant injustice" that Pacific islands like Palau are facing so pronounced a threat from rising sea levels despite having contributed very little to global greenhouse gas emissions. "In this crisis we don't stand oceans apart — we stand right by your side," she wrote in a Twitter message. "We will keep the pressure on energy transition in the industrial countries and we will support you here on the ground." Baerbock is on a six-day tour of Asia, having taken part in the G20 summit on the Indonesia island of Bali on Friday and traveling on to Japan after her stop in Palau. A recent UN ocean conference held in Lisbon aimed to establish a legal framework to protect the 70% of the planet's surface covered by water, however, this was condemned by environmental groups as a missed opportunity for real change. Germany, which is one of the countries most responsible for historic carbon emissions, has pledged to end using coal and to phase out non-renewable sources of energy. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen the German government seeking alternative sources of gas amid fears that Russia will turn off its supplies. ab/msh (dpa, AFP) | 6Nature and Environment
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The Australian Border Force (ABF) seized more than 5 million doses of fentanyl, a deadly opioid that is circulated illegally on the streets, on Monday. According to a press statement by the ABF, this was the largest shipment of fentanyl ever detected in the country. The opioids were found in a shipment arriving from Canada in Melbourne in December 2021, hidden inside an industrial wooden lathe, the statement described. At an examination of the shipping container two months later, in February, Australian police officers discovered nearly 60 kilograms of illegal substances. The powdered drugs were covered up inside of military-style ammunition boxes and hidden further within a three tone lathe. An analysis by forensic officers proved that the substances were made up of 11.2 kilograms of pure fentanyl — which is equivalent to about 5.5 million potential lethal doses of 30 milligrams — and some 30 kilograms of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of 27 million Australian dollars (roughly €18.5 million, or US$18.5 million). Prior to that, Australian police said they had only ever detected illegal fentanyl in amounts of less than 30 grams. They went on to say that as little as 28 milligrams of the drug can result in death. "This was a massive amount of Fentanyl," ABF Commander Maritime and Enforcement South James Watson said. "Fentanyl is an extremely toxic substance to handle as well as being a lethal drug to use. There is a fentanyl epidemic in many parts of the world today, resulting in thousands of deaths of users every year," Watson highlighted. Australian Federal Police acting Commander Anthony Hall added that the lacing of illegal drugs with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl proved especially dangerous. "People who use illicit drugs can never be certain what they are ingesting and this seizure highlights the potentially lethal game of Russian roulette they play. We don't want to see Australia joining other countries in that deadly game," he said. los/msh (dpa) | 3Crime
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Fresh allegations arose on Friday about lockdown parties at the residence of United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson — with two separate gatherings on the eve of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip. Just two days ago, Johnson was forced to apologize for attending a garden party in 2020, after it was revealed that he and his staff at his Downing Street office and residence breached lockdown restrictions. The revelations prompted public outrage in the UK. The latest media reports suggest his staff held two more parties at Downing Street in April last year, during a period of national mourning. On Friday, Johnson's office apologized to Queen Elizabeth, saying it was "deeply regrettable" that the gathering took place "during a time of national mourning." At the time, social gatherings were limited because of COVID-19 restrictions. An image of the queen sitting alone at the prince's memorial service became a memorable image of Britain under lockdown. The allegations about parties ahead of the royal funeral were published in the conservative Daily Telegraph, for which Johnson was previously a regular columnist. The paper says Johnson was away from 10 Downing Street at the time, staying instead at his country estate, Chequers. The report said one party was for the former director of communications and the other, held in a basement, was for official Downing Street photographers. At the time, no mixing was allowed indoors except for members of the same household or a so-called "support bubble." While Johnson was not present at the latest events, he was said to have attended at least one party in May 2020, when lockdown restrictions were at their tightest. Martin Reynolds, the prime minister's principle private secretary, invited some 100 staff to the event that Johnson himself attended. Some 30 to 40 people did attend, despite strict legal restrictions on social mixing — including a limit of 10 at funerals. In an email marked "Sensitive," he told them to "Bring your own booze." Johnson admitted to parliament that he had been present to thank staff, but that he had thought the gathering was a work event, not a party. He also said that "even if [the gathering] could be said, technically, to fall within the guidance," millions of people would not agree. "I should have sent everyone back inside," he told lawmakers, offering his "heartfelt apologies." Opposition lawmakers — and some from within Johnson's own Conservative Party — have called for the prime minister to step down. Labour leader Keir Starmer slammed Johnson on Wednesday, describing his defense as "so ridiculous it was actually offensive." The prime minister's poll ratings have plummeted since allegations about the parties emerged last month. A poll by YouGov gave Labour a 10-point lead over the Tories — the biggest margin it has had since 2013. The survey also said six out of 10 voters believe Johnson should resign. rc/dj (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters) | 7Politics
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In the French cinematic masterpiece La Haine, one character tells the story of a man who falls from a skyscraper and, while plummeting to earth, tells himself repeatedly, "So far, so good." Any of the Netherlands players who have seen Mathieu Kassovitz’s classic could probably relate: they were falling for 101 minutes against France. Yes, they kept a clean sheet through the 90 minutes. And yes, they forced extra time. So far, so good. But they were so far off France’s breakneck pace, so overwhelmed across the pitch, that their defeat felt like an inevitability almost from kick off. They showed great desire, and no small measure of ingenuity, to deflect the French assault on their goal for as long as they did, so much so that it took a penalty to break their brave resistance. But it’s not how you fall that matters. It’s how you land. France started the match with verve, and already in the first minute their aggressive pressing and quick interplay created an opening for Grace Geyoro. The hattrick hero from their opening-game demolition of Italy scuffed her effort, but it was a sign of things to come. France’s coach Corinne Diacre, who has clashed with players and dropped some star names, said ahead of the game that she hoped it would be an interesting spectacle for the supporters. Her players certainly did their best to impress the 9,764 fans in South Yorkshire, but their purpose went far beyond entertainment. They had never gone past the quarterfinals at a European Championship, a record that needed changing, here and now. Indeed, they had fallen at this stage at the last three Euros, two World Cups, and the 2016 Olympics. It was past time for them to show they could finally clear that hurdle. They should have been at least one goal ahead by the 23rd minute, when the ball rolled kindly into the path of Sandie Toletti, begging to be caressed into the net. But the midfielder failed to keep her composure. Whether it was Kadidiatou Diani tearing through on the counter, or Delphine Cascarino striking the post from distance, France were showcasing just how many different ways they could score, without doing anything quite so vulgar as actually scoring, of course. This display of performance art reached its zenith when they forced defender Stefanie van der Gragt into not one, but two heroic goalline clearances. Netherlands coach Mark Parsons had talked about his players having to adapt to France’s tactics during the game. "It’s about spaces, and the opponent gets to decide what space is or is not there. And then it’s up to us to take it or create it,” he said before the match. In fact, the far bigger concern for his side was the way their opponents found space behind the Netherlands midfield seemingly at will. Much has changed for the Dutch since their home triumph in 2017. Back then, a ferocious front three of Vivianne Miedema, Lieke Martens and Shanice van de Sanden ripped through opponents, particularly in the knockout stages. But with Van de Sanden not in the squad, Martens stricken by a foot injury, and Miedema having been locked away in her room for the last two games with covid, their attack had none of the relentlessness that was its trademark five years ago. As the game wore on, France’s threat increasingly came from their gargantuan centre back and captain, Wendie Renard. Surely the most potent set-piece weapon in football, towering above whichever poor soul is condemned to mark her, Renard’s head became the target of every cross. She forced Daphne van Domselaar into a sprawling save just past the hour mark, in search of her 34th international goal,and her first at Euro 2022. But like all of France’s exquisitely crafted efforts, Renard’s headers failed to make the breakthrough. Right up the last act of the 90 minutes, when it looked for all the world like she had finally smashed down the Dutch dam, only for van Domselaar to tip the shot wide with sensational agility. Finally, with almost 100 minutes of football played, Diani went through on yet another break. For the first time all night, van Domselaar wavered, uncertain whether to come or not. Dominique Janssen, perhaps thrown by this, dived in. After a VAR delay, France had a penalty, and Eve Perisset planted the spot kick in the corner of the net with all the collected rage of her team’s multiple quarterfinal failures. "They had a great start in the tournament and they have a lot of good attackers," Janssen told DW after the game. "Of course in some situations we had a bit of luck, but at the end you feel like something could happen because you only need one good moment to actually change the game. But it's obviously very disappointing." On Saturday evening the French players could have been forgiven for feeling a nagging sense that they’d seen it all before. Once again they strode out onto the turf of Rotherham’s New York Stadium, the arena that all four of their Euro 2022 games so far have taken place at. But that’s where any idea of deja vu ended. Finally, France have made it to a Euro semifinal. Germany await in Milton Keynes on Wednesday. Edited by Michael Da Silva | 9Sports
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Germany's Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival held every year in Munich, will not take place in 2021 due to the coronavirus crisis, officials said on Monday. The pandemic has forced the cancellation of the hugely popular festival for the second consecutive year. It had been scheduled from September 18 to October 3. The decision was made by Bavarian state Premier Markus Söder and Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter. Söder said that Oktoberfest is the "most global" festival there is, and that the pandemic is not yet under enough control to allow people from all over the world to gather in tents. "In the classic beer tents at the big festivals, social distancing, masks and other measures are practically impossible to implement," Söder said. "The situation is too precarious," he added. "Imagine there was a new wave and it then became a superspreader event. The brand would be damaged forever and we don't want that." Munich Mayor Reiter said canceling Oktoberfest again is "a great pity" for the millions of fans of the Wiesn, as the festival is called in the local Bavarian dialect. Reiter warned that canceling Oktoberfest for the second year in a row would have "existential implications" for the people who worked there. The Oktoberfest in 2019 brought in an estimated €1.23 billion euros ($1.5 billion) for the local economy. The annual festival, which usually brings in 6 million visitors from all corners of the globe, dates back some 200 years. Revelers sit at long communal tables to swig beer, eat sausages, pretzel or pork knuckle, and listen to oompah bands. Oktoberfest boss Clemens Baumgärtner said the move was "completely correct not only out of consideration for the health of the visitors, but also out of consideration for the good reputation of the Munich Oktoberfest as a high-quality, safe festival." He predicted that the 2022 event will be "very, very well attended because people are hungry and thirsty." A smaller rival event is reportedly being planned by officials in Dubai, angering traditionalists in Germany. The City of Munich has distanced itself from media reports that the Gulf nation is planning its own Oktoberfest, saying it has nothing to do with the original beer festival. The Oktoberfest has been canceled several times. It was not held during World War II and from 1946 to 1948. An outbreak of cholera in Munich in 1854 killed thousands of people, forcing organizers to pull the plug, To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video jf/wmr (AFP, Reuters, dpa) | 8Society
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Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Santa Cruz, Bolivia's biggest city, on Friday, after a court sentenced the local governor and opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho to .four months in pretrial detention. Protesters threw fireworks at the security forces. Buildings were attacked and cars and tires were set alight, while major routes were blocked in the city considered to be a stronghold of the right-wing opposition. The 43-year-old Camacho was arrested on Wednesday on charges of terrorism. The judge on Friday ordered that Camacho be held at a maximum security prison in the country's capital city, La Paz. Camacho labeled his arrest and transport to La Paz a kidnapping, but prosecutors denied it was politically motivated. "I'll never surrender, this is a fight for democracy and freedom," Camacho said on his Twitter account. The politician has been investigated on suspicion of playing a role in the ousting of socialist president Evo Morales in 2019 and his inciting unrest in Santa Cruz this year. Camacho, who leads the second-biggest opposition bloc in the country's congress, denies the allegations. In June, a Bolivian court found former President Jeanine Anez guilty of mounting a coup in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment. Anez ascended to the presidency after the resignation of Evo Morales in 2019. kb/dj (AFP, Reuters) | 7Politics
