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At first, the insurance companies didn't know what had hit them. Summer rains had been pouring for weeks in the summer of 2021. The soil in western Germany was sodden. When the storm struck, flooding homes and washing away livelihoods, scientists at the companies who would pick up the bill pored over weather data as they watched footage of destruction roll in on TV. "It took a couple of days until we realized roads, railways and bridges were also destroyed, [as well as] telecommunication lines and power systems," said Ernst Rauch, chief climate scientist at Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurance firm. The total insured losses, he would find out later, would come to €8.2 billion ($7.8 billion) in Germany alone. His employer would cover nearly half a billion euros of that. The rains that battered northern Europe last July killed more than 220 people in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, resulting in the most expensive weather-related disaster the continent has ever seen. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution network found that burning fossil fuels had made the rainfall 3-19% stronger and at least 20% more likely. The insurers liable for paying out damage claims had not fully priced in the risk. "I have never, in my more than 30-year career working on natural disasters with Munich Re, seen such destruction from a flash flood," said Rauch. As the planet heats up and weather extremes grow more violent, insurance companies have found themselves in a unique position near the frontlines of climate change. On the one hand, they are paying more for damages and struggling to price unpredictable risks. On the other hand, they are financing and underwriting polluting activities that warp the climate further. Insurers have traditionally used historical data to work out the risk of storms and wildfires that threatened their assets — and charged their clients accordingly. But such calculations no longer cut it. A landmark review by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in April concluded that climate risks are becoming more complex and difficult to manage, with crises increasingly striking at the same time. Sea levels have crept higher. Heat waves have become hotter. Tropical cyclones are growing stronger. That poses an existential problem for an industry that acts as a "strategic pin" holding the economic system together in the face of catastrophes, said Zac Taylor, a climate finance expert at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. "When it disappears — or it becomes more difficult or more expensive to insure — there are ramifications for the entire system." In response, insurance companies have started to push up premiums and pull out of areas they deem too risky. "Ordinary folks are going to feel this at home in two ways," said Taylor. "Either their insurance is going to cost a lot more or they're not going to be able to have it." When disasters strike and insurers can't pay, governments may foot the bill with public money. Reinsurance companies — who sell insurance to primary insurers — act as a barrier by sharing that risk among actors with more money. They too expect to raise premiums. Because the reinsurance market is global, people will pay more even when extreme weather hits other parts of the world, said Taylor. "If there is a really bad flood in Germany, a bushfire in Australia, a typhoon in Japan, then a homeowner's insurance in Florida goes up — whether or not there's a hurricane in Florida." World leaders promised in 2015 to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and ideally to 1.5 C this century. But current policies are instead set to heat the planet 2.7 C, according to an analysis in November 2021 by Climate Action Tracker, a project from two German environmental research institutes. By the end of the century, floods that used to hit once a century will strike most coasts every single year. Such changes could push weather risks beyond what the global insurance industry can sustainably finance. Speaking in 2015, the then-CEO of insurance giant Axa said "a 2 C world might be insurable — a 4 C world certainly would not be." Still, insurance companies also wield enormous power over the energy transition. They can block or enable fossil fuel projects by choosing whether to insure them and for what price. Speeding up the switch to green energy would cut their exposure to catastrophic weather. A 2021 analysis by McKinsey, a management consultancy, found capital spending on climate solutions like wind farms and electric vehicle charging stations could lead to $10-15 billion in insurance premiums on capital spending alone. The oil and gas market is worth about $18.5 billion in annual premiums, including both new and existing projects, according to a report published last year by environmental campaign group Insure Our Future. The reinsurance market is so concentrated that you don't need a lot of movement to make big changes, said Regina Richter, a green finance campaigner at Urgewald, a nonprofit in Germany that worked on the report. "Even a powerful industry like oil and gas at some point is looking for reinsurance. If only a handful of companies move on this, it makes a big difference." In a pathway for meeting the 1.5 C temperature target published last year, the International Energy Agency found that no new coal mines, oil fields or gas fields should be approved for development. Activists say the insurance industry has not taken those recommendations seriously. Munich Re, which has warned about the dangers of climate change for more than half a century, still solicits companies who "handle large amounts of hydrocarbons," according to its website, and claims it has been a leader in the downstream energy market for 35 years. The company did stop insuring coal mines and plants in 2018. And more recently, it set targets to cut emissions from the oil and gas projects it insures 5% by 2025, with a view to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. "Indeed, one can argue this can be faster," said Rauch. "The issue is if we would pull out of the market of covering fossil fuels, say, by tomorrow or so, the industry still would be there because the demand is there." Still, competitors have proven that bolder action is possible. Swiss Re and Hannover Re, the second and third-largest reinsurance firms respectively, have stopped insuring new oil and gas projects. Hannover Re told DW in a written statement it also plans to make a 30% cut in the emissions of its investments by 2025, though it declined to put a number on the current size of its fossil fuel assets. Berkshire Hathaway, a reinsurance company with no exclusion policy for fossil fuels, declined an interview request. Two other big reinsurers, China Re and Lloyd's, did not respond to a request for comment. Campaigners hope that if more insurers exclude new oil and gas projects, energy companies will find it harder to extract polluting fuels. This has already happened with coal, said Richter. "Some coal plants or mines find it really hard to find insurance — and when they do it's more expensive — so they have to ask if it makes sense or not." Edited by: Sarah Steffen

6Nature and Environment

Philomena Gori had a lot riding on her attendance at the 24th International AIDS Conference, which kicks off in the Canadian city of Montreal on Friday. The biennial event brings together thousands of scientists, politicians, activists and social workers from around the world to find solutions to the epidemic. The 32-year-old, a social worker for people affected by AIDS in Cameroon, had taken time off from her current job and spent around $2,000 (€1,965) applying to the conference, securing accommodation and collecting the necessary documents for a visa.  Her hope was to gain vital connections and know-how in order to help her found a new HIV charity in her home country of Kenya. But on July 22 — 88 days after she submitted her visa application — a rejection letter landed in her inbox. She was being denied entry, with no time to react. "I am so disappointed, I am so angry right now," she told DW in a video call. "I sacrificed a lot, I gave a lot of effort to attend and be able to give back to my community. "In Africa, we are the ones being affected mostly by these diseases, and I was expecting them to give us more opportunities. I feel like it's because we are coming from African countries." Gori is not the only one in this situation. Organizers fear that hundreds of other delegates from Africa, Asia and South America are still waiting for, or have already been denied, visitor visas. The situation has been turning into a scandal. The AIDS 2022 conference, organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS), had been billed as a chance to "call the world to come together to reengage and follow the science."  But a day before the event was set to begin, the International AIDS Society (IAS) released a statement saying it was "deeply concerned by the high number of denied and pending visas by Canadian authorities." "This is preventing many people from some of the countries most affected by HIV from entering Canada and attending AIDS 2022, including IAS staff and leadership." According to the World Health Organization, Africa is home to more than two-thirds of the global population living with HIV, the virus that progresses into AIDS. That is why Sam W. Pionlay, 26, shares the concern about a global AIDS conference taking place with many voices from Africa missing. Originally from Liberia, he is studying computer sciences in Morocco. He continues to advocate for young people, including those with HIV and AIDS, at home. With an invitation from the IAS and sponsorship from a Delaware church, he was aiming to travel to the conference to present a paper on violence and HIV prevention for young people and sex workers.  His rejection arrived on July 19, with the Canadian authorities stating in a letter that they were not "satisfied" that he would leave Canada and return to Morocco at the end of his trip.  "It just doesn't make any sense," Pionlay told DW. "My work helping young people is here in Africa, I will be finishing my degree next year, why would I stay in Canada? "This year's conference should have been an opportunity for Africans to participate. I'm really disappointed in Canada as a whole. I'm feeling frustrated." The visa difficulties have led to criticism of the choice of host country. David Ndikumana, Executive Director of the WEKA Organisation, which provides support to LGBTQ minorities and people with AIDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo, argued that such conferences should take place in countries that are more accessible. His organization received two invites to the conference but had yet to receive a response about visa applications. "I think what Canada is doing is a kind of discrimination," he told DW. He added that his group wrote a letter asking why only Canada is organizing this international conference. "Why not allow other countries?" Ken Monteith, director general of Quebec AIDS charity COCQ-SIDA, also saw problems: "It certainly seems like Canada is a difficult choice on this issue," he wrote in an email. "We do have to bear in mind that there are populations that have difficulty obtaining visas for many countries in the north and the south." IAS President Adeeba Kamarulzaman told DW that Canada was chosen after negotiations with a "middle-income" country were ended over attempts to influence the conference program.  "Delayed and denied visas affect our ability to host a truly inclusive conference that is representative of communities most affected by HIV. The Conference Organizing Committee has escalated its concerns to the highest levels so that as many people who wish to attend AIDS 2022 are able to do so," she wrote. In an email to DW, Aidan Strickland, press secretary for Canada's Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said applications from around the world were "assessed equally and against the same criteria." "We understand the disappointment that would result from some applicants not receiving their visas in time for the International AIDS Conference. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has taken every measure available to expedite as much as possible the processing of applications and facilitate travel for this event." She added that IRCC had processed 91% of all applications received. A processed application can mean either an acceptance or rejection. Strickland also pointed out that visa processing times can vary. Despite the furor over visas, there are still high hopes that the conference will lead to improved solutions for combating HIV and AIDS, especially given the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those unable to attend the conference in person do have the opportunity to participate in certain events online. Philomena Gori intends to take part in some virtual events, and plans to launch her charity as soon as possible. She also hopes one day to have the chance to take part in a similar conference much closer to home. "If it's done in Africa, I will go. It will be much easier for me to attend." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Anne Thomas

8Society

United States chipmaking giant Intel Corp. on Thursday issued an apology after it had asked suppliers in a letter to avoid the western Chinese Xinjiang region when sourcing goods.  The letter caused "concerns among our cherished Chinese partners, which we deeply regret," said a statement from Intel. It added that Xinjiang had been mentioned in the letter to comply with US regulations and not because the company held a particular view. "We apologize for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public. Intel is committed to becoming a trusted technology partner and accelerating joint development with China," said Intel, which has 10,000 workers in China. The letter reflected the fact that US companies could run afoul of US law on forced or convict labor if their supply chains in Xinjiang were found to be based on such labor or to be sourced from companies that were involved in such abuses. The letter, sent in December, said that Intel had been "required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region." The letter said the request came amid restrictions imposed by "multiple governments." Washington has stopped imports from Xinjiang over reports that the region's Muslim Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities have been subject to repression by Beijing, including mass detention and forced abortions. A US State Department advisory issued in July warned that companies and individuals that continued to have business connections with Xianjing ran a risk of violating US laws on benefitting from forced labor.  The ruling Communist Party has been accused, among other things, of setting up large "reeducation camps" where Uygurs and other Muslims undergo brainwashing and further abuses. China has denied the accusations and said its actions are aimed solely at establishing security in the region. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Global Times, a paper published by the Communist Party, called the request made in the letter an "arrogant and vicious move." Other state media have called for a boycott of Intel products. Pop singer Wang Junkai, also known as Karry Wang, announced on Wednesday he would withdraw from a deal to act as "brand ambassador" for Intel's Core line of processor chips. He said in a statement that "national interests exceed everything." Wang is the latest among a number of Chinese celebrities who have dropped their connection with international brands that have expressed concern about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. Their actions seem triggered by a fear of retaliation by the ruling party. Such brands include Swedish fashion retailer H&M and shoe brand Nike, which have both received considerable backlash in China. H&M recorded a marked drop in sales in the country in the second quarter. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video tj/fb (AP, Reuters)

7Politics

As India continues to embark on modernizing its aging military amid ongoing geopolitical challenges, one of Delhi's biggest defense deals continues to draw controversy years after it was concluded. In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the landmark defense deal with French aviation company Dassault to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets to refurbish India's rusting air force. In late July, India's Defense Minister Ajay Bhatt told media that deliveries of the aircraft were on schedule, with 26 having arrived in India so far. The remaining jets are expected by the end of 2021. However, the deal, worth €7.8 billion ($9.4 billion), has been mired by allegations of corruption and cronyism. On July 2, France opened a judicial investigation into corruption allegations, according to the national financial prosecutors' office (PNF). The investigation was prompted by a report by the French investigative website Mediapart, which claimed that "millions of euros of hidden commissions" were given to a middleman who helped Dassault conclude the sale. Some of the money may have also been given as bribes to Indian officials, the report claimed. Dassault has said its audits have uncovered no financial malfeasance. Modi's 2015 deal came years after India's United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the opposition Congress party, led negotiations with Dassault after the French company was chosen as the winner in 2012 of India's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, which was intended to supply 126 aircraft to the Indian military. However, negotiations between the UPA and Dassault stalled over disagreements that 108 of the planes would be produced in India by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Dassault had concerns over technology transfer to the Indian aerospace company, along with doubts over HAL's capacity to produce the complex aircraft. Modi's new deal, worth €7.8 billion, came as somewhat of a surprise amid reports that the original deal was close to being finalized. However, after a meeting in April 2015 between Modi and then French President Francois Hollande, it was announced that 36 Rafale jets would be delivered from France to India in flying condition. The MMRCA tender for the 126 jets was scrapped in July 2015. After it was finalized in 2016, Modi's new fighter jet deal was touted as a major victory in cutting through red tape by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which used the occasion to showcase the prime minister as a skilled negotiator. However, Modi's political opponents in the Congress party quickly stepped up criticism of the BJP government, saying the jet purchase was India's "biggest ever" corruption scandal. Congress alleged the BJP government was paying a lot more than the UPA government had negotiated for the jets, and that the BJP was favoring private business over public enterprise. These accusations were centered on Reliance Aerospace, a conglomerate headed by Anil Ambani, a businessman with close ties to Modi. Reliance, which had no prior experience in aeronautics, replaced HAL as the Indian partner in the deal. The company had been registered just 12 days before Modi announced the deal in April 2015. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A so-called offset requirement, which was included in the deal to promote research and development in the Indian defense industry, raised eyebrows, as Reliance reportedly stood to gain a chunk of the money reinvested into India through a joint partnership with Dassault. The offset obligations required Dassault to reinvest 50% of the deal's earnings back into India's defense sector. In a joint statement in 2016, the companies said that the joint venture would be a "key" part in the completion of offset obligations. The involvement of the private company Reliance over the public enterprise HAL, which had been selected as a "lead integrator" in the previous deal, was criticized by opposition parties. Critics accused Modi of crony capitalism and the government of favoring big businesses. Amit Cowshish, a former financial adviser of acquisition at the Defense Ministry, told DW that HAL had been chosen as a production partner to make jets in India, while Reliance was chosen as a partner for the sole purpose of fulfilling the offset obligation. Under the Modi's revamped deal, no aircraft would be made in India, although Dassault would still have to fulfil its offset obligations. The Congress party has repeatedly requested the creation of a joint parliamentary committee to investigate allegations of fraud. However, India's Supreme Court ruled out investigating the allegations in 2018, and rejected pleas to reexamine its judgment in 2019.

0Business

Red Bull Racing's Helmut Marko told reporters at the US Grand Prix in Austin late on Saturday that the co-founder of the energy drink company had died at the age of 78.  The company said in a statement that he had died on Saturday, expressing both its "sadness" and its "gratitude for what he accomplished." The Austrian from Styria co-founded the energy drink company Red Bull in 1987 and helped it grow into a world market leader. As of October last year, his net worth was estimated at just over €25 billion. The Austrian-Thai conglomerate says it employs more than 13,000 people in 172 countries and sold nearly 10 billion cans of its caffeine and taurine-based last year. As the company grew, Mateschitz's marketing strategy switched. The heavy television and media marketing campaigns began to subside. Instead, Red Bull began investing heavily in sporting events, especially events that kept with the high-octane style that might fit an energy drink.  Probably his most famous single investment was the purchase in 2004 of the then-Jaguar Formula 1 team.  By 2010, Mateschitz had transformed Red Bull Racing from a midfield contender to a championship-winning team, with the young German charger Sebastian Vettel at the wheel.  For a little over a decade Red Bull even owned and funded two F1 teams, with their junior team based in Italy badged Toro Rosso. Red Bull also invested heavily in other more extreme sports, many of them with a racing bent, involving everything from stunt planes to motorcycles and bicycles and more.  Later, the company famously started branching out into the acquisition of top-flight football clubs such as Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, the New York Red Bulls, and others.  Tributes poured in at the race track in Texas at qualifying.  "We are saddened to hear of the death of Dietrich Mateschitz The co-founder of Red Bull made an unforgettable contribution to F1, and leaves a lasting legacy," the official Formula 1 Twitter account wrote.  Red Bull driver Sergio Perez called it a "sad day to all the Red Bull Family." "Williams Racing is very sad to learn of the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz. We are sending our thoughts and condolences to his family and friends and everyone at the Red Bull and Red Bull Racing family at this time," the Williams F1 team wrote.  F1 journalist Adam Cooper, present in Austin, said that Red Bull F1's longstanding team principal Christian Horner "just paid a heartfelt tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz, acknowledging how the Red Bull boss gave him a chance when he was a young F3000 team boss." Meanwhile, former F1 team official Mark Gallagher, now a columnist, focused on Mateschitz's legacy and the childhood love of F1 that moved him to invest in the sport.  "Dietrich Mateschitz's contribution to F1 is right up there with the very greatest motor racing entrepreneurs. He loved the sport, a diehard fan, passionate follower of [1970 world champion] Jochen Rindt who realized his dream to one day own an F1 team & win the World Championship. A game changer," Gallagher wrote.  Famously, Mateschitz was trying to get his foot in the F1 door long before he had the means to do so. Austrian F1 star of the 1980s Gerhard Berger often tells the story of how a man he had never heard of approached him looking to set up a sponsorship deal. When they met, Mateschitz purportedly admitted to Berger that the one thing he could not offer the Austrian driver, who had a bit of a reputation as a mercenary, was any financial compensation. As Berger tells the tale, this was where their exploratory meeting ended.  But almost 20 years later, the Austrian would return with the funds not just to support a driver but to purchase an entire team of his own.  Red Bull has been dominating the 2022 season, with Max Verstappen already crowned world champion for a second consecutive season, holding an unassailable points lead in the standings with four races still to run.  Mateschitz's absence from races and other major events had been noted in recent months, prompting people to think he must be in poor health. However, the multi-billionaire was notoriously private, particularly where media interviews were concerned, so comparatively little had been made of his condition.  msh/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

7Politics

South Korea has negated North Korea's claim that it launched what experts have dubbed its "monster missile" last week. South Korea's military on Wednesday accused the North of firing a less-powerful existing weapon instead of a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as Pyongyang had claimed. Last Thursday, North Korea said it had test fired a Hwasong-17 missile — its longest-range ICBM — in the most significant weapons test in years. State media in Pyongyang had called the launch "a historical event.'' Seoul's military has said that, in reality, it was the same ICBM North Korea launched in 2017. "US and South Korean intelligence has determined that what was fired on March 24 was a Hwasong-15," a defense ministry official told news agency AFP. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it told a parliamentary committee that the details of Thursday's launch, including the weapon's speed, combustion and stage separation, were similar to those of the Hwasong-15, not the Hwasong-17. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The ministry said the alleged false announcement was likely an attempt by Pyongyang to compensate for a failed Hwasong-17 launch earlier this month. Acccording to accounts from South Korea, the missile launched from the North's capital region on March 16 exploded soon after lift off, with residents of Pyongyang witnessing the mid-air blast. "Pyongyang residents must have been shocked" by the failed launch, and it may have affected public opinion of the Kim Jong Un regime, lawmaker Ha Tae-keung of South Korea's conservative opposition People's Power Party (PPP), had told the media. North Korea did not make any comments on the failed launch and state media is yet to respond to Wednesday's report from South Korean defense chiefs. Since the beginning of the year, North Korea has conducted a flurry of missile tests in an apparent attempt to modernize its military arsenal and increase pressure on the United States amid stalled nuclear talks between the two countries. dvv/kb (AFP, AP)  

2Conflicts

Humans must now start removing billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere alongside deep, rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperature change to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and prevent the worst effects of climate change. "It isn't either/or," said Jan Minx of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin, and one of the authors of a new global overview of carbon dioxide removal projects, released Thursday. Governments around the world will need to rely on widespread deployment of established and future carbon removal technology to achieve net-zero targets by mid-century, said Minx. They will also need redouble efforts in the following decades to bring atmospheric CO2 back to climate-safe levels. By 2100, carbon dioxide removal technology will need to extract between 450 billion and 1.1 trillion metric tons of CO2 — depending on how quickly we cut emissions over the next few decades, said the report. "Innovation takes time, upscaling takes time, and if we don't start building these plants now and develop policy plans accordingly, then we won't get there," said Minx. But few governments have included carbon removal projects as part of their plans to hit emissions targets, even though advances in the field have been picking up speed over the last decade, said the report, which is the first to focus on carbon removal efforts worldwide. Since 1990, we have emitted more than 924 billion metric ton of CO2 equivalent into the planet's atmosphere — more than 37 billion in 2021 alone — largely from burning climate-wrecking fossil fuels. That's more CO2 emitted in three decades than in all human history before that time. Nearly all the world's current carbon dioxide removal — estimated at roughly 2 billion metric tons of emissions yearly — is achieved using conventional methods on managed land. This includes established methods like peatland and wetland restoration, reforestation and fixing carbon in croplands and grasslands. A tiny fraction of 0.1% comes from new technologies like biochar, direct air carbon capture and storage, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. According to the report, "the next decade is crucial" for the growth of new carbon removal technologies, comparing it to the strides made in the renewable energy sector over the last 20 years. One of those developing technologies is biochar, which involves capturing the carbon absorbed by crop and forestry residue — husks, roots, bark, branches and sawdust — and other organic waste. That waste is heated under pressure in a zero or very low oxygen environment and converted into a black powder of carbon and ash. This process fixes and stores the CO2 in a stable, solid form, preventing it from decaying naturally and releasing that carbon back into the atmosphere. When mixed with soil, biochar can act as a fertilizer and help to increase crop yields, while also improving water retention. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Biochar has been the focus of roughly half of all research into carbon removal methods in recent years, especially in China. By 2050, global application of this technology could help remove between 0.3 and 6.6 billion metric tons of CO2 every year. Production of biochar can, however, contribute to particulate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions through the initial heating process. Carbon dioxide can also be captured and stored in underground reservoirs, an expensive process that has been in limited use on Norway's oil fields since the late 20th century. Chemical processes are used to extract the gas from the ambient air, in what's known as direct air carbon capture and storage, or DACCS. It's then compressed and stored in liquid form in vast underground reservoirs. Swiss company Climeworks recently announced that it had successfully sequestered CO2 in basalt rock formations, where natural processes will convert it into solid carbonate rocks in roughly two years. Other DACCS pilot projects are also being developed in Canada and the United States. Since there is no limit to the amount of CO2 that can be captured and stored, DACCS is seen as having great potential. However, the process is still controversial, as storing CO2 underground can lead to earthquakes and leakage in the long-term. Both methods are still far from widespread use. A big disadvantage is the cost — currently anywhere between $250 and $600 (around €550) per ton, according to a recent estimate by global research non-profit, the World Resources Institute. But the WRI estimates that mass production of DACCS systems could bring prices down to between $150 and $200 per ton in the next 10 years. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Another way of removing carbon from the air involves collecting biomass — cropping and forestry leftovers, organic waste or plants grown specifically for that purpose — and burning it in a power plant to produce bioenergy. CO2 is then extracted from the exhaust gas of the power plant and stored underground. This method helps to phase out fossil fuels, while at the same time sequestering CO2. The big problem with this technology, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), is the huge amount of space required. BECCS crops could end up competing with food crops for land and water and contribute to a loss of biodiversity and soil fertility, said the carbon removal report. In this process, called enhanced rock weathering, carbonate and silicate rocks are mined, ground and scattered on agricultural land or on the surface of the ocean. There, they mimic the natural erosion process of rain — which has absorbed CO2 as it passes through the atmosphere — and lock it away as bicarbonate. Adding the ground rocks in ocean water will theoretically increase alkalinity, increasing CO2 uptake. Recent research suggests that by 2050, this technique could capture between 2 to 4 billion metric tons of CO2 every year. The main challenges are the destructive impact of the mining facilities, and the potential for heavy metal contamination from some rock types. Trees are a powerful natural solution to capture carbon, and if protected they can fix carbon for decades, or even centuries. A 2019 study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich found that if trees were planted around the world on an additional area of 0.9 billion hectares, they would store some 205 billion metric tons of carbon once they reach maturity.  But that's the catch — it can take many years before a tree is mature enough to absorb that much carbon. And the land area required is roughly the size of the continental US. The carbon reduction capacity of our forests could also be reduced as the effects of climate change increase, leading to more wildfires, diseases and pests. Another natural solution is humus — the dark, rich organic matter in soil formed by the decomposition of plants and animals. It also holds plenty of carbon. By planting carbon-fixing crops and adapting farming methods to leave crop residue in the soil, we can also increase the amount of CO2 stored in the ground. In an analysis of the EU's climate policy, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs found that between 2 and 5 billion metric tons of CO2 could be sequestered by building up the world's humus. This article was based in part on a 2020 article on carbon removal technology. Edited by: Jennifer Collins

6Nature and Environment

Modern art has always been a challenge — new art forms were eyed critically and initially, few really grasped its meaning. In today's art market, however, it's no longer just a matter of differences in taste; a new channel of distribution is grabbing the world's attention as digital artworks fetch double-digit million figures for their creators. Once purchased, the works can't even be presented on a wall, they are simply stored on the new buyer's hard drive at home: It is a non-fungible token (NFT), a digital certificate whose owner also holds the rights to the work in question. Till Lindemann, singer in the German industrial metal band Rammstein, also wants a slice of that market. The rights to a previously unreleased music video are for sale for €100,000 ($117,000) — and Lindemann is offering not just one, but 10 digital copies of the work. A dinner with Lindemann in Moscow is a bonus on top, with flights, accommodation and visas for two people included. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In the work in question, Lindemann interprets the Russian song "Lubimy Gorod" (Beloved City), which he recorded in May 2021 at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The Hermitage granted permission for the video shoot, as the museum confirmed on its Facebook page. Apart from the fact that, so far, no one has been willing to spend that kind of money for a video, Lindemann faces legal issues. By offering the video as an NFT, the singer violated the agreement for its use, according to the Hermitage. The same applies to other animations Lindemann is offering that show him at the Hermitage. "The use of images of objects from the museum's collection and furnishings in the collection [...] was not agreed with the museum," the Hermitage wrote, adding that the singer has not responded to a notice pointing out the violation of the museum's licensing policy. The NFTs on offer, the museum argues, are illegal. The museum also mentions that "Mr. Lindemann personally signed a contract with the Hermitage allowing him to use images of the Hermitage and all prepared materials exclusively for the music video." Lindemann's management as well as the platform Twelve x Twelve, which is offering the works, did not respond to a DW query. "Lubimy Gorod" is a Soviet song from the 1930s that was used in a war film about fighter pilots. Lindemann's version appears in Timur Bekmambetov's recently released film Devyatayev, a patriotic movie about a fighter pilot in World War II. Rammstein guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers kissed on stage at concerts in Russia in 2019, which was widely interpreted as a sign against the country's homophobic legislation. Meanwhile, a Russian Rammstein fan was arrested earlier this year, but Lindemann never publicly condemned the arrest. Andrey Borovikov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for allegedly spreading pornography when he shared a clip of the band's "Pussy" video on social media in 2014. Observers suspect a different reason has motivated authorities to arrest him: Borovikov was office manager for Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader. This article has been translated from German.

4Culture

A fire on Wednesday at an overcrowded Indonesian prison designated for drug offenders has claimed at least 41 lives, authorities said. The fire started between 1 and 2 a.m. local time at Tangerang prison in the Banten province, near Jakarta. Police spokesman Yusri Yunus said eight were severely burned, with more than 80 others injured. The cause of the fire is not yet known.  Reuters news agency reported that two foreign nationals, from South Africa and Portugal, were among the dead.  Jakarta police chief Fadil Imran told reporters that firefighters extinguished the blaze after about two hours, saying the situation was back under control. "The inmates who survived in the block have been moved temporarily, while the injured have been taken to the Sitanala Hospital and Tangerang Regency General Hospital," he added.  Block C, where the fire occurred, was overcrowded — with 122 convicts staying there. Rika Aprianti, a spokesperson from the Justice Ministry, told AP news agency that the Tangerang prison was meant for 1,225 inmates, but had been housing more than 2,000. She said the prison officers on duty were unhurt.  "This is a disaster and our hearts go out to the relatives of the victims," said Aprianti.  With poor funding and a large number of prisoners, and amid President Joko Widodo's crackdown on narcotics use and trade launched early in his tenure, overcrowding has become a problem in Indonesia.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video tg/msh (dpa, AP, Reuters)

1Catastrophe

Libya's interior minister in the UN-recognized government narrowly escaped an assassination attempt Sunday on a highway near the capital, Tripoli. The motorcade of Fathi Bashagha "was fired on from an armored car while he was on the highway. His police escort returned fire. Two of the assailants were arrested and a third is in hospital," a source close to the interior minister told AFP news agency. "The minister is fine," the source added. The convoy came under heavy fire as Bashagha drove through the capital after visiting government facilities. Bashagha has served as interior minister in the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) since 2018. The 58-year-old is a political heavyweight, who has promised to end corruption in the North African country.  Bashagha had been seen as a favorite to lead a new interim government under UN-led peace efforts following an October ceasefire last year, but the post finally went to businessman Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a 61-year-old engineer, who has called for reconstruction, democracy and reunification in Libya. Libya has been in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a NATO-backed military campaign overthrew longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. The North African country descended into a civil war between Tripoli-based GNA and the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar. Turkey and Qatar are the primary foreign backers of the GNA, while Haftar's LNA has received support from Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. shs/mm  (AFP, Reuters)

2Conflicts

There will be more interest than usual in qualification Group B for the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, which is scheduled to start on September 23. Afghanistan have been drawn with Vietnam, Maldives and host nation Tajikistan. But whether the Afghan team will be allowed to go to Dushanbe, indeed whether it will even exist at all, will be an early indicator of the Taliban's attitude to women as they return to power. The world has been stunned by the Islamic group's swift capture of Kabul two decades after a US-led invasion in 2001 ended their first five years in power. Back then, Kabul's Ghazi Stadium became known around the world, not for football, but for the executions of those who fell foul of the Taliban's strict laws. Women could not leave the house unless accompanied by a male guardian and wearing a full burqa, they were not allowed to work and girls could not go to school - let alone play football. And there are fears that what the Taliban call the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" will rule in a similar fashion to the previous ultra-conservative regime. The founder and former captain of the Afghanistan women's national team, Shamila Kohestani, was a child during the Taliban's first time in power and remembers it well. Now 33, she watched on August 17 as Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul that this time, women would be allowed to work and study and "will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam." Kohestani believes this confirms there will be no football for women. "They are saying they will allow women to work under Shariah law but the Shariah law that they know does not allow women to play sports," she told DW. "I am sick to the stomach for the women of Afghanistan and especially the football team as I know that two days ago, we said good-bye to the women's football team." Afghanistan's female footballers first said "hello" in 2010 when the women played their first international game - a fiendly against Nepal. "We were not going to the World Cup or anything, that wasn't important," said Kohestani. "It was a first step towards freedom of opportunity, for the next generation that will be able to compete internationally and to show Afghan women to the world." For the hijab-wearing players, it was about more than football . "We played in a male-dominated sport and we fought for that right. It wasn't handed to us. It changed my life completely and gave me the confidence to come out of the shell that the Taliban had put me in as a child. It was the same for all of us. It was an Afghanistan that I had never dreamed of." Sport had been on the backburner in the country due to the Soviet occupation from 1979-1989, the Civil War of 1992-96 and then the rule of the Taliban.  The men's national football team returned to international action in January 2003 and a decade later won the South Asian Championship. Then, the gunfire in Kabul was of the celebratory kind as the nation was united with joy. Hamid Karzai, president from 2001 to 2014, was photographed watching the celebrations on television.  Men and women came together to watch games. "Some of the images of women in the stands screaming their heads off are some of the most joyful images I've ever seen coming out of Afghanistan," said Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch. "Women's participation in the audience at men's football matches was significant but more so were mixed crowds cheering wildly at women's football matches." It wasn't all celebrations and goals. In 2018, a number of the women's team accused officials from the Afghan Football Federation, including president Keramuddin Karim, of sexual abuse. In June 2019, Karim was handed a lifetime ban from footballand fined 1 million Swiss francs ($1.1 million,€932,000) . Kohestani recalls it as a difficult but significant moment for women in the €country. "When you are living as a woman in a deeply patriarchal country you get blamed for everything and it is hard to come out and say 'this happened,'" says Kohestani. "It had never happened before in Afghanistan and nobody had dared speak out about this before. We had to fight hard but we showed the women of Afghanistan what we could do." Kohestani fears that the victory, painful though it was, will not help the women under the new regime. "The Taliban will use this against us and say 'this is why we need to protect you, perhaps you can work in an office but you can't play football.'" An Asian Football Confederation official told DW that there had been no communication from the Afghanistan Football Federation regarding the upcoming games in qualification for the 2022 Women's Asian Cup. With the world wondering what will happen in the country, the team's appearance in Tajikistan would be a powerful statement that the new Taliban do have different attitudes to women than in the past.  That seems to be the message the new rulers want to present. On Tuesday, a Taliban representative was interviewed live on Afghanistan's 24/7 news channel TOLOnews by a female anchor. Saad Mohseni, director of MOBY Group, which owns TOLOnews, tweeted: "TOLOnews and the Taliban making history again: Abdul Haq Hammad, senior Taliban rep, speaking to our (female) presenter Beheshta earlier this morning. Unthinkable two decades ago when they were last in charge." Mohseni said in a subsequent interview that the next few weeks will be telling regarding the Taliban's intentions. But human rights activist Barr is doubtful that there will be real change from the previous regime. "We are certainly hopeful there will be some differences compared to last time like allowing some girls to go to primary school at least but allowing women to play football would be a step too far and undermine them in the eyes of their supporters." For Kohestani, the Taliban are making the right noises while there are still American and European troops in Kabul and the world is paying attention. "Anyone who believes they have changed is mistaken," she said. "I haven't seen anything that has made me think what happened before is not going to happen again. Playing football and recruiting girls from all over Afghanistan was a freedom we had not felt before and it was beautiful. "But now it is over."  

9Sports

European Union foreign ministers are discussing a new round of economic and sector-specific sanctions for Belarus, during informal talks on Thursday in the Portuguese city of Lisbon. This comes just days after EU leaders agreed to impose serious aviation restrictions, in response to a forced landing of a passenger plane by Belarus authorities. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell decried "the hijacking of the plane and the detention of the two passengers" as "completely unacceptable" shortly ahead of the meeting. He tweeted he was looking forward to discussions. Borrell said that the EU foreign ministers would be discussing sanctions against specific people connected to the Belarusian regime. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that he expected to see significant sanctions. If Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko does not make concessions, "one must assume that this will be just the beginning of a large and long spiral of sanctions," Maas said ahead of the meeting. He described Lukashenko's behavior as "so unacceptable" that the EU would not be satisfied with smaller sanctions steps. Instead, the goal is "that we want to impose sanctions on the economic structure and on financial transactions in Belarus quite significantly so that it also has an impact." As they headed into the meeting, Baltic state ministers from Estonia and Lithuania speculated about possible sectors that the EU could target with sanctions. Lithuania Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters: "We could talk about [sanctions on] the oil production sector." Meanwhile, Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets told reporters that she was hoping to discuss sanctions on "the companies which are close to the Belarusian regime." DW's Senior European Correspondent Bernd Riegert explained that despite the far-reaching sanctions on flights, these were "not the biggest measures" that the EU will take against Belarus. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video He said that the "sectoral sanctions" being discussed on Thursday could "really hurt Belarus." He suggested the EU could target the country's wood or cement industry. Yet he stressed that "the EU is not there yet," adding that "not all foreign ministers are sure this is the right path." On Sunday, authorities in Belarus forced a Ryanair plane to land in the capital, Minsk, citing a bomb threat. They scrambled a fighter jet to ensure that the passenger plane, which was flying from Athens in Greece to Vilnius in Lithuania, would land. Authorities arrested 26-year-old Raman Pratasevich, an exiled Belarusian dissident and blogger in Belarus, who was onboard. He had left the country in 2019, shortly before pro-democracy protests swept the country, which  has been dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship." The EU said it "strongly condemns" the arrest and forced landing, adding that it endangered aviation safety. They requested EU carriers to refrain from flying over Belarusian airspace. EU leaders also decided to ban Belarusian carriers from flying over the bloc's airspace. The EU is not the only group of countries considering sanctions on Belarus over the forced diversion. The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy economies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Britain  —  announced on Thursday in a statement: "We will enhance our efforts, including through further sanctions as appropriate, to promote accountability for the actions of the Belarusian authorities." Belarus is not the only topic being discussed by the EU's foreign ministers. They are also set to review it strategy in Africa. This comes days after Mali's interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday after being arrested in an "attempted coup."  Several EU countries have troops in the country as part of efforts to shore up a deteriorating security situation in the Sahel region. They will also talk about what the EU council termed "unresolved conflicts in the Eastern neighborhood" — likely also to mean Ukraine, in addition to Belarus. In April, concern grew in Western Europe over the amassing of around 100,000 Russian troops along its border with Ukraine and in the Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Ministers are also set to tackle tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. There has been increasing tension in the contested South China sea region between the US and China. kmm/rt (dpa, Reuters)

7Politics

Blaming foreign countries for diseases — as opposed to inadequate local health responses, for example — has long been a ploy to deflect responsibility. Former United States President Donald Trump started to refer to SARS-CoV-2 as the "China virus," or even the highly derogatory "kung flu," once he came under pressure due to upward-spiraling case numbers at home, according to Jerome Viala-Gaudefroy, assistant lecturer at CY Cergy Paris Universite and expert on the politics of naming diseases. The so-called Spanish flu — a devastating virus that killed millions during World War I — likely originated in the US, but became associated with Spain, the country where it was first identified, as "a way to deflect," said Viala-Gaudefroy. As Trump and the Republican party in 2020 continued to brand the coronavirus the "Chinese flu," also forwarding an unfounded theory that it was hatched in a Wuhan lab, Asian-Americans were increasingly targeted and attacked. Trump also liked to invoke war metaphors when referring to the virus, including phrases like "the invisible enemy," noted Viala-Gaudefroy, in an effort to project the image of fighting a foreign invasion. Also across Northern India, "Chinese-looking" locals living in areas bordering China faced abuse and were forced to quarantine — even without exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19.  In light of such events, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 issued a best-practices directive for naming new diseases that suggested avoiding "offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups." "COVID-19-related expressions of racism and xenophobia online have included harassment, hate speech, proliferation of discriminatory stereotypes, and conspiracy theories," said E. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations special rapporteur on racism in March 2020. "Not surprisingly, leaders who are attempting to attribute COVID-19 to certain national or ethnic groups are the very same nationalist populist leaders who have made racist and xenophobic rhetoric central to their political platforms." When the coronvirus mutated into new variants, these were again referred to after places of origin, including the so-called Indian variant. The racialization or ethnicization of these variants' names motivated the WHO in May 2021, nearly 18 months after the virus first emerged, to instead use Greek letters to designate variants of COVID-19. The first variant, initially identified in the United Kingdom, became alpha, and so on down the line — with the Indian variant becoming "delta." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Maria Van Kerkhove, a senior technical official at the WHO who specializes in the body's response to COVID-19, said the name change should lessen the stigma. "No country should be stigmatized for detecting and reporting COVID variants," she said. But after the Greek alphabet was adopted as a neutral way of naming virus variants, problems again emerged, as the Greek letter "xi" was seen as too close to the name of Chinese leader Xi Jinping — and could again stoke anti-Asian sentiment. (The Greek letter "nu" was skipped, as it could be confused with the word "new.") So the most-recent variant, first detected in South Africa (B.1.1.529), was dubbed "omicron." Yet media outlets had already been referring to that strain of COVID as the South Africa variant — reinforcing an association with Africa, and even Black people. Indeed, the Sunday edition of German daily newspaper Rheinpfalz am Sonntag even ran a front page headline: "The virus from Africa is with us," above a picture of a Black woman and child. The newspaper apologized, but the damage had been done. Giorgina Kazungu-Hass, a member of parliament in Rhineland-Palatinate state in western Germany where the publication is located, tweeted ironically that the front page "will be great for BPoC" — referring to Black people of color. As was the case with the Spanish flu, it turns out that the omicron variant very possibly originated in a different location than where identified. On Tuesday for example, it was reported that Dutch health authorities discovered omicron in local samples from November 19, five days before scientists in South Africa announced they had identified the strain. Ebola is another pandemic that associated with Africa and Blackness. Some far-right commentators and politicians coined the racist term "Obola" — a cross between Ebola and Barack Obama, when the African-American was the US president — to politicize and racialize the disease. This again is why the WHO cautions against names such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), or even Lyme disease — which refers to the town in Connecticut where the tick-borne bacterial disease was first identified. Despite the ambiguous origins of the omicron variant, southern African citizens continue to pay a price as travel bans and border restrictions against the countries in the region are introduced.  "The problem is that countries are going to avoid reporting new variants so that they're not associated with them," said Viala-Gaudefroy, referring to heavy economic fallout that comes with being perceived as an origin for COVID-19 mutations. "We must refer to viruses by their official names," stated First Responder, an anti-racism platform, in a tweet. "After the Ebola and MERS outbreaks triggered discrimination and racism, the WHO changed their official naming mechanism to not include place of origin. Call it 'COVID-19' to stop the hate." Edited by: Louisa Schaefer

4Culture

A pale yellow building next to a dusty football field in the border town of Del Rio in Texas represents hope for migrants wanting to come to the US. Those who have made it here have crossed the river and the border, and, for the moment at least, have left behind some of their uncertainty. Migrants holding brown paper envelopes are standing in line in the shade of the buildings, waiting for a bus on this mercilessly hot afternoon. It's more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade, but there is water and fruit here and volunteers from the Border Humanitarian Coalition who are taking care of the migrants. There are no makeshift camps and inhumane conditions like those that exist under the city's bridge spanning the Rio Grande and connecting Mexico with the United States. Charly is one of more than a hundred migrants here. And, like almost all of them, he is from Haiti. The 32-year-old has been on the move for a long time. Charly spent two months on the road, traveling through 12 countries. It's all to secure his future, he says. He left his native country years ago and stayed in Chile for a few years. But the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the economic situation there, increasing discrimination against migrants like him. For him, returning to Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, is not an option, and he sees no future for himself there. The country slid deeper into chaos after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July and an earthquake in August. Wearing a blue baseball cap and colorful floral-printed shirt, Charly is finally on American soil. He's hoping he won't be deported, because he has family in Orlando. It's the same with Edlin. The 27-year-old sits somewhat to the side, feeding her 1-year-old daughter. "I'm hoping for work and a better life," she says. She, too, initially fled to Chile, in 2018 and, just like Charly, was on the road for about two months. "I'm doing fine," Edlin says, despite everything she's been through. She speaks in short sentences, almost always looking at her daughter. Edlin also has the envelope in which she has papers that will supposedly lead her to her family in the US. Among the people here, there's a widespread rumor that no one who has family in the US will be deported. Many of the migrants here believed that things would get better with Joe Biden as US president and that the promise of America would be within reach. But even though Biden has promised a more humanitarian immigration policy than Donald Trump and stopped Trump's wall-building, it hasn't really led to fewer fortifications along the country's long southern border. A few kilometers (miles) south of the yellow building in Del Rio, hope quickly fades as a black steel fence looms. After images of deplorable conditions in an impromptu overcrowded migrant camp under a bridge in the town went public, access to the site has been blocked. The no-man's-land in the border region is now sealed off. In the windows of a long-closed supermarket, there's an advert in Spanish for cigarettes and alcohol. The paint peeling off, it still holds out the promise of a golden land. A few meters away, roadblocks and state trooper cars close off the bridge, which usually sees heavy border traffic. National Guard soldiers drive across the road in all-terrain vehicles. One of the entry gates is still open for the hundreds of officials that the government in Washington has sent to Texas. They are charged with quickly bringing the situation back under control to avoid a repeat of further disturbing images from which President Biden is trying to distance himself. His homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has come to make the administration's message clear once again: "Don't come." And those who have arrived in Del Rio are now being firmly sent back. Since Sunday, Haitians have been being flown back to their country, and thousands more are being transferred to other places in the US, where a decision will be taken on their status. The vast majority of them, however, Mayorkas repeats, are to be sent back to their native countries. But despite the sealed-off bridge, people are still trying to get in. Videos have shown border guards on horseback yelling at migrants in the Rio Grande river to turn back and using their reins as whips to deter them. The White House has said it's appalled by the scenes. But they are now out there for all to see, just like the images of tens of thousands of migrants camped under the bridge. By the end of the week, the Border Patrol wants to have broken up the camp. Frank Lopez isn't surprised by any of it — neither the chaos nor the many people who have flocked to the city, where he has lived for a long time. "The only people surprised by this are the politicians," said the 55-year-old, who himself worked for a long time as a border agent. For him, the city of Del Rio, which has a population of 35,000, is a war zone. And in his view, the president is to blame for promising open borders. Standing at the sealed bridge where he regularly films short videos for his Facebook page, Lopez says a promise like that is just calling for a disaster.  Lopez doesn't have much time, but he's in the mood to talk. The Trump supporter is angry at politicians, and not just the Democrats, though he says Trump at least raised pressure on Mexico. But, Lopez says, none of the lawmakers have a clue about how such decisions affect the lives of citizens. Life in Del Rio is going on as usual with football games on the weekend and residents going about their daily routines. But the presence of so many migrants scares people, Lopez says, adding that more will be pouring in if the country doesn't deport people as a matter of course. There are migration laws in place, Lopez says. "We aren't heartless, but we simply can't help everyone. There are limits." For conservatives like Lopez, those limits have long since been reached. Border crossings in the US have reached their highest level in decades. More than 200,000 undocumented people were apprehended by Border Patrol in August, and more than 1.5 million since last October. Republicans blame Biden's immigration policies. Ted Cruz, a senator in Texas, had himself filmed under the bridge and added the hashtag #BidenBorderCrisis. The immigration debate will be one of the most contentious issues in next year's midterm elections. And President Biden has yet to find a way out of the dilemma of wanting to act humanely while sticking to his "don't come" rhetoric, which would seem to point rather toward policies designed to keep migrants out. Human rights organizations and the left wing of the Democrats have criticized the president for the deportation flights to Haiti. "This is completely inhumane. Haitians are experiencing a crisis after crisis and deserve compassion," congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted.   Roberte Marquez, who goes by the pseudonym Robenz, sums it up in a slogan on a large canvas in front of the border fence in Del Rio. "Stop the deportations," it says in black letters on an orange and white background. Brushes and paint lie ready on his pickup truck. Robenz is here because he wants to show solidarity "with my brothers under the bridge." Originally from Mexico, he's now an American citizen and has been working for years with migrants. Jobs would help them, Robenz says. But many Americans fear losing their jobs, which is precisely the argument used by Republicans to justify restrictive immigration policies. Still, there are many jobs in the country done by undocumented people. Robenz didn't approve of Trump's policies, and he's not yet sure about Biden either. But sending people back will achieve nothing, Robenz says.  "They'll come back." For Charly and Edlin, the journey continues, for now. After some delay, the bus organized by the volunteers in Del Rio rounds the corner. Both of them find seats on it. It takes them a little deeper into America. But it's unclear whether they will be allowed to stay. This article has been translated from German.  

7Politics

After four goals in two games for Germany, Lea Schüller managed to carry her international form back to the Bundesliga and end a dry patch of one goal in four games with a brace in Bayern's 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. The champions have recovered well since the home loss to Wolfsburg on November 9 with three straight wins, including a victory over serial Champions League winners Lyon. Maximiliane Rall also got a brace while Linda Dallmann, Giulia Gwinn and Viviane Asseyi also helped themselves. Bayern now average 3.8 goals per game in the Bundesliga and face Häcken on Thursday in a game that could see them seal progress to the Champions League knockouts. That win on Saturday sent the Bavarians top overnight, but their main title rivals Wolfsburg were in no mood to let it remain that way, dishing out a 5-0 thumping to lowly Carl-Zeiss Jena on Sunday. The She Wolves have slipped up against unfancied sides before this season and led only 1-0 at the break, taking until 38 minutes to break the deadlock through Sandra Starke's header. "We missed a bit of greed in the first half, especially in the last third," admitted coach Tommy Stroot after the game. "Who creates dynamism, who gets the ball over the line? Those were the points we talked about during the break. In the second half, we were clearer and more determined." Stroot's side face bottom side Servette in their Champions League group on Wednesday before an all-important meeting with Chelsea that is likely to determine their fate. While Stroot could concentrate on improving the finer details, the season is already turning into a slog for Carl Zeiss Jena. The newly-promoted side have lost their last four games by an aggregate of 19-1 and were only able to field four substitutes at the weekend. But even their two points from 10 games puts them above Sand, who only have a goalless draw with Carl Zeiss Jena to show for their campaign after a 1-0 loss to Cologne on Sunday. Sand are one of the few sides remaining in the Bundesliga not linked to a powerful men's side and the disparity in finances and facilities that brings are starting to show. The bottom two combined have a goal difference of minus 50 and three points. Soon after an international break where England beat Latvia 20-0, the Bundesliga may also have to consider the value in pitting teams of such differing quality against each other. Emma Hayes' Chelsea powered past Arsenal in front of over 40,000 fans at Wembley on Sunday to complete the 2021 domestic treble in the COVID-delayed showpiece, with a 3-0 win. Fran Kirby scored early before Australian forward Sam Kerr added a brace to underline the difficulty of the task that faces Wolfsburg on December 16. Though the final was delayed by the pandemic, the choice to hold it mid-season was due to the significance of the date. Sunday marked 100 years since the English football association banned women's football on the grounds that it was "quite unsuitable for females" and might impact their childbearing ability. That ban took 50 years to overturn and has meant the women's game has always been playing catchup. "Women’s football was banned 100 years ago. I said to the girls before the game: today we play for everyone who’s made the women’s game what it is. Women’s football is our livelihood but it’s also our passion and today that win was for every woman who’s been involved in women’s football in this country," said Hayes after the game.

9Sports

Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko has gained further power after a referendum on Sunday. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994. The country's central electoral commission said that around 65% of votes were cast in favor of changing the country's constitution, and 10% voted against the change. According to the electoral commission, turnout for the referendum was at just over 78% of eligible voters. For the referendum to be considered valid, it needed a turnout of at least 50%. The change to the constitution gives Lukashenko lifelong immunity from prosecution and allows him to secure further time in office. Under the amendment, a president will not be able to be held liable for actions taken through the exercise of presidential powers. Lukashenko will also become a permanent member of the upper house of Belarus' parliament. Meanwhile, opposition groups developed their own draft of a new constitution, whereby the country would become a parliamentary republic, limiting presidential powers. The amendment would also allow Russian troops and nuclear weapons to be permanently stationed in Belarus. During the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine, Moscow has used Belarusian territory as a base for military operations. Western countries have imposed sanctions on Minsk, accusing Lukashenko of rigging the disputed August 2020 election. On January 24, the United States Department of the Treasury imposed additional sanctions on a number of individuals and entities "due to Belarus’s support for, and facilitation of, the invasion." The disputed 2020 election led to widespread protests which were systematically repressed by the Belarusian government. Local rights group Viasna said there were 942 political prisoners in Belarus as of late last year. Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has opposed Belarus' role in the Russian attack on Ukraine, and told DW that most Belarusians "don't support the war." Tsikhanouskaya has been living in exile in Lithuania since late 2020. sdi/rc (dpa, Interfax) To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

7Politics

Five Indian cricket players have been placed in isolation after a potential breach of Australia's biosecurity protocols. Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini were spotted inside a restaurant in Melbourne by a fan, in a potential breach of Australia's COVID-19 measures. The fan, Navaldeep Singh, claimed to have paid the bill of the players. On Friday, Singh suggested that he had hugged Pant, but said on Saturday that the players kept their distance from him. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia are investigating the matter and seeking to determine whether the outing constitutes a breach of biosecurity protocols," said Cricket Australia. The players are currently kept separate from the Australian and Indian cricket squads. India is playing four test format matches in Australia, with matches ending on January 19. According to biosecurity rules imposed on the Indian players, they can leave their hotel room, but must dine outdoors. The BCCI is currently investigating whether sanctions have to be leveled against the players. The news of the potential breach of biosecurity protocols by Indian cricketers follows the postponement of the English Premier League after four players broke UK's lockdown measures by gathering inside a house for a Christmas party. am/aw (AFP, AP)

9Sports

Stuttgart have done a lot of things right since promotion. An array of exciting young talent spearheaded by Silas Wamangituka has led them to midtable safety (they now sit 15 points clear of Mainz) and won plenty of admirers. But until Friday night, they hadn't won a home game in the Bundesliga since May 2019. A drab first half suggested that wasn't about to change and the rapid, incisive counterattacks that have led them to the league's third best away record just didn't work in their own back yard, particularly against a team as unambitious as Mainz. But Pellegrino Matarazzo, the American coach who studied maths at Colombia University, found a way to crack the code.  Sasa Kalajdzic hasn't found the net in 2021 but, at 2 meters tall, offers a different kind of threat. His selection was a surprise but the method of his goal was not. The Austrian broke the deadest of deadlocks shortly after the break, heading in an inviting Borna Sosa cross. "An amazing cross. I chat to Borna every week and every day I say 'today is the day' and today it finally was," Kalajdzic said after the game.  The calculated gamble had paid off and now Stuttgart's strengths could truly emerge. Mainz's blunt attack floundered and Silas, Sosa and Nicolas Gonzalez, such a consistent threat around German grounds, could finally sense blood in their hometown. It was Wamangituka who struck the fatal blow, with a demonstration of some of the qualities that have made him one of the breakout stars of the 2021-21 campaign. The Congolese winger picked up the ball on the edge of his own area and immediately drove at his opponent, committing the man as early as possible before a drop of the shoulder sent him haring free. Mainz couldn't muster another challenge, let alone stop him and, after a wasteful first half, the 21-year-old made no mistake in lashing home his 11th league goal of the season. The immediate challenge for Matarazzo is to build on the result that broke the drought. The longer term one is to keep hold of Silas, Gonzalez and co.  Harmony in the boardroom would help in that aim. And the sight of sporting director Thomas Hitzlsperger beaming proudly in the stands wearing the special rainbow insignia designed to show Stuttgart's tolerance perhaps served as a reminder to the fans watching at home that unity is not a given, but can be restored. With the savvy recruitment of Sven Mislintat as sporting director, the coaching smarts of Matarazzo and the heritage and infastructure of a traditional German giant, the ingredients are there. On Friday, Stuttgart finally got the recipe right at home. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

9Sports

Singapore's High Court has ordered blogger and financial advisor Leong Sze Hian to pay €83,125 ($98,825) for allegedly defaming the city-state's self-professed anti-corruption leader. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took umbrage in November 2018 when Leong shared on Facebook an online article, implicating the premier in neighboring Malaysia's 1MDB money-laundering scandal, originally published by a Malaysian news portal. Singapore High Court judge Edit Abdullah in his judgement issued Wednesday found that Leong in sharing that article had impugned Prime Minister Lee, 69, the eldest son of Singapore's late founder, Lee Kuan Yew, by suggesting dishonest activity. Citing defamation was often used by the late Lee Kuan Yew, who sued foreign media and political opponents. In 2017, a US judge granted asylum to a Singaporean blogger jailed twice for comments on the elder Lee. Leong's lawyer described Wednesday's verdict as "wrong and deeply flawed" — also given that the blogger had deleted his post 3 days after sharing it in compliance with a government request. Many others had also shared the article but Leong had been "picked on," said Leong's lawyer Lim Tean, who had argued that authorities in 2018 had already denied the allegations from Malaysia. Leong, reacting to the verdict, said: "I am of course disappointed." He urged the public to donate funds to help him pay damages ordered by the High Court. "I hope that this is the last time that any politician will sue ordinary citizens for defamation," said Leong. Prime Minister Lee, who testified last October at the start of the blogger's Singapore trial, had accused Leong of making "baseless" claims harming his government's integrity. Neighboring Malaysia's scandal centered on sums looted from the 1MDB state fund, allegedly by Malaysia's former leader Najib Razak and his inner circle. As head of government since 2004, Lee had pledged zero tolerance toward corruption. Lee previously served as a Singapore army general, also serving stints as the island state's trade and finance minister. Singapore's Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Law, instituted in 2019, empowers cabinet ministers to block social media posts deemed as misinformation. Rights groups have often accused Singaporean authorities of silencing criticism by using heavy-handed laws. ipj/msh (AFP, Reuters)

7Politics

Getting a job might have been once been considered enough to be successfully integrated into society as a foreigner. For Germany, that type of thinking is on its way out.  After nearly three years of planning and discussion, on Tuesday Chancellor Angela Merkel and state and civic leaders announced 100 measures as part of the National Action Plan for Integration. On measure would introduce "integration scouts," a type of buddy system for apprentices. The idea is for German trainees to mentor non-German trainees so that no one falls through the cracks.  "Real social cohesion takes more than just the absence of hate and violence," Merkel said. "It requires tolerance and openness for one another." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Tuesday marked Merkel's last integration summit before her chancellorship comes to an end with German elections this fall. Remarking on how the concept of integration had shifted over her time in office, she said, "we've learned that integration doesn't just affect some groups: It affects society as a whole." The summit, headed by Integration Commissioner Annette Widmann-Mauz, brought together some 120 people representing states, municipalities and civil organizations.   During a press conference after the summit, Widmann-Mauz stressed the importance, especially during the pandemic, of ensuring an effective integration strategy as soon as possible to secure Germany's role as "an economically strong, modern country of immigration for the future." "We've achieved a lot over the past few years, and now we must do everything in our power so that the corona pandemic isn't a setback for these achievements," she said. Launched in 2018, the National Action Plan has the goal of creating a road map for integration in the 2020s. The project has been a significant undertaking for about 300 partners, who represent states, cities and an estimated 75 migrant organizations. At its core, the 100-point plan breaks down into five categories that range from pre-integration measures such as setting expectations before a person immigrates to German to bolstering social cohesion through education and social activities. Discrimination was one of the main focuses of Tuesday's talks. Merkel and other speakers at the press conference following the summit stressed that racially motivated terror attacks such as the 2020 killing spree in Hanau or the murders carried out by the NSU are huge setbacks to creating a safe, inclusive environment in Germany. Along with violence prevention, the action plan also calls for an expansion of anti-discrimination efforts such as counseling centers that can help people who have, for example, experienced hate speech or found themselves turned away from jobs because of their ethnicity or religion.    A report released ahead of the summit further called for unified documentation of these cases to better understand how discrimination comes about.   "Victims of discrimination cannot be abandoned: Their experiences must be taken seriously. To ensure this, they need support from professional anti-discrimination counseling," the head of Germany's Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, Bernhard Franke, said in a press statement. Integration has been the focus of many a heated debate in Germany in recent years, sparked in large part by  a historic influx of refugees  between 2015 and 2019. During that period, Germany received more than 1.8 million asylum requests, or roughly 75% of all asylum claims filed over the past decade.   Discussions about how to handle the logistics of such a large refugee population, hailing primarily from Syria, Afghanistan and parts of Africa, quickly became ensconced in concerns about integration.  Indeed, concerns about integration reopened questions about the integration of immigrant groups long settled in Germany, particularly Turkish immigrants and their descendants who make up the country's largest minority. Despite an improvement in education rates, this group was, as of 2017, still three times more likely to have trouble finding a job or to rely on state welfare than Germans without Turkish roots, according to an OECD study.  This gave way to a larger debate spearheaded by immigration organizations and second and third-generation immigrants who called on lawmakers to learn from past integration failures and to promote measures beyond language classes and job placement.   To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Roughly one out of four people currently living in Germany boasts foreign roots.  This — along with the fact that Germany ranks second among OECD countries for immigration after the US — points to another facette of integration: Integration goes beyond refugees.   Thanks to a strong economy, Germany has seen a rise in a third group, namely skilled workers, which hail from a number of countries. EU member states have accounted for the largest rise in recent years. In 2018 they made up 60% of all immigrants that came to Germany, primarily neighboring EU member states, which accounted for 60% of all immigrants in 2018. Its higher education system has also been a magnet for foreign students, with over 400,000 enrolled at German universities before the pandemic. Speaking to reporters at the press conference on Tuesday, Gonca Türkeli-Dehnert, who heads the integration foundation Deutschlandstiftung Integration, said that many young people who come to Germany are highly talented and often speak two native languages, plus at least two other foreign languages.  "They don't have to stay here and they won't if what they have to offer isn't recognized," she said. 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

Amnesty International said on Wednesday that it no longer recognizes jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as a "prisoner of conscience."    The global rights watchdog cited the politician's past "advocacy of hatred" as the reason behind its decision. It, however, did not mention any specific remarks made by him in the past.  At the start of his political career a decade ago, Navalny drew criticism for his anti-immigrant statements. "Some of these comments, which Navalny has not publicly denounced, reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred, and this is at odds with Amnesty's definition of a prisoner of conscience," the London-based NGO said. Over the past few years, Navalny has emerged as Russia's leading critic of President Vladimir Putin by publishing investigations into corruption and leading street protests. Navalny was arrested by Russian authorities last month following his return from Germany, where he underwent treatment to recover from a poisoning attack. He was sentenced to nearly three-year in prison for violating parole terms. Navalny said they were trumped-up charges. Amnesty said it would continue to demand the 44-year-old opposition politician's release. "Navalny has not, to the best of our knowledge, made similar pronouncements in recent years and this decision does not change our resolve to fight for his immediate release," Amnesty said. It added that the group last week delivered 200,000 signatures to the Russian authorities demanding Navalny's immediate release. Navalny's team responded to Amnesty's decision by accusing the group of having caved to a pressure campaign waged by a columnist associated with Russian state media. Navalny's right-hand man Leonid Volkov wrote on Twitter that Amnesty, with the decision, had announced it "was fed crap" and "liked it," while key aide Ivan Zhdanov tweeted that the decision was "extremely shameful." Meanwhile, President Putin approved legislation on Wednesday increasing fines for offenses committed during anti-government street protests. Police detained more than 11,000 people at nationwide protests this year in support of Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group. Navalny's allies — most of whom are now abroad or under house arrest — have declared a moratorium on street protests until the spring. Navalny's detention has also strained ties further between Moscow and the West. Russia has ignored a demand by the European Court of Human Rights to release Navalny. EU foreign ministers this week agreed to impose sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to Putin over the jailing. The bloc is expected to formally approve the sanctions in early March. sri/msh (AFP, Reuters)