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Roman, a young Moldovan man, borrows his father's car every night to pick up Ukrainian refugees at the Palanca border crossing and drive them to the capital, Chisinau. He pays for the gas out of his own pocket. He's only been back home himself since last year, after a long stint working in Ireland. In the face of widespread poverty, nearly one-third of Moldovans go abroad in search of work to survive and to support their families. Since the Russian invasion began more than a week ago, more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the tiny country of roughly 3 million residents. About half of those people have traveled on to neighboring Romania, and from there often continue on to other EU states. "Anghelina, a woman I helped flee a couple of days ago, just wrote to tell me that she and her daughter had arrived in Prague and wanted to thank me," said Roman, delighted about a text message he has just received. "She writes that she never could have imagined that a stranger would do something like that for her family and expect nothing in return," he told DW. Ukrainians began lining up at the Moldovan border on the first day of the war. That same day, February 24, Moldovan President Maia Sandu announced that all the border crossings were open, and would be operating at increased capacity. "We will help these people," she said. Many volunteers greeted refugees at the border with hot tea and warm meals. They quickly helped refugees find shelter, and organized transportation for those who wished to travel onward. Government authorities also provided free bus transport and shelter; many refugees, for instance, were staying at the Moldexpo convention center in Chisinau. Most refugees who stopped to speak with DW at the border were deeply grateful for the hospitality extended by the people of Moldova. Yet, one man quickly changed the mood, screaming at DW's correspondent in Russian that in 1992, "aggressor" Moldova had attacked Trans-Dniester. Then he boarded a bus headed for Romania. The man's rage illustrated the ever-present political tensions in the region, 30 years after war broke out when pro-Russian separatists backed by Moscow decided to split off from the Republic of Moldova. To this day, Russian soldiers remain stationed in separatist Trans-Dniester — despite the fact that the region still officially belongs to Moldova. Trans-Dniester has refused to recognize the government in Chisinau. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In Moldova, a former Soviet republic, fear of Russian aggression is particularly palpable, especially now as war rages in Ukraine. Soon after the invasion began across the border, President Sandu also declared a state of emergency in her country, and ordered the closing of her country's airspace. Viorel Cibotaru, a security expert and Moldova's former defense minister, sees clear parallels between the situation in Ukraine today and that of the 1992 war , when Russia backed the separatists. "Both cases have to do with preserving or restoring the Soviet Union," Cibotaru told DW. And just as in the case of the self-proclaimed "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, there was "a lot of fake news circulating" in Trans-Dniester in the early 1990s. "Back then, the Russians said they did not supply separatists with arms, but rather had no idea how they had gotten them. The same way they claimed for the longest time that people in Donetsk and Luhansk had simply armed themselves and that Russia had nothing to do with it," he said. Many experts in Moldova have warned that the Russian troops stationed in Trans-Dniester could directly join the assault on Ukraine. Cibotaru, too, couldn't rule that out. "The troops in Trans-Dniester are like an old man with a rifle marking his territory in the days of the Russian czars. But, now, if he needs it, 30 fighter jets will come to his aid," he said. After Sandu signed her country's official application for EU membership on Thursday, the self-appointed government of Trans-Dniester reacted the following day by demanding the international community recognize its own independence. Many people are fearful of a scenario similar to that in Ukraine. The war is playing out not far away, and at night many Moldovans are startled awake by the thunder of explosions across the border. Moldova's great willingness to help its neighbors in such a threatening situation has deeply impressed the former head of the EU delegation in Chisinau, Peter Michalko. "I am proud that I once lived in Moldova! I know many of you personally and I bow before every act of humanity and hospitality that I see!" wrote the diplomat on his Facebook page. "You are an example for Europe and the entire world." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article was originally written in Romanian | 2Conflicts
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Ruja Ignatova, dubbed the "Cryptoqueen," was placed on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives last week. The FBI also put up a $100,000 (€97,292) reward for her. Ignatova is accused of defrauding gullible investors all over the world and swindling them of billions of dollars. "She is wanted for her alleged participation in a large-scale fraud scheme involving cryptocurrency," the agency said. Last month, the EU's law-enforcement agency Europol also placed the 42-year-old on its Most Wanted list. But her name no longer appears on the list and it's not clear why or when her name was removed. A German citizen who lived in Bulgaria, Ignatova launched OneCoin in 2014, ostensibly aiming to replace bitcoin as the world's leading virtual currency. It operated across the globe and claimed to have over 3 million members worldwide by the end of 2016. But unlike bitcoin or other digital currencies, OneCoin was not backed by any public, secured and decentralized blockchain-type technology. The Bulgaria-based OneCoin Ltd., instead, claimed to have a "private blockchain," according to the FBI. The fake cryptocurrency had no real value and couldn't be used to buy anything. US authorities called it one of the largest pyramid schemes in history and said Ignatova was the mastermind behind the whole scam. According to them, it operated as a multilevel marketing network and a Ponzi scheme, where early investors are encouraged to recruit others and then paid out by receipts from later investors. Ignatova disappeared in 2017 when she suspected that US investigators had launched a probe into OneCoin. "Investigators believe Ignatova may have been tipped off that she was under investigation by US and international authorities," the FBI said. "She traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, on October 25, 2017, and has not been seen since." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In 2019, the US charged her with wire fraud, money laundering and securities fraud. The BBC made a successful podcast, "The Missing Cryptoqueen," based on her deeds. Most of Ignatova's alleged collaborators, including OneCoin's co-founder Sebastian Greenwood, have been arrested. Greenwood was detained in Thailand in 2018 and then extradited to the United States, where he remains in jail awaiting trial. Ignatova's younger brother Konstantin Ignatov was arrested in March 2019 in Los Angeles in connection to the scam. He pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. Mark Scott, a former corporate lawyer, was convicted in November 2019 of laundering $400 million for the group by using a network of shell companies, offshore bank accounts and investment funds. Another man, David Pike, pleaded guilty to committing bank fraud. He was sentenced to two years probation in March. Edited by: Uwe Hessler | 0Business
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Greek MEP Eva Kaili had her powers as a vice president of the European Parliament suspended Saturday over a corruption probe implicating World Cup hosts Qatar. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola "has decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili in her capacity as Vice-President of the European Parliament," a spokesperson said. Earlier European politicians called on Kaili to resign after she was arrested in a corruption probe implicating a wealthy Gulf state. Belgian prosecutors suspect the country — identified by several media outlets as World Cup hosts Qatar — has influenced the decisions of the European Parliament through cash payments or gifts to lawmakers in the EU assembly. Kaili was one of five people detained by Belgian police on Friday — one of the others is a former European lawmaker. Authorities are due to decide on Sunday whether the five should continue to be held in custody. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "I hope this woman has the decency to give back her mandate," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told the Sunday edition of the German newspaper Tagesspiegel. German Green Party MEP Anton Hofreiter told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that if the accusations prove to be true, Kaili "must not only withdraw from the [vice] presidency of the EU Parliament but also resign her mandate." Jens Geier, the chair of the German Social Democratic Party's 16-member delegation in the European Parliament, also called on Kaili to resign immediately, adding: "It can't go on like this for another day." In Athens, the president of the Greek socialists (PASOK), Nikos Androulakis, announced on Twitter that Kaili had been expelled from the party. The center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament said Kaili had been suspended from their grouping. S&D president Iratxe Garcia Perez tweeted on Saturday that they would call for Kaili to be replaced as a parliamentary vice president. Anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International said the allegations showed that MEPs needed to be held to higher standards. "This is not an isolated incident," said Transparency director Michiel van Hulten. "While this may be the most egregious case of alleged corruption the European Parliament has seen in many years, it is not an isolated incident." Van Hulten said the parliament had "become a law until itself" by allowing a culture of impunity to develop over several decades, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of ethics oversight. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Kaili, a former journalist and TV presenter, is one of 14 vice presidents in the European Parliament, representing Greece's socialist PASOK party. She works as an adviser on foreign policy and human rights issues. The 44-year-old was arrested by Belgian police on Friday, along with four others, in connection with a suspected influence-peddling investigation. The five were detained after a series of raids in Brussels which prosecutors said turned up €600,000 ($630,000) in cash. Computers and mobile phones were also seized. Belgian daily L'Echo reported Saturday that "several bags full of [money] notes" were found at Kaili's Brussels home. The newspaper said police only decided to search her property after her father was caught carrying a large amount of cash in a suitcase. Authorities declined to identify the country behind the alleged influence efforts, but several media outlets said the country in question was Qatar, which is currently playing host to the soccer World Cup. Days before the tournament, Kaili met Qatar's Labor Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri and spoke positively about the country's progress in labor reforms. Qatar has faced sharp criticism over the treatment of foreign labor that has built its impressive World Cup stadia. Thousands of migrant workers have died in the decade since the country was awarded the tournament by football's world governing body, FIFA. mm/fb (AFP, AP, dpa) | 7Politics
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The number of wolf packs in the Alps has jumped by over 25% in just one year, the Swiss-based wolf-protection association Gruppe Wolf Schweiz (GWS) said on Monday. They described the current population growth as "exponential," rising from around 250 packs in 2021 — most of them in the border region between Italy and France — to over 300 this year. A pack is defined as at least two adult animals with pups. "The wolf is here to stay," the group said in a press release, noting that numbers are likely to rise until the predators cover all territory fit for their habitation. This would mean around 800 packs in the next five years. "Increased wolf population control, both preventive and reactive, will not change this reality at all," GWS said. "Due to the species' mobility, there would be no wolf-free areas." But the activists noted that the boom would not continue indefinitely. With a single wolf pack needing around 250 square kilometers (96.5 square miles) of territory on average, the animals would simply run out of space in the Alpine region. The wolves are expected to self-regulate after reaching this saturation point. Wolves, like other apex predators, have natural ways of limiting their own population, such as only allowing some members of the pack to breed. GWS also said it was "absolutely necessary" to protect livestock which would be threatened by the wolves' population growth. Wolves, like many other predator species, were nearly eradicated in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries to prevent them preying on livestock. But animal rights activists have been working to reverse the trend in recent decades. The current wolf population in Europe numbers around 12,000 animals, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The DPA news agency contributed to this report. | 6Nature and Environment
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Facebook said Monday it had removed a network of accounts and pages linked to Uganda's information ministry. The ministry, used the fake accounts to "manage pages, comment on other people's content, impersonate users, re-share posts in groups to make them appear more popular than they were," Facebook said in a statement. Uganda is holding presidential election ons Thursday. Long-time leader Yoweri Museveni is facing a challenge from opposition frontrunner Bobi Wine, a pop-star turned politician. Although Museveni is currently ahead in polls, he sees Wine as a threat to his 34-year rule of the East African country. "Given the impending election in Uganda, we moved quickly to investigate and take down this network," a Facebook spokesperson said. The run-up to the election has been violent, with government security forces using tear gas and live bullets to disperse opposition rallies, killing dozens. Presidential spokesman Don Wanyama told the Associated Press that Facebook was "interfering in the electoral process of Uganda," adding that the removal of the accounts was evidence of outside support for Wine. Wanyama added that Facebook reportedly blocked the accounts of Museveni campaigners, especially those who communicate in the local Luganda language. Museveni has accused the popular singer, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, of being an agent of "outsiders, homosexuals and others who don't like the stability and independence of Uganda.'' "Everything we do, we do legally," Wine told DW Monday, adding that campaigning and free and fair elections are guaranteed under Ugandan law. Wine and other opposition figures have called the 76-year-old Museveni a dictator, who has ruled without any opposition since 1986. Museveni, Wine claims, has destroyed institutions and taken control of parliament and the judiciary. "President Museveni hates to lose, and yet he is doing everything that makes him lose." wmr/rt (dpa, Reuters) | 7Politics
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French President Emmanuel Macron's chief of staff, Alexis Kohler, was indicted on Monday by France's financial crimes prosecutor. The indictment relates to Kohler's alleged conflict of interest over his ties to Swiss-Italian shipping company MSC. The move against Kohler, who holds the powerful post of Elysee Palace secretary-general, came just hours after Macron's Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, was ordered to stand trial in a separate case, also over a conflict of interest. Under French law, Kohler's indictment means he is under an official investigation based on evidence of wrongdoing held by the prosecutor, but not that he's been charged with a crime yet. Prosecutors were reacting to a complaint that was filed against Kohler by anti-graft group Anticor. The complaint alleges that Kohler did not properly disclose that MSC is owned by his mother's cousins. The complaint also details how Kohler had dealings with MSC while he was working for the French state holdings agency between 2012 and 2014 and later as a senior official in Macron's team at the finance ministry in 2014-2016. When Macron stepped down as economy minister in 2016, Kohler also left the government and briefly moved to Geneva to serve on MSC's board. In 2017, Kohler returned to the civil service at the Elysee Palace when Macron won the presidency. MSC, whose business largely revolves around cruise ships, is one of the main clients of French shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique. The shipyard is co-owned by private investors and the French government following a 2016 bankruptcy. Macron's office said later on Monday that it would not be relieving Kohler of his post, and added that the president's chief of staff had properly disclosed his family links to MSC as well as his employment there. Kohler has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. es/sms (AFP, Reuters) | 3Crime
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Crowds of mostly young men in a pro-British area of the Northern Irish city of Belfast set a hijacked bus on fire with petrol bombs and attacked police with stones in the latest outbreak of violence that erupted last week. Videos circulating on social media showed the bus being hit with incendiary devices and later completely burning out. According to several media reports, a press photographer was also attacked. In recent days protesters have burned cars and hurled Molotov cocktails and chunks of stone at police in several towns across Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply concerned" by the growing disorder. Violence last week flared in the city of Londonderry, before spreading to the capital of Belfast and outlying areas over Easter weekend and into Monday. Small bands of masked people set cars alight and threw petrol bombs and stones at police, injuring 41 officers. Police responded by forming ranks with riot shields and armored vehicles to retake the streets, arresting teens and young adults. The renewed violence comes amid growing frustration in the pro-British unionist community at new trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom that resulted from Britain's exit from the European Union. A generation ago, Belfast was enveloped in conflicts between those advocating for Irish independence and those loyal to Britain. Belfast was the center of the so-called Troubles between 1969 and 2001, when over 1,600 people were killed in sectarian conflicts throughout the divided and militarily occupied city. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 is largely credited with ending what had become a low-level civil war. But memories of the violent past loom over the present as the region remains deeply divided. The violence on Wednesday took place near the Shankill Road in west Belfast near a so-called "peace wall" that divides the most Protestant unionist community from the mainly Catholic Irish nationalist stronghold of the Falls Road, where groups of youths also gathered. The pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said the recent clashes stem from a decision by police not to prosecute members of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party for attending a large funeral of a former Irish Republican Army paramilitary leader in an apparent breach of COVID-19 restrictions. "These actions do not represent unionism or loyalism. They are an embarrassment to Northern Ireland," DUP leader Arlene Foster wrote in a Twitter post that went on to describe rivals Sinn Fein as "the real law breakers." Sinn Fein in turn blamed the DUP for stoking tensions with their staunch opposition to new Brexit-mandated trading arrangements. They have called in recent days for the region's police chief to step down. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The 1998 Good Friday peace accords let unionists and nationalists coexist by blurring the status of the region, dissolving border checks with the fellow European Union member state of the Republic of Ireland. But the UK decision to leave the bloc threatened to upset the fragile peace by requiring the return of border controls. Negotiators agreed to a special "protocol" for Northern Ireland, shifting checks away from the land border to Northern Irish ports. The new checks — which effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU's customs union and single market — have disrupted trade with the UK. Though Prime Minister Johnson's spokesman declined to comment on what's driving the unrest, Belfast Telegraph correspondent Allison Morris wrote that rioters have little interest in the complexities of UK-EU trade, "but they do know they're angry." "They do understand that they have been betrayed by the very British government that their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were slavishly loyal to," she wrote. Fresh graffiti has appeared in unionist areas depicting the gun crosshairs symbol and the phrase "all bets are off." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video mb/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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The Lithuanian Defense Ministry on Wednesday called on public officials and consumers to be wary of Chinese-made phones due to cybersecurity and censorship risks. The Lithuanian National Security Center, which is a part of the Defense Ministry, said in a report that it found four "cybersecurity risks" in phones made by Chinese firms Huawei and Xiaomi. The center said Xiaomi phones were able to censor phrases by users which were against the official stances of the Chinese government. These phrases included "Free Tibet" and "Long Live Taiwan Independence." "We strongly recommend that state and public institutions not use those devices and plan to initiate legislation which regulates acquiring certain devices for the ministries and various state agencies," Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius said. The cybersecurity center's report is intended "to ensure the safe use of 5G mobile devices sold in our country and the software they contain." The report found that phones made by Chinese firm OnePlus did not have problems, unlike Huawei and Xiaomi. Both Huawei and Xiaomi have denied the allegations. "Huawei always complies with the laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which it operates, and considers cybersecurity and privacy to be a top priority," Huawei Baltics spokesperson Mindaugas Plukys said. "Xiaomi has never and will never restrict or block any personal behaviors of our smartphone users, such as searching, web browsing or the use of third-party communication software," Xiaomi said in a statement addressing allegations of censorship. Lithuania and China have had a fraught relationship in recent months. In July, Lithuania agreed to allow Taiwan open a diplomatic facility in Vilnius under its own name, instead of the name Chinese Taipei. The move angered Beijing, with the Chinese government recalling its ambassador. In May, Lithuania withdrew from China's "17+1" diplomatic bloc in Eastern Europe and called for other countries to do the same. wd/aw (AFP, AP, Reuters) | 7Politics
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Nancy Faesar is no stranger to dealing with enemies of an open, democratic and diverse society. The new German interior minister hails from the central German state of Hesse, which has repeatedly made the headlines because of right-wing extremist attacks. The most notorious took place in Hanau in February 2020, when a racist attacker shot nine people in a hookah bar. Even before that, Hesse hit international headlines in June 2019 when a neo-Nazi murdered the center-right Christian Democrat (CDU) local politician Walter Lübcke, because of his support for refugees. And back in 2006, Halit Yozgat was shot in an internet cafe in Kassel, the ninth of ten victims of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terrorist group. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Nancy Faeser has placed herself in the tradition of anti-fascists and women's rights activists. The mother of a six-year-old son is a trained lawyer and spent time studying in the United States before joining an international law firm in Frankfurt. In the negotiations to form the new coalition for Germany's new governemnt, she was a negotiator for her center-left Social Democrats (SPD) on the issues of migration and integration — key topics for the Interior Ministry. As a member of the Hesse state parliament from 2003, Nancy Faeser has had to deal with far-right extremist crimes time and again. And now she will face similar challenges at a national level in her new job in Berlin. As Minister of the Interior, Faeser is responsible for security in Germany. She is in charge of such important agencies as Germany's domestic intelligence service (BfV), the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), and the federal police. She is the first woman to hold this role. In March 2021, Faeser addressed the Hesse state parliament and explained: "The fight against right-wing extremism is what has led me personally into politics." She referred back to past Social Democrats who fought against Adolf Hitler and Nazism like Otto Wels or Kurt Schumacher, and the West German Chancellor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Willy Brandt. She knows from her own experience what can happen if you stand up against right-wing extremism and for equal rights: She received personal threats from the "NSU 2.0" in an allusion to the original NSU terror group that killed ten people. Other female politicians in Hesse received threats, too. And there were links to the Hesse police: Seda Basay-Yildizs, a lawyer for an NSU victim received death threats. It then emerged that her confidential data had been accessed from a police computer in Hesse. It is still unclear whether the data breach was intentional or a result of negligence. As a member of the NSU investigation committee of the Hessian state parliament, Faeser looked into the circumstances surrounding Halit Yozgat who was shot and killed by the right-wing terrorists while an informant of the state domestic intelligence service sat next door and saw nothing. It has proved impossible to clear up that case, as the state's local government of center-right CDU and the Greens wants to keep the files under lock and key. The leader of the Left Party, Janine Wissler, also knows the new German Interior Minister from that time. "I worked well with Nancy Faeser in Hesse, especially during the NSU investigation committee," Janine Wissler told DW. She described Faesar as a committed comrade-in-arms in the fight against right-wing violence and threats such as the "NSU 2.0." As the leader of the opposition in Hesse, Faeser repeatedly accused the CDU-Green state government of serious failures in the fight against right-wing extremism. Now Kaeser will take up the fight against extremism at the federal level, where the focus of German and international public attention is high. Data protection issues may prove controversial in the new coalition government in Berlin. Both the Green Party and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) oppose the highly controversial data retention law, which pits them against Kaeser's. The two smaller parties are also skeptical of the German Federal Intelligence Service's (BND) mandate to monitor telecommunications — which the Federal Constitutional Court has ruled to be unconstitutional. In short, when it comes to security policy, the new federal government is by no means united. For Nancy Faeser, this will be a new experience. After all, as German interior minister, she will be dealing with larger issues of national and international security architecture than she has been doing as opposition leader in a German state. This text has been translated from German. While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up herefor the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era. | 7Politics
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The European Union is embroiled in an escalating dispute with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca over planned curbs in vaccine deliveries. Vaccines provided by BioNTech-Pfizer are also being supplied to European countries at levels lower than anticipated. The shortages are already having an impact on the ground, with countries forced to either halt giving out first doses or to delay appointments. DW takes a look at which regions are halting their programs and who will be impacted the most. All first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be reportedly suspended in Paris and the surrounding area starting on February 2. The public health agency for the Paris region — home to 12.1 million people — told hospitals to halt first doses starting in February due to "extremely tight vaccine supplies," Reuters news agency reported, citing a source familiar with the talks. The source added that second doses would continue to be distributed in the greater Paris region. Health officials in the wine-making Burgundy area said they were deferring first dose injections. The northern Hauts-de-France region announced similar measures, with officials saying that first doses that were supposed to take place in February will now take place in early March. Who will be impacted? Over a third of France's population live in the areas that have announced delays to the country's vaccination program. Nearly all elderly residents in nursing homes have already received the vaccine and likely won't be impacted by the delays. But the delays will impact health care workers and people over 75 years of age, who were next in line to receive a first dose. Vaccine shortages have also hit Spain — with the Madrid and Cantabria regions halting their vaccination programs. Both regions said they would use the remaining supplies to dole out second, followup shots. In Catalonia, health officials warned that the vaccine supplies for Barcelona and the surrounding region would run out on Friday. Who will be impacted? The shortages in Catalonia mean that 10,000 people who received the first dose will not get their second dose 21 days later as is currently planned, said the region's public health chief Josep Argimon. He added that the delay shouldn't be a problem "in theory," as initial EU guidelines called for the second dose to be administered up to 45 days after the first. New advice issued Thursday by the European Medicines Agency, however, said the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine's second dose should be given three weeks after the first. Madrid's regional vice president Igancio Aguado said the supply issues would likely make it impossible to meet the Spanish government's goal of vaccinating 70% of the population by summer. Germany is bracing for vaccine shortages to last into April, said Health Minister Jens Spahn. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the country's most populous state, officials postponed opening vaccination centers until February 8. In the eastern state of Brandenburg, health authorities pushed back first-dose appointments that had been originally slated for the end of January. Who will be impacted? Over 2.1 million people out of Germany's 83 million population have received a first dose of the vaccine. Germany's vaccine drive has so far concentrated on people over 80 years old, care workers and health care workers with a high risk of exposure to COVID-19. The delays mean that people in their 70s and younger, as well as those with health conditions that put them at higher risk, will have to wait longer for the jab. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and state leaders have faced growing criticism over the slow rollout of the country's vaccination drive. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Portugal, which currently has one of the highest infection rates in the world, has also been forced to alter its vaccination drive plans due to shortages. The government said it will extend the first phase of the country's vaccination plan into April. Delivery delays mean the country will receive half of its expected doses only in March. Who will be impacted? Portuguese officials expect frontline health workers and others who have top priority will all be fully vaccinated by April — two months later than originally planned. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Dutch government is also expecting to struggle to stay on track with its vaccination schedule. The AstraZeneca vaccine curbs, in particular, have put the Netherlands in a tight spot. Out of the 11.7 million doses that the Netherlands ordered from AstraZeneca, only 4.5 million are expected to be delivered in March. Who will be impacted? With the Netherlands placing an early bet on the AstraZeneca vaccine, the rollout to the general population is expected to take even longer than planned. The Netherlands has faced criticism as one of the last countries in the European Union to start its vaccination program. The first doses were administered in the Netherlands a week after the first shots were administered in other areas of the bloc. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video rs/sms (Reuters, AP) | 5Health
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Sunday that he intended to designate the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen as a "foreign terrorist organization." Pompeo also said he intended to list three leaders of the Houthi movement, also known as Ansarallah, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. "These designations will provide additional tools to confront terrorist activity and terrorism by Ansarallah, a deadly Iran-backed militia group in the Gulf region,'' Pompeo said. "The designations are intended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure, and commercial shipping." United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said: "We welcome the US administration's decision to classify the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, and to place its leaders on terrorist lists," tweeted Gargash on Monday. Saudi Arabia said the designation would "neutralize" the Houthi threat. "It…will force the leaders of the Houthi militia backed by Iran to seriously return to the negotiating table," said the Saudi Foreign Ministry in a statement. However, diplomats and aid groups have said they fear such a move could threaten peace talks and hamper efforts to deliver aid to what the UN calls the world's largest humanitarian crisis. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support government forces fighting the Houthis. The Houthis are the de facto authority in the northern part of Yemen, and aid groups rely on the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah to deliver help. The Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the main humanitarian agencies active in Yemen, said on Monday that the designation would "hamstring the ability of aid agencies to respond'' to humanitarian needs in Yemen. "Yemen's faltering economy will be dealt a further devastating blow,'' said Mohamed Abdi, the Council's director for Yemen. "Getting food and medicine into Yemen — a country 80% dependent on imports — will become even more difficult.'' Pompeo said exceptions could be made to facilitate international aid: "We are planning to put in place measures to reduce their impact on certain humanitarian activity and imports into Yemen," he said. It's feared the decision could derail UN-led peace talks as US President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take over from Donald Trump on January 20. Pompeo was also expected to re-designate Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism," according to several administration officials. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Secretary of State infuriated China when he declared restrictions on US diplomatic contacts with officials in Taiwan to be null and void. Beijing responded on Monday by saying it was "resolutely opposed" to the US' decision, while Taipei said the move would elevate US-Taiwan relations to "a global partnership." China requires that its trading partners do not engage in formal diplomacy with Taiwan. The flurry of activity comes as Pompeo and his top aides hurry to take their last desired steps before Trump leaves the White House. rc/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa) | 2Conflicts