7Politics

Whistleblowers would be granted more legal protection and greater security under the draft bill approved by the German Cabinet on Wednesday.  Though the European Union's whistleblower directive should have been implemented into German law by 2021, the previous government could not reach a deal on the changes.  Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, a member of the Free Democrats (FDP), had drafted the bill for the protection of people who reveal misconduct, abuse and other types of violations in corporations or in public administration.  "Employees in companies and public authorities are often the first to notice grievances and can ensure that violations of the law are discovered, investigated, prosecuted and stopped," Buschmann said.  Effective protections for whistleblowers could be "an essential building block for a good compliance system that strengthens a positive culture of mistakes," he added.  With the current legislation, whistleblowers submit themselves to significant risk when reporting misconduct or abuse.  To receive protection under the draft, the whistleblowers must either contact internal reporting offices in companies and public authorities or external reporting offices of the federal and state governments. Companies with 50 or more employees would be required to set up some form of internal reporting system. However, those with fewer than 250 employees will be able to do so in partnership with other medium-sized employers to contain costs. The new legislation would protect whistleblowers specifically by banning reprisals, whether those be through dismissal, warnings, disciplinary measures, discrimination, bullying or damage to their reputation. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In case of reprisals, whistleblowers would be able to lodge legal claims against their employers. If the misconduct doesn't carry "legal relevance," the legislation does not apply, a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry said.  According to the draft legislation, evidence submitted to the press will only be protected in exceptional cases. The same applies to allegations that are published on social media.  According to the text, the aim is to "expand" on protections that have so far been "fragmentary and insufficient."  Civil society organizations such as the German Federation of Journalists (DJV) and Transparency Germany criticized the proposed law as insufficient.  Frank Überall, the DJV’s national chairman, said all whistleblowers deserved protection, "no matter what violation of the law they uncover." Though some violations might be formally legal but illegitimate behavior, whistleblowers should still be able to publish them without having to fear personal reprisals, he said. Sebastian Oelrich, who is responsible for Transparency Germany's whistleblower protection group, said classified information was often excluded from protection. Reporting these types of violations to an internal reporting office was not sufficient, as the prominent example of Edward Snowden in the United States illustrated, he said.  los/msh (Reuters, dpa)

7Politics

Islamist militants targeted a school van in Swat's Charbagh tehsil earlier this week, killing the driver and injuring two students. The incident sparked protests in the area, one of which lasted for over 40 hours. Locals blamed the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the attack, but the militant group, which has close ties to the Afghan Taliban, has denied responsibility. Last month, suspected militants fired on a police party in the valley, fueling speculation that the TTP, which aims to set up an Islamist state in Pakistan, is regaining strength in the area. Swat Valley was once ruled by the Pakistani Taliban, who imposed a ban on education for women among other retrogressive measures. Security analysts say the TTP feels emboldened by the Afghan Taliban's return to power in Kabul last year, thus raising its head once again in areas bordering Afghanistan. Pashtun nationalists and other political parties in the area blame Islamabad's "peace negotiations" with the TTP for their "comeback." Islamabad negotiators have held several rounds of talks with the TTP in Afghanistan, but so far they haven't yielded results. The aim of these talks is to force the TTP to lay down arms and cease attacks on the security forces. The army media wing last month admitted that the presence of "a small number of armed men on a few mountain tops between Swat and Dir has been observed." However, it strongly rejected claims that the TTP has resurfaced in the area. "Apparently, these individuals sneaked in from Afghanistan to resettle in their native areas. A close watch is being maintained on their limited presence and movement in mountains," the army said in a statement. "A misperception about the alleged presence of a large number of proscribed organization TTP's armed members in Swat Valley has been created on social media. After confirmation on the ground, these reports have been found to be grossly exaggerated and misleading," the statement added. Massive anti-government protests Many in Swat, however, are not ready to buy these claims and have held huge rallies against both the TTP and the military in the past few days. At the core of the anti-militant and anti-army protests in the region is the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), an anti-war group. The PTM has gained considerable strength in the past few years, drawing tens of thousands of people to its protest rallies. Its supporters are critical of both the Taliban and the Pakistani military, which they say have ravaged Pashtun areas in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The PTM maintains that Pakistani authorities backed Islamist militants in the area to destabilize the former elected governments in Afghanistan, a claim Islamabad denies. Marwat Salam, a 26-year-old resident of the Swat's Matta area, said that people are furious over the government's inaction. People feel that the government is either supporting the Taliban or are afraid of them, which perhaps explains why the government has not taken any concrete action against them, Salam told DW. Bibi Hasina, a 45-year old nurse working at a local hospital, said that the recent school van attack sent a shiver down people's spines, reminding everyone of the turbulent days of the past. "The people of Swat are protesting against it, because they are worried about their children, their families, their businesses and their safety," Hasina said. No decisive action against the militants Swat Valley is better known for being the hometown of Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was 15 years old when the TTP shot and wounded her a decade ago. At the time, Malala had been campaigning for girls' right to education in Swat and was a vocal critic of Islamist extremists. The Taliban said in 2012 that she had been attacked for promoting "secularism" in the area. Swat was a stronghold for the TTP until the Pakistani military launched an operation against the group in 2009. However, the group could not be completely defeated and many of its fighters and leaders went into hiding in the lawless border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group's sporadic attacks continued even after the 2009 military operation. In 2014, TTP militants attacked a military-run school in Peshawar, killing 132 schoolchildren. The 2009 anti-militant offensive forced over a million people to leave their homes and take refuge in various parts of the country. They were only allowed to return when the operation ended a few months later. Idris Ali Shah, who lives in Swat, said that locals were furious with the government because they had been given contradictory information about the success of the 2009 military operation. Firstly, they were assured that the militants had been eliminated during the offensive, he told DW, but then people witnessed a wave of targeted killings of political workers and peace activists in the following years. "We were told these were ruthless terrorists and now the same are being engaged in talks without even taking the people into confidence," Shah said. "Then the [new] reports of extortion, threats and militants' presence were all ignored. So, the disappointment with the government is natural." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video TTP comeback a 'propaganda'  The government claims that Pashtun nationalists are trying to exploit some "isolated" attacks to defame the army. Aziz Ullah Khan, a provincial lawmaker from Swat, told DW that it was propaganda that the army or security forces were bringing back the Taliban. "The army offered tremendous sacrifices to flush out militants from Swat and other parts of the country. If Swat has peace today, it is all because of these sacrifices," he said, adding that some elements are spreading malicious propaganda against the army which should be condemned. Khan rejected that people of Swat are fed up with the government. "I am from the provincial government and roaming about the entire valley. I did not witness any anger against the government and security forces," Khan said. He also refuted claims that militants are present in the scenic valley. Swat resident Marwat Salam, however, fears the return of Islamist militancy in the area. "The government's lackluster response has created anxiety, particularly among women," she told DW, adding that she feared her sisters and cousins might not continue their education if the Taliban return to her hometown. "People had to leave their homes in the past and were not helped by the government. Now the government is turning a blind eye to the activity of militants, which is fueling frustration against the government," Salam added. Edited by: Keith Walker and Shamil Shams

2Conflicts

A 66-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a series of parcel bombs sent to German food firms, authorities said on Saturday. The man, from the city of Ulm in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, was detained a day earlier, according to the public prosecutor's office in Heidelberg. His name wasn't given in line with German privacy laws. Three firms were sent parcel bombs over the past few days, including the ADM Wild factory in Eppelheim, the supermarket chain Lidl in Neckarsulm and the baby food manufacturer Hipp, based in the southern state of Bavaria. The latter was intercepted and defused. Three people were injured and taken to hospital when the device sent to the Lidl office exploded. Around 100 people were evacuated from the building.  "We assume there is a connection," Heidelberg state prosecutors said in a statement.  Further incidents were "not likely" but "could not be ruled out entirely", they added. Police said the suspect was not previously known to them and he did not immediately give investigators a statement. Prosecutors said on Thursday that a 100-member special commission has been set up to investigate the incidents. Germany's food federation has warned its members to remain vigilant when receiving post, the German press agency DPA reported. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video mvb/mm(dpa, AFP)

3Crime

Mudslides in Peru killed at least 12 people and affected thousands of others, according to government figures on Tuesday, as heavy rains caused widespread destruction. The toll is expected to rise as rescue operations are underway in the south where homes were turned to rubble and roads and infrastructure washed away. The residents of five small gold-mining villages in the Arequipa area of southern Peru were affected by the devastation. The slides from the highest mountains in the region started on Sunday and continued on Monday, decimating everything in their path. Governor Rohel Sanchez of Arequipa stated on Monday that it was highly likely that miners were trapped in gold mines that had collapsed in the affected southern regions. According to government figures, 20 people are officially reported injured and two missing, while up to 12,000 people suffered some form of damage in the disaster. Mauro Noa, a community leader in the Posco Miski village, said "The neighbors who couldn't leave their houses were taken by the wave of mud." Noa has been attempting to contact the local officials to procure food and first aid for more than 1,000 of his neighbors who have been stranded on a mountainside since Sunday and are unable to escape. "They're hungry and thirsty," Noa said. "Nobody thinks about them." President Dina Boluarte conducted an aerial survey of the disaster zone on Tuesday morning to assess the damage. "We are working on a very rapid response to this critical situation," the president later said. Peru has been in the midst of a political crisis with ongoing street protests against President Boluarte since December 7, after the controversial ouster of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ss/wd (AP, AFP, Reuters)  

1Catastrophe

China's population grew 5.4% over the last 10 years, according to the census figures published by the country's National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. This is the first time that most of the data was collected online and it recorded the slowest growth rate since the 1960s. Over the last decade, China's population has increased by 72 million to 1.41 billion people.  That represents an annual growth rate averaging of 0.53%, down 0.04% from the previous 10-year period. The country registered 12 million children born in 2020. That is an almost 20% decrease on the 14.6 million births the year before. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video China revised its "one-child policy" in 2016 but has yet to see increased birthrates, as couples delay having children owing to the high costs of raising a child in a city and cramped housing. Women are delaying or avoiding childbirth due to factors such as discrimination at work for having a child. In 2019, China had reported a birthrate of 10.48 per 1,000 people — the slowest birthrate since 1949.   In the latest census, the number of people aged 15 to 59 declined by about 7%. However, the population of those above 60 increased by more than 5%. "The aging of the population imposed pressure on the long-term balanced development of the population in the coming period," said Ning Jizhe, an official of the National Bureau of Statistics. Ning added that the latest census data "showed that the population of China maintained a mild growth momentum in the past decade." China recorded a 15% decade-on-decade rise in urban population to 236.4 million. More than 63% of people now live in urban areas, and 500 million constitute migrant workers, who are referred to as "floating population" by Beijing. Meanwhile, the average family size is now 2.62 people, according to the latest census, down from 3.10 in the last census. "The family households continued to downsize because of increasing population mobility and the fact that young people after marriages lived separately from parents with improved housing conditions," said Ning. According to the latest census, India is set to overtake China in terms of population in 2025. am/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters)

7Politics

The suspect in a deadly mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in the US state of Colorado was formally charged on Tuesday with 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder. The 22-year-old man is accused of entering Club Q last month — wearing body armor — and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle. Five people were killed in the rampage while at least 18 were injured. The suspect, who has been in custody since the shooting on November 19, appeared for a hearing at the El Paso County District Court on Tuesday where the charges against the suspect were read. The counts include 48 hate crime charges, one for each person known to have been present at the Colorado Springs club during the attack. He was also charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder — two for each casualty — one of murder with intent and the other of murder with extreme indifference. The 22-year-old would face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole, if convicted of first-degree murder. District Attorney Michael Allen told reporters on Tuesday that the number of charges underpins how seriously authorities are taking the shooting. "Obviously when you file 305 counts in a case, that tells the public, this community, this state and this nation that we are taking this case as seriously as we possibly can and we are going to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law," Allen said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Court-appointed lawyers have said that the suspected gunman identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Allen said the suspect being nonbinary was "part of the picture'' in considering hate crime charges but didn't give any further information. "We are not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity,'' the District Attorney said. "Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long.'' At the time of the incident, Aldrich was subdued by two clubgoers with military backgrounds until police arrived. A two-day preliminary hearing has been slated for February 22 while a full jury trial may not take place until  2024, Allen said. dvv/rs (AFP,AP, Reuters)

3Crime

A minke calf whale that lost her way in London's River Thames was euthanized on Monday, despite efforts of rescuers from several groups. "It's suffering quite badly, it has been for about the last 45 minutes," said Julia Cable, national co-ordinator for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue. "We're just trying to ease any suffering." The London Fire Brigade had attempted to free the roughly 4.5 meter (15 feet) long whale the previous night. Unfortunately, the whale could not find her way out to open waters again, even with the help of rescue workers. A Port of London Authority spokesman said a whale had never traveled so far up the river, traveling 95 miles (150 kilometers) along the river's mouth to a dropping tide near Teddington in southwest London. "It's like seeing a camel at the North Pole," said spokesman Martin Garside. It would be very difficult for the whale to survive much longer in the river, as nutrition sources in the river are scarce for the creature, whose natural habitat is the northern North Sea. It was unclear why the whale swam into the Thames. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "This whale could have become lost whilst following prey, or could be ill or injured," Danny Groves of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation told Reuters. "Equally, many whales and dolphins get into difficulty because they may have been struck by a vessel at sea, injured in fishing nets, driven off course by loud underwater noise from seismic surveys for oil or gas, or loud underwater sonar from military exercises." The small size of the whale suggested it was still maternally or socially dependent and unable to live on its own. "It's nutritionally in a poor state. Either it's been separated from its mum too early, or something's happened…it's run out of energy," said national coordinator for the BDMLR Julia Cable. kbd/aw (AP, Reuters)

6Nature and Environment

Mali's transitional government has pardoned 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested earlier in 2022, a spokesman said on Friday. The soldiers were arrested in July at the airport in Mali's capital, Bamako, and were accused of conspiring against the government. 46 soldiers were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on December 30 for allegedly attempting to undermine state security. Three others, who had been released in September, were sentenced to death in absentia. The soldiers went to Mali to work for Sahel Aviation Services, a private company contracted by the United Nations. Mali's ruling military junta accused the soldiers of acting as mercenaries. The Ivory Coast said they were part of a UN peacekeeping mission. The arrest sparked a diplomatic dispute with the Ivory Coast and condemnation from regional allies. West African leaders had set a deadline for Mali to release the soldiers by January 1 or face sanctions. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "The transitional president Colonel Assimi Goita has granted pardon and fully revoked the sentences of the 49 Ivorian," government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga said. Maiga said that the pardon "demonstrates once again [Goita's] commitment to peace, dialogue, pan-Africanism and the preservation of fraternal and secular relations with regional countries, in particular those between Mali and the Ivory Coast." The government said in a statement that the pardon reflected the interim president's concern for good governance and respect for independent justice. Goita seized power in a 2020 coup, and then again in 2021. Mali has been grappling with an Islamist insurgency in the country's north since 2012. sdi/kb (Reuters, AFP, AP)

7Politics

More than 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in Europe, the World Health Organization announced on Thursday.  WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge warned that the situation remains "serious," with about 1.6 million new cases reported each week in the region. Speaking on vaccine fears, Kluge said the risk of people suffering blood clots is far higher for people with COVID-19 than people who receive AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine. Speaking to reporters during a visit to Greece, Kluge did point to “early signs that transmission may be slowing across several countries'' and cited "declining incidence"' among the oldest people. "For now, the risk of suffering blood clots is much higher for someone with COVID-19 than for someone who has taken the AstraZeneca vaccine," he said. "Let there be no doubt about it, the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in reducing COVID-19 hospitalization and preventing deaths." He said the WHO recommends its use for all eligible adults. The Johns Hopkins University found that overall nearly 3 million deaths have been linked to COVID-19 worldwide — with the Americas hardest hit. The United States, Brazil and Mexico have reported the highest number of deaths, collectively at more than 1.1 million. One of the first countries on the path to normality is the UK, easing restrictions for the first time in months on Monday. mna/aw (AP, Reuters)

5Health

The European Commission has proposed a change in travel restrictions into the EU, saying the bloc should focus on travelers' vaccination status, rather than geographic zones.  When the pandemic began, a majority of EU states had agreed on a far-reaching entry ban for non-essential travel. While the European Commission updated a so-called "green list" of countries outside the bloc where travelers were permitted entry, individual EU nations could also add their own restrictions. European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said in a press release the goal of the Commission's recommendation was to increase consistency across the 27-member bloc. Reynders said there is "an obvious risk that differing approaches between countries could endanger confidence in the COVID certificate system, and harm free movement in the Union." The Commission's recommendations come as Europe reached on Thursday the grim milestone of 1.5 million coronavirus deaths. Germany saw its death toll pass 100,000 on Thursday.  Europe is now the only region in the world where COVID-19 continues to rise. The Commission recommended that those who hold the EU's digital vaccination certificate should not be subject to additional travel restrictions, such as tests or quarantine.  For travelers who are immunized with a WHO-recognized vaccine that is not recognized by the European Medicines Agency, a negative PCR test would still be required for entry. The vaccine certificates must not be older than 9 months. This has opened the door for EU members to debate whether boosters should be required for vaccine certificates.  The Commission's changes to the EU COVID-19 travel rules could come into effect in January. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video EU governments are rolling out their booster campaigns and setting new standards for vaccination status, in hopes of mitigating the ongoing crisis. French Health Minister Olivier Veran said COVID-19 booster shots would be accessible to all adults starting this weekend. They had only been available to people over 65 or with health problems up until now. Starting January 15, France will require people over 18 to show proof of a booster dose to maintain a valid COVID-19 pass, which is required to enter restaurants, bars, gyms and other public venues. The government hopes the stringent measures could see allow France to ride out the fifth wave without another lockdown. The Czech Republic is the latest European country to introduce coronavirus restrictions, as it declared a 30-day state of emergency. It is an effort to tackle a record surge of infections in a country where just over 58% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It follows neighboring Austria's recent announcement of a lockdown and vaccine mandate. Among the new measures, all Christmas markets across the country are banned while it's also banned to drink alcohol in public places, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said. Bars, restaurants, night clubs, discotheques and casinos will have to close at 10 p.m, while the number of people at culture and sports events will be limited to 1,000 who are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video jcg/sms (dpa, Reuters)

5Health

Former Germany striker Sandro Wagner apologized on Monday for describing the traditional male Qatari clothing as a "bathrobe" while co-commenting on the German team's World Cup game with Spain a day earlier. During his commentary for public broadcaster ZDF on the Sunday evening game, the former Bayern Munich striker said that at first sight, he had thought that one end of the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor was full of German fans. "Only then did I realize that they are the Qatari bathrobes," he added, in reference to the Thaub, the traditional male Qatari attire. The Thaub is a white full-length robe with long sleeves. It is a source of pride for Qataris, as well as other Arabs in the region, where each country has its national Thaub. The former footballer's comment stirred a lot of controversy on social media. Many found it "racist," tweeting their anger away at ZDF. In a statement shared on the broadcaster's Twitter account on Monday, Wagner described his comment as "ill-considered" and "inappropriate." He apologized if anyone felt "attacked" by it, stressing that it was not his intention. The German broadcaster also addressed the comment, saying: "Sandro Wagner's comments about the Thaub unfortunately occurred during an emotional phase of the game. He's not permitted (to say that). We'll talk about it.'' The game ended with a draw, while Germany would have hoped for a win to increase its chances of qualifying for the next round of the tournament. ZDF said it had no intention of firing the commentator, saying he was doing a good job, German news agency dpa reported. He is next due to work on the game between Poland and Argentina on Wednesday. Qatar, the host of this year's World Cup, has been at the center of controversy since the start of the tournament. The Muslim, conservative country has apparently seen to the banning of alcoholic drinks at the stadiums, as well as banning the OneLove armbands which the captains of several nations, including Germany, were planning to wear as a show of support for LGBTQ rights. On the other hand, commentators from both inside and outside the Arabic-speaking world have questioned why Qatar is being so harshly criticized, suggesting it has less to do with political issues and more to do with racism, orientalism, even Islamophobia. rmt/rt (AP, dpa)

9Sports

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are hosting an expert conference in Berlin on Tuesday for talks on the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed participants at the International Expert Conference on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Modernization of Ukraine via video call.  In his concluding remarks, Olaf Scholz said he was optimistic about the clear recommendations having a positive impact on the recovery of Ukraine. At the end of the conference, Scholz said they had a "better picture" of what it'll take to aid Ukrainian recovery and added Germany would continue its support beyond the end of its G7 presidency which ends December 31, 2022. Germany, Scholz said, would host the next Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, in 2024.  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Ukraine for being a digital society — the most digitized after Estonia among European countries — and having systems work even with a war raging. One of the main messages of the conference, she said, was that Ukraine had everything it takes to rebuild itself — the determination, a vibrant civil society, friends around the globe and an impressive resilient economic base despite the atrocities of the war. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said it was important for a financial coordination platform to sync donor efforts and make sure recovery and modernization of Ukraine, and by extension, of Europe, takes center stage. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also delivered a video message and condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine. Japan takes over the presidency of the G7 group of industrialized nations from Germany on January 1, 2023.  "We do not know when this war will end. But end it will," Scholz said in his opening remarks.  "And when it does, we will continue to stand by Ukraine and its struggle for security, freedom and democracy," he added. "We know that no two countries' history are the same. But from our own historical experience, we also know that reconstruction is always possible and that it is never too soon to tackle this task," Scholz said. Scholz called for a "Marshall Plan for the 21st century — a generational task that must begin now," referring to a US initiative that helped rebuild Germany after the Second World War. DW's chief political correspondent Nina Haase said Scholz, as the current chair of the G7's rotating presidency, called this meeting to send a signal to Kyiv that the West is not only supporting Ukraine during the war, but is already thinking of the country's recovery.  "They're not sending a signal to Ukraine [that] 'we are helping you now but somehow our solidarity will soften over time.' We are standing by you for the next couple of decades, we want to bring you into the European Union," said Haase. In her opening speech, Von der Leyen reiterated the EU's commitment to helping Ukraine, from relief for the country's daily survival, including paying wages and pensions, to post-war reconstruction and modernization.  She noted that Ukraine currently holds EU candidate status, and the bloc needs "to firmly embed Ukraine's reconstruction efforts as part of its path toward the European Union." "We have no time to waste, the scale of destruction is staggering. The World Bank puts the cost of the damage at €350 billion ($345 billion)," von der Leyen said. Zelenskyy echoed her remarks, saying: "Those who invest in the reconstruction of Ukraine are investing in the reconstruction of a future member of the [European Union]." He said Ukraine has a $17 billion "fast recovery" plan to repair damage to critical infrastructure.  "As of now, we haven't received a single cent for the implementation of the fast recovery plan," Zelenskyy said.  Ukraine's president urged countries to help cover Kyiv's budgetary deficit of $38 billion. "At this very conference we need to make a decision on assistance to cover next year's budget deficit for Ukraine," Zelensky said via video-link. "It's a very significant amount of money, a $38 billion deficit," he added. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that Ukraine's external financing needs could reach $5 billion a month if there is an increase in Russian bombing. Georgieva said that in the best-case scenario, Ukraine could require $3 billion a month. "And in a worst case scenario, if the bombing is even more dramatic ... it could go to $5 billion a month," she said. Georgieva lauded Ukrainian authorities for pushing through "exceptionally difficult times." She said that Ukraine is "doing a really good job in making every cent — every hryvnia, I should say — count." She said that the IMF was working to help define and implement the Ukraine's macroeconomic policies and produce reliable financial projections. Georgieva added that IMF staff had met with Ukrainian authorities last week to discuss the country's financial needs and were developing a full-fledged lending program. The conference — attended by experts, representatives of governments, international organizations and civil society — is aimed at discussing sustainable tools for Ukraine's reconstruction rather than making financial pledges, Berlin said. Scholz stressed that the event "is not a regular donor conference," but is "more fundamental than that." Tuesday's event comes a day after a Ukrainian-German economic forum in Berlin, where Scholz appealed to Kyiv to further improve the framework conditions for investment. 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 fb/es (AFP, dpa)

7Politics

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said Wednesday that it would not boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. USOPC president Susanne Lyons said during a press conference that while there was "a steady drumbeat" of support of a boycott, it would hurt athletes who had been training for competition. "While we would never want to minimize what is happening from a human rights perspective in China, we do not support an athlete boycott," said Lyons, referencing the internment of Uighur Muslims, which the US has said amounted to genocide. The US has only boycotted one modern Olympics: the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, Soviet Union, for their involvement in armed conflict in Afghanistan during the Cold War. "We believe such boycotts have not been effective in the past, particularly in 1980," said Lyons. "Those boycotts only hurt athletes who have trained their entire lives for this opportunity to represent their country." The 2022 Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin February 4 next year, just six months after the delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics. China has come under pressure due to the treatment of Uighur Muslims, its stance towards Taiwan, and a clampdown on Hong Kong. Congressman John Katko wrote to US President Joe Biden last month in support of a boycott. "Participation in an Olympics held in a country that is openly committing genocide not only undermines those shared values but casts a shadow on the promise for all those who seek free and just societies," read part of the letter. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A coalition of 180 rights groups also called for a 2022 Winter Olympics boycott. China's foreign ministry has previously dismissed concerns, calling them "politically motivated." AFP contributed to this report.

9Sports

With every passing second, vast amounts of human-produced CO2 billows into the atmosphere. Collectively, we generate nearly 40 gigatons (Gt) annually, mainly by burning fossil fuels for energy, electricity and transportation. Studies show if emissions continue at current levels, the window for avoiding dangerous warming will rapidly diminish. In that sense, countries are in a race against time — and one technology is being touted as indispensable to prevent "runaway" climate change: Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). "We talk about having no silver bullet on climate change but having silver buckshot," said US Democratic Party lawmaker Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the most dedicated environmental champions in the Senate. "And one of the pellets in the silver buckshot has to be really aggressive work on carbon capture." Twenty-six utility-scale CCS projects are operating worldwide, with a combined capacity to capture and store some 40 million tons of carbon per year. The CO2 is either piped into deep geologic formations or injected into depleting oil and gas reservoirs. According to the Global CCS Institute, an international organization dedicated to promoting the technology, more than 40 other projects are under construction or in advanced planning stages on nearly every continent. The International Energy Agency's (IEA's) recent headline-grabbing "Net Zero by 2050" report, designated CCS as one of seven pillars needed to achieve mid-century climate neutrality and limit global heating. Echoing previous analyses, it states that as we rapidly expand emissions-free renewable energy systems, we must construct thousands of CCS plants worldwide with the eventual capacity to bury more than 3 Gt to 7 Gt of CO2 annually ­— akin to running today's global fossil fuel industry in reverse. But experts like Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University and author of the book "The New Climate War," fear that leaning so heavily on CCS will "just prolong our collective dependency on fossil fuels to the advantage of the fossil fuel industry and to our collective detriment." For decades, CCS has been the oil and gas industry's favored environmental solution. Emerging out of former US President George W. Bush's "clean coal" initiative in the 2000s, advocates argued that fossil fuels could be cleaned up by retrofitting power plants with capture technologies to grab what's spewing from their stacks and bury it. However, over 80% of existing CCS facilities use their captured and stored CO2 to produce oil. Instead of threatening the oil major's business model, CCS enables them to "have their cake and eat it too," said Mann in an email exchange with DW. After decades of development, most oil fields still hold huge petroleum resources. They're just difficult to reach. To get to these challenging deposits, US oil giant Exxon began pioneering CO2 injection techniques in the 70s. Several things happen when you inject CO2 into oil deposits, explained Manika Prasad, professor of the Geophysics Department and director of the Center for Rock and Fluid Multiphysics at the Colorado School of Mines: "The oil starts to swell, it increases in volume, and it decreases in viscosity." Storing it in depleted reservoirs "increases the pressure" and drives the oil closer to the surface, enabling more production, said Prasad. At the same time, most of the injected carbon stays trapped, replacing the oil that was there. The practice, known as CCS and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), is used across the oil and gas industry. ExxonMobil, for example, sequesters over 9 million tons of CO2 into deep saline aquifers and its oil and gas wells each year. Exxon says it has captured more than 120 million tons of CO2 over the last few decades, placing it firmly at the forefront of CCS. But the origin of the CO2 is key. Lost in the details is that most of the carbon used by oil and gas majors in EOR operations comes from naturally occurring reservoirs and not human-produced sources. In other words, companies are using carbon that was already "sequestered." In the US, more than 70% of CO2 used for EOR is mined, not removed from the atmosphere, according to a 2019 IEA briefing. "Using natural sources clearly provides no benefit in terms of the emissions intensity of the produced oil," writes the organization. Though it varies by field, each half-ton of CO2 injected through EOR can squeeze another barrel or more of oil out of the Earth. As carbon is costly, companies usually try using it sparingly and tend to minimize the amount they inject into an oil well, so ultimately the emissions from a barrel of oil recovered in this manner can outweigh what was sequestered. DW reached out to Exxon for a comment but had not received a response as of the date of publication. Vicki Hollub, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, a global oil, gas and chemicals producer, is among her industry's most vocal CCS proponents. In a March forum hosted by New York's Columbia University, Hollub promised to lead the company to net-zero by 2050 through investing in regional carbon capture hubs piping CO2 directly into their oil reservoirs. This "will enable us to get more reserves out but at a reduced level of emissions… [helping Occidental] to protect the environment and climate," said Hollub. Hollub added that recently extended US government tax breaks lowering the cost of carbon that could then be used to increase production of oil, "which adds value to our shareholders." But as the climate crisis becomes a climate emergency, the industry's embrace of EOR to produce "carbon-negative" oil spotlights some of the long-standing concerns about CCS' deployment. Even though a portion of injected CO2 does remain trapped in oil reservoirs, the math around net-zero "can be very tricky," said Laura Singer, Program Manager for the Colorado School of Mines Payne Center. "There's lots of wiggle room throughout these end-of-production scenarios," added Singer. Calculations only focus on the burning of the oil retrieved and do not consider all of the other emissions from production to transport. Once that's added in, "you have a different statement," she said. In February, ExxonMobil launched its new Low Carbon Solutions strategy, promising to spend 5% of its budget on CCS projects between 2021 and 2025. Still, Domien Vangenechten, a policy advisor at the climate think tank E3G, said there is general skepticism about the oil and gas sectors' seriousness about tackling its emissions. "In 2019, CCS and renewables together accounted for just 0.9% of total capital expenditure across the oil and gas industry," said Vangenechten. Vangenechten added CCS could be useful to mitigate emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement, concrete, chemicals and steel, which are together responsible for about 12% of global CO2 — but only if those emissions are stored geologically. "We see a very limited role for CCS in the power sector, while it can play a role in heavy industry sectors in particular cement where fewer feasible alternatives exist," said Vangenechten. In and of itself, carbon capture and storage, particularly when CO2 is used for oil recovery, "is not a solution to climate change," said geophysics professor Manika Prasad. "We are only treating the symptoms with CCS if we don't address the problem at the source: which is that we shouldn't be producing so much CO2," she said.

6Nature and Environment

"We never imagined the day would come when our mother would fall asleep crying on your bed, while our father sat in the corner of the room hiding his tears from us, and that I wouldn't be able to bring myself to open the glove box of my car in case I caught sight of your hijab. ... My only wish is to embrace you one more time ..." That's what Ashkan Amini, Jina Mahsa Amini's brother, wrote on Instagram on October 11, 2022. On a Tuesday at the end of October, 39 days after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, her cousin Diako Aili takes out a photo album bound in black. He sits on the couch in his home in a Norwegian village and starts flipping through the photographs, which are stuck in transparent sleeves. He points to one of the pictures. "Here," he says, "that's her. Jina." The photo is of a small girl wearing floral pants with thick, shiny black hair that falls around her neck. He pulls a second photograph out of the protective sleeve. It shows the same girl hopping around barefoot on the carpet in the living room of her parents' house in the Iranian city of Saqqez. Her long eyelashes make her look so delicate. The word "flower" glitters in rhinestones on her white T-shirt. She looks over her shoulder directly into the camera. Her Persian name of Mahsa, says Diako Aili, "nobody called her that." Not her family nor her friends, nor Jina herself. It was a name reserved for her passport. Kurdish names often aren't accepted on official documents. But Jina Amini lived in Saqqez, a Kurdish city in western Iran not far from the border with Iraq. She spoke Kurdish with her family. She had no need for the name, Mahsa. Everyone called her by her real name: Jina. She was a young woman who loved to sing, dance and travel. Then Jina Amini was arrested on September 13 by Iran's morality police and carted off to a police station. She collapsed there a short time later. She died after spending two and a half days in a coma with wounds on her head and breathing through a tube. Her relatives are reserved when they speak to journalists. Phone calls are monitored, and the family reportedly began receiving death threats soon after Amini's death. That may explain their caution in conversations with DW and Der Spiegel, a German weekly. Jina Amini's boutique in Saqqez was shuttered with a silver padlock when journalists visited in the middle of November. While other shops continued their lively trade in handbags, jewelry and cell phones, the light in Jina Amini's was out. In a telephone interview, her father, a retired insurance officer, recounted his daughter's dream of running a shop. She had applied to university and was looking for work while she waited to hear if she had a spot. In the summer of 2022, a few months before her death, her wish came true. Her father opened a business for her that she called "Best Boutique." According to Jina Amini's relatives in Norway, her father or her brother would bring her to the shop in the morning and picked her up in the evening. The 22-year-old still lived with her parents in a lovely two-story house in a middle class district of Saqqez. She had had her driver's license for a while and loved driving. But as a young unmarried woman, driving to work on her own was likely out of the question. Jina's aunt, Aliya Aili, traveled from Norway to Saqqez in the summer of 2022. She recalls how Jina repeatedly told her to cover herself and showed her how to wear her headscarf. "They're very strict," she remembers her niece telling her. There was an ever-present fear of the police and the Guidance Patrols, widely known as "morality police," her aunt says. Aliya Aili, who is now in her late 40s, left Iran when she was just 18. Her children were born in Norway. If her sister, Jina's mother, had come with her, would Jina still be alive? Diako Aili and his mother say they sometimes feel guilty because of all of the freedoms they take for granted. "My little sister is exactly the same age as Jina," says Diako Aili. "The two were born within a few weeks of each other, one in a western democracy and the other in an Islamic dictatorship," he continues," My sister can say what she wants, wear whatever she wants, and be whoever she wants to be." But in Iran, Jina Amini was subject to a different set of rules. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, she had to cover her hair and neck with a hijab, conceal her figure with loose fitting clothes and ensure no skin was visible from her wrist to her ankle. Jina Amini was born on September 21, 1999. Speaking on the phone from Saqqez, her grandfather Rahman Aili says not a day went by that they didn't see or at least talk to each other. When Jina was a baby, he gave her the nickname, Schne. Translated it means "a gentle breeze." He continued calling her Schne even after Jina Amini grew up, he says, adding that she was a quiet, serene girl. When Jina was in elementary school, doctors discovered and treated a benign brain tumor. According to her grandfather, she had no health problems afterward. He emphasizes this point becauseofficial coroners say his granddaughter died because of this previous operation and not because of police brutality. But Jina's relatives insist that she was healthy. Jina's last trip was about her future. The family had traveled together to Urmia, a city in northwestern Iran, to enroll her at university, where she was to study biology. On the afternoon of September 13, the day of Jina Amini's arrest, the younger family members were exploring the city together, her uncle Aili says. Jina was with her brother Ashkan and her two cousins. Some time between 6 and 6.30 p.m. they got off at Haghani train station. There, Jina and two of her cousins were arrested by the "morality police," allegedly for wearing unislamic dress. But it was only Jina who was detained by the officers. Jina's aunt says she heard what happened from one of the two cousins who avoided detention. Jina resisted being arrested, but she was still forced into the vehicle, Aliya Aili says. The cousin followed the "morality police" to the police station, she says, and around two hours after Jina's arrest, some young women ran out of the station screaming "They killed her!" Then an ambulance came and took Jina to the Kasra Hospital. "I am convinced that she was a victim of violence," Jina's grandfather says. As for Jina's father, he says he wants those responsible to be held accountable. Jina's aunt Aliya in Norway says that Jina confided in her more than once that she intended to leave Iran after she completed her studies. Many young Iranians dream of leaving Iran. But Jina's dream was buried along with her. On her tombstone is written "Dear Jina, you won't die. Your name will become a symbol." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article was a collaboration between Der Spiegel and DW. It was originally written in German.

7Politics

German lender Deutsche Bank is finally abandoning its longtime client, US President Donald Trump. Citing sources familiar with the matter, US media on Tuesday reported that the bank would do no further business with the self-styled businessman, pointing to his reaction to the January 6 assault on the US Capitol.  That the president's long-term lender would drop him now comes as little surprise. Even before the November election, Deutsche Bank senior officials had said the company was seeking a way out of its long-term relationship with the contentious leader, who owes the institute hundreds of millions in loans and has been a constant source of bad press for the bank.  This week, Deutsche Bank saw an opportunity and took it. The firm has joined a growing list of corporations withdrawing support for the president and for members of the Republican Party over their role in the events at the Capitol.  In recent days, financial institutions Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. as well as others have announced they are cutting business ties or halting political donations in light of recent events. Some have said they will freeze donations to the Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Others say they will temporarily stop political contributions to both Republicans and Democrats.  This sudden jumping ship has pulled the curtain back on the role corporate leadership and money play in the US political machine. American campaign finance law prohibits corporations and unions from spending to influence federal elections directly. However,  they are free to indirectly finance candidates or parties through donations to so-called PACs or SuperPACS, a practice used by many of the companies now distancing themselves from the events at the Capitol and threatening to withhold money.  PACs, or Political Action Committees, are committees organized to raise and spend funds with the purpose of electing or defeating political candidates. PACs allow unions and corporations to provide financial support in federal political races without violating US law.  PACs, first established in 1944, are subject to limits to how much they can donate in a given election cycle. The establishment of SuperPACs in 2010 provided donors with a way around this spending cap.  Instead of being donated directly to a campaign or political party, funds aggregated by SuperPACs are used to independently finance other aspects of federal campaigns, like advertisements that support or oppose a specific candidate. There are no limits to how much money SuperPACs can spend.  In the most recent US federal election cycle, liberal-leaning SuperPACs spent a combined $916 million (€753 million) and conservative-leaning SuperPACs spent $1.2 billion, according to data from the Center for Response Politics (CRP), an NGO that monitors money in US politics.  A day before the storming of the Capitol, Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld called a meeting of CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the country. The purpose: to discuss a corporate response to Trump's election challenge, US news outlet CNBC reported.  The group has met regularly over the years. According to the CRP, the group convened in November after the US presidential election as it became clear that Trump would favor an election challenge over concession. They also met in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd, which led to global protests against racism and police brutality.  According to the 2020 Edelmann Trust Barometer — a global, annual survey on trust and credibility — the public trusts CEOs ahead of journalists, religious leaders, and heads of state.  Attendees agreed donations should be denied to initiatives supporting Congress members who voted against the results of the presidential vote, Sonnenfeld told CNBC.  Whether companies will stick to this informal pledge remains to be seen. It would also be fair to question the significance of such promises in the direct wake of the last federal election. Voters went to the polls barely two months ago, and the next round of elections is a long way off.   But corporations are concerned that activist groups will hold them accountable publicly. Ads have already run accusing Republican lawmakers —  and their corporate backers — of trying to delegitimize legally cast ballots. In a tweet following the riot, White House economics reporter for the Washington Post Jeff Stein said lobbyists were speculating whether consumers would hold it against these companies.  Distancing themselves from the president allows the companies to signal their values and attempt to sway public opinion away from election denialism. While corporations tend to lean towards the Republican party's business-friendly policies, political instability is also not in their best interest.  According to Sonnenfeld, the CEOs said they want to "put our money where our mouth is" and that "divided communities, angry workforces and hostile work places is not in the interest of American business."

0Business

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday unfreezing $7 billion (€6.15 billion) in assets in the United States belonging to Afghanistan's central bank. The White House is freeing up the funds for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and for compensation to the victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The latter will remain in the US as lawsuits brought by the September 11 victims make their way through the courts. Biden's executive order requires US financial institutions to transfer any Afghan central bank assets that they hold into a new consolidated account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Last month, a US judge gave the White House until Friday to draft a plan for how it wished to handle the billions in Afghan assets frozen in the United States. Members of Congress and the United Nations had called on the administration to free up the funds to address Afghanistan's extreme economic crisis. Ahead of Friday's announcement, one US government source told Reuters news agency that the Afghan funds would be released for "the benefit of the Afghan people and for Afghanistan's future." Afghanistan's central bank holdings in the US were frozen in August after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. The Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan came after the chaotic US and NATO withdrawal from the country after nearly 20 years. Almost 80% of the national budget for Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover came from the international community. With that funding absent, the country's economy nosedived. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Biden administration's move to divide Afghanistan's frozen assets was met with sharp condemnation from rights organizations and Afghan advocates. The US-based advocacy group, Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, said it was "outraged" by the move. The decision to divvy up half of Afghanistan's reserve funds to give to 9/11 victims' families is "short-sighted, cruel, and will worsen a catastrophe in progress" in Afghanistan. Addressing the victims' families, the group urged for them to reconsider their litigation, saying the money "will not bring justice, but ensure more misery and death in Afghanistan." Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that the US move could set "a problematic precedent." HRW's Asia Advocacy Director, John Sifton, said the move would "do little to address underlying factors driving Afghanistan’s massive humanitarian crisis." "The Taliban are cruel, brutal, and misogynist, but why should the Afghan people be punished for that?" he added. The US government has faced mounting pressure from the international community to free up the funds for humanitarian purposes in a way that does not recognize the Islamic militant group. The funds that will remain in the US will be earmarked for compensation to the victims of the September 11 attacks and their families. The Taliban asserts the money that belonged to the Afghan government is now theirs as they claim to have taken over responsibility for the government. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In addition to US holdings, Afghanistan also holds an additional $2 billion in reserves. Most of that is held in countries including Germany, Switzerland, the UAE and the UK. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans, mostly at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in northern Virginia near Washington. The Taliban hosted the terror group and its leader, Osama bin Laden, at the time of the attacks. The US killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. US sanctions prohibit business with the Taliban. rs, ar/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)

2Conflicts

Millions of Zambians cast ballots on Thursday in presidential and parliamentary elections as the southern African country battles with a debt-riddled economy. Police and troops are stationed at polling stations across the country for a vote that will be closely watched by international observers from the EU and the African Union. Zambia's electoral commission has said all systems are in place to ensure free, transparent and fair polls on Thursday. Incumbent president Edgar Lungu is hoping to win a second term on the back of billions of dollars of Chinese investment in Zambia, Africa's second-biggest copper producer. "We are a winning team," he said of his Patriotic Front party. He urged people "to come and vote and go back home and stay and wait patiently and peacefully for the outcome." The 64-year-old will go up against his long-time political foe, business tycoon Hakainde Hichilema, for a third time. Hilchilema, who leads the United Party for National Development, argues Lungu has locked Zambia into a debt trap by accepting loans from Beijing. "Poverty is written everywhere. Everybody is hurting. Zambia is at a crossroads," the 59-year-old told reporters on the eve of the election, touting his experience in the financial sector. Crunch talks about a debt restructuring are expected to resume after the election with the International Monetary Fund, a Washington D.C.-based institution seen as a financial crisis firefighter. UN estimates from 2020 say that nearly 2.3 million of Zambia's 17 million people are threatened by food shortages. It comes after a 2019 drought, which was the worst the country has seen in 35 years. Supporters of both candidates have clashed in recent weeks, prompting the military to be deployed. First time voter Ben Mulenga, 19, turned out to cast his ballot at a polling station in the Kabwata suburb of Lusaka. "The things that are happening in our country, including the bad state of the economy and the high levels of unemployment need to be addressed," Mulenga told Reuters news agency.  "As you can see, we are suffering. We are in financial crisis. No doubt I want to make a difference," Cassidy Yumbe, a 41-year-old driver, told Reuters.  The country became the first African country during the coronavirus pandemic to default on its sovereign debt in November last year, failing to pay $42.5 million in interest. State-backed Chinese lenders hold roughly a quarter of Zambia's $12 billion foreign-owned debt. China has plowed billions of dollars into projects that span the mining, manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture sectors. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The International Monetary Fund says it will be among the continent’s slowest growing economies this year. Much of sub-Saharan Africa suffers from a lack of access to coronavirus vaccines, further hampering growth. Zambia has been plagued in by economic and financial difficulties for years after a drop in copper prices. Inflation soared to nearly 25% in June, its highest level for more than a decade. jf/wmr (AP, AFP)

7Politics

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The bar stretches across the room, but there are no bar stools in sight. Nor is there any more rum or tequila behind the bar. Instead, shampoo, diapers, shower gel, and soap line the shelves. Most of the items were donated by US citizens wanting to help the new arrivals. Migrants are standing near what was once the bar, waiting to be served toiletries by volunteers.  The organization Catholic Charities bought this club about two years ago. Up until recently, it was mainly used as a shelter for the homeless. A few homeless people sitting on a bench in front of the building share their thoughts: "We're not allowed to sleep there anymore," one of them complains. "You only get in now, if you are one of them, a migrant." Some 50 people currently live in the former club. They have trekked all the way from Mexico, Guatemala or Honduras to get here, seeking to live their lives in peace in the United States. Their home countries are afflicted by poverty and violence, crime and impunity. "I paid the coyote $6,500 for the trip," says Michelle. She is lying with her baby on a thin mat on one of the three dance floors. "Coyote" is the name that they give to the people smugglers who wait for migrants on the Mexican side of the border. "I worked two jobs and saved up for a long time. My family invested all their hopes in me. It was them who motivated me to come to the United States with my 4-month-old baby." Michelle comes from Honduras and traveled, mostly on foot, 2,500 km (1,553 miles) with her son.  The worst moment was when she was crammed into the back of a truck with 40 other refugees. It was far too crowded, so she was forced to abandon her only piece of luggage, a small rucksack. She says she was one of the first to climb aboard, but many others followed, pushing and shoving. To protect her baby,  Michelle placed his head between her breast and shoulder and turned towards the side of the truck, using her back to shield him from the heaving mass of people pressing towards her.   Michelle is not her real name, but it's what she asks us to call her. "Like Michelle Obama," she says smiling as she refers to the former first lady of the White House. She lies cradling a tortoise, a new cuddly toy given to her son and her in the shelter. In the meantime, her baby has fallen asleep peacefully by her side on the mat. Her face lights up, as she tells us that she is heading for Dallas. "My husband has already been living there for a year. He hasn't seen his son yet. He is working on a building site there and he's waiting for us." Michelle has received a temporary residence permit and is allowed to stay in the US for the time being. Now a court must decide whether she will be awarded asylum on a permanent basis. The process can take up to a year in total and involves several hearings. Often, asylum-seekers have to wait two to four years for a decision. The relevant courts are completely overworked — and that is only likely to get worse. Since Joe Biden became US president, the number of migrants arriving from Central America has skyrocketed. In March alone, US authorities arrested more than 172,000 people without valid papers. That is the highest number in 15 years.  Michelle wears an electronic tag fitted by border police, a device she cannot take off, not even to shower. "It pinches," she says, "Sometimes, it hurts a bit." When the battery runs low, the device vibrates and makes a loud beeping sound. It has to be recharged swiftly. During that time Michelle has to stand or lie close to a power socket. She will have to wear the electronic tag until her first hearing on 18 May at the earliest, when it will be decided whether the device is still necessary. The device means that Michelle cannot move about untraced, as many migrants without valid residency permits do in the United States.  A statement made by President Joe Biden earlier in May has given her cause for optimism. Biden announced that for the current financial year, he will significantly raise the cap for migrants set by former President Donald Trump. Instead of the "historically low" cap of 15,000, a maximum of 62,500 migrants will be accepted by the end of September. But it is still not clear what the acceptance criteria are. One former volunteer at the refugee shelters, who requested anonymity, told DW that those who cross the border are often left to fend for themselves. Migrants and refugees — particularly those arriving as a family — are often granted temporary permission to stay, she says, and then they wander into the US without any guidance. "The work of the government obviously stops right there," she says indignantly. The volunteer hopes that Kamala Harris, in her capacity as vice president, will get to what she sees as the root of the issue. She would like Harris to find a way to work closely with the governments in the migrants' countries of origin — and create safe solutions for these people in their communities, so there is no longer a need to flee their homes. Joe Biden also tried this once before when he was vice president under Barack Obama. "But this time it's a woman!" says the volunteer, with conviction in her voice. "She could manage it." The next day, Michelle and her baby are also allowed to move on. She wants to travel by bus to Dallas to join her husband. She will live with him as she awaits her court appointment. Was it worth the dangerous journey? "There was no other option," says Michelle. "In Honduras, we don't live — we survive." Editor's note: The author's name is a pseudonym due to concerns for their safety.

7Politics

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Wednesday announced that a lockdown specifically for unvaccinated people is to come to an end next week. The decision was announced ahead of a Cabinet meeting of the conservative-green federal government.  Nehammer said people without a vaccination against the coronavirus can leave their homes from Monday without a good reason. However, they will still be barred from large parts of public life, including restaurants and non-essential retail.  Although the number of new infections is at a record high, the situation in Austria's hospitals was said to be stable.  Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein told a news conference that experts had concluded that the lockdown on the unvaccinated was no longer necessary even as cases soar.  "We came to the conclusion that the lockdown for unvaccinated people in Austria is only justifiable in the event of the threat of an imminent over-burdening of intensive-care capacity," Mückstein said.  The Austrian parliament last week approved making coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for adults from next month. Austria is set to become the first country to do so, despite a wave of protests opposing the measure.  The measure was announced in November in an effort to boost the country's vaccination rate.  Since then, tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against mandatory vaccination in regular weekend rallies.  Here's the latest on coronavirus from across the globe: South Korea reported 13,012 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, exceeding 13,000 for the first time. The previous day had also seen a huge spike with more than 8,000 cases.  Officials believe cases could reach from 20,000 to 30,000 in the coming weeks, with omicron accounting for 90% of the cases. "Going forward, our top priority is to reduce critically ill patients and deaths," said Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum during a meeting with government officials.  In China, 13 new cases were reported on Wednesday by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee. None of the cases were athletes or team officials. A notice by the committee said nine cases were new airport arrivals and four others were already in the "closed loop" bubble that separates all event personnel from the public. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The World Health Organization said the risk due to omicron remained very high, with global cases hitting a record level. "Over 21 million new cases were reported, representing the highest number of weekly cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic," the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological coronavirus update.  "The current global epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is characterized by the dominance of the Omicron variant on a global scale, continued decline in the prevalence of the Delta variant, and very low-level circulation of Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants," said the WHO. The update also noted that countries that saw a rise in omicron cases during the months of November and December are now seeing a gradual decline. An Australian ship delivering aid to Tonga docked at the virus-free nation island nation on Wednesday, despite being hit by COVID.  "The ship will berth and no contacts will be made. Australians from the ship will unload their cargoes and sail from port," said Tonga's Health Minister Saia Piukala. He added that the crew of the HMAS Adelaide would follow drastic health rules to ensure they do not spread the virus to the volcano and tsunami hit nation.  A study by the Imperial College London found that prevalence of infections in England between January 5-20 was 4.41%, more than three times higher than it was in December.  Although prevalence decreased over the course of the month, the overall trend was unclear by the end of the study period, with cases rising in children and falling in adults. On Thursday, England is set to remove the rules for mask mandates and vaccine passes. The Robert Koch Institute said Germany's seven-day incidence has exceeded the 900-mark. This is a new record, up from 894.3 a day earlier. Last week, the seven-day incidence stood at 584.4. The country recorded 164,000 new cases in the past 24 hours, with 166 deaths.  German lawmakers are debating a potential COVID-19 vaccine mandate Wednesday. Hundreds of police have been deployed in Berlin in anticipation of protests against the mandate. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Bulgaria recorded 12,399 new cases and 73 deaths, in a new daily record for the nation. A wave driven by omicron has affected Bulgaria, where less than 30% of the population is vaccinated. The National Football League (NFL) and the Los Angeles Department of Public Health announced they will be hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Los Angeles Convention Center in the run-up to the February 13 Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium. "We thank the NFL and all the fans for taking care of each other throughout the football season and look forward to welcoming everyone to an extraordinary Super Bowl in beautiful Los Angeles," said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. A day after New York state's mask mandate had been struck down, an appeals court  granted a stay order, keeping the rule in effect during the legal process.  Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden's vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses. A judge in Texas last week ruled that Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated. rs, tg/rs (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)

5Health

Lebanese telecoms tycoon and former prime minister, Najib Mikati, was chosen by lawmakers Monday to serve as Lebanon's new prime minister as the nation reels from multiple political-economic crises. The Harvard-educated Mikati secured sufficient votes from members of parliament. He is endorsed by most of Lebanon's political parties including the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, but he faces opposition from the party of President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian. Mikati previously served as prime minister in a caretaker capacity for three months in 2005 following the car bomb assassination of Rafik Hariri and again in 2011 and from 2013 to 2014. He has also served as minister of public works and transport in three different cabinets between 1998 and 2004. He is a Sunni Muslim from the northern city of Tripoli. The businessman owns the M1 Group, along with his brother Taha. The investment holding group owns shares in companies in various industries around the world, including South African telecom and French fashion companies. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of $2.7 billion (€2.3 billion). To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ar/aw (AP, Reuters)

7Politics

The recent death of a young woman who had been detained by Iran's "morality police" for violating the Islamic nation's conservative dress code has sparked mass protests across the country.  Mahsa Amini, 22, died last week after she was arrested for allegedly not complying with strict rules on head coverings for women.  Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, who departed for New York on Monday to address the UN General Assembly, has ordered an investigation and vowed to pursue the case in a phone call with Amini's family. He also offered his condolences, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. "Your daughter was like my daughter," the president reportedly said. The incident has caused outrage and grief in Iran and across the globe. The hashtag #MahsaAmini has been trending on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Mass protests flared up in Amini's home province of Kurdistan and other parts of the country. In the capital, Tehran, thousands of people took to the streets to express their anger and grief, chanting slogans such as "Death to the dictator." Security forces tried to disperse the crowds using water cannon and batons.  Some protesters were also arrested, Iran's Fars news agency reported. Media outlets worldwide have reported extensively about it. When Iran's president meets with journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as planned, the death of Mahsa Amini will dominate the press conference. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Iranian government has come under increasing pressure to carry out a proper and transparent investigation and bring the culprits to justice. A spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for those responsible for Amini's death to be held accountable and for the fundamental rights of all people in Iran to be protected — including those of prisoners. Human Rights Watch demanded the abolition of the morality police and religiously based laws such as those on the proper wearing of headscarves. The 22-year old from the small town of Saghes in the western province of Kurdistan had been on a visit to Tehran with her brother last week. She was arrested by the authorities last Tuesday, for allegedly not covering her hair with the Islamic headscarf, known as hijab, which is mandatory for Iranian women. Just a couple of hours after her arrest, she was hospitalized.  Police said on Thursday that Amini was taken to a hospital after she allegedly had a heart attack while in custody. They have denied the allegations that she was physically abused after her arrest, saying "there was no physical encounter" between officers and Amini. On closed-circuit footage — also released by police — Amini can be seen falling over after getting up from her seat to speak to an official at a police station. She is then shown being carried away on a stretcher. Her family says she had no history of heart trouble. A photo that went viral on the internet shows the bedridden Amini with swollen black eyes and bleeding ears. Many Iranian women, both young and old, could relate to it as they face daily humiliation and abuse in the hands of authorities because of the mandatory hijab. Amini was officially declared dead on Friday, three days after she was admitted to the hospital. The Kasra Hospital, where Amini was admitted, said in a statement on Instagram on Saturday that the patient had  been brain-dead on arrival. The statement was later deleted. The hijab has been compulsory for women in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the morality police are charged with enforcing that and other restrictions. The force has been criticized in recent years, especially for its treatment of young women. Millions of Iranian women oppose the rules. In recent years the protests have become increasingly louder and more visible. Many women wear their headscarves loosely and let them fall onto their shoulders, accepting the risk of being arrested. The government under Raisi and religious hard-liners in parliament have been trying for months to enforce Islamic laws more strictly. Numerous videos are currently circulating on the internet, showing women being beaten and abused by the authorities during arrests. The videos often show violent blows to the head as the women are dragged into the police car by their hair. State media reported that authorities had opened an investigation to determine the cause of the death. The judiciary has launched a probe, and a parliamentary committee is also looking into the incident. But many Iranians doubt that the probe will be carried out in an objective and transparent manner. Amini's body, which was transported to her hometown of Saghes without an autopsy, was buried on Saturday morning. Protests over the death began on the same day in her home province. At the funeral, thousands demonstrated in front of the governor's office. According to the Fars news agency, clashes with security forces also occurred. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. Security forces intervened during demonstrations in Sanandash, the capital of the Kurdistan province, on Sunday evening. Warning shots were fired, and several people were injured, reports from the province stated. A Kurdish human rights organization reported four deaths during the demonstrations. In solidarity, businesses in Kurdistan announced that they would close their stores on Monday. On Tuesday, the UN also decried Amini's death and called for the repeal of all discriminatory laws and regulations that impose mandatory hijab. "Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif today expressed alarm at the death in custody of Mahsa Amini ... and the violent response by security forces to ensuing protests," the rights office said in a statement. "The authorities must stop targeting, harassing and detaining women who do not abide by the hijab rules." This article was originally published in German.

8Society

Satellite imaging has discovered what appear to be full-scale replicas of US warships in a Chinese desert, agencies reported on Monday. Images taken last month by US-based company Maxar Technologies show the outlines of a US aircraft carrier and at least one destroyer in the Taklamakan Desert in the northwestern Xinjiang region. The US Naval Institute (USNI) said the mock-ups were part of a weapons target range set up by the People's Liberation Army. The past few years have been marked by heightened tensions between the US and China over diplomatic and military dominance in the Pacific region. The rivals are also locked in a renewed arms race, with top US military officials recently expressing concern over China's growing nuclear arsenal and its progress in developing hypersonic missiles. Of particular concern is the land-based DF-12D missile — known as the "carrier killer" — with a range of 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) that was designed to help neutralize US warships including aircraft carriers. Massive aircraft carriers are some of the most potent weapons at Washington's disposal. One such carrier is active in the Pacific along with the 7th Fleet. Taiwan and the overlapping claims by China and US allies in the South China Sea are deemed to be particularly sensitive possible flashpoints. Although the satellite images have only now become public knowledge, the Chinese military has reportedly been working on its mock-ups for several years. "Analysis of historical satellite images shows that the carrier target structure was first built between March and April of 2019," the USNI report said. "It underwent several rebuilds and was then substantially dismantled in December 2019. The site came back to life in late September of this year and the structure was substantially complete by early October." The area has previously been used as a testing site for ballistic missiles, USNI cited intelligence firm AllSource Analysis as saying. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded to questions about the mock-ups on Monday, saying "I'm not aware of the situation you mentioned." Correction (November 8, 2021): A previous version of this article misidentified the position of Wang Wenbin. DW apologizes for the error ab/rt (AFP, AP)

2Conflicts

Russian pensioners, men with disabilities, and individuals without military training, or even combat experience are reportedly receiving conscription notices to serve in Russia's armed forces in the war in Ukraine. DW was able to confirm these reports by speaking to individuals within Russia about how recruitment offices are going about drafting soldiers. It has been a week since Russian President Putin declared a "partial mobilization" and already thousands of Russian men have been conscripted into the armed forces to fight in Ukraine. Russian-based observers say the call-up does not always follow the specifications set out by Russia's Defense Ministry. "The notice arrived Sunday noon; my husband had to report to the recruitment office by 2 p.m. that same day," says the wife of 39-year-old Igor [for security reasons, DW is using pseudonyms for everyone referenced in this article]. "He was registered, told to hand over his paperwork, and put on a bus to receive training by 5:30 p.m." Technically, Igor's rank as a reserve sergeant and his age should have spared him conscription. Officially, men of this rank older than 35, are not subject to the "partial mobilization" order. This was set out by Russia's Defense Ministry after Putin announced the call-up. Even so, Igor, who lives in Moscow, was conscripted along with some 120 other men, all of whom are technically too old to serve. In addition, Igor's wife reports, those drafted did not receive a medical checkup at the recruitment office to determine whether they are fit to serve, even though the mobilization law requires this. Igor's military role was changed, too. "His military ID states he is a border cavalryman," says his wife. "Now he has been assigned the role of artillery gunner." Despite these violations, she says her husband will not contest the call-up. In some instances, falsely conscripted men have been sent back home. This occurred to a 43-year-old Moscow-based reservist without combat experience. "This happens because conscription offices are causing chaos by sending out draft notices at random, I had this confirmed speaking to various hotlines," said the man's wife, Oksana.  She filed a complaint and then visited the conscription office to get her husband released. It worked. "He is now on his way home from the city of Serpukhov." She cannot say for certain whether her complaint "to all authorities" secured her husband's release, or if someone at the recruitment office realized a mistake had been made. Konstantin, an actor from the city of Chelyabinsk southeast of the Ural mountains, had a similar experience. He received a phone call from the head of the village council where he is officially registered, though does not live, saying he would be drafted. Konstantin, however, only served in the army for one year, and lacks combat experience. One day after the phone call, he was relieved to learn he would not be drafted after all. "As far as I understand they have enough people, there were long lines outside the recruitment office," says Konstantin. "My friend got a draft notice and was waiting outside the office, but when it was his turn [to enter], they said he was not needed." Konstantin says he would have refused to serve even if the recruitment office had failed to meet its draft quota. "If I knew what I was fighting for I might have showed up and heeded the conscription notice, but this is not like the Great Patriotic War," he says. "In a situation like that, everything would have been clear [for me]. But today's situation is strange." Alexander Belik, a lawyer with Russia's "Conscientious Objector Movement," draws attention to discrepancies between Putin's mobilization order and specifications set out by Russia's Defense Ministry. "No changes were made to the president's decree, which had no age limit for the mobilization," says Belik.   "They [authorities] catch anyone they can get without doing a medical checkup; this means they are drafting those who were deemed fit to serve many years ago," says the legal expert. He tells anyone seeking advice to simply ignore the draft notice, even if this could lead to an administrative fine of 3,000 rubles (€53, $50). He also recommends that anyone enrolled in vocational training and unwilling to serve in the army should apply for civil service, and leave the military training area as fast as possible. "Afterwards, you need to take legal action against the recruitment office and the respective commission tasked with the mobilization," he adds. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Several Russian governors have admitted that recruitment offices have made mistakes in drafting reservists. They have pledged to undo these errors and send anyone home who has been mistakenly drafted. In northeast Russia's Magadan oblast, military commissioner Sergey Baranowsky lost his job after making mistakes in the "partial mobilization," says regional governor Sergey Nosov. He requested that Baranowsky be replaced. Now, a "professional officer is in charge, who has restored order at the recruitment office," says Nosov. This article was originally published in Russian.