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with pro-India politicians from disputed Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. The talks were the first time since New Delhi stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status in 2019. The meeting was attended by leaders from regional and mainstream parties, including three former chief ministers who were among the thousands jailed on the eve of the end of the region's special status. Modi posted pictures from the meeting on Twitter, suggesting elections should take place there soon. "Delimitation has to happen at a quick pace so that polls can happen and J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) gets an elected Government that gives strength to J&K's development trajectory." The Kashmir state was stripped of special powers, including the right to its own constitution and flag in August 2019. It was also divided into two federally controlled territories: Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Some regional leaders said they demanded the restoration of their statehood and limited autonomy at the talks. "We told the prime minister that we don't stand with what was done on August 5, 2019," said Omar Abdullah, leader of the National Conference regional party. "We're not ready to accept it, but we won't take law into hands, we will fight this in court." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Other regional leaders did not explicitly demand a restoration of the special status, but did stress an early restoration of statehood. The regional representatives who were present said the federal government did not respond to the demand for statehood before elections. The 2019 decision to revoke the region's statehood and semi-autonomy triggered large protests and angered local leaders who claimed they were never consulted. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "I spoke about the pain and anger and frustration among the people of Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019, about how they feel humiliated," said Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the regional People's Democratic Party. "I said people of the J&K are facing a lot of problems…even if they breathe loudly they are jailed." Mufti said she told Indian leaders that New Delhi should also discuss a solution to the dispute with neighboring Pakistan. Muslim-majority Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, both of which claim it in its entirety. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video kbd/rt (AP, dpa, Reuters) | 7Politics
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The EU commenced sanctions against eight Iranian security officials for their role in the 2019 crackdown against popular protest, the bloc's Official Journal confirmed on Monday. The sanctions are the first since 2013. The move comes as members of the EU have been trying to reanimate the faltered Iran nuclear deal. Punitive measures had been put on hold in the run-up to the 2015 deal signed by Tehran, the US and several other world leaders. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said Tehran "strongly condemned" the sanctions and that the country was "suspending all human rights talks and cooperation resulting from these talks with the EU, especially in [the fields of] terrorism, drugs and refugees." He added that Iran rejected "such actions from those falsely claiming to champion human rights" and that it was considering responding in kind. The head of Iran's powerful security force, the Revolutionary Guards, was added to the list along with militia commanders and police chiefs. Travel bans and asset freezes are now in place against the eight individuals. The EU accused the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, of being responsible for the violent response to protests. "Hossein Salami took part in the sessions that resulted in the orders to use lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests. Hossein Salami therefore bears responsibility for serious human rights violations in Iran," the EU said. Three prisons were also hit with asset freezes. The bloc also claimed they had been used to detain prisoners from the protests where they had been deliberately wounded with boiling water and denied medical treatment. The Islamic Republic responded to two weeks of protest against a hike in fuel prices in November 2019 with a brutal crackdown. The UN has said that at least 304 people were killed. Reuters reported closer to 1,500, based on reports from Iranian interior ministry officials. The EU described ongoing talks in Vienna as "constructive" on Friday. US President Joe Biden has said he wants to rejoin the deal that former President Donald Trump withdrew from. However, both sides have made demands of the other, with Iran saying it will not start to roll back its uranium enrichment until the US lifts sanctions imposed by Trump. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A European diplomat told AFP that the new sanctions had been in the pipeline for a long time and that they had decided to impose them despite the ongoing talks. The EU now has sanctions against 89 individuals and four entities in Iran. Separate sanctions against the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program were dropped by Brussels as part of the nuclear deal. The Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached in July 2015 between Iran and the United States, Germany, Britain, China, Russia and France (known as the P5+1), as well as the European Union. The deal lifted international sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program in exchange for Tehran dismantling it. ab/rt (AFP, Reuters) | 7Politics
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The news of Uwe Seeler's passing was confirmed by his former club, Hamburg, on Thursday, citing information received from the late striker's family. During his playing career with Hamburg and West Germany, which spanned from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, Uwe Seeler was known as one of the world's best strikers and had many honors bestowed upon him. Three times Seeler was voted West Germany's Footballer of the Year, in 1960, 1964 and 1970 — the year he was also awarded West Germany's Federal Cross of Merit. Even though he never won a title with West Germany, in 1972 he became just the second man to be named honorary captain of the national team. He helped Hamburg to a German football championship in 1960, three years before the formation of the Bundesliga, as well as a German Cup title in 1963. However, his public image was formed not so much by his footballing achievements but more by his down-to-earth, straightforward and easy-going personality, which earned him the nickname "uns Uwe" (our Uwe).He was also widely respected for his sense of fair play, having only been sent off once in his entire career. His rejection of a high-priced offer from Inter Milan in 1961 also endeared him to the Hamburg fans. Uwe Seeler was born into a sporting family in Hamburg on November 5, 1936. His father, Erwin Seeler, was one of the city's most popular footballers from 1920s to the 1940s, so it came as no surprise when he too joined Hamburger SV in 1946. He established himself as a top goal scorer in the Oberliga Nord (then the top tier of West German football) between 1956 and 1962. When Hamburg became one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963-64, Seeler became the new league's first top scorer with 30 goals. West Germany coach Sepp Herberger gave Seeler his first call up to the national team in 1954 and he made his first appearance at the age of just 17. However, it was at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden that he established himself as an international star. Three years later, he wore the captain's armband for the first time. In 1966 he was a member of the West German team that lost 4-2 to England in the World Cup final in London's Wembley Stadium. Four years later, though West Germany would get their revenge in the World Cup quarterfinals in Mexico as Seeler scored with the back of his head to give them a 3-2 win over England. Shortly after that World Cup, Seeler retired from international football, making his final appearance for West Germany against Hungary in September 1970. He played his last match for Hamburg in May, 1972. However, even in his post-playing days, Seeler was never far from the game he loved. He successfully ran a clothing company and worked as a representative for a sporting goods manufacturer. He also served as president of his beloved HSV from 1995 to 1998. A sculpture of a replica of Seeler's right foot, was unveiled in 2005 and stands in front of Hamburg's home ground, the Volksparkstadion. Although he has now departed, in Hamburg and throughout Germany, Seeler will always be fondly remembered as "uns Uwe" (our Uwe). To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article was originally published in German | 9Sports
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Sri Lanka's acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has imposed a state of emergency, according to a government notice released late on Sunday and reported by local media. "It is expedient, so to do, in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community," the declaration stated. Wickremesinghe also announced a state of emergency last week after ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, but it remains unclear whether the order had lapsed or was withdrawn. While specifics of the current regulation are yet to be announced, previous emergency powers have been used to deploy the military to arrest and detain people, search private property and dampen protests. Sri Lanka is due to choose a president this week, with parliament members set to hear nominations for the post on Tuesday. Sri Lanka has been battling an acute economic and political crisis in recent months. The country has been struggling with crippling shortages of essential items, including food, fuel and medicine. The resulting public fury and resentment toward the political leadership forced President Rajapaksa to flee the country and send a resignation letter to parliament, which was accepted on Friday. Wickremesinghe, who has been serving as prime minister, was sworn in as interim president. Sri Lanka's parliament met on Saturday to begin the process of electing a new president, as a shipment of fuel arrived to provide some relief to the crisis-hit nation. Sri Lanka has appealed to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package, but the political turmoil has delayed the talks. The head of the nation's central bank told the Wall Street Journal that the economy would likely contract by more than 6% this year. Street protests have waned since Rajapaksa fled the country. But some 500 people continue to occupy part of the president's office after it was overrun earlier this month. rm, sri/wd (Reuters, dpa) | 7Politics
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Some 250 police officers and other investigators raided 24 houses and apartments around Germany on Wednesday, with Bavarian prosecutors saying "a Russian citizen and four other defendants" were the targets of the investigation. Prosecutors did not identify the main suspect in their written statement, saying only that he had been placed on the EU's Ukraine-related sanctions list on February 28 this year, in the first round of sanctions issued just days after Russia's invasion. Bavarian and national media, including Bayerischer Rundfunk and der Spiegel, reported that several of the properties were known to belong to Uzbek-Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who was one of the individuals placed on the February 28 sanctions list. Three raided properties just in the town of Rottach-Ergen on the Tegernsee lake were thought to belong to the oligarch via shell companies. According to Bavarian prosecutors, properties outside Bavaria in Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg were also searched. Investigators say the main suspect is accused of using frozen assets to pay security staff guarding his properties in Upper Bavaria. They said they had reason to believe he had breached German laws on cross-border financial activity. The four other suspects are under investigation as alleged accomplices, accused of being paid to guard the properties. Meanwhile, Germany's federal investigative police force (the BKA) is also looking into alleged money laundering. They suspect that the Russian citizen used a network of businesses and other organizations, often in offshore tax havens, to facilitate several financial transfers between 2017 and 2022. They believe these assets could have hailed from criminal activity, particularly tax evasion. Usmanov, a 69-year-old Uzbek-born Russian citizen, is considered one of Russia's wealthiest oligarchs, with a recent estimate putting his net worth around $19.5 billion (roughly €19.7 billion). He is possibly best known for his metals and mining interests, for owning the Kommersant publishing house in Russia, and for owning Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator Megafon. He also was formerly a major stakeholder in Premier League football giants Arsenal. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Official Journal of the European Union described Usmanov in March as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russia's President Vladimir Putin." But Usmanov disputes this. Along with former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, he is one of the oligarchs appealing his inclusion on the EU sanctions lists, at the bloc's General Court. msh/wd (dpa, Reuters) While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing. | 7Politics
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Munich airport officials on Tuesday said they had seized a bumper haul of illicit khat leaves that was on its way to the United States. The 1.2 metric ton haul — a record amount for the airport — was headed to the US from Dubai, through Germany. Customs officials at the Munich airport discovered the leaves in a cargo shipment that had been declared as "table decoration." German customs officials often inspect and, if necessary, seize shipments that are only in transit. "This is the largest amount of khat seized since Munich Airport was established," said Thomas Meister, press spokesman for Munich's main customs office. The office said "appropriate proceedings" had been initiated and the goods seized, with the investigation ongoing. Khat is a regularly used stimulant in the Horn of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is chewed and then held in the cheek as the juices are extracted for its stimulant and euphoric effects. However, it can lead to psychological dependence, depression and paranoid delusions, and is a controlled or banned substance in most of Europe and North America. The leaf is particularly popular in the Yemeni, Ethiopian and Somali cultures. US officials say khat use there is most prevalent among immigrants from those countries. | 3Crime
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Police in Guatemala said Saturday that 13 people have been killed in the village of Chiquix, 155 kilometers (96 miles) east of Guatemala City, in an apparent land dispute. The victims include women and children. It was not immediately clear how the victims died, but police described the killings as "intolerable and incomprehensible fratricide." According to a police statement released on Twitter, a police officer was among those killed while two others were injured. "From the first moment, the necessary police officers have been appointed to find those responsible for these crimes and make evaluations of new strategies to try to stop more unfortunate events," the statement read. A dispute between two municipalities that has run for more than 100 years appears to be the cause of the attack. Residents of Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan have been involved in violent confrontations in the past that have also turned deadly. In May 2020, President Alejandro Giammattei declared a state of siege following an escalation of violence in the area. "These differences have persisted for more than a hundred years, and throughout history have claimed the lives of many, many villagers involved in the supposed defense of their lands," Giammattei said at the time. Guetamalan police said different specialized units have been involved in maintaining security and engagement with the communities with equal measures being provided for both. The police statement condemned the attack, calling it "inhumane." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video kb/aw (AFP, AP, EFE, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on Sunday said 16 Chinese fighter jets had entered its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) a day earlier. The number of aircraft sent into the ADIZ is one of the largest since early October, when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent around 150 warplanes into the air defense zone in separate maneuvers over five days. The ministry said it issued radio warnings and monitored the aircraft on Saturday using air defense systems. The jets entered the ADIZ off Taiwan's southwestern coast, following a path similar to previous incursions. The ADIZ extends hundreds of kilometers from Taiwan's coast and even includes parts of mainland China. It is much larger than Taiwan's sovereign air space, which only extends 12 nautical miles from the coast. The ADIZ is airspace designated for national security purposes but is not delineated in international treaties. Taiwanese authorities reserve the right to order aircraft entering the ADIZ to identify themselves and their purpose. Although China has flown regular incursions with smaller numbers of aircraft into the ADIZ over the past several weeks, the warplanes have not entered Taiwan's sovereign airspace.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Chinese flights into the ADIZ on Saturday came a day after a European Parliament delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Taipei. The seven lawmakers on the parliament's committee on foreign interference in democratic processes visited last week, following up on a resolution last month calling for the body to "intensify EU-Taiwan political relations."