7Politics

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was the keynote speaker at the Berlin Security Conference on Thursday, using his address to praise Germany for its "strong support for Ukraine" and also its planned military reforms and increases in defense spending. "I welcome Germany's strong support for Ukraine, with significant financial, humanitarian and military aid, including advanced air defense systems and training for Ukrainian soldiers. We see the difference this makes every day on the battlefield," Stoltenberg said.  He also acknowledged that this support "comes with a price," saying that rising costs of living and food and energy prices were making life difficult for billions around the world.  "But the price we pay is in money, while the price the Ukrainians pay is in blood," Stoltenberg said. "If authoritarian regimes see that force is rewarded, we will all pay a much higher price and the world will become a more dangerous world for all of us." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Stoltenberg also praised Germany's decision, soon after Russia invaded Ukraine this year, to dramatically increase defense spending and to start new procurement and modernization drives within its military, the Bundeswehr.  He described the spending increases as "historic," and said Germany's government was right to describe the change of policy as a Zeitenwende, which loosely translated means a turning point or an epochal change.  NATO and some members like the United States had for many years lobbied Germany to invest more money in its military, often naming the NATO target of spending 2% of GPD on defense. Still, it was a difficult sell for a country that had come to define itself as noninterventionist and a purely defensive force in the aftermath of World War II. Successive German governments had internationally indicated a willingness to at least try but had made very little progress at securing any real change in a difficult domestic political landscape. Only after Russia's invasion of Ukraine did Scholz's new coalition government set the matter in stone. Prior to the war, during difficult coalition negotiations after Germany's elections last September, Scholz had only said that he wanted to increase defense spending to the extent that the budgetary situation would allow.  In a development unlikely to please Scholz's government, Thursday's meeting came amid media reports in German, seemingly originating from whistleblowers in the defense circles, suggesting that the Bundeswehr would only have sufficient ammunition for two days of intense fighting.  NATO requires members to have 30 days' worth of ammo in reserve. The government has neither confirmed nor denied the specific details of the report about having two days of ammunition in reserve, citing national security concerns, but has acknowledged that there is a problem. As Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht sought to quench the fires, Stoltenberg did not directly allude to the reports or to the Bundeswehr's more longstanding procurement and combat readiness problems, but he did tell the Berlin audience that NATO and the world needed the Bundeswehr.  "We need a strong and a ready Bundeswehr," said Stoltenberg, who also stressed the importance of the defense industry in Germany. "This matters for Germany's security, it matters for Europe's security, and it matters for global security." Scholz was asked about the reports during his joint press conference with Stoltenberg.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "In the last decades, we have created dead-end solutions when it comes to the supply of ammunition for the Bundeswehr," Scholz said. He said it was becoming apparent to the government "how important it is to be able to guarantee a permanent chain of resupply, not just because of the war in Ukraine, but also because of keeping an eye on our own numbers."  Scholz said the Defense Ministry was "very busily" looking to "clear up these mistakes of the past decades." He said it was not an easy operation but that the ministry was doing everything to ensure success, "and it will succeed, too."  Scholz was also asked if Germany's plans had changed regarding its offer of a Patriot air defense system for Poland.  Germany offered the equipment earlier this month, soon after a Ukrainian air defense rocket fire hit Polish territory near the border to Ukraine, killing two people.  Poland subsequently responded by saying it thought the equipment should go to Ukraine instead, which was not the first time Warsaw has sought to instruct Berlin on how to distribute military assistance since the war broke out.  "Our offer to Poland stands unchanged. We are ready to strengthen Poland's security by stationing the Patriots there," Scholz said. Ukraine has also appealed for German Patriot air defense systems in the past, but it is not among the systems so far sent by Germany. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Stoltenberg also did not address the issue directly, instead saying that what was most important was not necessarily sending new defense systems to Ukraine but rather ensuring that those already there remained fully operational and that Kyiv's ammunition supplies were kept well stocked.  "There is a need for ammunition to existing systems, there is a need for spare parts and maintenance," he said.  As well as heading NATO, Stoltenberg is a former prime minister of Norway, the partner country at this year's Berlin Security Conference. Norway and Germany also issued a proposal to NATO during the meeting, recommending that the alliance plays a role in protecting undersea infrastructure in Europe. Stoltenberg said on Thursday that "we need to do more" in this area, though he pointed to heightened patrols in 2022, both after Russia's invasion and later after the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video msh/sms (dpa, Reuters)

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You could say that Portugal had a relatively mild bout of COVID-19 in 2020. That all changed at the start of the new year, however, when the seven-day incidence rate exploded. And over the past seven days, almost 850 new coronavirus cases have been recorded for every 100,000 inhabitants. Portuguese health authorities say that some 43% of the country's overall COVID-19 infections and 44% of all related deaths were recorded in the first month of 2021. The situation is "very tense," according to Reinhard Naumann. "The entire population is very nervous in light of the dramatic developments of the past two or three weeks," says Naumann, who heads the Lisbon office of Germany's Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Portugal's government blames the combination of virus mutations, such as the B.1.1.7 variant first reported in the UK, and the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over the holidays for the spiraling escalation in cases. The country has been under a strict lockdown since January 15, with schools, stores and restaurants all closed and considerable limits put upon freedom of movement. The government also hopes to stop the spread of the new variant by closing its borders until the situation has eased. At the moment, ambulances are sometimes forced to wait for hours before struggling hospitals can accept their patients, reports DW correspondent Jan-Philipp Scholz from Portugal. With the country's intensive care units (ICUs) already treating around 850 patients there are almost no vacant beds for the treatment of severe new coronavirus cases. Approximately 6,700 other patients are being looked after in normal hospital wards and triage tents have even been erected outside some hospitals. Here doctors decide which patients to treat first on the basis of oxygen levels and body temperature. Field hospitals, too, are being speedily set up to take in more sick people. Joao Roquette, from the University of Lisbon, explains that the indoor basketball court at his school is also being converted and will soon accommodate 150 coronavirus patients: "Sports facilities are very flexible and it's easy to transform a gym into a field hospital. Though it is much more difficult to put in the human resources needed to run them," he says. While COVID-19 patients are being looked after in public hospitals, private clinics are concentrating on other tasks, explains Friedrich Ebert Foundation bureau chief Naumann: "The private sector is playing an important role in providing care for non-COVID patients who cannot be treated by the public health care system at present," he says in an interview with DW. A lack of medical personnel is probably the greatest problem facing Portugal's hospitals as they battle the steep rise in cases. Almost 10% of the staff is currently suffering from acute COVID-19 infections according to internal health care system statistics. The German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have sent a 26-person team to Portugal to provide assistance for the next three weeks. That team includes eight doctors. Fifty ventilators, 150 infusion pumps and 150 hospital beds were also sent to Lisbon on board an A400M military cargo plane after Portuguese Health Minister Marta Temido asked Germany for help last week. The structure of Portugal's Servico Nacional de Saude (SNS) is partially modeled on the UK's National Health Service (NHS). Like its counterpart, it, too, "suffered considerably from many cutbacks over the last few years — in particular during the time of the troika bailout — but it fought its way back," says Naumann. During the eurozone crisis, Portugal was forced to conform to a strict austerity program as part of the bailout conditions set by what became known as the troika of the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission. "I get the impression that the ministry has managed things quite well even in this difficult situation," he says. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Naumann is very positive about the efforts undertaken by the SNS during the crisis and paraphrases a popular Portuguese saying by noting that the health system is making "a lot of omelets with very few eggs." Naumann also notes that the health minister and her team have systematically expanded their resources. "It's my impression that they have been working to free up and create extra capacity since the beginning of the pandemic." A week ago, Portugal began vaccinating seniors over the age of 80 in what the Portuguese press described as a "symbolic start." The vaccination program here is also hampered by the global shortage of vaccines. The government is currently planning to fully vaccinate over 800,000 of the country's population of 10 million by the end of March. An additional half a million people are also scheduled to have received their first dose of the vaccine by then. Till then, those in charge expect the virus to continue its rapid spread, straining the system and those in it. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video For doctors and health care workers, the battle against COVID-19 is exhausting work. Many members of the public recognize that and are doing what they can to lend support. Ricardo Paiagua's Caravan Project, for instance, provides quiet spaces right outside hospitals where staff can recover at the end of long, draining shifts. The initiative has fifty motorhomes and 200 volunteers to help exhausted health care workers. "The work here is very emotional," Paiagua tells DW. "Last week a doctor knocked on my door and wanted to thank me. She said she was plagued by feelings of despair. As well as needing a place to sleep, I think health care workers really need moral support." Reinhard Naumann of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation perceives a greater sense of solidarity among the population, too: "You notice that people are now doing their bit because everyone has realized that it's make or break." Along the way there was criticism he says, as well as signs of pandemic fatigue, "But now I get the impression that all the pressure and the awful spike in numbers over the past few weeks have pulled people together again." This article has been translated from German

5Health

The ongoing standoff between Kenya and Somalia over a sizable area of the Indian Ocean has sparked concern among hundreds of thousands of people who depend on the region's rich fishing grounds for survival. "We are really worried," the Kenyan fisherman Adam Lali told DW. "If the border issues are not handled well, they will bring us problems. This will rob us of our fishing areas and will also cause tensions between us and Somali communities."  The disputed area stretches over 160,580 square kilometers (62,000 square miles). Somalia, which lies northeast of Kenya, wants to extend its maritime frontier with Kenya along the line of the land border, in a southeasterly direction. Kenya, however, wants the border to head out to sea in a straight easterly line, which would give it more maritime territory. As well as being an important fishing ground for both countries, the area is also rich in gas and oil. After Somalia first brought the case to the table in 2014, the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) was scheduled to begin the public hearing in The Hague on Monday. The proceedings were expected to run until March 24. Before proceedings could begin, Kenya's government announced its intent to withdraw from the case and present its complaints to the UN Security Council, of which it is currently a nonpermanent member.  Based on international maritime law, the court was widely expected to rule in Somalia's favor. "Possibly the Kenyans withdrew also because of an expectation that they might just lose," the political scientist Stig Jarle Hansen, from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, told DW. Some Kenyan observers such as Mustafa Ali, an expert on conflict resolution and national security at the HORN Institute for Strategic Studies, do not believe that the ICJ was the best place to settle the dispute in the first place. "There are so many alternative mechanisms that could be much more effective and would deliver results," Ali told DW. "One is the Africa Union border mechanism. The second is direct bilateral negotiations between Kenya and Somalia. Which, in my view, would be the best solution." Such dialogue is unlikely to take place anytime soon. Relations between Kenya and Somalia, which are no strangers to border disputes, have become increasingly fractured. Tensions spiked after Somalia's government severed diplomatic ties with Kenya in December, after accusing Nairobi of meddling in its affairs. Decades-old resentments have recently come to the fore, including Kenya's support for the semiautonomous Somali state of Jubaland. "There is a large conflict within Somalia between the opposition and President [Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed] Farmajo," Hansen said. "And one of the most crucial actors is the Juba state." Many international observers agree with the accusations from Somalia's government. In January, at least nine people were killed in fighting in Jubaland. Somalia blamed the deaths on Kenyan troops and militias backed by Nairobi. Kenya currently has a contingent of almost 3,500 troops in the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), deployed to fight the terrorist group al Shabaab. Kenya's government has denied any wrongdoing, accusing Mogadishu of seeking a scapegoat for domestic problems. Hansen said there could be some truth to that. "I think there is a greater will now to face off with Kenya to distract from the country's internal strife," he said.  Last year's removal of Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, who was in the middle of successful negotiations with Kenya, fits this hypothesis, he added. Tensions have also been rising within Somalia, as Farmajo continues ignore calls to step down and hold elections that were originally scheduled for 2020 and later rescheduled for February 2021. A constitutional crisis is now unfolding in the fragile state. Last Friday, the UN Security Council urged Somalia's government to organize elections "without delay'' in a resolution that stressed the pressure al-Shabaab and armed opposition groups were placing on the country's already-poor security. The militant group al-Shabab is capitalizing on the situation by focusing its propaganda on attacks against the president. There are also concerns that the resources meant to combat terrorist groups will be redirected toward resolving internal political frustrations. "We've seen that already with the Somali special forces being deployed inside Mogadishu," Hansen said. "And so there will be much less pressure on al-Shabab, which will give it the possibility of further expansion." Hansen said there was the potential for further political turmoil in the wider region, where many conflicts are deeply intertwined. Ethiopia, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is currently fighting a war in the Tigray region, supports Farmajo's government and has offered to train his troops. . Sudan and Egypt are joining forces to oppose Ethiopia's building of a giant dam along the Nile. There's also the possibility that Sudan could intervene in Tigray. "So you have a strange conflict brewing from Cairo in the north to Kenya in the south, which can create a lot of trouble for the world in the near future," Hansen said. Andrew Wasike contributed to this article To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video  

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German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Thursday that Germany will roll out a digital immunity certificate "CovPass" by the end of June, making it easier to definitively prove that a person has been fully vaccinated. The digital pass is to become available alongside Germany's traditional yellow paper vaccination booklet, he stressed. People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and those who have recovered have recently become exempt from many restrictions in Germany. This includes travel restrictions, something that is very relevant inall of Europe ahead of the summer vacation time. The embattled health minister from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has been announcing new COVID-19 measures and spreading optimism on a daily basis of late. Observers see this also as an attempt to garner voter support, ahead of the general election in September, where Spahn's party is seeking to hold on to power. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video So starting next week, Germans will be able to prove they have been fully vaccinated by simply showing an app on their smartphones. Those who have already received all their jabs are supposed to be able to receive their digital certification retroactively. In Germany, COVID-19 vaccines are administered in vaccination centers, by general practitioners, and since very recently also by company doctors. All those who have already received their second vaccination at the vaccination center are supposed to automatically receive their vaccination e-certificate by post in the next few weeks. Using the QR code contained therein, the data can be uploaded to the apps intended for this, such as "CovPass" or the Corona warning app. But doctors and pharmacists are ill-prepared and feel at a loss. The reimbursement for the extra work of issuing the digital certificate has been regulated: Doctors have been promised €2-€6 ($2.4-$7.3) reimbursement for each digital document they issue to the patients they vaccinate. For the retroactive issuing of a certificate clinics, vaccination centers and pharmacies will receive €18. There are 20,000 pharmacies in Germany; they can register for the digital vaccine certification procedure as of this week. But Andreas Müller, a pharmacist in Berlin who did not wish to see his real name published, told DW on Wednesday that he still had no information on how this is really supposed to work. "I received a confirmation mail from the pharmacists' association confirming that we may issue the digital certificate. But that was it, no additional information!" He shrugs his shoulders. "We're supposed to start on Monday. But I don't know how to do this. I have no software for it. And I don't know how to tell a fake paper certificate from a real one." This really worries him, as issuing a fake certificate is punishable as an offense and carries a fine. The pharmacist already had eight people come in on Wednesday asking for a digital certificate. In the pharmacy around the corner, there were even 20 people who all had to be turned away without being able to tell them when they'd be able to start giving out the digital certificates. "It almost makes me want to laugh," Müller says with a look of despair. Almost 20 million people in Germany have been fully vaccinated. They all have little vaccine stickers and stamps along in their yellow vaccination booklets. But many people don't want the hassle of having to carry it with them at all times — not least for fear of losing it. A certificate on a smartphone app would be much easier for restaurant visits or travel. The European Parliament announced its authorization of the use of digital COVID-19 certificates within the European Union on Wednesday, saying that it is now up to member states to apply the rules. The measures will come into effect from July 1 and will last for 12 months. The proposed certificates would enable more secure travel between EU countries by validating whether someone has been fully vaccinated, has recently tested negative for the virus, or has recovered from the disease. The EU will also provide €100 million ($121.9 million) for the purchase of COVID-19 tests. But Germany is lagging behind. The country has managed to expand its national coronavirus tracing app to read QR codes certifying the vaccination. But it is unclear whether this will be compatible with the new EU app. General practitioner Michael Schäfer in Berlin is at a loss too. He doesn't know what to say when his patients ask him about the digital certificate. "We hear something new every day," he says. "But not how exactly it is supposed to work. It basically needs to be integrated in our administrative software, but administrative software provider PVS hasn't been given any instructions yet." The government wants PVS, the billing system for healthcare providers, to develop and distribute a relevant software update for the digital COVID-19 pass by no later than July 12 — but preferably before the end of June; however, Schäfer has his doubts whether that timeline is realistic. This article has been translated from German. 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.

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Most of the United Kingdom further eased coronavirus restrictions on Monday, as full indoor service in pubs, restaurants and cafes is now allowed for the first time since January. In England, large gatherings are now allowed outdoors with relaxed social distancing, and masks are no longer compulsory in schools. Cinemas, theaters and sports venues can also reopen.  The country has also lifted a ban on international travel, although only 12 countries and territories are on a list of permitted destinations. Rules on close personal contact have also been eased.  However, officials are still urging vigilance, as the so-called Indian variant of coronavirus is circulating in the UK.  "Together we have reached another milestone in our roadmap out of lockdown, but we must take this next step with a heavy dose of caution," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. Although 70% of Britain's adult population has received at least one vaccine dose, Johnson has warned that the planned complete lifting of restrictions on June 21 could be put in jeopardy by a jump in cases. "We are keeping the spread of the variant first identified in India under close observation and taking swift action where infection rates are rising," Johnson said Sunday. Here is an overview of the latest coronavirus news from around the world... France is set to partially loosen coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday, as vaccinations pick up steam and cases continue to fall. The latest step in France's gradual reopening would allow groups of up to six people to eat together on restaurant terraces, which will open at 50% capacity. A curfew will be pushed back from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Cases in Germany are also falling, with 5,412 new cases reported Monday by the Robert Koch Institute. Germany's overall rolling 7-day case average is now at 83 new cases per a population of 100,000.  EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell highlighted the impact of the pandemic on lesbian, LGBT+ people, as the world observes the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Monday. "The COVID-19 pandemic has led to even higher levels of violence and discrimination against LGBTI persons, including domestic violence, hate speech online and offline, and hate crimes," Borrell said. After reporting a new daily record of 333 locally transmitted coronavirus cases Monday, Taiwan is stepping up coronavirus restrictions. All schools in the capital, Taipei, have been closed, and the island has banned all foreigners from entry or transit for a month unless they hold a residency card. The country's health minister said the suspension will last from Wednesday until June 18. Taiwan has confirmed a total of just over 2,000 COVID cases throughout the pandemic. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video New Zealand and the Cook Islands initiated a travel bubble to go into effect on Monday, a year after the South Pacific island closed its international borders. The arrangement allows New Zealanders and Cook Islanders to travel between the countries without quarantining. Thailand has reported a daily record of 9,635 new COVID infections, with 6,853 of the cases breaking out in prisons.  A new poll shows more than 80% of Japanese residents are against hosting the Tokyo Olympics this year, as Japan expanded its state of emergency last week to contain a spike in cases.  The latest survey, by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, found that 43% of respondents want the games canceled, and 40% want them to be postponed further. Saudi Arabia will allow vaccinated citizens to leave the kingdom without prior permission, easing a travel ban that was in place for over 14 months. Saudi nationals who have been vaccinated with at least one dose two weeks ahead of traveling, and those who have recovered from COVID within the last six months, will be allowed to travel. In March 2020, Saudi Arabia imposed a ban on international travel. South Africa has kicked off a massive vaccination campaign to inoculate nearly 5 million people over the age of 60 by the end of next month. "We will begin to vaccinate citizens 60 years and older, who are the most vulnerable for becoming ill or dying of COVID-19," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said during a webinar, explaining that the goal can be achieved if vaccine orders were delivered on time. Despite being one of Africa's hardest hit countries by COVID, South Africa has vaccinated less than 1% of its population, mostly health workers. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore urged G7 countries and the European Union to donate vaccines to the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme to bridge the gap in supplies caused by the curbs imposed by India as it battles a deadly second wave.  Rich countries "could do this while still fulfilling vaccination commitments to their own populations," she said. A COVID vaccine by French pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline has shown a robust immune response in early-stage clinical trial results, the company announced. The vaccine will now move to a late stage trial, and drugmakers hope to see it approved later this year.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video see/wmr (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)

5Health

Kazakhstan's electoral commission indicated that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will most likely remain in charge of Central Asia's largest country following a snap election Sunday against five little-known but government-approved challengers. Preliminary results showed that Tokayev had won a landslide victory with 81.31% of the vote, in line with earlier exit polls that had given him between 82.2% and 85.5% of the ballots. "The people have clearly expressed their confidence in me and we have to justify it," 69-year-old Tokayev said as the results emerged. According to the exit polls, the runner-up had managed barely 5% of the vote.  Tokayev called Sunday's presidential election in September. The vote comes after deadly unrest shook the Central Asian country and left more than 230 people dead earlier this year. Since then, Tokayev has unveiled reforms that included strengthening the parliament, reducing presidential powers, and limiting the presidency to a single seven-year term. This means he could stay in office until 2029 if he wins Sunday's election. But tensions persist in the country, as evidenced by seven people being arrested on Thursday charged with an attempted coup. Tokayev took office from Kazakhstan's first post-Soviet president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in 2019. After unusually long-running protests against the government, Nazarbayev said the country needed a "new generation of leaders." Tokayev was speaker of parliament at the time and considered Nazabayev's handpicked successor. Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have criticized Kazakhstan's failure to meet electoral recommendations, including "conditions of eligibility and registration of candidates." The International Monetary Fund has warned of the persistent risk of instability, as Kazakhstan's economy is heavily dependent on Russia and is suffering from the impact of the war in Ukraine as a result. Tokayev has criticized Moscow's invasion of Ukraine but stopped short of joining Western sanctions on Russia. He has, however, also refused to recognize referendums with which Russia claimed to have annexed some Ukrainian regions. Kazakhstan has also taken in hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled after President Vladimir Putin issued a conscription order in September. One senior government official told the Reuters news agency a resounding election win for Tokayev could embolden him to further distance himself from Russia. ab, ar, lo/jcg (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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As top EU diplomats met in Luxembourg on Monday, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, warned of the risk of famine, particularly in Africa, should Ukraine's efforts to export wheat be further thwarted. "The problem comes from the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain," Borrell told EU foreign ministers — making it clear once again who he believes is to blame for the looming global grain crisis. According to UN agencies, about 20 million tons of grain are currently stored in Ukrainian silos. "Millions of tons of wheat are being blocked," Borrell said. "Millions of people will not be able to eat this wheat. The war will have dramatic consequences for the world." He again urged Russia's government to end the blockade. The EU and UN are working on a solution — a kind of safe corridor to be negotiated with Russia and Ukraine for ships transporting grain mainly from Odessa through the Black Sea. Borrell told DW that he is confident the UN can reach an agreement. "I hope that no one will be able to resist the pressure of the international community," he said, adding that anything else is "unthinkable."  "One cannot imagine millions of tons of wheat blocked in Ukraine while the rest of the world is starving," he said. "That is a real war crime." Borrell said that was something Russia will be held accountable for. "You can't use hunger as a weapon," he said. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, blames sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin also claims that Russian exports of grain and fertilizers are no longer possible. It is the war that that is responsible for price hikes and the scarcity of energy and food, Borrell said, insistent that "it is not the European sanctions which are creating this crisis — our sanctions don't target food, don't target fertilizer. Anyone who wants to buy Russian food or fertilizers can do so: There are not obstacles, they can buy, transport and get insurance." Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would allow wheat exports from Ukrainian ports. Ukraine, meanwhile, accuses Russia of stealing wheat from regions where fighting is taking place and areas that are occupied — and shipping it to Russia. Turkey, which borders the Black Sea and, under maritime law, guarantees free passage from there to the Mediterranean Sea, has offered to mediate. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said leaders were working on a solution that would not require clearing sea mines from Ukrainian ports. The European Union is considering sending European warships to protect grain transports — a highly unlikely scenario, according to EU diplomats, because military confrontation with Russia's navy must be avoided. There has been intense discussion, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told DW in Luxembourg. "Of course the challenges are huge, but they are in such a brutal area: They are insanely difficult in all areas," she said. "That's why it's important to look at all options." Baerbock said Germany would hosting an international conference on food security and grain exports from Ukraine in Berlin on Friday. Several ministers have already confirmed their attendance. Over the weekend, G7 countries are set to address the issue at a summit in Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps. The German government, along with Poland and Romania, is continuing its efforts to increase the export of grain from Ukraine by rail, Baerbock said. Usually, 90% of the wheat would be transported by ship and only 10% by land. Clearly, Baerbock said, not all of the grain would make it out, but she said even a small percentage could help alleviate the global challenges. First, however, she said rail lines would have to be "upgraded" and corresponding freight cars would have to be found. Ukraine's rail network operates on a different gauge than Poland's and Romania's, so trains have to be transferred to other chassis or goods reloaded at the borders. Wheat exports have dropped from 6 million tons a month before the war to about 2 million tons. Storage capacity for the new crop of winter wheat has been severely impacted by Russia's bombardment, according to Ukrainian Deputy Agriculture Minister Markian Dmytrasevych. The US and EU are working on setting up makeshift grain silos on the borders with Poland and Romania for future harvests. The grain would be transported by truck or train to EU ports, US President Joe Biden announced last week. Experts estimate that the laborious route will contribute to a sharp rise in the already skyrocketing wheat prices. This article was originally written in German. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

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Russian forces ratcheted up their attempts to break Ukraine's defenses on Friday, with fighting escalating along the front line, Ukrainian officials said. A day earlier, Russia launched a barrage of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in an apparent response to Western pledges to supply tanks to Kyiv. Officials reported heavy shelling in northern and eastern parts of the country, with some of the heaviest fighting since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. "Fierce fighting continues along the front lines. Our defenders are firmly holding their positions and inflicting losses to the enemy," said Oleh Synehubov, governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Front lines have stayed largely unchanged in the past two months, although Russia has made small gains in the east while also seeking to hold a corridor of seized land in southern Ukraine. Both sides are expected to launch spring offensives, though the United States has publicly urged Ukraine to wait until the latest weapons promised to it are in place. That process, including training, could take several months. Russian forces have increased their efforts along the eastern front line, seeking to build on their recent capture of the town of Soledar to put pressure on the besieged city of Bakhmut. 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 Friday, January 27: German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has ruled out sending fighter jets to Ukraine. Kyiv requested fighter jets after Germany agreed to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. "Fighter aircrafts are much more complex systems than main battle tanks and have a completely different range and firepower," Pistorius said in an interview with German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. "We would venture into dimensions that I would currently warn against." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The minister said that the €100 billion ($108 billion) fund to reform the German army announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz "will not be enough." "With every new system, we also have new maintenance costs. So with every new device there are new and higher running costs," Pistorius said. He also suggested raising Germany's annual defense budget, which is currently around €50 billion. Pistorius said that Germany's decision to suspend compulsory military service in 2011 was a mistake. Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor says it has blocked the websites of the CIA and FBI, accusing the two US agencies of attempting to "destabilize" Russia. "Roskomnadzor has restricted access to a number of resources belonging to state structures of hostile countries for disseminating material aimed at destabilizing the social and political situation in Russia," the watchdog said in a statement. Russian news agency TASS quoted Roskomnadzor as saying that the two websites had published inaccurate material and information on Russia's armed forces. Moscow has given the Latvian ambassador two weeks to leave Russia over Riga's decision to downgrade ties.  "Latvia's ambassador Maris Riekstins was ordered to leave the Russian Federation within two weeks," the ministry said in a statement. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The ministry said that Latvia's decision to downgrade ties with Moscow would "have consequences" and accused the country of "total Russophobia." Latvia is not the first Baltic state to downgrade its ties with Russia. Estonia and Russia expelled each other's envoys on Monday, while Lithuania downgraded its relations with Russia in April. The German Foreign Ministry says Russia is seeking to twist the words of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock following her comments about the war in Ukraine.  Calling for cohesion among Western allies at an event in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Baerbock said in English that "we are fighting a war against Russia, and not against each other." Moscow has seized on the words as evidence that the West is waging a "premeditated war against Russia" and demanded an explanation from Baerbock. In response to the uproar, a ministry spokesperson said Moscow was using the comments to its own ends. "Russian propaganda continually takes statements, sentences, stances, positions of the government, our partners and uses them to serve their purposes," said the spokesperson. The German government has also stressed that Germany is not a warring party in Ukraine.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "NATO and Germany are not a party to the war in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said in Berlin on Friday. Poland is to send an extra 60 tanks, a decision that was hailed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw would send 60 "modernized tanks" in addition to 14 Leopard 2s that it has also promised. Morawiecki added that, since the start of the war, Poland has "sent 250 tanks ... or even more than that" to Ukraine. "Thank you ... Poland for these important decisions to deliver to Ukraine 60 Polish tanks — 30 of which are the famous PT-91 Twardy, along with 14 Leopards," Zelenskyy tweeted. The tanks already supplied by Poland are mainly T-72 Soviet models, of which the PT-91 is a modernized version. Earlier this week, Germany and the US announced that they would be delivering heavy Abrams and Leopard combat tanks to Ukraine. Belgium has announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine, pledging cash, missiles, machine guns and armored vehicles. Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder acknowledged that Belgium had no main battle tanks to match the offers of NATO allies such as Britain, Germany, Poland and the United States. Belgium sold its tanks more than a decade ago. Instead, Dedonder said the €93.8 million ($100 million) package would include anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles, grenades and other military equipment. Separately, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced an additional €86 million in humanitarian and civil aid, along with 38,000 tons of diesel fuel. Some Russian and Belarusian athletes may be a step closer to being allowed to return to international competition. An International Olympic Committee proposal has been sharply criticized by Ukraine and athletes' representatives. Germany recently announced that it will supply 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Soon after that, videos surfaced online purporting to show the tanks already en route to the embattled country. DW checks the facts. With Kyiv again hit by Russian air attacks, the city's mayor says Ukrainians are prepared to die for their freedom. He told DW that Russia is "unhappy" about tank deliveries because it is afraid of modern hardware. A German citizen is suspected of passing intelligence to Russia. Concerns about Russian espionage in Europe have increased since the invasion of Ukraine. Germany says Ukraine will receive promised Leopard 2 tanks by early April. Russia has meanwhile fired more missiles as it continues its invasion. This and more from Thursday's updates. rc/dj (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters, Interfax)

2Conflicts

The United States ambassador in Moscow, John Sullivan, said he would return to Washington this week to consult on US-Russian relations amid a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday. The agency quoted Sullivan as saying he was planning to return to Moscow before a possible summit between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin within the next few weeks. In a statement from the embassy, Sullivan also cited wanting to see his family as a reason for his return. The Kremlin had previously "recommended" that Sullivan leave the country temporarily. Washington and Moscow are currently at odds over a number of issues, including alleged Russian meddling in US elections and cyberattacks on US government websites that the US also blames on Russia. Biden has also caused political outrage in Russia by televised remarks in which he referred to Putin as a "killer." That comment prompted the recall by Moscow of the Russian ambassador to Washington for consultations last month. Washington and Moscow have recently expelled 10 of each other's diplomats in tit-for-tat moves. The US has also imposed numerous sanctions on Russian entities.  Russia has additionally provoked consternation among Western countries with a military buildup on the border to eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting government forces since 2014. The attempted poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, which he and many others blame on the Kremlin, and his subsequent jailing have also drawn international criticism. tj/rt (AFP, Reuters) 

7Politics

Sudan's ruling generals and a coalition of civilian opposition leaders on Monday signed a framework agreement to pave the way for a civilian-led transitional government. The deal is meant to guide the country towards elections and offer a path forward after the coup in October 2021 halted Sudan's transition to civilian rule. Anti-military protests have continued in the country since the coup, with key factions opposing and staying out of the initial framework inked Monday. The United States, Norway, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Britain "welcome the agreement of an initial political framework," a joint statement issued by the US State Department said. The United Nations' Special Envoy for Sudan praised the agreement towards a transitional government during the signing ceremony, held at the Republican Palace in the capital of Khartoum.  "It is my hope that the principles in the document will be translated into action," said Volker Perthes, the UN's Special Representative for Sudan, on Monday, remarking, however, that the lack of signatures from "key political forces" was a challenge and that the  agreement was not "perfect".  "It is important that the second phase of this political process begins immediately to deal with the outstanding issues," he said, making clear that receiving the missing signatures from key political actors relied on continued attempts to reach out to them.    The initial agreement was the first of at least two planned accords. It was signed by Sudan's two ruling generals, Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders from the country's largest pro-democracy group, Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, at the Khartoum Republican Palace. According to the draft agreement, Sudan's military is to eventually step back from politics, while civilian signatories are to agree on a prime minister to steer Sudan through a 24-month transition. The deal stipulates that the military will form part of a new "security and defense council" under the appointed prime minister. It does not address details concerning thornier political issues, such as a transitional judicial system and the implementation of military reforms. The issues are to be addressed in a follow-up accord. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The initial deal has been opposed by groups that are against negotiations with the military, and by Islamist factions loyal to the regime of former leader Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019. The pro-democracy Resistance Committee leaders called for demonstrations against the agreement, with protesters taking to the streets in at least two areas outside of Khartoum before the signing ceremony at the presidential palace. The military coup last year ended a power-sharing arrangement which civilians agreed on following the overthrow of al-Bashir. Military leaders have said their takeover was necessary to preserve Sudan’s stability amid political infighting. Tens of thousands of protesters also marched across the country last month on the first anniversary of the 2021 military coup, demanding full civilian rule, even as security forces clamped down on them.  los, rm/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP)

2Conflicts

The US State Department said late on Monday that Russia is planning to launch fresh attacks against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure and government facilities. The executive responsible for the United States' foreign policy said the attacks would likely occur in the coming days while the country's embassy in Kyiv urged Americans still in Ukraine to depart immediately. "If you hear a loud explosion or if sirens are activated, immediately seek cover," the State Department said in its alert. "If in a home or a building, go to the lowest level of the structure with the fewest exterior walls, windows, and openings; close any doors and sit near an interior wall, away from any windows or openings." The update is based on downgraded US intelligence. It comes as Kyiv bans any upcoming festivities to mark Ukraine's independence day, which falls on August 24, due to the heightened threat of an attack. Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow could try "something particularly ugly" in the run-up to Wednesday's 31st anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union. The date would also mark half a year since Russia invaded. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here's a roundup of some of the other key developments in Ukraine on August 22. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on Monday accused Ukraine's secret services of killing Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultranationalist philosopher and writer Alexander Dugin, Russian news agencies reported. Dugina was killed on Saturday evening when a suspected explosive device blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving on a highway about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside Moscow, Russian investigators said. Ukraine has denied involvement. In a statement, the FSB said the attack was carried out by a Ukrainian female born in 1979. It said the woman and her teenage daughter had arrived in Russia in July and spent a month preparing the attack by renting an apartment in the same housing block and researching Dugina's lifestyle. The assailant had attended an event outside Moscow on Saturday evening that Dugina and her father were also at, before carrying out a "controlled explosion" of Dugina's car, and fleeing Russia to Estonia, the FSB was quoted as saying. There was no immediate response from Kyiv to the FSB statement. Hours after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of killing Dugina on Monday, Russian Vladimir Putin bestowed a posthumous award on the deceased ultra-nationalist political activist. Dugina was awarded the prestigious Order of Courage. The Kremlin said she was given the state award on account of her "courage and selflessness shown in the performance of professional duty." The United States on Monday rejected Ukraine's call for a blanket visa ban on Russians, saying Washington does not want to block the pathways to refuge for Russia's dissidents and others threatened by human rights abuses. A State Department spokesperson said the Biden administration has already imposed visa restrictions for Kremlin officials, but it made it clear that its focus would be on identifying those involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and holding them accountable. "The U.S. wouldn’t want to close off pathways to refuge and safety for Russia’s dissidents or others who are vulnerable to human rights abuses. We’ve also been clear that it is important to draw a line between the actions of the Russian government and its policies in Ukraine, and the people of Russia," the spokesperson said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had first urged the visa ban in an interview earlier this month with the Washington Post, saying Russians should "live in their own world until they change their philosophy." Some EU leaders such as Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas have also called for an EU-wide visa ban. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, rejected the idea, saying Russians should be able to flee their homeland if they disagree with the regime. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees his country as sharing responsibility for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This is "an important task where the world community has to set the right course in time," he said at a meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal. Even now, during the war, the reconstruction of Ukraine must be on the agenda, Scholz added. He also praised the cooperation with Canada in the dispute over a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. "It was an important decision. Because it has exposed [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's strategy aimed at dividing allies, aimed at undermining support for Ukraine," Scholz said. Russia is not a reliable business partner, said the Chancellor, as it has reduced gas supplies across Europe citing technical reasons that never existed. At least 13,477 civilians have been injured or killed in Ukraine since Russian troops invaded the country in February, the UN said on Monday. According to the UN Human Rights Office, the violence killed 5,587 people and injured 7,890 more. Among those killed were 362 children. This information on the recorded civilian casualties relates to the period from the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 to August 21. The actual number of civilians killed and injured is likely to be much higher, UN Human Rights Office said. 967,288 people who fled the war in Ukraine have been registered in Germany since Russia invaded Ukraine almost six months ago, the German interior ministry said. According to the ministry, around 350,000 of the registered refugees are children and around 455,000 are adult women. 97 percent of the refugees are Ukrainian nationals. However, the ministry warns that a significant number of the refugees may have returned or traveled to other countries. So, the officials cannot say exactly how many refugees from Ukraine are currently in Germany. Russia's parliament said it will hold a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. In an official statement published Monday, the parliament said a session of the Council of the State Duma will be held on August 25 to discuss "the threat to the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant." Sergei Mironov, head of the pro-Kremlin A Just Russia party in the parliament, said the council — which includes the speaker and party leaders — would adopt a "tough statement" over Kyiv's actions regarding the plant and call on the United Nations and other international bodies to intervene. Russia has also requested that the UN Security Council holds a meeting on Tuesday regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported, citing Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy. Moscow has accused Kyiv of launching strikes at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is in territory controlled by Russian forces but is still operated by Ukrainian staff. Kyiv has denied shelling the site, Europe's largest nuclear power facility, and says Russia is planning a "provocation" there to justify further aggressive action. The European Union will debate the launch of a major training operation for Ukrainian forces in nearby nations, said the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. The proposal will be discussed next week at a two-day meeting of EU defense ministers that gets underway in Prague on Monday, Borrell said. "I hope it will be approved," he added. "Of course, it would be a big mission: I think it would be a big mission," Borrel said. "Any mission has to be up to the level of the conflict," he added. He also said "several" nations already provided military training to Ukrainian forces under bilateral agreements. Lena Düpont, a German member of the European Parliament, told DW that an EU-wide visa ban on Russian tourists would be a "good instrument" that should be used to support the bloc's message to Russia. "It's also one of the probably most important, let's say, soft instruments we have at hand, having in mind the waging war coming from Russia against Ukraine," the German politician said. Düpont also rejected claims that a visa ban would affect Russian dissidents who try to leave their country. "Visa policy is one thing, but asylum procedures are another thing. There is no linkage between those two," she said. Düpont is certain that the EU can still use visa policy or visa leverage as an instrument "without having bad influences on asylum procedure." Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's invasion began, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said on Monday. Valerii Zaluzhnyi told a forum that children need particular attention "because their fathers have gone to the front and are maybe among the nearly 9,000 heroes who have been killed." Ukrainian officials have only very rarely given any detail on military losses in nearly six months of war. The last estimate dates back to April, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 10,000 injured. Zaluzhnyi did not say how many civilians had been killed or how many Russian personnel Kyiv estimated had been killed in the fighting, but the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces has put the Russian military death toll at 45,400. Russia has not said how many of its soldiers have been killed. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu called for further sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. "We need to raise the price of aggression for the aggressor steeply before the winter. The seven packages so far have not put sufficient pressure on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to end the war against Ukraine," Reinsalu said on Estonian radio. The new package of sanctions suggested by Estonia would include a complete energy embargo, further restrictions on other goods and people, and a ban on Russian nationals from traveling to the European Union. The government in Tallinn had put an official proposal for a sanctions package to the European Commission last week. Having already restricted its visa rules for Russian nationals, Estonia called for an EU-wide stop to issuing tourist visas for Russian nationals. A month after Russia and Ukraine agreed on a sea corridor to resume global exports of grain, high insurance premiums are just one of the obstacles. Experts have called for international support for Ukrainian farmers. dh/rt, jsi (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)

7Politics

Libya's former military commander, Khalifa Hifter, announced on Tuesday that he intends to run for president when a national vote is held next month. The December 24 election is being held up as a last-ditch attempt to end a decade of civil conflict and political turmoil. His candidacy had been expected after he recently resigned his military positions. In a televised speech, Hifter said only democratic elections could end the crisis that has been ongoing ever since a NATO-backed uprising brought an end to the rule of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi. He promised "to begin the path of reconciliation, peace and construction" should he emerge victorious. Hifter is a divisive figure in Libya, and his candidacy is likely to draw the ire of the UN-recognized government in Tripoli. Opponents have argued that no vote in areas held by his militias can be considered fair and free. He has also been accused of war crimes, such as killing prisoners in 2017. A former ally of Gadhafi's, Hifter was later exiled and spent decades living in the United States, eventually becoming a citizen. The ex-militia leader will be running against Seif al-Islam, a son of Moammar Gadhafi's. Before the 2011 uprising, al-Islam had fashioned himself as a reformer who was sympathetic to Western ideas. However, he remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity committed during his father's time in power, and has recently reaffirmed his admiration for the way his father ruled the country. Significant doubt remains as to whether the vote will take place. Despite being only weeks away, there is still no agreed upon legal basis under which to hold the vote and major political factions have refused to participate. In a speech Monday evening, the head of the UN-supported government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, said the electoral process was facing "huge" problems given the lack of a single constitutional framework for it. es/wd (AP, Reuters)

7Politics

The contents of the historic San Jose galleon, which sank more than 300 years ago, still make the hearts of treasure hunters all over the world beat faster. According to experts, at least 200 tons of gold, silver and gems are said to have been in the ship, which sank off the coast of the Colombian port city of Cartagena in 1708. Its value: several billions of US dollars. When the shipwreck was discovered in 2015, then Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos presented it as "the most valuable treasure ever found in the history of mankind." After the recent elaborate diving expedition at a depth of 950 meters (3,117 feet), the Colombian army has now published new pictures of the legendary ship and its treasures. They show cast-iron cannons, porcelain dishes, pottery, glass bottles, but also apparently golden coins. They also display a part of the ship's bow covered with seaweed and shells, as well as remains of the hull framework. These are the most accurate images of the ship ever taken, according to acting Colombian President Ivan Duque. The teams have dived down in four missions with high-tech equipment, including a remote-controlled diving robot. In the process, they were able to determine that the wreck had remained unscathed by human intervention. In addition to the spectacular images of the famous shipwreck, however, the descent into the depths has revealed something else. A few hundred meters away, the camera has come across two other wrecks: a galleon from the colonial period and a schooner from the post-colonial period. Thirteen other sites, where other shipwrecks from the same eras are suspected, are still to be investigated. The treasures aboard the galleon San Jose were on their way from the Spanish colonies in Latin America to the court of the Spanish King Philip V in 1708, but they never arrived there: On the night of June 7, the ship and its treasures were sunk by the British fleet in the Caribbean Sea. Only a few of the 600 or so crew members survived. Colombia plans to salvage the wreck one day — at a cost equivalent to around €61 million ($65 million) — and then exhibit it in a museum in Cartagena. The country already calls the wreck and its riches a "national art treasure." 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

DW: There is a crisis in your country with the M23 rebels. Can you tell us more about that? What is the situation exactly like on the ground? Martin Madidi Fayulu: In short, the M23 are not rebels. They are Rwandees (sic) that were put in Congo by (Rwandan President Paul) Kagame to destabilize Congo because his objective is to get part of Congo. His (other) objective is to get a hold of Congolese minerals. … And the third objective is to displace the Congolese and to put some Rwandees in our territories.  This is the situation we are having now. This war is caused by Mr. Kagame and also by Uganda. Uganda doesn't want to stay behind and let Kagame do what he wants to do. (Uganda) also wants a portion of Congolese resources. But it has been more than ten years since the M23 movement was formed. Why has it taken so long for the DRC government to tackle this crisis? It is still taking long because all governments in Congo have been put in place by Mr. Kagame. (Former President Joseph) Kabila was a proxy put in place by Kagame, and when Kabila was leaving, they tried to find someone to replace him. They negotiated and signed a deal between Kagame, Kabila and Felix Tshisekedi. That is why they put Tshisekedi in the seat of the presidency.  Then you have the army, where many people who are Rwandees are working for Mr. Kagame. That is why is it becoming very difficult to end this crisis. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video If you were the president today what would you have done differently from what President Felix Tshisekedi is doing to try and solve this crisis? The first thing is to stop corruption. Take the country’s money and form an army, a strong army and send them to fight. … Also, I would discuss (the situation) with the UN, AU and countries like Germany, France, European Union.  We need peace, and (the international community) has to do for us what you are doing with Ukraine. Ukraine is having a problem, you are condemning. And we are having a problem in Congo, but nobody is condemning Rwanda. Why? The US embassy in Kinshasa has issued a security alert that there will be protests taking place from today on. What exactly are people protesting? The protest is because the Congolese want to protect their country. We want to demonstrate that we are against Rwanda. Rwanda should take its people, its members of the M23, out.  This is not just a protest. We are not protesting for something. We are saying the whole world has to comprehend that Congo has been attacked by Rwanda and Uganda, and that they have to take some decisions to condemn those countries. During recent protests, we have seen young people in DRC calling on Russia to assist. Do you think Russia can help in any way? No, I think we, the Congolese, have to help ourselves. It is not a matter of calling somebody to help. What we are saying to the international community (is that) we are a member of the UN. They have to see what the provisions in the United Nations are, and then they have to implement them. They have to take sanctions against Rwanda. They have to take sanctions against Uganda. Yet everybody is talking about Ukraine. Yes, we have to talk about Ukraine but we also have to talk about Congo. Congo has the rain forest, Congo has copper, Congo has cobalt, Congo has lithium, and all those natural resources, those minerals are needed for the world’s energy transition. But why is it that you leave that country alone, an important country for the whole world? Kenyan forces are already in DRC under the African transitional mission. But we know from reports that Kenya was allegedly involved in some shady deals in Somalia. What do you make of their presence in DRC? You said (something) about a shady deal in Somalia. Can you really say that Kenya would go and fight against Rwandees? For me, it is a joke. We are not in Eastern Africa, we are in central Africa. The solution should be in central Africa, with the AU and the UN. We also want to change the mandate of the UN’s MONUSCO (mission) and use it to stabilize the Congo. Because we have no stability today. We want a robust UN mission in Congo, which will fight against the external M23 army.  My party had a convention last July, and we have (come up with) a manifesto with 18 challenges. We want to implement those so we can have prosperity in Congo. What are your top five points on your manifesto? First of all, we have the four pre-requisites: Rule of law, integrity of our country, national cohesion and good governance. Then you come to the second stage, which is our priorities. Our first priority is education. Second is agriculture, as we have to feed our people. … Three, we need infrastructure. And then four: we need clean water, electricity and healthcare.  Then there are other priorities: We want to protect the environment as a priority. Another priority is entrepreneurship. We have to ask ourselves: How can we team up with those companies coming from abroad and maximize the development of our country? Elections are coming up next year in DRC, and you are in the opposition. We understand that you are going to be running in the upcoming elections, right? Sure, because the Congolese people want me to run. They put me there, and I think that I owe them that. If they say, ‘Mr. Fayulu we think that we don't need you anymore,’ that’s ok. You still believe you are the one who won the 2018 election. How will the next elections be more transparent? All stakeholders have to agree on the rule of the game. This means to agree on an electoral commission, to agree on the electoral law, to agree on the electoral calendar, and to agree on the safety and security of all during the election. We need a good, impartial and credible election. That’s what democracy means, and the world needs democracy. But what we have today is a dictatorship. Thank you so much for the interview, Mr. Fayulu. Martin Madidi Fayulu is the opposition leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The leader of the "Engagement for Citizenship and Development Party" has declared he will compete in the 2023 election against incumbent president, Felix Tshisekedi. Edited for length and content by Sertan Sanderson    

7Politics

The Pandora Papers are a massive trove of nearly 12 million confidential documents that were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The tax documents expose secretive offshore financial structures and trusts in tax havens, thereby casting a light on the shadowy financial tactics of the world's powerful, including those in Africa. The ICIJ investigation found that nearly 50 politicians and public officials from 18 African countries had connections to offshore entities. The most important include: Leaked records show that Kenyatta's family has been "secretly accumulating a personal fortune behind offshore corporate veils," the ICIJ finds. Kenyatta, along with his mother, sisters and brother, owned assets worth more than $30 million (€25.8 million), according to Pandora Papers records. These assets were shielded "from public scrutiny through foundations and companies in tax havens" in Panama and the British Virgin Islands. Shell companies created on the British Virgin Islands allow their owners to avoid registering their names in public, as do foundations set up in Panama. According to the records, seven members of Kenyatta's family are connected to 11 offshore entities. It isn't, however, always clear, what assets these entities held, and what they were used for. For example, Uhuru Kenyatta's younger brother Muhoho owned three shell companies, according to the ICIJ. "One had a bank account that held an investment portfolio worth $31.6 million in 2016; another had unspecified investments at a bank in London," the ICIJ wrote. In recent years, President Kenyatta has painted himself as a vigorous anti-corruption reformer. He vowed to fight graft in the run-up to the 2017 elections. Kenyatta and his family did not reply to ICIJ's requests for comment. President Sassou Nguesso owned a company that controlled diamond mines in the Congo "that are among the country's most valuable assets," the ICIJ investigation finds. Sassou Nguesso's ownership of the mines in the resource-rich country was not previously known. According to the ICIJ, Sassou Nguesso's ownership was shielded by incorporating the company in the British Virgin Islands. The Sassou-Nguesso family has controlled the government in the Republic of Congo for nearly 40 years, a rule marked by extensive corruption and embezzlement of their nation's wealth, according to other investigations by anti-corruption organizations, such as Global Witness. President Bongo controlled two shell companies, whose purposes were unknown, in the British Virgin Isles, the Pandora Papers reveal. The shell companies no longer exist. Ali Bongo's family has been involved in the country's politics for more than 50 years, and for nearly as long, the family has been accused of plundering state coffers. His father, Omar Bongo, ruled Gabon with an iron fist for more than 40 years until his death in 2009, when he was succeeded by Ali Bongo. French and US authorities have previously investigated the family for corruption. Leaked documents show that in 1998, when he was an adviser to the minister of energy, Achi became the owner of a company based in the Bahamas. His ownership, which continued until at least 2006, was obscured through a trust arrangement. The Pandora Papers don't reveal what assets the company held or what its purpose was. Less than a month before he was dismissed as prime minister in 2012, Aires Ali used a Swiss tax consultancy to create a shell company in the Seychelles, the leaked documents show. Another firm provided the company with a shareholder and directors, thereby obscuring who owned it. Ali, a long-term career politician, later authorized the company to open a bank account with a Lisbon-based firm. The company's purpose isn't revealed in the Pandora Papers. Muhwezi, who is related by marriage to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, owned and held shares in two shell companies, one set up in the British Virgin Islands and another which was created in Cyprus. This article will be updated as more ICIJ findings are released. 

7Politics

Health services on campus and French student hostels will install dispensers offering free tampons, menstrual pads and other items in coming weeks, higher education minister Frederique Vidal announced on Tuesday. And, after the northern hemisphere's summer, environmentally friendly products will be more widely dispensed to overcome what campaigners call period poverty.   One-in-three female students would benefit, she said, with 13% among 6,500 respondents in a recent survey saying they had had to choose between buying period protectives and other everyday items such as food in the past. France's plan follows New Zealand and trailbreaker Scotland, whose parliament last year passed law making sanitary napkins free in all public buildings. Campaigners say girls often miss school because of inaccessibility and unaffordability of sanitary items or medication for cramps — factors than worsen gender inequality and girls' future educational and employment chances.  Already dispensers had been installed in some 30 high schools across France, reported the French news agency AFP Tuesday.  Hundreds of institutions were likely to follow suit. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday renewed a promise made in December that women's dignity must be protected from what he termed an "invisible injustice" that could no longer be tolerated. Earlier in February, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the distribution of free products in the South Pacific nation, starting in June, estimated to cost NZ$25 million (US$18 million) over three years. It would help increase school attendances and benefit teenagers' wellbeing, predicted Ardern.  "Young people should not miss out on their education because of something that is a normal part of life for half the population," she said. ipj/aw (AFP, dpa)

5Health

Militants attacked a displaced persons camp in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) overnight into Wednesday, killing at least 60 people, according to local media and humanitarian groups. Ndalo Budz, who is the head of the Plaine Savo displaced persons site, told local media that fighters raided the camp and killed people in shelters with machetes and other weapons. The Savo site was home to about 4,000 people as of December, according to the UN's migration agency. Budz said fighters affiliated with a group known as Cooperative for the Development of the Congo (CODECO) were responsible for the killings.  "I first heard cries when I was still in bed, then several minutes of gunshots. I fled and I saw torches and people crying for help and I realized it was the CODECO militiamen who had invaded our site," a camp resident told Reuters news agency.  The group, which emerged in 2017, claims to defend the rights of the Lendu community in Ituri province, which is located in the far northeast of the DRC, near the border with Uganda. The area has long seen violence in a feud between the Lendu and Hema communities.  Fighting between the groups reached a high point between 1999 and 2003, with tens of thousands of people killed before intervention by the European Union was able to stop the widespread violence.  Militants continue to be active in the eastern DRC, and CODECO fighters have killed hundreds of civilians in Ituri province in recent years and forced thousands to flee their homes, according to the United Nations Attacks on displaced person camps killed 123 people in the course of one week in late 2021, according to the US-based Kivu Security Tracker (KST), which did not specify what group or groups were behind the attacks. wmr/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)

2Conflicts

Central African Republic (CAR) soldiers attacked a Chadian military post, killing one soldier, and kidnapping and executing five others, Chad's Defense Ministry said on Sunday. Chad said the incident amounted to a war crime that "cannot go unpunished." The CAR armed forces attacked the Sourou outpost near the village of Mbere early on Sunday morning, Chad's Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene said in a statement. The outpost was manned by 12 soldiers. According to Zene: "They killed a Chadian soldier, injured five and kidnapped five others who were then executed in Mbang on the Central African Republic side." The base lies near Chad's 1,000-kilometer (approximately 620-mile) border with CAR. Chad's embassy in the CAR capital of Bangui was told by the head of CAR's military police to collect the bodies of the five executed soldiers, the foreign minister said. Central African soldiers were pursuing rebels from one of the many armed groups operating in the country across the border, a senior Chadian security official told news agency AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The rebels were members of Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), one of CAR's most powerful armed groups. The UPC is part of a coalition seeking to topple the regime of the country's President Faustin Archange Touadera, the official said. Zene said Chad would "call the international community to bear witness" to the incident, notably the UN's 12,000-strong peacekeeping force in CAR, MINUSCA, as well as the African Union and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The Central African Republic regularly accuses its northern neighbor of supporting armed rebel groups from inside Chad. Chad is in the Sahel region where there are numerous insurgent groups active across porous borders. kmm/msh (Reuters, AFP)

2Conflicts

German lawmakers on Thursday backed the ratification of the European Union's free trade agreement with Canada. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has been provisionally applied since 2017, but can only become fully in force after all 27 EU member states have ratified it. Italy and France are among several member states that have yet to ratify the agreement. Canada has already ratified it.   The deal eliminates almost all customs duties and increases quotas for certain key products in Canada and the EU's respective markets. Germany's highest court in March threw out complaints against CETA. It cleared the way for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition to ratify the agreement. Lawmakers voted 559-110 to approve the pact. Canada's diplomatic mission in Berlin hailed the German Bundestag's decision to ratify the deal, saying it is a step closer to a "progressive, inclusive and modern" free trade agreement.   Parliamentarians in Europe's biggest economy were confident the remaining 11 EU countries that still have to ratify CETA would follow suit. "We are optimistic, now that we are moving forward, that others will also follow very quickly," said Verena Hubertz, of the center-left Social Democrats. Most of the treaty's rules already have been provisionally applied across the EU since September 2017. But the unilateral agreement in the block was not certain. Earlier in November, the Irish Supreme Court ruled Ireland's parliamentary efforts to ratify the EU-Canada trade deal are unconstitutional. The deal also faces stiff opposition in countries like the Netherlands and Italy. lo/jcg (AP, dpa, Reuters)

7Politics

The United States is facing the biggest surge of migrants at its southwestern border in two decades, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday. Border control officers are currently grappling with increasing numbers of children who are trying to cross into the country from Mexico by themselves. The number of attempted border crossings by people from Mexico and neighboring countries has steadily increased over the last year, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. The majority of single adults and families are being turned away, he said. Decades of poverty, violence and corruption in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have led to millions of people trying to flee to the US. And conditions in the Latin American countries have continued to deteriorate. Two recent hurricanes have made living conditions even worse, while the coronavirus pandemic complicated the border situation further still, Mayorkas said. "We are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years," he said. US border agents carried out 100,441 apprehensions or expulsions of migrants at the border with Mexico in February alone, the White House's Customs and Border Protection said last week, the highest monthly total in two years. Single adults make up the majority of people who are being expelled, Mayorkas said. Children who arrive alone, some as young as six years old, are not being turned back. The US government is creating a joint processing center to transfer the children promptly into the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is trying to find additional shelters for them, Mayorkas added. President Joe Biden's administration has been struggling to speed up the processing of hundreds of youths under 18 who are crossing the southern border alone every day. "We will have, I believe by the next month, enough of those beds to take care of these children who have no place to go, but they need to be taken care of," Biden said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday. Republicans in Congress accused the president of causing the border surge by promising to roll back some of his predecessor's hardline policies on immigration. "It didn't have to happen," House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said at an El Paso border facility on Monday. "This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new administration." The mounting criticism saw Biden tell potential migrants on Tuesday: "Don't come over ... Don't leave your town or city or community." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video jsi/msh (Reuters, AP, AFP)

7Politics

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced that neighboring Eritrea would pull its troops out of the conflict-ridden Tigray region. Abiy's statement on Friday followed a visit to Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. Troops from both the Ethiopian and Eritrean military forces have been accused of carrying out abuses against the civilian population in the border region. In his statement published on Twitter, Abiy said that following his discussions on Friday with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, "the government of Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border." Abiy first acknowledged the presence of Eritrean forces in the region on Tuesday after months of rejecting reports from residents, diplomats and even some military officials. "It puts the participation of Eritrean forces in the conflict out into the open now. The government is saying there an agreement for those Eritrean forces to retreat," says Horn of Africa researcher Ahmed Soliman from Chatham House.   "I think there has been mounting internal and external pressure to do something about the actions of Eritrean forces in northern, northwestern, and eastern Tigray," he told DW.   Abiy sent troops into Tigray on November 4, after accusing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) of attacking an Ethiopian military camp. The TPLF was once the dominant party in Ethiopia and carried out an extended war with neighboring Eritrea. Abiy brokered a peace deal with Asmara in 2018, an act for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Abiy has since been accused of siding with Eritrean forces to pursue the now fugitive leaders of the TPLF. "Abiy and the federal government were looking to remove the TPLF and no longer considering them as a political party which to engage with,” Soliman says.  "The Eritrean government, which has no love lost for the TPLF, also considered it to be beneficial to them to help remove the TPLF from power in the region."   Witnesses have claimed that Eritrean troops were present in Tigray from the start of the conflict, contradicting Abiy's account. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both accused Eritrean soldiers of carrying out a massacre of hundreds of Tigrayans in the town of Axum. Ethiopian forces have also been accused of abuses. Doctors Without Borders claimed that soldiers had carried out summary executions in Tigray. Some 6 million people in the Tigray region have been largely cut off from the world during the conflict. The UN human rights office said it was only recently allowed back in to support investigations into human rights abuses. Also on Friday, a United Nations team said it had reached two camps for Eritrean refugees in the Tigray region for the first time since November, finding them destroyed and deserted.  UN refugee agency spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva that a team had gained access to the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps, and "found both camps destroyed, and all the humanitarian facilities looted and vandalized."  DW spoke to William Davison, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, an independent organization monitoring the fighting in Ethiopia. Should Eritrean troops completely withdraw, Davison said the move could have "a major impact on the conflict dynamics," particularly with regards to forces loyal to the TPLF. "It could lead to increased strengthening of the armed resistance in Tigray. And it is hard to imagine Ethiopia's federal government entirely crushing this rebellion if Eritrean troops withdraw," he said. Although Abiy's announcement appears to indicate a willingness to end the conflict in Tigray, "there has been no sign of the [Ethiopian] government seeking a negotiated solution so far," the analyst added. When asked about the UN reports that two refugee camps in Tigray have been destroyed, Davison said the reports verified what actors on the ground had previously reported.  "One of the problems of this conflict is verifying information," he said. "There's still a telecommunications blackout, almost a total Internet blackout across Tigray."  The fate of many of the refugees in the camps remains unknown, Davison said. "Some of them will be displaced into Tigray. Some of them seem to have been captured and taken back to Eritrea."  Abiy claimed victory over the TPLF in December, but the United States and United Nations have both reported continued clashes. The US has been calling on Eritrean troops to leave the area for weeks, and the Biden administration ramped up the pressure by dispatching Senator Chris Coons to Ethiopia nearly a week ago for talks with Abiy. Soliman says pressure from important international partners seems to have "shifted Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's calculation and his posture, at least publicly" on Eritrea's continued presence in Tigray. Abiy did not say how many Eritrean troops had been present in Tigray, but witnesses have estimated the number to be in the thousands. The Ethiopian prime minister's statement concluded by promising to "continue strengthening [the] bilateral relations and economic cooperation ambitions" between Eritrea and Ethiopia, as well as "restoring trust-based people-to-people relations among our citizens in the Tigray region." ab/msh (dpa, AP, AFP)

7Politics

Angela Merkel is preparing for a special farewell. The outgoing German chancellor receives the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Berlin on Monday for what will likely be their last meeting in person. On several occasions, Zelenskyy has invited Merkel to Kyiv at the end of August to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence. He is also keen for the chancellor to attend the founding conference of his international Crimea Platform. To date, however, Merkel has not indicated any plans to be at either event. Since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, the German chancellor, as a leading Western politician, has been intensively involved in dealing with Ukraine. But ahead of this meeting, the atmosphere in Berlin is more troubled than it has been in a long time. Despite repeated expressions of gratitude, Ukraine's frustration is also becoming increasingly apparent. The latest efforts by Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron to organize another EU-Russia summit caused irritation in Kyiv. The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, invited the ambassadors of both countries to a meeting, where he referred to the plan as an "unpleasant and surprising attack" and expressed satisfaction that EU leaders fail to agree on a summit with Vladimir PutinMerkel's idea was "rebuffed" at the EU summit. At the end of June, Ukraine's ambassador to Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, boycotted a commemorative event with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier marking the 80th anniversary of Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. The venue was the German-Russian Museum in Berlin-Karlshorst, which the ambassador deemed "inappropriate." The biggest bone of contention in relations between Kyiv and Berlin is still the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is to deliver gas from Russia directly to Germany. Ukraine opposes the Baltic Sea project because it could lose out on transit fees for Russian gas and because it fears a Russian military escalation. Now that the United States, under the leadership of President Joe Biden, has decided against further sanctions, the pipeline is set to be completed in just a few months' time. Merkel and Zelenskyy are expected to discuss how Ukraine could be protected against potential losses. There has been speculation in the media about compensation, without any concrete details. Shortly after this, in quick succession, Merkel and Zelenskyy will both travel to Washington, where Nord Stream 2 is likely also to be on the agenda. However, any breakthrough regarding eastern Ukraine is still a long way off. The situation has been deadlocked since the last four-way "Normandy Format" summit, in December 2019 in Paris. A follow-up meeting in Berlin was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The most recent escalation on the frontline in eastern Ukraine was in the spring of this year when dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were killed. Russia initiated massive troop deployments to the Ukrainian border; Merkel and Macron called for de-escalation, and Moscow partially withdrew the troops. While Zelenskyy is keen for the US to take on a bigger role in any peace talks, the Russian president does not seem interested in further meetings with the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy spoke with Merkel and Macron via video conferencing recently — but they did so separately. "Why meet with Zelenskyy when he gave up his country to full external control?" Putin said during his annual Q&A with the Russian public in late June. "The key Ukrainian issues are decided not in Kyiv but in Washington, and to some extent in Berlin and Paris." The Kremlin leader did not rule out meeting with Zelenskyy in principle, but there will almost certainly not be another Normandy summit before Merkel steps down following Germany's September general election. On a personal level, experts note that Merkel's relationship with Zelenskyy has not been as good as it was with his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko. Gustav Gressel of the Brussels-based think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) said the German chancellor refused to meet then-candidate Zelenskyy in the run-up to the Ukrainian presidential election, whereas Macron received him. "On a personal level, there was a shadow over their relationship. For Merkel, this plays a not insignificant role," said Gressel. "It didn't work out too well with Zelenskyy; he doesn't really seem to be her type." Kyiv-based foreign policy expert Olena Hetmanchuk also said the German and Ukrainian leaders' relationship is "not the best." Zelenskyy is "not a comfortable partner" for Merkel, she added. It is unclear whether Zelenskyy's critical remarks contributed to this. In a phone call with then-US President Donald Trump in July 2019, which was subsequently made public, Zelenskyy accused Merkel and Macron of not doing enough for Ukraine. This is a message he now repeats increasingly often, as for example in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in early June. Fundamentally, he said, Ukraine was very grateful to Germany — but he had "expected more." Above all, Kyiv has been disappointed by Berlin's refusal to supply Ukraine with arms. Even after the Green Party co-chairman Robert Habeck backed Ukraine's request to purchase weapons for defensive purposes, the German government reiterated its rejection. Zelenskyy told the FAZ newspaper that Kyiv was interested in items such as patrol boats, rifles and armored vehicles. It is becoming increasingly clear that Kyiv is preparing for the period after Merkel. It hopes that, with her successor, Germany will shift its position on certain issues. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine has done enough to be given "clear commitments" on the EU and NATO membership it seeks. According to Hetmanchuk, "There is an expectation that Merkel might support the prospect of EU accession for Ukraine, as a kind of parting gift." Whether the chancellor will indeed go along with this is unclear. Kyiv is more likely to find that Berlin will continue to hold back. The leading candidates from her party as well as the Greens and the SPD have all expressed their understanding for Ukraine's wishes, but they put a damper on its hopes for movement on this issue in the near future. This article was translated from German.