EU parliamentarians said the visit was not aimed at provoking China, which sees self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory and usually considers any attempt at building bilateral ties between Western nations and the government in Taipei as a provocation. see,ar/wmr (Reuters, dpa,AP) | 2Conflicts
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In a new report released Tuesday, Amnesty International said the Israeli state governed Palestinians in "a system of oppression and domination," which it charged met the international definition of "apartheid." The more than 200-page report was compiled over four years. Amnesty International joins other rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and the Israeli organization B'Tselem in accusing Israel of maintaining an "apartheid" state. Amnesty accuses Israel of implementing a system of "segregation, dispossession and exclusion" that it says amount to crimes against humanity. Israel has blasted the report as pouring "fuel onto the fire of antisemitism.'' Jewish groups in Germany have also condemned the report as "antisemitic." Amnesty's secretary general, Agnes Callamard, said: "Amnesty recognizes the state of Israel and denounces antisemitism." The Amnesty report offers a researched-but-abridged history of the Palestinian population since Israel declared its statehood in 1948. Approximately 700,000 Palestinians or roughly 80% of the Palestinian population in present-day Israel fled or were expelled that year, mostly to neighboring countries. Today, Palestinians constitute 20% of Israel's population of 9.4 million. However, if the West Bank and Gaza are included, the Jewish and Arab populations are about the same. In 2005, Israel withdrew its army from Gaza and evicted settlers. The militant group Hamas — which the US and European Union has designated a terrorist organization — has been in control of Gaza since 2007. The rights groups say the fragmented territory of the West Bank and Gaza is part of a system designed to enable the Israeli state to control land from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video While some Palestinians have excelled in business, law, medicine and entertainment in Israel, the situation and job prospects, as well as potential for physical or societal mobility, are diminished. Amnesty's report examines cases of discrimination against Arabs within Israel, the country's blockade of the Gaza Strip, and the de facto annexation of parts of the West Bank, where Israel is rapidly constructing and expanding existing settlements. Many in the international community, including Germany and France, have criticized the settlements and their expansion as a violation of international law. Additionally, the report chronicles the appropriation of Palestinian land and property, extrajudicial killings, the forcible relocation of people, and the denial of the rights of citizenship. Israel rejects the allegation of "apartheid," pointing to Israeli Arab citizens who the government says have full rights. Israel itself has hardened in its position towards rights groups labeling it "apartheid." Ahead of the report's release, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Its extremist language and the distortion of historical context were designed to demonize Israel and pour fuel onto the fire of antisemitism.'' Amnesty's Secretary General Agnes Callamard rejected the claims as "baseless attacks" that are "nothing more than a desperate attempt to evade scrutiny..." The foreign minister, Yair Lapid, said, "Israel is not perfect, but it is a democracy committed to international law and open to scrutiny." In the 1990s, Israel granted some autonomy to the Palestinian Authority during the peace process that led up to the Oslo Accords. The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, welcomed the report. In Germany, the country's only Jewish weekly newspaper, Jüdische Allgemeine, called it "the #apartheid lie," and said, "Israel is repeatedly equated and defamed with the former South African regime." Amnesty International said its report does not compare Israel to apartheid in South Africa. The Central Council of Jews in Germany labeled the report "antisemitic" and called on Amnesty International's German chapter to distance itself from it. Amnesty International Germany published the report on its website but noted that due to the current climate and historical context, an "objective, factual debate" on the report is difficult to achieve — and that it would not organize any activities on the publication, in a bid to deter "misinterpretations of the report." ar/nm (AFP, AP, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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An avalanche in Austria's Tyrol province claimed the lives of at least five people on Friday. According to search and rescue personnel, one person is unaccounted for. "It was one of 13 avalanches today in Tyrol. ... It happened off-piste," Patrick Ortler from rescue services told the AFP news agency. Another person was injured and taken to the hospital while rescue efforts continued. Helicopters from Switzerland and Austria were dispatched to the scene to assist with search and rescue efforts, Ortler said. Another avalanche on Friday buried five people in Sölden, a popular ski resort in the province. All were rescued alive. Recent heavy snowfall has been accompanied by warmer temperatures, meaning there is a high level of avalanche danger in the region. Warnings have been issued in high-lying areas over the past few days. A German woman was reported to have been buried in an avalanche in the resort of Glungezer and was rescued alive. A police spokesperson said she had been buried for 15 minutes and added that "surviving for 15 minutes is a total stroke of luck." Avalanches in Austria are not uncommon and cause on average 20 deaths each year. In early December, three people were killed in an avalanche in Salzburg province. The 1999 Galtür avalanche in Tyrol claimed the lives of 31 people and was considered to have been the worst in decades. During the so-called Winter of Terror in 1950-1951, more than 200 people died in the worst avalanche season on record. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video kb/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters) | 1Catastrophe
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The Druzhba pipeline, which transfers Russian crude oil to Germany and other Central European countries, has been fixed after a leak was reported earlier this week. Polish state-run pipeline operator PERN said the pipeline was now fully operational. "PERN's technical services restored the full functionality of the damaged pipeline used to deliver crude oil to the company's German customers on Saturday," Reuters news agency quoted PERN as saying in a statement. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The operator stressed it was still investigating the cause of the leak, which was reported on Tuesday, but said there was no reason to suspect sabotage. "Based on initial assessments, and the manner and way that the pipeline is formed, there are no hints as of now of outsider tampering," Germany's dpa news agency quoted PERN as saying. In the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, European countries have been scrambling to minimize their reliance on Russian oil and gas. Last month, explosions hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Both Russia and Western countries have swapped sabotage accusations. The two pipelines were not operational at the time — Moscow cut off gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 in August, saying Western sanctions were to blame for technical problems. Russia's aggression against Ukraine prompted Germany to shelve the Nord Stream 2 project in February. The Druzhba pipeline was set up in the 1960s to transfer crude oil from Siberia to countries including Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Germany. Meaning "Friendship" in Russian, the pipeline is among the largest systems worldwide. rmt/nm (AP, dpa, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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These live updates are now closed. For our latest coverage Wednesday, follow our live updates here Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed "in principle" to United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross involvement in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the UN said. Putin made the concession to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during their meeting in Moscow. "Follow-on discussions will be had with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Russian Defence Ministry," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said after the meeting. Ukraine's remaining forces in Mariupol and some civilians were holding out in the steel plant and were surrounded by Russian forces. Ukraine on Monday appealed for the UN and Red Cross to be involved in the evacuation of civilians from Azovstal.
Guterres is expected to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday. Russia's Gazprom has informed both Bulgaria and Poland that it will cut off gas exports on Wednesday, according to Bulgarian and Polish officials. The two countries will be the first to be cut off from Russian gas since Moscow invaded Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that "unfriendly" countries open accounts at Gazprombank to convert euro or dollar payments into rubles. Poland has refused to comply with the new scheme and said it will not extend the contract. The Polish government says gas supplies will not be affected, as it can source gas via two links with Germany, an upcoming link with Lithuania and via an interconnector with the Czech Republic. Later on Tuesday, Gazprom told Bulgaria's state gas company Bulgargaz that it would cease gas supplies. The Bulgarian government said it would not lead to gas restrictions, as it has found alternative arrangements for the supply of natural gas. Germany's network regulator said it was monitoring the situation and that "the security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed." German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund has raised €400,000 ($426,000) for Ukraine in a friendly match with Ukraine's top club Dynamo Kyiv. Kyiv won 3-2 in a charity match played in front of about 35,000 fans. All proceeds will go to victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "It is about sending a signal, a sign of solidarity with Ukraine, earning a bit of money so that we can do one or the other humanitarian action. And then it is also a sign against this despicable war of aggression," Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke told broadcasters ZDF. Kyiv has played similar fund-raising matches in Warsaw, Istanbul and Cluj. Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. In televised remarks, he told Guterres that he still hoped for negotiations to end the conflict. "Despite the fact that the military operation is ongoing, we still hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track. We are negotiating, we do not reject [talks]," Putin told Guterres, who was visiting Moscow. He said talks with Ukraine had been derailed by claims of atrocities committed by Russian forces in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv. He claimed without evidence, that the massacres in Bucha were not carried out by Russians. "There was a provocation in the village of Bucha, which the Russian army had nothing to do with," Putin said. "We know who prepared this provocation, by what means, and what kind of people worked on it." Guterres reiterated his call for Ukraine and Russia to work together with the UN to set up aid and evacuation corridors to help civilians in Ukraine. The broadcast discussions showed Guterres and Putin sitting opposite each other at the large oval table in the hall of the Senate Palace, following an hour-long meeting in the Kremlin. Guterres earlier met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov where he called for a ceasefire. Italy is reportedly considering temporarily nationalizing a refinery owned by Lukoil — a Russian multinational energy corporation — as a response to possible sanctions on Russian oil. Lukoil, which is not the subject of sanctions, owns the ISAB refinery — Italy's largest oil refinery by capacity. It used to buy 30%-40% of its crude oil from Russia, with the remainder coming from international markets. Since the Russian invasion, it has been unable to obtain international credit, and has been sourcing almost all its crude oil from Russia. Reuters news agency, citing two government sources, said Industry Minister Giancario Gieorgetti is planning to raise the prospect of nationalization when the Italian cabinet meets on Thursday. European leaders are debating whether to impose an embargo on Russian oil. The German economy minister, Robert Habeck says the country is very close to completely halting imports of Russian oil. Habeck said Germany has cut oil import dependency from 35% to 12% in eight weeks. "Today I can say that an embargo is now more in reach for Germany. In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to expand this independence and rapidly move away from fossil fuels. But as I said, what a few weeks ago seemed a very large problem for Germany has shrunk considerably, so that German independence from Russian oil is now very very close." Habeck was speaking in Warsaw after talks with Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa. The US has convened more than 20 nations at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on behalf of Ukraine's defense. Speaking at the event, Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, told reporters that "we have to move at the speed of war." Austin said the US was determined to make better use of the US European Command's coordination mechanism and would extend the forum for Ukraine's defense into a monthly contact group. "We do want to make it harder for Russia to threaten its neighbors and make it less able to do that," Austin said. Austin went on to express sharp criticism of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who warned on Monday that World War III might be looming. "You've heard us say a number of times that that kind of rhetoric is very dangerous and unhelpful," Austin said. "Nobody wants to see a nuclear war happen. Dangerous rhetoric is clearly unhelpful. And something that we won't engage in," he added. Ukraine says it is concerned by attempts to worsen the security situation in Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway province of Trans-Dniester. Mykhaylo Podolyak, a Ukraine presidential aide said in a post on Twitter: "Russia wants to destabilize the Transnistrian region and hints Moldova should wait for 'guests,'" wrote on Twitter. "Bad news: if Ukraine falls tomorrow Russian troops will be at Chisinau's gates," Podolyak said, referring Moldova's capital. "Good news: Ukraine will definitely ensure strategic security of the region. But we need to work as a team," Podolyak added. It comes after several apparent attacks in the region. In the past day, attacks have reportedly targeted a military unit, the state security headquarters and an old Soviet-era radio antennae. The head of the breakaway province, also known as Transnistria or Transdniestra in English, claimed that the apparent attacks could be traced back to Ukraine. "I assume that those who organized this attack have the purpose of dragging Transdniestria into the conflict," self-styled president, Vadim Krasnoselsky, was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS. His office has established a "red" level of "terrorist threat" for the next 15 days and canceled public Victory Day events on May 9, citing safety concerns. Moscow, which deploys troops in the region, also voiced serious concern and blamed Ukraine. Moldovan President Maia Sandu has urged citizens to remain calm, saying she had stepped up security measures and convened the country's Supreme Security Council. She condemned the apparent attacks, in which no one was injured. She blamed the attack on "internal differences between various groups in Trans-Dniester that have an interest in destabilising the situation." Last week, a senior Russian military officer said Russia aims to take control of Ukraine's south and open a land corridor to the region. Security and defense journalist Thomas Wiegold has told DW the Gepard vehicles that Berlin has approved for delivery could make a real difference to Ukraine's fight in terms of anti-aircraft capability. Although they are known as tanks, Wiegold said, the Gepard — also known as Cheetah — vehicles are more of an anti-aircraft cannon mounted on an armored chassis. "They can make quite a difference. The German