7Politics

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will resign in April to hold snap elections in June, he announced in a video on his Facebook page on Sunday. "I will resign in April. I will resign not to resign, but in order for early elections to take place," he told a crowd during a visit to the northwest of the country. "I will continue to serve as interim prime minister," he added. Pashinyan announced the snap elections earlier in March. In line with Armenian law, snap elections can take place once the prime minister steps down and parliament fails to elect a replacement two times. Pashinyan has been under increasing pressure to step down following a military defeat against neighboring Azerbaijan and an ongoing spat with Armenian military leaders. Pashinyan has faced constant calls to step down after signing a Russian-brokered ceasefire with Azerbaijan in November. The conflict ended with Armenia ceding control over the de facto autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In the ensuing row between the government and the military over who was responsible for the humiliating defeat, the military joined calls for Pashinyan's resignation. The prime minister in turn tried to remove the military's chief of staff Onik Gasparyan, claiming that there had effectively been an attempted coup. Gasparyan refused to step down and President Armen Sarkisian refused to enforce the prime minister's order. Thousands of protesters have also called on Pashinyan to leave power, blaming him for the country's military defeat. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ab/nm (AFP, AP, dpa)

7Politics

Russian President Vladimir Putin is self-isolating but is "absolutely healthy" after cases of the coronavirus were detected in his inner circle, the Kremlin said Tuesday.  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had tested negative for the coronavirus. The president was scheduled to attend a regional summit in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe later in the week, but will not attend in person. Putin informed the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmon, in a telephone call. The Kremlin says it knows who has tested tested positive for COVID-19, but is not saying who that might be. The Kremlin says Putin has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Sputnik jab, with his second jab administered in April. "Of course we know who fell ill in the president's entourage and the self-isolation does not directly affect the president's work," Peskov told reporters. Meanwhile, visitors have to pass through disinfection tunnels and journalists covering his engagements have had to be screened multiple times. The Russian president had several public events on Monday, meeting Russian Paralympians, visiting the ongoing Zapad military exercise and meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow. During his meeting with Paralympians, Putin said he "may have to quarantine soon." State news agency Ria quoted Putin, "A lot of people around are sick." ar/rc (AFP, Reuters)

7Politics

The Cuban government on Tuesday rejected a request by opposition groups to hold a protest on November 15. Officials accused organizers of being backed by the US and of seeking to overthrow the regime. The planned protests are the latest sign of discontent on the island, which has been going through a major economic crisis, fueled by high inflation, power cuts and shortages of food and medicine. "The promoters and their public representatives, some of whom have links with subversive organizations or agencies financed by the American government, have the clear intention of promoting a change in Cuba's political system," the government in a statement on the official Cubadebate website. The opposition group Archipelago, which claims to have some 20,000 members, planned a rally in support of civil liberties on the island, including the right to peaceful protest and amnesty for imprisoned government opponents. The group had originally called for a protest on November 20, but, after the government scheduled military exercises around that date, organizers moved it to five days earlier. But November 15 is also the day that the government had planned to reopen Cuba to tourism, after two years in which the critical industry was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. "The reasons given to protest are not considered legitimate," the government said in its statement, adding that the new constitution adopted in 2019 states that the socialist system is "irrevocable." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The new call for demonstrations comes after unprecedented spontaneous anti-government protests swept the country on July 11 in some 50 cities. A clampdown ensued, leaving one dead, dozens injured and more than 1,000 people detained, several hundred of whom are still behind bars.    Film director and protest organizer Yunior Garcia lashed out at the government's reasons for not allowing the demonstration. "Whatever the Cuban does, they always say the idea came from Washington. It's as if we don't think, as if us Cubans don't have any brains," Garcia said.  He told EFE news agency that the various opposition groups will now engage in a dialogue over whether to defy the protest ban and would make a decision in the coming days. jcg/wd (EFE, AFP)

7Politics

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent troops to the capital city of San Salvador and other areas on Thursday following an increase in homicides. The Latin American country witnessed over 30 murders in total on Tuesday and Wednesday. "We have deployed our national police and armed forces to contain the increase in homicides registered over the last 48 hours," Bukele said in a Facebook post.  On Twitter, Bukele said,  "There are dark forces who are working to return us to the past, but this administration is not going to allow it."   The Salvadoran president said troops have managed to contain the violence so far, but added operations would continue until the country returns to "relative stability." El Salvador, which has one of the world's highest homicide rates, has seen killings decline drastically since 2015, when the country would witness 15 to 20 murders per day. The country had averaged 3.8 homicides per day prior to this week. Salvadoran digital newspaper El Faro reported last year that Bukele's administration had made deals with gang members to reduce violence in exchange for better prison conditions, which Bukele has denied.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Critics may view the military operation as the latest sign of increasing authoritarianism in the country since Bukele began his term in 2019. Congresswoman Anabel Belloso of the left-wing FMLN party called the decision to deploy troops "pure public relations." Earlier this week, Bukele introduced a new law that would ban foreign funding for NGOs carrying out political activities in the country. Critics say the move is an attempt to stamp out opposition groups, with Bukele having previously claimed civic organizations are behind demonstrations against his government.  Other moves by Bukele that have prompted concern include his decision to send troops into the parliament last year. Bukele, at the time, wanted lawmakers to approve a loan that would better equip the military and police. Bukele's party also removed five judges from the Supreme Court and the country's top prosecutor in another controversial move in May. Bukele, who is only 40-years-old, is considered to be a right-wing populist. He has attracted significant international attention following his decision to make the Bitcoin cryptocurrency legal tender in El Salvador. wd/sms (AP, Reuters) 

3Crime

Bangladesh recently became the third country in South Asia, after Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to seek financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this year. Dhaka is now reportedly also seeking assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to overcome the economic challenges it has been facing in recent months. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government wrote letters to the two lenders, seeking $1 billion (€980 million) each, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. This comes after the Daily Star newspaper reported that the country last week knocked on the doors of the IMF, seeking $4.5 billion, including for budgetary and balance-of-payment support. The IMF said Bangladesh wanted to tap the organization's new Resilience and Sustainability Facility, which is aimed at helping nations face challenges related to climate change and sustainability. The Washington-based lender said Wednesday that it is prepared to help Bangladesh with an aid program to face the current economic crisis, as well as financing for longer-term challenges. "The IMF stands ready to support Bangladesh with this request," a fund spokesperson said in a statement, noting however that "the amount of support has not yet been discussed." "This is not a bailout package for Bangladesh, rather a precautionary move by the government," Ahsan Mansur, a former IMF economist and executive director of Dhaka-based Policy Research Institute, told DW. He said that, if there were no improvement in the economic environment, the government would be forced to spend all its tax revenues to secure imports and will have little left for additional spending. "Government expenditure is doubling. Shortly, all the earnings will be spent to meet the expense of imports, pensions and all other expenditures. The whole development budget will have to be borrowed," he said. Bangladesh, a nation of more than 160 million people, has had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world for years, but has been hit hard by the global economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war. The conflict, which began at the end of February, has compounded inflationary pressures. The South Asian country has been particularly vulnerable as it imports significant amounts of essential items such as cooking oil, wheat and other food stuffs, as well as fuel. Soaring food and energy costs have inflated import costs and widened the current account deficit, which now stands at about $17 billion. Bangladesh's currency, the taka has slid against the US dollar by about 20% over the past three months, straining the nation's finances even further.   Applying further pressure are the dwindling foreign exchange reserves, which fell to about $39 billion as of July 20 — sufficient for just over five months worth of imports — from $45.5 billion a year earlier.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Utilities are struggling to source enough diesel and gas, resulting in frequent and lengthy power outages, sometimes for up to 13 hours a day.   Authorities say diesel power plants across the country have been taken off the grid, while some gas-fired plants remain idle.  The government has imposed measures such as electricity rationing, import curbs and cuts to development spending to tackle the situation.  It has also urged tens of thousands of mosques to curtain the use of air conditioners to ease pressure on the power grid.   The blackouts have hit industrial activity and triggered public protests.   Mohammed Helal Uddin, an economics professor at Dhaka University, said the economy was facing a crisis.   "We are rationing electricity, the forex reserves have gone down, and cost of imports has risen dramatically. We have cut back on fuel imports, and the currency value is down. These are all indicators that the economy is suffering," he told DW.   The expert stressed that Bangladesh won't be able to reduce its imports for a long time and it should instead focus on boosting exports to overcome the current crisis.   "However, the whole world is facing economic problems and we don't know when the situation will be normal again. So I don't see any other option than taking a loan for now just to ease the pressure on foreign reserves," he said.  Bangladesh is not alone in facing such problems in South Asia. Other nations in the region like Pakistan and Sri Lanka are also struggling with galloping inflation and deteriorating public finances triggered by global economic headwinds.  Bangladeshi Finance Minister A.H.M. Mustafa Kamal said on Wednesday that the currency and inflation would stabilize in a month. He stressed that the economy would soon get back on track.   The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has blamed the government for the fragile economic situation, accusing it of wasting billions of dollars on vanity projects.   The ruling Awami League party denies the criticism and points to the steps it has taken to slash spending and save foreign currency reserves.  Though loans from bodies such as the IMF usually come with strings attached, Mansur said Dhaka might not be willing to undertake unpopular policies such as cutting back on fuel subsidies.  "Raising fuel and other prices will be unpopular decisions, which the government might not be interested in. As a whole, I don't think the Bangladeshi government is interested in reforming the economic and banking sectors," he said. Finance Minister Kamal said the government would take a loan from the IMF only if conditions were favorable, and underlined that the country's macroeconomic conditions are still in order.  "If the IMF conditions are in favor of the country and compatible with our development policy, we'll go for it — otherwise not," Kamal said. "Seeking a loan from the IMF does not mean Bangladesh's economy is in bad shape," he added.  Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

0Business

"Transformative changes" are needed to save wild species from extinction and preserve ecosystems that are essential to human life, say the authors of two landmark reports from the the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The reports examine options for using algae, animals, fungi, and land-based and aquatic plants in a sustainable way. Almost 400 experts and scientists, as well as representatives of indigenous communities, were involved in the reports. In total, they evaluated thousands of scientific sources. The executive summary was released this week. "Almost half the world's population actually depends to a greater or lesser extent on the use of wild species. And it's much more prevalent than most people think," said John Donaldson, co-chair of IPBES. Currently, about a million species worldwide are threatened with extinction as biodiversity and ecosystem health deteriorate at unprecedented rates. This undermines economic prosperity while harming the health and quality of life of people around the world. Due to human-caused climate change, the Earth is currently heading for a warming of 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) by century's end compared to pre-industrial times. This level of warming will increase the risk to endangered species in extinction hotspots tenfold. The report builds on findings by researchers that a sixth mass extinction is already underway.   It notes that the nurturing of wild species of fish, insects, fungi, algae, wild fruits, forests and birds of any kind is fundamental to building and preserving sustainable ecosystems. Protecting wild species and their ecosystems will help secure the livelihoods of millions of people, says the report. Sustainable management of wild species would further bolster one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals of fighting poverty and hunger, it adds. Two-thirds of all food crops, for example, depend largely on wild pollinators. Meanwhile, wild plants, fungi and algae are part of the diet of one-fifth of the global population. Some 70% of low-income people globally are directly dependent on wild species, with the use of wild tree species forms an important source of income for millions worldwide. But at the same time, the 2 billion people who need wood for cooking are destroying biodiversity. Most access timber unsustainably, with around 5 million hectares of forest lost annually through deforestation. Wild species can also produce income, even without harvesting for food or cutting down habitat. Nature tourism such as scuba diving, bushwalking or wildlife viewing generated $120 billion (€118 billion) in revenue in 2018. National parks and protected areas generated about $600 billion per year in revenue before the pandemic. Undervaluing nature when making political and economic decisions is fundamentally worsening the global biodiversity crisis, say the authors.  Basing policy decisions on economic considerations overlooks how environmental changes impact people's lives. For example, a focus on short-term gains and measuring growth and progress in terms as gross domestic product fails to account for negative impacts such as overexploitation or social injustice.  Incorporating nature values into policy-making "entails redefining ‘development’ and 'good quality of life,' and recognizing the multiple ways people relate to each other and to the natural world," said Patricia Balvanera, a co-author of one of the two reports.  Bluefin tuna had been on the verge of extinction since the 1980s due to the rising popularity of sushi, noted Donaldson. But the shortening of the fishing season, an increase in the minimum size of the fish, new tools to monitor and control fishing activity, and a sharp reduction in fishing capacity — as well as annual quotas — have seen stocks recover. "Where you get the management done properly," said Donaldson, it not only enhances sustainability, but "allows for the recovery of stocks where they've been overutilized." The authors recommend similar levels of innovation in the timber industry, including the establishment of a functioning certification system, an end to illegal logging, strong state regulations, forestry that respects the land rights of Indigenous peoples and nurtures wild species instead of monocultures. When proposing how ecosystems could be better protected and used, the report highlights the role of Indigenous communities. Sustainability aspects of Indigenous peoples include crop rotation and resting livestock grazing, and stopping certain species from being harvested or hunted during given seasons, all with the goal of maintaining or even increasing biodiversity. There tends to be less deforestation in areas where Indigenous communities live, the report noted. Representatives of Indigenous communities directly contributed to the report, which highlighted their shared culture of not taking more from nature than is needed; of avoiding waste; and of distributing harvests equitably.   This recognition of Indigenous knowledge "is progress," says Viviana Figueroa of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. "Indigenous people are doing the real work in species conservation without being paid for it," she added. Yet despite this extensive contribution, many communities continue to face human rights violations, from displacement to violence and illegal extraction on their lands. "[Governments need to] support us in the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife species," said Figueroa. "We want that this report also supports real action at a local level." This article was originally published in German. It was first published in English on July 8 and updated on July 11 after the second IPBES report was released. 

6Nature and Environment

At least one person was killed and another was severely injured by a man wielding a bladed weapon in southern Spain on Wednesday, officials said. El Mundo newspaper reported that at least four people were wounded. Police said the suspect was arrested. Spain's National Court said a judge was investigating the stabbing as a possible terror attack.  An Interior Ministry statement said that "just after 7 p.m. (1800 GMT) this evening, a man entered the church of San Isidro in Algeciras, where, armed with a machete, he attacked the priest, leaving him seriously wounded." "Subsequently, he entered the church of Nuestra Senora de La Palma in which, after causing damages, he attacked the verger. The verger managed to get out of the church but was caught by the attacker outside and sustained mortal injuries," the statement added.  The two churches are around 300 meters (1,000 feet) apart. Francisco Garcia, the secretary-general of Spain's Episcopal Conference, said he received the news "with great pain." "These are sad moments of suffering, we are united by the pain of families of the victims and for the Diocese of Cadiz,'' Garcia wrote on Twitter. The perpetrator is said to be a 25-year-old man of Moroccan decent. Spanish police raided the suspect's home, a day after the attack.  The country's Interior Ministry also revealed that the man, who is still being questioned, had been under a Spanish deportation order since June, 2022.  The man had no prior criminal nor terrorism-related convictions either in Spain or other countries, an unnamed police source told AFP, adding that the attacker was not in Spain legally. fb/nm (AFP, AP, Reuters) 

3Crime

A long-standing demonstration by climate activists opposing the expansion of a large coal mine came to an end on Monday, as the last two activists were taken by police from a protest camp in the village of Lützerath in western Germany. Following several days of police evictions, the final two holdouts had been holed up from officers in a self-constructed underground tunnel. Despite the setback, climate organizers have called for a massive protest in Lützerath for Tuesday. "Come today and just us actively and peacefully tomorrow," Carla Hinrichs, spokesperson for activist group Last Generation, wrote on Twitter. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The hamlet, west of Cologne, has been targeted for the expansion of the Garzweiler lignite, or brown coal, mine by energy giant RWE for nearly ten years. The 900 or so inhabitants were all resettled by 2018 and the village was scheduled for demolition. Despite successive German governments promising to stick to a plan to exit coal by 2030, RWE was still given permission to move forward with opencast mining for the immediate future. After losing the battle to protect the ancient Hambach Forest, which borders the open pit mine, from RWE's bulldozers, activists who had occupied the woods resettled in what was left of Lützerath. Protest took the form of marches, lawsuits, and occupations of the village. According to organizers, some 35,000 people participated in the most recent demonstrations against the lignite mine expansion. Around 80 people occupied the protest camp. Among those who had gathered at the site was Greta Thunberg, who called the police response to the protests "outrageous." Last Wednesday, police began evicting protesters from the camp, leading to clashes between the two groups. Activists and journalists uploaded videos to social media showing police using batons, pepper spray, and water cannons on protesters, as well as other examples of what they called excessive force. The police have accused the activists of "violence," such as setting police barricades on fire, and said that at least 70 officers were injured during the eviction process. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faesar has called the protesters "irresponsible" for "putting not only themselves but also police in danger." Economy Minister and leading Green Party politician Robert Habeck called the expansion of the mine a "sin" but said that the government wanted to "work towards keeping this sin as short as possible and not constantly prolonging it." RWE has said that the final demolition of Lützerath will take place in the coming days. Scientific consensus holds that the burning of fossil fuels is a major contributor to climate change, which will have catastrophic consequences for humanity due to increasing temperatures and biodiversity loss. es/wmr (AFP, dpa) 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.

6Nature and Environment

Part of a Bitcoin ransom paid by Maastricht University three years ago has been returned and, thanks to a more than tenfold increase in the cryptocurrency's value, the cyberattack victims have even made a profit, local news reported on Saturday. The university was hit with a ransomware attack in 2019 that locked them, and their students, out of valuable data until they agreed to pay a €200,000 ($208,000) ransom in Bitcoin. "The criminals had encrypted hundreds of Windows servers and backup systems, preventing 25,000 students and employees from accessing scientific data, library and mail," the daily Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant said.  The university agreed to pay the attackers after a week. "This was partly because personal data was in danger of being lost and students were unable to take an exam or work on their theses," the newspaper said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video As part of an investigation into the cyberattack, Dutch police tracked down a bank account belonging to a money launderer in Ukraine, into which a relatively small amount of the ransom money — around €40,000 worth of Bitcoin — had been paid. Prosecutors were able to seize the account in 2020 and found a number of different cryptocurrencies. The authorities were then able to return the ransom back to the university after more than two years. But the value of the Bitcoin held in the Ukrainian account has increased from its then-value of €40,000 to €500,000. "This money will not go to a general fund, but into a fund to help financially strapped students," Maastricht University ICT director Michiel Borgers said. De Volkskrant reported that the investigation is still ongoing as police search for those responsible for the attack. Even without the rest of the original ransom being returned, the university has more than doubled its 2019 payout. ab/nm (AFP, dpa)

3Crime

As soon as Russia unleashed its huge assault on Ukraineon Thursday morning, speculation mounted over how the US, the EU and the Western alliance would respond in terms of sanctions. A wave of sanctions had already been announced on Wednesday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into the separatist-held regions of Donetskand Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Those measures were widely dismissed by several analysts as being far too mild to have any significant impact on Russia, leading to suggestions that the toughest sanctions would come in the event of a full-scale invasion. As the scale of Putin's war became apparent on Thursday, Western allies announced several new sanctions, variously described as "massive" and "devastating." In a live broadcast, US President Joe Biden announced a set of measures he said would "impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time." Whereas the first wave of US sanctions hit smaller financial institutions, this round hit Russia's two biggest banks: Sberbank and VTB Bank, both state-owned. Sberbank holds around one-third of total Russian bank assets, but the new sanctions will block US dollar transactions going forward. VTB Bank holds around 16% of Russian bank assets and it has been fully frozen by the US sanctions via "full blocking sanctions." The US banking measures also targeted three other major Russian financial institutions —  Otkritie, Novikom, and Sovcom — as well as just under 90 financial institution subsidiaries around the world connected to the sanctioned banks. According to the US Treasury, 80% of Russian financial institutions' daily foreign exchange transactions of $46 billion (€41 billion) are conducted in dollars. "By cutting off Russia's two largest banks — which combined make up more than half of the total banking system in Russia by asset value — from processing payments through the US financial system, the Russian financial institutions subject to today's action can no longer benefit from the remarkable reach, efficiency, and security of the US financial system," the Treasury said in a statement. "The actions...will have a deep and long-lasting effect on the Russian economy and financial system," it added. Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, told the Financial Times ahead of the announcement that hitting the largest banks "could have very important systemic effects on Russia." Meanwhile, EU leaders met in Brussels on Thursday night and released a statement saying the 27 member states had agreed on sanctions covering the financial sector. The EU sanctions will block two private banks from EU financing, including Alfa-Bank, the country's biggest private bank. Five state-owned banks are already blocked from Russian financing. The UK took similar actions, imposing asset freezes and cutting Russian banks off from sterling exchanges. Biden also announced export blocks on critical technology, while the EU's new list of measures is expected to block the sale of aircraft and associated parts to Russia. Additional export blocks will target tech needed to upgrade oil refineries. Other US and EU export controls will target various goods used by the military, including sensors, lasers and various telecommunications applications. The sanctions also aim to hit Russia's supply of semiconductors. Taiwan's TSMC, the world's biggest chipmaker, issued a statement on Friday saying it would comply with the sanctions. The sanctions stop short of significantly hitting Russia's crucial energy sector. Gazprombank, Russia's third biggest lender bank and the main channel for foreign payments for oil and gas, escaped harsh restrictions. Cutting it off from the US financial system could significantly affect Europe's energy supply. The new wave of US sanctions have also targeted several more Russian elites, as well as some in Russian ally Belarus. "Treasury is also sanctioning additional Russian elites and their family members and imposing additional new prohibitions related to new debt and equity of major Russian state-owned enterprises and large privately owned financial institutions," the US Treasury said. "This will fundamentally imperil Russia's ability to raise capital key to its acts of aggression." There had been considerable speculation that Russia could be cut off from SWIFT, the international payments system — an option widely regarded as one of the most punitive available. However, it appears that the allies have demurred from using that option, due to opposition from several European countries, including Germany. "It is always an option but right now that's not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take," Biden said of the SWIFT option not being exercised at this time. European countries' reluctance to ban Russia from SWIFT prompted an angry reaction from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. "I will not be diplomatic on this," he tweeted. "Everyone who now doubts whether Russia should be banned from SWIFT has to understand that the blood of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children will be on their hands too. BAN RUSSIA FROM SWIFT." Alexandra Vacroux, executive director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, told DW that the SWIFT option would have a "very serious impact" on Russia. She also pointed out that limiting Russia's capacity to use the dollar would have a similar impact. However, she cautioned that the most severe moves on Russia would also hurt the West as well. "Of course, that is also going to be very bad for Europe because if they can't pay for Russian gas, using correspondent banks that use dollars in the middle of the transaction of buying their oil and gas from Russia, it's going to create havoc on the gas markets and possibly result in having gas turned off in winter," she said. She said that it was vital that the Western allies slapped severe sanctions on Russia, but cautioned that they could only be punitive at this stage. "As a deterrent, they are completely ineffective," she said. "Putin doesn't care what the economic impact is of this invasion. It's not going to stop him from doing what he's planning on doing," she argued. "At the same time, you have to punish him somehow and if you're not going to fight him with troops, you have to fight him in other ways. Economic levers are all we have. I'm not saying that you shouldn't use them, but I am saying that they are not going to deter him from continuing to invade Ukraine." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Hardy Graupner

0Business

Malaysian security forces on Monday blocked opposition lawmakers from entering the parliament, as the deputies protested a two-week lockdown of the top legislative body. The government claims the parliament was closed due to coronavirus risk. Around 100 lawmakers gathered near the parliament, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet. Political tensions have been rising in Malaysia over the government's handling of the pandemic. Critics claim Muhyiddin is using COVID measures as an excuse to cling to power.  Two-time former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and longtime rival Anwar Ibrahim stood side by side in the protests — a rare sight since the collapse of their coalition government last year. Monday's parliament meeting was set to be the last of a session convened at short notice after the biggest party in Muhyiddin's coalition asked him to resign. The authorities announced they would be closing the parliament after 11 coronavirus infections were detected in the building. Malaysia's Health Ministry said the legislature was deemed a high-risk venue, as four of the COVID cases detected among staff and others were suspected to be resulting from the fast-spreading delta variant.  But lawmakers and activists questioned the timing of the announcement. On Thursday, King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Abdullah slammed Muhyiddin's government for misleading lawmakers on the status of mandates they issued during the seven-month COVID-19 state of emergency. The opposition then immediately filed a motion of no confidence against Muhyiddin. It was expected to have been raised Monday. Anwar, the opposition leader, said that Muhyiddin's government had "lost its legitimacy," and no longer commanded majority support in parliament. "We are protesting today because we want to protect the people," he added. Syed Saddiq, an opposition lawmaker and a former sports minister, argued that the closure of the parliament made no sense, as "almost all MPs and officials have received two doses of vaccine." Mahathir, who was the world's oldest government head until February 2020, said Muhyiddin "refuses to step down" despite mass protests against his government. "This government has failed to carry out its duties but is continuing to cling to power," Mahathir told reporters. The former prime minister demanded the cabinet's resignation, arguing that this was the only solution to end "this prolonged political turmoil." fb/dj (AFP, AP, dpa) 

7Politics

New Zealanders in the country's South Island took stock of the damage left by flooding, following days of torrential rainfall. The country's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited the hard-hit Canterbury region as floodwaters began receding on Tuesday. "It's quite devastating, there's a lot of work to do — a big clean-up job lies ahead of us," Ardern told reporters after surveying the damage in a military helicopter. It was "a real priority" to restore road and rail links to connect thousands of people back to their town, schools and places of work, Ardern said. Around 35,000 people in Ashburton had been left isolated after floodwaters damaged a major bridge joining the town to the main highway south. She added that farmers had been particularly hard hit, noting that they had lost feed and that floods broke fences and spread debris across their fields. In a move set to unlock financial support for farmers, New Zealand declared the flooding an "adverse event." Some 500,000 New Zealand dollars ($364,245, €297,585) would be available for flood recovery measures, Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor announced on Tuesday. "The funding will help speed up the recovery of farming businesses, and includes well-being support and specialist technical advice," O'Connor said. The floods hit during the start of New Zealand's dairy season when a large number of dairy farming employees typically move to new farms. As much as 40 centimeters (16 inches) of rain fell over three days in the Canterbury region. The highest rainfall was at Mount Somers, which recorded 539 millimeters (21.2 inches) over the three-day period, according to the official MetService forecaster. As a result of the flooding this caused, several hundred people were told to leave their homes and schools were closed. The military helped more than 50 people leave their homes. But there was no major damage to homes or loss of life — a truck driver was killed Monday when a tree fell on the truck, but it was not clear whether flooding or heavy rain was a factor. kmm/msh (AFP, dpa, AP)

6Nature and Environment

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Hameed Khan, 28, and his 26-year-old cousin, Sikandar Naseem, have been tuning in to the news regularly to get the latest updates on how the Taliban have been stepping up their campaign to defeat the Afghan government.     Both of them run a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves traditional Afghan cuisine and delicacies in one of the congested alleys in southern Delhi, often referred to as "little Kabul." Many Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers live in various neighborhoods in the Indian capital, and they run restaurants, bakeries and confectionary shops, among others. Hundreds of Afghan families have made the neighborhood of Khirki Extension their home over the past few years, after fleeing Afghanistan due to security concerns. But the latest reports of the Taliban advance have left them scared and worried about their relatives back home. "It looks scary when we hear such news. I think of my parents who are still there in Panjshir Valley in northeastern Afghanistan. Though it is safe there at the moment, I do not want to watch history repeat itself," Naseem told DW. He arrived in Delhi three years ago and was hoping that he could also bring in his parents, which, however, is not possible under the current circumstances.  But Hameed Khan remains optimistic and believes that Afghan government troops will stop the Taliban from taking over the country. "It will not be like in 2000 when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. But I hope there is enough international pressure to stop the Taliban's advance," Khan told DW. Thousands of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, a majority of them belonging to either the Hindu or Sikh faiths that are religious minorities in Afghanistan, have made India their home over the past decade.  According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2019, there were approximately 40,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered in India. And Afghans were the second-largest community, comprising 27% of them. "We fled our war-torn country in search of safety and a better life. In spite of the struggles that come with abandoning our lives and homes, many of us have found small jobs or even opened businesses of their own," Adila Bhashir, who works for a travel agency, told DW. "But there is no security and there is no telling what can happen tomorrow," she added. The Taliban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster by US-led forces, have stepped up their attacks to defeat the US-backed government as foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war in Afghanistan. Over the past few weeks, the insurgents have gained control of at least eight of 14 customs posts along Afghanistan's borders with Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan. Reports that the Taliban have taken over 12 districts in Helmand, one of the largest provinces in the south of the country, have some worried. "We hear reports that the Taliban are imposing harsh restrictions on women in the districts they captured and are even setting fire to schools. It is troubling and a flashback to the bad times," Wajmah Abdul, a pharmaceutical worker, told DW. Abdul moved with her brother, Bashir, to Delhi in 2014, but her aunt and uncle still live in Afghanistan. "I cannot stop worrying about them and the telephone lines have been down for such a long time now. These are very hard times," said Abdul. Violence has soared across Afghanistan since early May when the Taliban launched a sweeping offensive across large swaths of the country. The Taliban seized rural districts at a rapid rate, often without a fight. But the country's military has been making preparations to defend a string of provincial capitals scattered across the country — including Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat. A record number of civilians have been killed as a result of the conflict in the last six months and the UN blames most of the 1,600 civilian deaths on the Taliban and other anti-government elements.  The fighting has also forced many people to flee their homes and around 300,000 Afghans have been displaced since the start of the year.  "Many of the men in my village have been killed by the Taliban, and several are missing. The way the Taliban are advancing is very frightening and I feel completely helpless," Idris Hasan, a grocery store dealer in Delhi, who originally comes from Mazar-i-Sharif, told DW. "I have no way of knowing what's happening on the ground and I don't know what to believe. I am constantly living in fear," Hasan said.  For most Afghans residing in India, the ultimate goal is to resettle in the US or Europe, where they believe there are greater economic opportunities. But given the COVID pandemic, many countries have closed their doors to travel and migration. "I know my chances of going back to my homeland are dashed completely. All I wish is that my friends and relatives are safe," Rosana, a student, told DW.