army has taken them out of use almost a decade ago, not because they were obsolete, but because at that time the Bundeswehr was scaling down and they had no use for it anymore." "I think they regretted it, meanwhile, because short-range air defense is much in demand everywhere now and especially in Ukraine. So, the Ukrainians can make use of it, of course." Wiegold said that technically, the German government was only approving the German industry selling equipment to Ukraine, rather than sending it directly. He said that, although an apparent U-turn, the decision "allows the government to convey the idea it's not that new, because it's not German [military] stock." Wiegold said that much of the valuable heavy weaponry was coming from former Warsaw Pact countries that, like Ukraine, relied on Soviet-era equipment. However, he said that further down the line, the West would have to start sharing newer equipment, and train Ukrainians in how to use it. "If the West wants to continue supporting Ukraine, they have to think about starting training Ukrainians on Western systems to deliver Western systems as well." The Kremlin says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have discussed Moscow's efforts to ensure the safety of civilians in Ukraine. The Kremlin said in a statement that the two leaders spoke about "efforts made by Russia on a constant basis to ensure the safety of peaceful civilians, including the organisation of humanitarian corridors." In response to Erdogan's questions on the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, Putin said "the city is liberated and combat operations are not going on there," according to the Russian statement. Hundreds of civilians are still sheltering in the city's huge Azovstal industrial area while Ukrainian troops are still resisting Russia. Putin told Erdogan that Kyiv should "take political responsibility and for humanitarian reasons, order them [the troops] to lay down arms," the Kremlin said. They also discussed the safety of Turkish ships sailing from Black Sea ports through a cooperation of defense ministries. The Turkish side released a statement saying Erdogan urged Putin to agree to direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Erdogan proposed taking the "Istanbul process to the level of leaders, a crucial threshold in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations," according to the statement. Talks have so far stalled over accusations of Russian war crimes. Putin later said peace efforts were at a dead end. Poland has announced it will impose sanctions on 50 Russian entities and invidiuals. The sanctions come in addition to current European Union measures, according to Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski. The list includes Gas giant Gazprom and Moshe Kantor, who owns part of Poland's state-owned chemicals group Azoty. Companies on the list will have their assets frozen and be excluded from public tenders, while Russian oligarchs on the list will be banned from entering Poland. UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the organization is ready to fully mobilize its resources to save lives in Mariupol. "The United Nations is ready to fully mobilize its human and logistical resources to help save lives in Mariupol," Guterres said. Guterres also proposed coordinated work with the Red Cross to allow people to evacuate from the Azovstal steel plant in the city. Civilians and Ukrainian troops have been holed up in the plant for weeks. "Thousands of civilians are in dire need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance, and many have evacuated," Guterres said. Guterres said that he was concerned about possible war crimes in Ukraine, adding that they require independent investigation. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is holding a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following talks about the war in Moscow. He had also been due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is the first in-person visit from Guterres since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During an earlier meeting with Lavrov, Guterres called for a cease-fire to be implemented "as soon as possible." Russia said it was expelling three Swedish diplomats in a retaliatory move against Stockholm. In early April, Sweden said it was expelling three Russian diplomats who it accused of conducting "illegal operations" there. Russia's Foreign ministry said it summoned the Swedish ambassador to Russia and "strongly protested" the expulsion of Russian diplomats and Sweden's "military support to the Kyiv regime." The ministry accused Sweden of "covering up the crimes of Ukrainian nationalists against the civilian population of Donbas and Ukraine." "In response to this, the Russian side decided to declare persona non grata three diplomats of the Swedish embassy in Russia," the ministry said. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that conditions for a cease-fire should be created as soon as possible. "We are extremely interested in finding ways in order to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution," Guterres said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow. He added that the priority is to "minimize human suffering" in Ukraine. Guterres is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin following his meeting with Lavrov. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Ukrainian troops will be trained on German soil. The remarks stem from a statement she gave at the Ramstein US air base in Germany during a US-hosted defense conference. "We are working together with our American friends to train Ukrainian troops on artillery systems on German soil," Lambrecht said, according to a transcript seen by DW. "We will, along with the Netherlands, provide self-propelled howitzer and ammunition training to Ukraine, as we all know that artillery is an essential factor in this conflict." Lambrecht addressed criticism leveled at Germany for not delivering heavier weaponry to Ukraine, and pointed to the government's decision to provide anti-aircraft tanks as progress. Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, told DW on Tuesday that he does not envisage Russia using nuclear weapons, despite the Kremlin leaving the door open to such tactics. "I don't think that we are that close," to seeing nuclear weapons used in this war, he said. "And the main reason for that is that there are simply no plausible military missions for nuclear weapons in this type of war." But Podvig stopped short of saying Russian President Vladimir Putin would refrain from using tactical nuclear weapons. "It's hard for me to say with certainty whether he would refrain from that," he said. Podvig's comments come after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he would not want to see a nuclear confrontation, but that "the danger is serious" and "should not be underestimated." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Moldovan authorities have reported two blasts that damaged Soviet-era radio masts in the breakaway Trans-Dniester region. Authorities said a military unit was also targeted. Moldovan President Maia Sandu convened an urgent security meeting following the blasts. The breakaway Trans-Dniester region seceded from Moldova in 1992 along with Russian backing, although Moscow has not officially recognized the region's independence. The region borders Ukraine and Kyiv has voiced concerns that it could be used as a staging ground for Russian attacks. "In the early morning of April 26, two explosions occurred in the village of Maiac, Grigoriopol district: the first at 6:40 and the second at 7:05," the interior ministry of the in self-proclaimed "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic" (PMR) said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the reports of blasts in the Trans-Dniester region were a cause for serious concern and Moscow was closely following the events. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that it expects some 8.3 million people to flee Ukraine this year. UNHCR had previously planned for some 4 million refugees in the immediate aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. More than 12.7 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine in the past two months, UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said. This included 7.7 million internally displaced people and 5 million people who fled Ukraine across international borders. "The scale of the crisis, definitely the rapidity of people fleeing, we have not seen in recent times," Mantoo said at a UN news briefing. Mantoo added that Syria has the biggest current refugee crisis in the world, with 6.8 million people having fled the country. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The United Nations' humanitarian agency (UN OCHA) said that it has been forced to double its aid appeal to $2.25 billion (€2.11 billion) as the humanitarian situation in the country worsens. "Over $2.25 billion is now required for needs inside Ukraine, more than double of the amount requested ($1.1 billion) when we launched the appeal on 1 March, a few days after the war began," the UN OCHA said in a statement. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the aim of the conference at the air base in Ramstein, Germany was to "help Ukraine win the fight against Russia's unjust invasion," as well as to "build up Ukraine's defenses for tomorrow's challenges." Austin said that he discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Kyiv's "changing requirements" as Russia focuses on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. Austin said that the US and its allies will "keep moving heaven and Earth" to meet Ukraine's security requirements. "Ukraine needs our help to win today, and they will still need our help when the war is over," Austin said. He added that the US and its allies have committed more than $5 billion of equipment to support Ukraine's defense since the start of the war. The defense secretary said that Ukraine "has done a magnificent job defending its sovereignty against Russia's unprovoked invasion." Austin said that Ukraine's allies had provided assistance at "record speed," adding that "Putin never imagined that the world would rally behind Ukraine so swiftly." Referring to Russian troop withdrawal from areas around Ukraine's capital, Austin said that the war was "entering a new phase" following what he called "Russia's defeat at the battle of Kyiv." "Russia is waging a war of choice to indulge the ambitions of one man," Austin said, alluding to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Ukraine is fighting a war of necessity to defend its democracy, its sovereignty and its citizens." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Police in the breakaway Moldovan region of Trans-Dniester said that two explosions knocked two powerful antennas out of service in a radio facility close to Ukrainian border. The interior ministry of the region said those antennas were re-broadcasting Russian radio. The incident occurred in a small town of Maiac about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the regional capital Tiraspol and roughly 12 kilometers (7 miles) west of the border with Ukraine. No one was hurt in the explosions, officials said. The explosions come just a day after several explosions believed to be caused by rocket-propelled grenades were reported to hit the state security ministry in Tiraspol. Moldovan President Maia Sandu is convening a meeting of the country's Supreme Security Council on Tuesday over incidents that took place in Trans-Dniester. Trans-Dniester is a narrow strip of land on the east bank of the Dniester River, sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova. The breakaway region seceded from Moldova after a brief military conflict in 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In this conflict, separatists were supported by Moscow. Russia still has a military base there. A senior Russian military official, Rustam Minnekayev, said last week that Russian forces aim to take full control of southern Ukraine, saying such a move would open the way to Trans-Dniester. The German government confirmed reports that it will approve a delivery of "Gepard" anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, according to a statement seen by DW. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht will announce the move during opening remarks at Ramstein air base, coming at the start of a US-hosted conference on Ukraine. "Yesterday we decided that Germany will make the delivery of "Gepard" anti-aircraft tanks possible to Ukraine," Lambrecht is expected to say, according to the statement. The confirmation comes after German media reported on the move. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has come under increasing pressure over not yet sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. A defense conference on securing Ukraine's long-term security is now underway at the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has invited around 40 countries to the conference. While many NATO members will be present, a number of the countries invited are not NATO member states. The attendees will include NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. The meeting seeks to boost weapons deliveries to Ukraine and bolster the country's long-term security. Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday and pledged additional military assistance to Kyiv. Austin and Blinken are expected to brief allies on Ukraine's security needs during the conference. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said he did not think there was an imminent threat of escalation in the war in Ukraine leading to nuclear conflict. "What the West is doing to support its allies in Ukraine is very well calibrated ... Everything we do is calibrated to avoid direct confrontation with Russia," Heappy told BBC television. Heappey's remarks follow a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that NATO was "in essence engaged in war with Russia through a proxy" and that the "risks" of nuclear escalation were "considerable." "Lavrov's trademark over the course of 15 years or so that he has been the Russian foreign secretary has been that sort of bravado. I don't think that right now there is an imminent threat of escalation," Heappey said. Heappy also told Sky News that it is not NATO that is providing military support to Ukraine. "The donor effort is something that has been brought together by countries that are yes, many of them are from NATO, but others are from beyond ... it is not NATO that is doing the military aid," Heappy said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video According to the dpa news agency, Germany's federal government intends to allow tanks from industry stocks to be delivered to Ukraine. German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann will be given the green light to sell "Gepard" anti-aircraft tanks from previous Bundeswehr stocks, dpa reported. Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht will pledge the anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine during today's meeting at the Ramstein US air base. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Monday following a meeting with Ukrainian officials that Kyiv had requested tanks as it seeks to adapt to the shifting conditions of the conflict. Britain's Defense Ministry said in a Tuesday intelligence update that the town of Kreminna in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region has reportedly fallen to Russian forces. Russian troops are attempting to advance north to Sloviansk and east to Kramatorsk, according to the ministry. "Russian forces are likely attempting to encircle heavily fortified Ukrainian positions in the east of Ukraine," the intelligence update said, adding that Ukrainian forces have been preparing defenses in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The UK has dropped tariffs on all goods coming from Ukraine, following a direct request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "The UK will continue to do everything in its power to support Ukraine's fight against Putin's brutal and unprovoked invasion," British International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said. The average tariff on Ukrainian imports was about 22%. The British government said it would also impose further export bans on products to Russia, including cash, maritime goods and technology, and energy-related goods. Ukraine has urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to press Russia for an evacuation of the besieged port of Mariupol. Guterres is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday. The UN chief "should focus primarily on one issue, evacuation of Mariupol," Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Associated Press in an interview. "This is really something that the UN is capable of doing. And if he demonstrates political will, character, and integrity, I hope that will allow us to make one step forward," he said. Russian forces have surrounded fighters in the last Ukrainian stronghold in the Azovstal steel plant, but an estimated 100,000 civilians are also trapped in the city. Kuleba also said he was concerned Guterres could fall into a Kremlin "trap." He cited trips to the Russian capital by foreign officials ahead of the invasion on February 24 as evidence of the Kremlin dictating diplomacy. On Thursday, Guterres is expected to head to Ukraine for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Kuleba. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called Ukrainians to think of how to make "the presence of occupiers at our land even more unbearable." In his nightly address, Zelenskyy predicted Russia would lose the war, but said it would require sacrifice. "Every day of the fight will add years and years to the peaceful life after this war, after our victory," Zelenskyy said. He was aware the Ukrainians wanted to know "when it all be over," but said "there is no simple answer to that at this time." The US military expects officials from more than 20 countries to attend talks on Tuesday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany focused on arming Ukraine. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is hosting the event following a trip to Kyiv, where he pledged additional support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In remarks following his appearance in Kyiv on Monday, Austin said he would like "to see Russia weakened to the point where it can't do things like invade Ukraine." General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a key goal of the talks was to synchronize and coordinate security assistance to Kyiv that includes heavy weaponry, like howitzer artillery and well-armed drones and ammunition. "The next several weeks will be very, very critical," Milley told reporters traveling with him to Germany. "They need continued support in order to be successful on the battlefield. And that's really the purpose of this conference." NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to attend the meeting, along with representatives from NATO and non-NATO countries. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian state television that NATO was "in essence engaged in war with Russia through a proxy" by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Speaking to the Russian First Channel he said, "these weapons will be a legitimate target for Russia's military." "Storage facilities in western Ukraine have been targeted more than once [by Russian forces]. How can it be otherwise? War means war," he said. The foreign minister also said Monday evening that Moscow wants to reduce the chance of "artificially" elevating the risks of a nuclear conflict. "This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable," Lavrov said. The top diplomat said peace talks with Ukraine would continue. He conceded the war in Ukraine would probably end finish with the signing of an accord but added the terms would depend on the military situation in the country at the time. After Lavrov's interview, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that Russia had lost its "last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine." "This only means Moscow senses defeat," he added. Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol, said a new mass grave had been identified 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the city. Several victims were located there, though authorities are trying to identify how many victims are in the unmarked graves. Russia said it expelled 40 German diplomats in response to Berlin's decision to kick out Russian diplomats over the conflict in Ukraine. Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the move was unjustified as the Russian staff expelled from Germany had been "spies" rather than diplomats. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Finnish newspaper Italehti has reported Finland and Sweden have agreed to submit NATO applications at the same time during the week of May 16. Swedish paper Expressen writes that its sources confirm there is an agreement between the two countries. Ukrainian Railways reported that five train stations in central and western Ukraine had come under fire and had been hit by missile strikes. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it used missiles to destroy facilities powering the railways supplying Ukrainian forces with foreign weapons. About 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said. Ukraine has claimed 22,000 Russian troops were killed since the invasion. Russia has acknowledged only 1,351 military deaths. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia is trying to brutalize parts of Ukraine but failing in its war aims. After a visit to Kyiv, Blinken said Russia's military was underperforming, and its economy was "in shambles" due to sanctions and a mass "exodus" from the country. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video You can revisit our live updates from April 25 here. si, lo, aw/wmr, rs, mhm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters) | 2Conflicts
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Cycling enthusiasts were amazed. Alongside the many amateur cyclists from Europe, who this week tackled the legendary Tour de France climb up L'Alpe d'Huez on their expensive branded carbon bikes, was Adrien Niyonshuti. The Rwanda was cycling on a yellow single-speed bike. Niyonshuti was applauded for his move. The former pro rider and Olympian, cycling for charity, needed an hour and 28 minutes to get to the top. The best pros of the Tour on the day reached the summit in just 39 minutes and 12 seconds. But Niyonshuti was cycling on a bike twice as heavy as the pros. "It's as heavy as an e-bike, but just without the motor," the 35-year-old told DW with a smile. "As a pro I sadly never made it to the Tour, but it's great here," said Niyonshuti, who had clearly enjoyed his experience and was able to tell many Tour fans about cycling in Africa. In his home in Rwanda, Niyonshuti is a hero. In 2012, he was the flag bearer for his country at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He was the first Black participant in an Olympic mountain bike race. After his pro career at teams MTN Qhubeka and Dimension Data, he founded a cycling academy in his hometown. Around 40 riders are currently training at the Adrien Niyonshuti Cycling Academy, many of whom are children and teenagers. "It's not about whether they'll be pros later on, but about education. We pay school fees for the kids whose family can't afford it. We buy school books, and toys. It changes their lives," said Niyonshuti. "In cycling there are so many things you can do. You can be a good masseur, a good rider or mechanic or coach. At the end of the day it's about helping to develop cycling culture in Africa." To this aim, Niyonshuti is not just busy in Rwanda, but also in Benin, Sierra Leone and Togo. The tipping point for his social and sporting identity was a bike as simple as the one he used to conquer the serpentines up L'Alpe d'Huez: a bike from the Qhubeka Foundation. "When I took part in the Olympic mountain bike race in 2012, my MTN Qhubeka team manager asked what they could do for Rwanda. I told them 'I don't need money, I'm already a pro'," Nyonshuti remembered. Instead, he suggested that Qhubeka create bikes for kids who would usually not be able to afford them. In a number of containers, Qhubeka delivered around 600 bikes. "These bikes made such a difference Rwanda," said the former pro – and even in his own family too. His son and nephew got bikes. "My nephew became a great cyclist. He has twice ridden the Tour of Rwanda and he's just 21 years old. Last week he won a race in France." Eric Muhoza is his name and Niyonshuti believes he will become a pro one day. He also believes that in the future one of the members of his academy will take part in the Tour de France. For talented cyclists in Africa though, the challenge is great, Niyonshuti told DW. "The biggest obstacle is getting a visa, even if you have signed a contract with a team." While European pros who want to take part in the Tour of Rwanda can buy their visa at the airport, African cyclists who want to take part in European competitions "have to queue in front of the embassy" according to Niyonshuti. "You wait for three to four weeks and at the end of it all you don't even get a visa. Not even your team manager can solve the problem." In his career, that ended in 2017, Niyonshuti missed four races because of visa problems, including the Tour of Britain. He recalls that his teammate at the time Daniel Teklehaimanot also had visa issues. Teklehaimanot is an even bigger star in Africa. In 2015, the Eritrean took part in the Tour de France for the first time and even wore the polka dot jersey jersey at one point. But even he couldn't take part in some races in Europe, either because his residency permit expired or because he didn't get a visa. In 2015, Merhawi Kudus joined Teklehaimanot on the Tour. In 2016, three Black riders from Africa took part in the race around France. After that, the development of diversity in the sport has stagnated. In 2017 and 2018, only Ethiopia's Tsgabu Grmay took part, while in 2019 his countryman Natnael Berhane was involved. In 2020, no Black rider from Africa competed and in 2021 only South Africa's Nicholas Dlamini was present. This year, no one is involved. Niyonshuti is sorry to see this, and sees the blame with the teams. Niyonshuti hopes that the 2025 road race world championships in Africa will generate new excitement in African cycling. The championships will be held in Niyonshuti's home of Rwanda, and the 35-year-old has promised excellent organisation and a difficult championship course. Many have reservations about Rwanda as a host because of the civil war and mass murder in the 1990s, said the former professional cyclist, who himself lost many relatives at that time. But that, Niyonshuti said, is in the past. "Rwanda is a good country, a clean country. No war, no battles. You are free there. You can do what you want during the day and walk around all over at night. It's a safe country, just like some of the better countries in Europe." In 2025, many of the current Tour de France riders will get to know Rwanda. Politically speaking, the first-ever championships in Africa are a huge milestone. One can only hope that it does not turn out to be as much of a flash in the pan as the few highlights of African cycling so far at the Tour de France. This article was translated from German. | 9Sports
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As German authorities are expected to extend the coronavirus lockdown for at least three more weeks, the country's Social Democrats demanded that parents who require daycare for their children must be given paid holidays. "The companies should give parents paid leave from work," SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil told Bild Live on Sunday. Klingbeil said his suggestion makes perfect sense as schools and daycare centers have remained closed under a lockdown after Christmas holidays. The Social Democrat said there are indications that schools can be a source of COVID-19 infections. "It should be made clear whether face-to-face classes from first to sixth grades, as well as in graduating classes, are possible again," he added. German health officials said Sunday the country had registered 10,315 new coronavirus infections and 312 related deaths in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek of the Christian Democratic Union party believes that a quick return to face-to-face teaching is unlikely for all students, adding that the coronavirus infection rate is "still worryingly high" in the country. "A complete return to face-to-face teaching in all grades is therefore inconceivable at the moment, " she emphasized. Karliczek said that if face-to-face classes were to take place, it would be "at best only be done under strict compliance with hygiene regulations, including mask wearing." "In any case, it is better to act carefully than at some point not being able to allow classroom teaching at all due to an even worse situation," the CDU politician said, adding that the situation will remain difficult in coming weeks. "I think that this year we will return to normalcy step by step – in schools and other educational institutions." German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a consultative meeting with the heads of federal states on Tuesday to discuss how to proceed with the ongoing lockdown situation. | 8Society
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Protests in Sudan continued on Sunday as defiance against the military coup entered its seventh day. Protesters manned barricades in Khartoum a day after a deadly crackdown on mass rallies. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people vented their frustrations across the country, marching against the army's power grab, with at least three people dying, despite the police denying they had used live bullets to quell the unrest. General Abdel-Fattah Burhan dissolved the Sudanese government on October 25 and declared a state of emergency. Burhan also detained Sudan's prime minister as well as a number of other members of the country's civilian leadership. Earlier on Sunday, a senior UN official discussed mediation options and possible next steps for the African country with its ousted leader, Abdalla Hamdok. Volker Perthes, UN Special Representative to Sudan, said he had met with detained Prime Minister Hamdok, who is being kept under armed guard by the military junta. "He (Hamdok) remains well but under house arrest," Perthes said. "We discussed options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan. I will continue these efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders." The coup has been met with international disapproval, with the World Bank and the United States halting aid for a country already in disarray due to an economic crisis. US President Joe Biden has described the coup as a "grave setback," while the African Union has suspended Sudan's membership for the "unconstitutional" takeover. jsi/wd (AFP, AP, Reuters) | 7Politics
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"Hell on Earth" is how David Beasley, the executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) described the situation in Afghanistan at the end of last year. Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, the shooting, bombing and fighting have subsided. However, the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group fears that "hunger and hardship following the Taliban takeover could kill more Afghan people than all the bombs and bullets of the last two decades." Nora Hassanien, acting country director in Afghanistan for the humanitarian organization Save the Children, told DW of "desperate families" who were having to resort to increasingly "extreme and harmful coping strategies." "That includes selling their children," Hassanien said, "and other things which they would otherwise never do." The statistics are as dramatic as the individual stories behind them. According to the WFP, about 20 million people — half the population — require urgent food aid. But there is not enough money, according to the WFP country director for Afghanistan, Mary-Ellen McGroarty. At an online press conference in July, she explained that decisions on who to feed are made based on the individual's current nutritional situation or their particular vulnerability. McGroarty spoke of an "extremely difficult and often heartbreaking" decision-making process. The health sector is collapsing, too. Samira Sayed Rahman, who works for the aid organization International Rescue Committee (IRC), told DW what she saw when she visited a hospital in the eastern province of Paktia: There were not enough doctors, not enough nurses. "The doctors we spoke with have not been paid for the past six months," she said. "The wards were full of women cradling malnourished children. In the neonatal unit, three babies had to share an incubator." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Afghans are struggling with many crises. There is the devastation brought about by decades of war. Climate change has led to droughts across large parts of the country for three years. Elsewhere, it has caused flooding or unseasonal snowfall in the middle of June. This year, the country suffered another major earthquake. But the biggest challenge, according to Rahman from the IRC, is the suspension of payments from abroad. For 20 years, the West was heavily involved in Afghanistan: militarily, politically and in development cooperation. The international community covered three-quarters of public expenditure. A plethora of development projects saw roads, schools and hospitals built and provided for their upkeep. But after the Taliban took power, the flow of money was cut off overnight. "There were about 400,000 people employed in the public sector, plus about 200,000 in the security sector," Rahman explained. "Many of these jobs have disappeared; unemployment is higher than ever and so is inflation." The Taliban were partners of the US for peace talks, which quickly mutated into withdrawal negotiations. But the government they formed is isolated and not internationally recognized. This has brought the flow of money to a standstill. In addition, sanctions that were put into effect against Islamist terrorists are now also affecting the government apparatus led by the Taliban, and therefore the entire country. Human Rights Watch Director Kenneth Roth writes that aid isn't enough without a functioning banking system that is not hamstrung by sanctions. There are two types of sanctions. The UN and EU have imposed sanctions against individual members of the Taliban — including members of, as the German Foreign Ministry calls it in its official terminology, "the de-facto government." The US has also unilaterally imposed sanctions against the Taliban, beginning in 1999. The US strengthened sanctions in 2001 and listed the Taliban as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization" (SGDT). The goal of these sanctions is the economic isolation of Afghanistan, according to Conrad Schetter from the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies (BICC). "All economic opportunities are being cut off. Anything beyond humanitarian aid has been suspended; all development projects in the country have been suspended," he said, Afghanistan has been completely decoupled from economic and financial markets, Schetter said. "The Afghans have been catapulted back into a subsistence economy," the conflict researcher concluded. Another contributing factor was the US administration's decision to freeze the assets of Afghanistan's central bank, about €7 billion ($7.2 billion), and to withhold half of it as possible compensation for the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That is a legally questionable move, according to the UN special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, Alena Douhan. "From an international law perspective, the money of a central bank belongs not to the government, but to the country," Douhan told DW. Without access to its foreign exchange reserves, the central bank is very limited in the extent to which it can perform its role in the Afghan economy. Sanctions and the lack of foreign currency make transferring money to Afghanistan nearly impossible. In theory, special permits can be used for humanitarian purposes. In practice, however, they are very difficult to obtain. This also applies to German aid for Afghanistan. When asked by DW, a spokesman from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) described the "non-functioning banking sector, which makes it difficult to get money to Afghanistan at all," as "a major challenge in implementing the plans." Humanitarian groups must therefore adopt unconventional methods. In an interview with DW, Elke Gottschalk, regional director for Asia for the German aid organization Welthungerhilfe, described how money transfers must be processed through alternative channels, called hawala networks. It works like this: Welthungerhilfe transfers money to the account of a hawala dealer, known as a hawaladar, in a third country. "This agent then makes sure that money arrives in Kabul — in cash. We count it, then it can be used." The International Rescue Committee is also reliant on the hawala system, Samira Sayed Rahman confirmed. However, this is "not a reliable and sustainable method." When it comes to hunger in Afghanistan, Rahman is convinced that: "This crisis is man-made; it was caused by the international community." Nora Hassanien of Save the Children shares that assessment, adding: "No amount of humanitarian aid will really solve the problem here. It needs a bigger-picture solution." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This is also the view of the International Crisis Group. In June, after a visit to Kabul, the think tank's Afghanistan specialist Graeme Smith wrote: "Pulling back from the precipice of a more profound disaster will require ending the country's isolation, attracting development aid, and persuading Western and regional governments to help with economic recovery." The dilemma remains that this can be done only by cooperating with a regime that massively violates human rights — especially those of minorities, women and girls. The administrator of the United Nations Development Program, Achim Steiner, made his position on this clear. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in May, he said, 'We cannot abandon 40 million Afghans simply on the principle of moral outrage." This article was originally written in German. While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing and other DW newsletters. | 8Society
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Indian lawmakers have begun the process of choosing the country's next president by casting their votes Monday. They are choosing between Draupadi Murmu, nominated by the ruling alliance, and Yashwant Sinha, who is backed by the opposition parties. Veteran tribal politician Murmu enjoys the backing of the ruling center-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Her nomination holds a lot of symbolic significance for India's tribal communities. If elected, she would also be the second-ever woman to hold the high office. The only woman to have held the post of India's president to date was Pratibha Devisingh Patil, from 2007 until 2012. Murmu, 64, was born in the eastern state of Odisha, where she first won elections as a councilor of the state. She later joined mainstream politics and served as a lawmaker and governor of the eastern state of Jharkhand. Even though the actual results of the voting will only be announced on July 21, Murmu is widely expected to become the country's next president with the BJP backing and the support of parties in state assemblies, experts have said. A fractured opposition has nominated Yashwant Sinha, a former finance and foreign minister, as their candidate for the presidential election. Sinha, 84, served as a minister in the first BJP-led governments by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the late 1990s and 2000s. He quit the BJP party in 2018, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party had undermined the country's democratic institutions. Sinha faces an uphill battle because the opposition has not been able to decisively anchor the support of non-BJP parties. Several candidates nominated by the opposition even rejected nominations for the presidential post in the run-up to the presidential election. India's president is chosen by members of both houses of the parliament, as well as members of legislative assemblies of all states and union territories. The term of India's current president, Ram Nath Kovind, ends on July 25, which is when the new president is set to take the oath of office. The country's constitution mandates lawmakers to fill the presidential position before the incumbent president's term is up. India's president is a largely ceremonial position, and executive powers are wielded by the prime minister and his cabinet under India's constitution. Still, the position is a highly prestigious one. The president can play a key role during a political crisis by deciding which party can best form a federal government when general elections are inconclusive. The president also has the power to grant death-row pardons. rm/dj (Reuters, AP) | 7Politics
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Just a few days ago, US President Joe Biden picked up the phone to thank the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for the generous support in the ongoing evacuation from Afghanistan. Biden also thanked Qatar for facilitating intra-Afghan talks — even though they had failed even before the Taliban took power. Germany, meanwhile, criticized Qatar after the Taliban's political leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was flown to Kandahar from Doha by the Qatari Air Force, days after the Islamist militants had swept across the country. The relationship between Qatar and the Taliban is anything but new. As early as 2013, Qatar allowed the Taliban to open an office in Doha, with the support of the US administration under Barack Obama. At the time, Washington was looking for a neutral place to negotiate with the Islamist militia in order to prepare the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. "I think the idea behind Doha initiating talks with the Taliban was the recognition that there may never be an outright military victory against them in Afghanistan, and that — absent such a victory — it may be necessary to bring them in as part of a political solution," Elham Fakhro, an expert on Gulf states at the International Crisis Group, told DW. Since 2018, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is one of the founding members of the Taliban, has led its representation in Qatar. Baradar is currently the Taliban's political chief and has acted as the extremists' chief negotiator in talks with the United States and the now-ousted Afghan government. In 2020, he signed a so-called peace agreement with the United States in Doha. But the Taliban's rapid rise to power has rendered the paper obsolete. However, it is also worth remembering that as little as three years ago, Baradar was released — reportedly at Washington's behest — from a prison in Pakistan, where he had been detained in 2010 by Pakistani intelligent forces working together with the CIA. Now, after the fall of Kabul, Doha's ties to Afghanistan put it in a unique position. But some observers accuse Qatar of abetting international terrorism. "Critics of the talks have also argued that the diplomatic engagement with the Taliban has only granted them some degree of legitimacy that they would not otherwise have had," said Elham Fakhro. The Doha-based TV station Al-Jazeera has been giving the Taliban a platform to address the public for years. The station also broadcast the Taliban's entry into the presidential palace in Kabul. "The emirate shows no fear of contact with several problematic actors in the region," Guido Steinberg of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told DW. Further examples are Qatar's good relations with Iran and also with the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist organization that has been designated by some countries as a terrorist organization. "Qatar has been presenting itself as a mediator in regional politics for almost two decades. The primary reason is that it wants to improve its regional position," Steinberg said, adding that "in the past, Qatar was very dependent on Saudi Arabia, in the 1970s and 1980s, it was practically a Saudi protectorate." Qatar wants to free itself from the embrace by its big neighbor by positioning itself as an independent mediator, he said. With regard to the situation in Afghanistan, Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, commented only a few days ago, that the emirate sees itself as an impartial mediator. However, the emirate is not entirely impartial, as it set up the office for the Taliban not least for the sake of the United States. "Qatar is heavily dependent on US protection," Steinberg said. The US maintains a large airbase in Al-Udeid. "And Qatar has no interest in changing that since it fears the power of its neighbors." Yet Qatar is certainly not appeasing other countries in the region with its foreign policy and its relations with extremist groups, which in 2017 resulted in the so-called "Qatar crisis", when it was blockaded and boycotted by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt. The dispute was officially settled in early 2021, however, analysts believe that the problems were pushed aside rather than resolved. "By playing this role of mediation, Qatar is able to strengthen its relations with the United States and other Western, European actors," Elham Fakhro of the International Crisis Group said. Meanwhile, another aspect remains unclear: How much influence does Qatar have on the Taliban? In the past, the relationship between Qatar and the Taliban has not been entirely free of conflict. For example, Qatar did not want the Taliban to hoist its flag at its headquarters in Doha or to call the building the representative office of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." Qatar has also never officially recognized the "Islamic Emirate" proclaimed by the Taliban in 1996. Observers believe that it is also unlikely to happen this time, especially if the US opposes it. Qatar is officially a Wahhabi state and has contact with various extremist groups. "But Qatar is certainly not interested in the Taliban ruling by force," says Steinberg. Its interest, he says, is to act as mediator and "to appear on the map of regional politics and also of world politics." In this way, Qatar could funnel interest in the West, and perhaps also in China and Russia, in its continued existence as an independent state. Undoubtedly, solidifying its existence is the most important motive behind Qatar's foreign policy, Steinberg believes. "Certain neighbors, like Saudi Arabia, don't necessarily think that Qatar actually needs to exist." Western states, however, appreciate Qatar's services and contacts with the Taliban, despite the criticism. Germany's Afghanistan ambassador Markus Potzel has already held talks with the Taliban in Doha. And the EU is also likely to make use of the Qataris' contacts with the extremists for upcoming talks with the Taliban. This article was adapted from German by Jennifer Holleis. | 7Politics
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Belgian authorities have opened an investigation into a cyberattack against at least two energy companies based in the port cities of Antwerp and Ghent, an official said on Thursday. "An investigation by the Federal Computer Crime Unit has started,'' said Kristof Aerts, an official at the public prosecutor's office in Antwerp — Europe's second-largest port. Prosecutors in the German port city of Hamburg also launched an investigation on Wednesday after two companies were hit by a possible ransomware strike. The cyberattacks come as energy prices continue to rise, putting pressure on consumers. The price of oil reached a seven-year high in January amid tensions between western countries and Russia. Details on the attack in Belgium were scant, but any damages appeared limited. Aerts did not confirm any links with the attack in Germany but said that such attacks "are naturally an international story, so that will certainly be looked at." "There was a cyberattack at various terminals — quite some terminals are disrupted," Jelle Vreeman, senior broker at Riverlake in Rotterdam, told the AFP news agency, referring to terminals at several European ports. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Their software is being hijacked, and they can't process barges. Basically, the operational system is down," he said. Europol spokesperson Claire Georges said an investigation into the attack in Germany was "ongoing and in a sensitive stage." IT systems at a cross-border trading hub between the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with the Belgian city of Antwerp, were also hit, AFP reported. The Dutch National Cyber Security Centre said the attacks were "probably committed with a criminal motive" and pledged to take further action "if necessary." Two German oil supply companies, Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH and Mabanaft, were forced to enact an emergency legal clause used in the event that a company cannot fulfill a contract for unforeseen reasons. They both said they had been victims of an attack that started Saturday. However, the head of Germany's IT security agency Arne Schönbohm said the incident was "not grave." The German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the ransomware used in the cyberattack was BlackCat — a software tool that gives hackers control over a targeted system. It is not yet known which software was used in the attack against Belgian facilities. A similar scheme shut down the Colonial Pipeline in the eastern United States for several days in 2021. That attack, along with many others, has been blamed on Russian-speaking hacker groups. ab/sms (AFP, AP) | 0Business
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