2Conflicts

The amount of those injured in violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in southern Peru rose to 36 on Saturday, according to the country's health ministry. Peru has seen clashes been police and demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte since Wednesday. Three police officers were injured in violent confrontations on Friday and flown to Peruvian capital Lima for treatment, police said on Saturday. Police dispersed demonstrators using tear gas, Peru's RPP radio station reported. According to RPP, protesters hurled stones at officers and tried to storm the Juliaca airport in Peru's southeastern Puno region. The airport said it suspended operations in the face of "acts of violence" and a "lack of security" that puts staff and passengers at risk. Peru's health ministry condemned an attack on an ambulance at the Saude Melgar center in Puno. It said that the vehicle, which was carrying three injured people, was left out of order after it was set upon by protesters. Meanwhile, Peru's National Journalists' Association (ANP) condemned an attack on a photographer from the EFE news agency, who was covering protests near the airport. The ANP tweeted that she was "attacked by police at the Juliaca airport." Protesters are demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, who came to power after former President Pedro Castillo was impeached. The former president is currently in pre-trial detention. Demonstrators are also demanding Castillo's release. Castillo had attempted to pre-empt a vote of no confidence in December by dissolving Congress, after which the legislative body removed him from office. He was arrested on charges of orchestrating an attempted coup. In December, several airports in Peru were forced to suspend operations following protests. sdi/kb (dpa, EFE, Reuters)

7Politics

In the days ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to the region, US and Israeli flags adorned the streets in West Jerusalem. Security will be extremely tight everywhere in the city, with more than 15,000 Israeli police officers and volunteers deployed. "Every time an American president comes to Jerusalem, it's a great honor — but as a Jerusalemite, it's also a great hassle because the city will be closed and we won't be able to leave home," said Avi Avisana, a passerby. "I think it's very courageous of him to come a few days after the prime minister has changed, it shows how special the relationship is." The US president, who frequently mentions his longstanding friendship with Israel, will be greeted by Yair Lapid, the prime minister of the current caretaker government. It's been only two weeks since Naftali Bennett, who had invited Biden to Israel, stepped aside as prime minister after his coalition government collapsed. Biden will kick off the tour in Israel, stop briefly in the West Bank and then fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia. His last visit to Israel as vice president took place in 2016. Since then, the region has seen at least one dramatic change: Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other Arab League nations signed normalization agreements — the Abraham Accords — under the Trump administration. While Israel and the US consider themselves to be close allies, some observers see the US shifting its strategic interests to other areas. "The US cannot allow itself to withdraw from the region," said Ksenia Svetlova, a political analyst and former member of the Knesset. "We are reaching some turning point with Iran." American allies in the region, she added, need "a strong and confident America” that "will not let create a vacuum here to be filled with other powers." Concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions has established common ground between Israel and several Gulf countries over the past years. Interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, "This visit will deal with both challenges and opportunities. The discussion of the challenges will focus first and foremost on the issue of Iran." Much focus in Israel is on Biden's planned trip to Saudi Arabia, with some hoping that it will lead to rapprochement between Israel and the Arab kingdom. Saudi Arabia has always maintained that it would not normalize ties with Israel until a sovereign Palestinian state is established. But with no solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in sight, this stance appears to have softened. On Saturday, The Washington Post published an opinion piece by Biden entitled, "Why I am going to Saudi Arabia." He pointed out that he would be the first US president to fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia: "As a small symbol of the budding relations and steps towards normalization between Israel and the Arab world, which my administration is working to deepen and expand." Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia will also mark a controversial policy shift for the US president. During his presidential campaign, he said that the country should be treated as a "pariah" over its human rights record including the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi in 2018. But the US President is expected to temper this controversy by meeting regional leaders convening at the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Jeddah, and developing common goals regarding energy, food security and the war in Ukraine.  Yet the prospect of a public normalization process between Saudi Arabia and Israel appears premature. "The good news is that, unlike the past, Saudi Arabia — which is a very important key state in the Middle East — is not leading hostile policy against Israel anymore," said Maj. Gen. Amos Gilead, executive director at the Institute for Policy and Strategy in Herzliya. He added that many informal contacts between Israel and Saudi Arabia already exist. "Altogether we are living in the best period. I call it the golden era between us and the Arab countries." Moreover, security cooperation has further grown since the Pentagon realigned Israel from the US European Central Command to the Central Command (CENTCOM) in 2021. This shift put Israel's military in cooperation — whether directly or indirectly — with other Arab countries, despite some having yet to officially recognize Israel.  In the run-up to the visit by Biden, numerous Israeli media reports suggested the establishment of an "early warning system" or "regional defense alliance" that would further integrate Israel into the region. "One of the goals [of the visit] is to enhance and cement an undeclared, unofficial alliance against main threats, on top of them is Iran," explained Gilead. Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, the US president is expected to briefly visit a Palestinian hospital in East Jerusalem, as well as to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on Friday morning. In the Palestinian town, revered as the birthplace of Jesus and whose Church of the Nativity is a popular destination, people have mixed feelings about the visit. Prospects for their own independent state, along with an end to Israeli occupation and Palestinian internal division, are dwindling.  "The Palestinian people really need this, because we are deteriorating and are going backward," said Simon Rishmawi, a 20-year-old Palestinian student. "The world is not paying attention to us, no one is looking toward us." A similar sentiment was echoed by fellow student Miral Assaf, who hopes that President Biden sees "the realities" on the ground. "There is a lot of distortion in the media what is going on here." Palestinians and US officials alike are looking to reset relations, which disintegrated under the Trump administration. The former US president moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and closed the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem — breaking with decades of US foreign policy. Palestinian officials have pointed out that reopening the consulate, promised by the Biden administration and refused by Israel, remains a major issue.  In the past, Biden has called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and for a need to work toward a two-state solution. However, while some gestures toward the Palestinian Authority might be announced, a major push for further healing the rift does not seem to be in the cards.  In his piece in The Washington Post, Biden stated that "working with Congress, my administration restored approximately $500 million in support for Palestinians, while also passing the largest support package for Israel — over $4 billion — in history."  Beyond this, his visit with the Palestinians is expected to be overshadowed by dissatisfaction with the way the US has so far avoided taking a firm stance on investigations into the killing of US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. Shireen Abu Akleh's family has published an open letter to Joe Biden expressing its disappointment and calling on him to help establish accountability and justice for the reporter, as well as to meet with its members during his visit to the region. Edited by: Sonya Diehn

7Politics

With French troops now gone from the city of Timbuktu, Mali now faces the major task of deciding how to fight off Islamic extremists who have posed a security threat for years. French soldiers have built a presence in northern Mali over the last decade after helping to keep the extremists from power in a military intervention in 2013. But not even these foreign troops were able to deter the jihadis operating in the Sahel region stretching between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from continuing with their attacks. The task of securing the West African nation now appears even more daunting for the current military-led transitional government, which is facing sanctions from the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's foreign affairs minister, told DW that his country had no choice but to rethink how it is taking care of its own security. Speaking of France's decision to withdraw its troops, he said it was clear that Mali could not rely forever on external security assistance. "We recognize the sacrifices of French soldiers or others who have fallen to help us, but we must be aware that external aid is destined to end for one reason or another," he said. French President Emmanuel Macron announced in July that by 2022, France intended to close all of its military bases in Mali. That process in northern Mali is part of a bigger plan by France to withdraw troops fighting Islamist extremists in the Sahel region. The French troops have also left the Kidal and Tessalit bases. Speaking by phone from Accra, Ghana, counterterrorism expert Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar told DW that many Malians have been uneasy at the presence of France in the West African nation and are happy with the withdrawal. "The French withdrawal largely is a manifestation of pervasive anti-French sentiments within the local population," said Muqthar. He added that the French presence in Mali over these past nine years had to some extent rather worsened the security situation in the country and left it now in a precarious state. There are now fears about the Malian military's ability to carry on the mission and fend off the extremists, who have regrouped and expanded their reach even further southward since they were driven away in the 2013 offensive. President Macron had planned to travel to Mali on Monday for his first meeting with the country's transitional leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, but canceled the visit due to the worsening COVID situation in Europe. Goita seized power in August 2020 after a coup ousted the country's democratically elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Relations between Mali and France are already tense, and Macron's eventual meeting with Goita could heighten the situation. Paris is concerned over the possibility that Russian mercenaries could be deployed in Mali to fill the vacuum left by its own troops. Private Russian military contractor Wagner Group is said to be deepening its presence in Mali, news that has also "alarmed" the United States. In a statement last week, the US State Department said the Wagner Group would be paid $10 million (€8.9 million) per month for the potential deployment. "Wagner forces — which are known for their destabilizing activities and human rights abuses — will not bring peace to Mali, but rather will destabilize the country further," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The UN's special envoy for West Africa and the Sahel, Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh, told DW the UN was not interested in political disputes when it comes to addressing the crisis in the region. "The UN cannot interfere in political disputes or partnerships between countries. The UN thinks the situation in the Sahel, namely in West Africa, needs support from the international community," he said. "Every country is sovereign. It is free to establish relations with any country. But we think multilateralism must take precedence," he added. Foreign Minister Diop insisted "the government of Mali has not signed any contract with this private security company. No action has been taken." And Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Wagner Group neither represented the Russian state, nor was funded by it. Mali’s government, though, is more concerned about how "to ensure its own security," said Diop. Mali has fears of "a security vacuum" with the departure of the French troops from Timbuktu, he said. Above all, the government wanted the withdrawal to be "done gradually, so as not to lose the gains that have been made." Diop, however, gave assurances that "everything will be implemented to ensure the protection of the people." But Mali's problems go beyond fighting off extremists, with the country currently in a political transition following last year's military coup. Regional bloc ECOWAS has already imposed sanctions on Mali and its military leaders, who have said they won't be able to meet a timeline of holding elections on February 27, 2022, as initially planned. Not being able to keep this deadline could attract more sanctions, with ECOWAS leaders refusing to accept the delays of the transitional government. But Diop said his country is not giving up, telling DW that Mali is still in dialogue with ECOWAS. "The president of the transition, Assimi Goita, has already contacted ECOWAS to explain the difficulty of meeting this deadline," he said, adding that the Malian government is "working to present a timetable for the elections and a new road map for the transition." Maye Niare, a major figure in Malian civil society, said there was a need for a consensus to resolve the country's current crises. "Remaining stuck in declarations of principle and in declarations of rule: This is not what will solve our problem. Whether it is ECOWAS, Mali or the international community, we must all, and in the supreme interest of Mali, position ourselves in seeking solutions for the problem." Niare told DW. Many Malians are not impressed by the news of more potential sanctions from ECOWAS. Some told DW's correspondent in Bamako, Mahamadou Kane, that Malians should be left to decide their own fate. "I believe that ECOWAS must respect the Malian people: it must also comply with this national decision which will be the decision of the Malians, the Malian people and not the authorities," said one resident. "I believe that it is the Malians who must decide the fate of Mali. But if an organization has to choose Mali's fate for it, it becomes a problem," said another resident. Counterterrorism expert Muqthar agreed that further sanctions will only worsen the situation and be counterproductive for Mali's security and economic stability. Edited by: Timothy Jones

7Politics

Health authorities in Japan say they have found more than 90 cases of a new variant of COVID-19. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobo Kato told reporters the mutant variant known as E484K, has been found in 91 cases in the Kanto area of eastern Japan. There were also 2 cases at airports. It is believed that the strain came from overseas, but it is different from those that originated in Britain and South Africa, according to an earlier report citing Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases. Japan, which has just started its vaccination program, has had more than 400,000 cases of COVID, with 7,194 fatalities. Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday that coronavirus infection levels were highly stagnating, urging people to remain cautious. Spahn also said the government was starting a vaccination task force to speed up Germany's slow rollout.  Doctors' practices are planning to start large-scale vaccinations in the second quarter of the year. "We are gearing up to start vaccinating in doctors' offices nationwide," the vice-chair of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Stephan Hofmeister, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland newspaper group. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases for Germany increased by 9,113 to 2,369,719, information from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. Fatalities rose by 508 to 67,206, the tally showed. According to information revealed by German media, BioNTech-Pfizer originally demanded €54 ($65.4) per vaccine dose, for a purchase of 500 million doses.  Last summer BioNTech-Pfizer wanted €27 billion to supply enough jabs to inoculate almost half of the EU's population. The final price is thought to have been around €15.50 per dose. Hitting back at accusations that the European Union had mismanaged the coronavirus vaccine rollout, Margaritis Schinas, a vice-president of the European Commission, said blaming Brussels is "convenient" and makes headlines, "but it doesn't sort out the problems."  This week the bloc revealed plans to combat COVID-19 variants and speed up approval of new vaccines. On DW's Conflict Zone, host Tim Sebastian asked Schinas if the announcement was more than a PR exercise to boost an unfavorable image.  The BioNTech-Pfizer partnership asked the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to relax rules regarding the ultra-cold storage of their vaccine. The manufacturers had initially stated that the vaccine must be stored at temperatures between -80 degrees Celsius (-112 Fahrenheit) and -60. This cautious approach was down to lack of data on stability and durability of the vaccine. But new data showed that the doses can be held for two weeks between -25 and -15 degrees Celsius. If the FDA approves the change it will make transportation and storage of the vaccine in areas without ultra-cold storage technology significantly easier. US President Joe Biden met with leaders of the G7 advanced economies to announce an immediate donation to the COVAX program co-led by the World Health Organization. The meeting took place with richer countries on course to have more than a billion more doses of COVID-19 vaccines than they need, according to a report by anti-poverty campaigners found on Friday. Brazil, the nation with the second-highest coronavirus death toll, has passed the 10-million mark for reported infections. The grim milestone was reached amid a deadly second wave and problems with its vaccination campaign. The country had more than 51,900 new infections in 24 hours, according to official data. It is the third to reach such a level of infections – after the United States and India. Over the same one-day period, there were 1,367 fatalities, bringing the total to more than 243,400. The number of reported COVID-19 deaths across Africa has surpassed 100,000, a fraction of the fatalities reported on other continents but rising fast. Amid a second wave of infections, some hospitals are being overwhelmed. The rise in deaths was pronounced in countries near South Africa like Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. This raises the possibility that the 501Y.V2 variant identified in South Africa late last year could have caused the rapid spread. More genomic sequencing is needed to ascertain that. Health experts are voicing concerns over a decision by Pakistan to allow some private companies to import coronavirus vaccines, which are likely to be sold at commercial rates. The move has caused an outcry among medical professionals, some of whom claim it amounts to commercializing human suffering. In New Zealand, a small group of medical professionals hs received the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The jabs were delivered in preparation for a wider rollout over the weekend. The group chosen were vaccinators who will administer shots to border and quarantine staff from Saturday. rc/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

5Health

It was a race against time, which is why German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, as he explained on Twitter, decided to transfer staff from the German embassy to the military part of Kabul airport. As he was tweeting, the Taliban were already making their way through the streets of the Afghan capital. Meanwhile, the German Bild tabloid reported in its Sunday edition that the German army had received orders to deploy an evacuation mission and that a first plane, an Airbus A 400 M with 200 paratroopers on board, was expected to set off. The German Defense Ministry would not comment but crisis meetings are still underway in Berlin. Many other countries, including the US, have already sent planes to evacuate their embassy staff. All Sunday, US army helicopters were seen flying between the embassy district and Kabul airport. "The evacuation of the embassy has to be put in place today, not tomorrow," Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a defense-focused MP with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), told DW. "Any time could be too late." Concern for the safety of Germans in Afghanistan is one issue; the other is concern for the safety of local Afghans who worked for the German army, the Bundeswehr, during its long deployment in the country, as translators and in other capacities. The last German soldiers left Afghanistan on June 29 and even then many were already pushing for the evacuation of local employees, including German army veterans who had served in Afghanistan. A week earlier, the German parliament, or Bundestag, had rejected a motion put forward by the Greens to ensure "local Afghan staff were welcomed generously." The coalition parties and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) voted against the motion, which was supported by the Left Party. The FDP abstained. Strack-Zimmermann from the FDP now accuses of Foreign Minister Maas of "being primarily concerned with pictures" of an "exodus" in the debate about whether to rescue local Afghans and not acting adequately. "It is a complete failure," she told DW.   The floods of mid-July and the climate crisis had overshadowed the German debate about what to do about the Afghans who helped the army and are now under threat. But the triumphant advance of the Taliban, calls for help from Afghans on the ground, members of the Bundeswehr and the media brought the subject back into focus. About 1,800 have made it to Germany since the Bundeswehr withdrew from Afghanistan but thousands more are desperately waiting for a signal of hope.  FDP, Left Party and Green politicians have all accused the coalition government of lacking a plan and acting too hesitantly. It took until this Saturday for CDU leader and chancellor candidate Armin Laschet call for Germany to rescue former Bundeswehr employees. "Afghans who were courageous enough to help the Bundeswehr now have to be saved," he said at a CDU event in western Germany. On the same day, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer also offered a similar signal, saying that the situation had "developed very dynamically" and was coming to a head. "We will support the Foreign Ministry in repatriating German nationals and others who need to be protected."  The debate this weekend in Germany has not only been about evacuating Germans and Afghans; there has also been widespread speculation about the growing number of refugees coming to Germany and the European Union. "One has to expect people to be moving and also to come to Europe," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. Against a backdrop of fear that the Taliban could reinstate a reign of terror, the CDU's Norbert Röttgen, chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the West to intervene and said explicitly that the Bundeswehr should get involved in an offensive against the Islamist militants. Even if the Bundeswehr does fly out Germans and Afghans who worked for the German government, staff from international aid organizations will remain. "We still have about 250 local staff members," Simone Pott, spokesperson for German NGO Welthungerhilfe, told DW. She said that none of them had been threatened so far and that they wanted "to continue living in the country with their families." The humanitarian NGO Caritas International, whose Afghan office is led by the German Stefan Recker, who has been in the country for some time, told DW that it had currently two to three dozen Afghan employees and one Italian staff member. "We're staying," said Recker in a number of interviews this weekend. "A Taliban government will also need to develop aid organizations." This article has been translated from German.

7Politics

Eyewitnesses are adding more details to what started as a rumor about one or more explosions with dozens of civilian casualties in the village of Togoga in Ethiopia's restive Tigray region. "When the military jets bombed our area, many of us fell to the ground," Negasi Berha, a Tigray resident who was being treated at Ayder Hospital, told DW. "We were selling and buying different goods and commodities at the local market. I have seen three dead bodies and many domestic animals." Birhan Gebrehiwot, who lives close to the market and was receiving treatment after sustaining injuries, narrated how she managed to survive the bombings. "First the market was bombed, then immediately after that we were bombed in our house, we came here after leaving behind so many wounded and killed citizens," she told DW. "At least 40 deaths were witnessed. Some say we have seen 80 dead," Dr. Daniel Weldu, head of Mekelle Ayder hospital Emergency unit, said. "I saw a mother whose child has died. The victims were many because it was a marketplace, and the blast was heavy," Daniel told DW. According to health workers, who spoke to international media outlets mostly on the condition of anonymity, an airstrike hit the village market on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 50 people and wounding dozens more. The attack is one of the worst since the conflict between the Ethiopian government and the dissident Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) started more than eight months ago. It comes amid reports of increased fighting in the region and warnings of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Red Cross calls for protection of aid workers The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Addis Ababa confirmed the incident, although the organization did not comment on the nature of the attack. Spokesperson Alyona Synenko told DW that ICRC teams in Tigray helped facilitate the evacuation of wounded people from Togoga village to Mekele, the regional capital located some 30 kilometers (18 miles) away from the scene of the attack. "For us, it is very important to stress that medical facilities and personnel must be respected and protected at all times," said Synenko. However, the ICRC could not confirm accounts by local doctors and paramedics widely cited in news media that Ethiopian security forces had blocked ambulances on their way to and from Togoga. Children among injured According to DW's Tigray correspondent Million Haileselassie, 33 victims from the attack were brought in from Togoga to be treated at Ayder Hospital in Mekele. Among them were two children aged two and ten. "Victims of the airstrike told me that there were no military targets in the marketplace, only civilians," Haileselassie said via phone. As credible reports of the attack at Togoga have surfaced from the largely cut-off region, international condemnation has been swift. In a joint statement, European Union High Representative Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič called the bombing of a marketplace "extremely worrying." They called for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access to the region. EU leaders have also put the situation in Tigray on the agenda of their current summit meeting in Brussels. Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari told DW: "What we expect now is an independent and thorough investigation into what happened." Similar calls have been brought forward by the United States, United Nations, and human rights organizations. Setback for premier Abiy Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane confirmed to DW that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) carried out an airstrike on Togoga on Tuesday afternoon. However, he denied that civilians were harmed in the attack, calling it a "precision strike" against enemy combatants. Daniel Bekele, head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, told DW that his body was "still investigating this incident." The bombing, carried out as votes in the country's contentious general election are being counted, is seen as yet another setback to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's efforts to garner domestic and international legitimacy and bring peace and unity to the country. Abiy, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, is projected by observers to win Ethiopia's first multi-party election since 2005. Although the election has generally been considered more democratic than previous ones, with African Union observers calling it "orderly, credible, and peaceful," ongoing fighting in Tigray and other parts of the country has meant that polls could not take place at all in those regions. According to the election board, final results are expected to be published in early July. However, it is unlikely that a new government will be formed until all Ethiopian regions have voted. In Tigray, that possibility seems more uncertain than ever. Seyoum Hailu, Million Haileselassie, and Gebeyaw Nigussie contributed to this report.

2Conflicts

Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Wednesday passed a new law that will make it easier for authorities to label domestic critics "foreign agents," a key tool to clamp down on dissent. The State Duma said in a statement that the measures will make it possible "to defend the interests and to ensure the security of the Russian Federation." The legislation is expected to enter into force on December 1. Since 2012, Russia has used the "foreign agent" tag, which is reminiscent of the "enemies of the people" of the Soviet era, to identify individuals and entities it believes are engaged in political activities with foreign funding. Under the new bill, which needs to be reviewed by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin before going into effect, people designated as "foreign agents" are barred from receiving any state financial support. They also must disclose sources of funding, undergo audits, and accompany all their text messages, videos and social media posts with a caption. The new legislation expanded the interpretation of the term "foreign agent." Anyone "under foreign influence" or receiving any kind of support from abroad can now be declared a "foreign agent" in Russia. This support could involve other forms of organizational, methodological, scientific, technical or other assistance, apart from funds or property, according to the law. It means that individuals can be listed as "foreign agents" even if they have not received money. The circle of potential targets to be labeled "foreign agents" was also expanded. Blogging can become a basis for inclusion in the register. It is not even necessary to create your own content. The law provides penalties only for "spreading opinions" about decisions made by the authorities. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The new law also introduces 18 new prohibitions for "foreign agents." Such individuals will be prohibited from teaching in public schools and organizing public events, taking part in political campaigns and funding political parties, among other activities. Another amendment provides for the creation of a separate register for "persons affiliated with foreign agents." According to the bill's co-author, Andrei Lugovoy, these may include relatives or other people who help them carry out their activities. Roskomnadzor, Russia's media watchdog, will receive the power to block "foreign agent" websites at the request of the Justice Ministry without waiting for a court decision. The foreign agent list currently numbers 167 individuals and legal entities such as nonprofits, news organizations and individual Russian citizens, including journalists and activists. In March, DW was also listed in Russia as a "foreign agent."It was forced to shutter its Moscow office and its journalists in Russia had to relinquish their accreditation, making it impossible to work there. In early March, DW's website was blocked by Roskomnadzor. Shortly after, DW moved its Moscow office to the Latvian capital of Riga. In June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said a "foreign agent" law violates its human rights convention. Although Russia has long been a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, it was expelled from the Council of Europe in March after invading Ukraine. As a result, Russia will cease to be a "contracting party" to the convention in September, and Russian citizens will no longer be able to lodge cases alleging government rights abuses with the ECHR. Moscow has stepped up efforts to stamp out dissent since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to invade Ukraine on February 24. The new measures came during an unprecedented clampdown on dissenting voices in Russia, with most opposition activists either in jail or out of the country. dh/sms (AFP, Reuters)

7Politics

Iraqi woman Kholoud Khardoum suspects she was the one who introduced Christmas to her village in southern Iraq. It all started six years ago with a small plastic Christmas tree and some gifts for her nieces and nephews during a visit home, the Iraqi journalist, who resides in Baghdad, recounted. "At first, it was a bit weird. People kept asking what the tree was. It was something they had only seen on TV," she told DW; her hometown is just outside the city of Karbala, a comparatively conservative place with a Shiite Muslim majority that is also a major destination for Muslim pilgrims. "But with the lights and the decorations and gifts, the children really loved it. Then the neighbors came over and they liked what we were doing too." That was in 2015. Now, she said, those neighbors hold their own Christmas parties and the tree in her family home is usually decorated before she even gets there. Khardoum has also noticed that more and more Iraqis, like her family and her neighbors, are celebrating Christmas. "A few years ago you would only see Christmas decorations being sold in shops in places like Karrada or Jadiriyah [neighborhoods in Baghdad that are home to the city's Christian minority]," Khardoum explained. "But now they're all over the city." Christmas is even becoming more popular in southern Iraq, stronghold of the country's Shiite Muslim majority, she noted. For example, her nephew goes to a private school in Karbala and there the students all pose under a large Christmas tree set up by the teachers, something that wouldn't necessarily have happened a few years ago. In Baghdad, the city council has placed Christmas trees at intersections and many big hotels and restaurants are decorated accordingly. After visiting markets in the city this month, Iraqi website, Shafaq News, wrote that Christmas is bigger than ever in Iraq. This year, sales of trees and Santa figures are "unprecedented" and the turnout "remarkable," the outlet reported, after speaking with local stallholders. All this is despite the fact that Iraq only officially made December 25 a national public holiday last year. Christmas has been classified as a holiday in Iraq since 2018, but that designation was up for annual renewal. Now it's permanent. This is relatively unusual in the Middle East. While they may celebrate Christmas in some way, only four other nations out of 20 in Iraq's vicinity — Sudan, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon — recognize Christmas officially. All of those countries boast a higher percentage of Christians than Iraq. Yet, despite the fact that Christmas is growing in popularity, Iraq's Christians remain an endangered minority. The last Iraqi government census was taken in 1987 and it counted around 1.4 million Christians. But over the last three decades, numbers have plummeted as Christians emigrated due to prejudice and persecution, as well as various political and security crises. Today, there are thought to be between 200,000 and 300,000 Christians left in Iraq, although some have suggested the real figure is even lower. So why all the enthusiasm for Christmas, and why now? It can be partly explained by consumerism, globalization, social media, as well as how entertainment — things like movies and games — is marketed to all cultures. It's the same reason Valentine's Day is now an international phenomenon, sociologist Amro Ali, a lecturer in political sociology at the American University in Cairo, told German newspaper the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. It is also a way for young Arabs to connect with what they perceive as a progressive, potentially even romantic, European tradition, Ali suggested. In Iraq, the trend is also political. After the defeat of the extremist group known as the "Islamic State" there in 2017, many Iraqis told local media they were celebrating Christmas to show tolerance and solidarity with those minorities the extremist group had so brutally persecuted. "Yes, it could be all of those reasons," Bashar Matti Warda, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, speculated. "But as an Iraqi, I think it might also be about the message behind Christmas, which is one of joy and good news. The Iraqi people have experienced a lot of tough times over the past decades. This is a way not just to celebrate, but to fight hopelessness," Warda suggested. The archbishop pointed to the way his countrypeople greeted the visit of Pope Francis earlier this year. "We saw so many people participating, not just Christians," he told DW. "It's not just about tolerance, it's all about needing to find joy." Most of the Iraqi Christmas celebrations appear not to be particularly connected to the festival's contemporary religious origins. Its most popular symbol here and elsewhere in the Middle East tends to be a bountifully-decorated Christmas tree, a throwback to winter solstice celebrations. In fact, a lot of Iraqis know it as a "New Year's tree" and don't see much, if any, connection between ringing in the year to come and Christianity. A generous Santa Claus figure, or "Baba Noel," as he is often called in Iraq, is also popular, but he too is associated with the New Year because he brings gifts like new clothes. Actual religious symbols are not seen as often. Despite the fact that Jesus Christ gets dozens of mentions in Islam's holy book, the Koran — and some Muslims do honor the religious icon because of this — emblems like crosses or nativity scenes are not a common part of Middle Eastern celebrations. Every year without fail, some Muslim clerics criticize parishioners for celebrating Christmas. Christmas criticisms run the gamut: from mild-mannered tolerance, where decorations and gift-giving is fine as long as you don't enter into religious rituals, to moderate censure, such as telling tea-totaling Muslims to avoid Christmas parties where alcohol is served or skin is bared; to outright bans on everything Christmassy, because this equals less enthusiasm for official Islamic holidays. Very conservative preachers have even issued religious edicts, or fatwas, against Christmas. In a 2018 sermon, a prominent Sunni Muslim cleric in Iraq, Abdul-Mahdi al-Sumaidaie, told followers that celebrating Christmas meant they were neglecting Islam. His statements caused outrage, with many ordinary Iraqis — as well as Christian and Muslim authorities — refuting the idea and stressing how long Christianity had been part of Iraq's social fabric. Baghdad-based journalist Khardoum says that religious conservatives always complain about these kinds of things and that every family in Iraq celebrates differently. This ranges from gathering around the "New Year's tree" to her own family's new tradition, where her nieces and nephews enjoy the toys and new clothes but her pious mother actually commemorates the birth of Isa, as Jesus is known in the Koran. "Look, I am an observant Muslim," she told DW. "In this case, I really don't think it matters if you are Muslim or Christian. What matters is that we all believe in God. For me, that's the important thing." Archbishop Warda thinks Iraqis' increasing enthusiasm for Christmas could also be positive in another way, in that it potentially brings the Christian minority more recognition from the Muslim majority. "I hope it shows Iraqi society that their minorities have something special to offer: the joy, the colors, the lights, the songs," he enthused. "And that, at the end of the day, everybody will say, 'you are an important part of Iraqi society, please stay.'"

7Politics

Right-wing candidate and former Finance Minister Rodrigo Chaves won Costa Rica's runoff presidential election on Sunday, a preliminary vote tally showed. The anti-establishment economist garnered around 52.9% of the vote, according to preliminary partial results published by the country's electoral tribunal. His centrist opponent, former President Jose Maria Figueres, was seen securing 47.1% of the vote. Shortly after the initial results were announced, Figueres conceded defeat. Costa Rica's presidential vote comes amid a growing economic crisis, and citizens are frustrated by recent public corruption scandals, another surge of COVID-19 infections and poor economic conditions.  Both candidates managed to beat off rival contenders to reach the final stage of the presidential polls despite previous scandals clouding their campaigns.  Chaves is from the right-wing Social Democratic Progress Party and at one point had been minister of finance. He has been investigated for sexual harassment during his time as a senior official at the World Bank and was demoted from his position. Chaves has also focused on the economy and job creation. "The urgent themes to address are the ones causing discomfort and suffering to the people," Chaves said, adding that among the key issues were "first the lack of jobs. Secondly the cost of living." Figueres, who represents the National Liberation Party, was president of the country from 1994 to 1998 and has been investigated for allegedly accepting $900,000 (€814,000) from French firm Alcatel. Figueres has focused on the economy in his campaign. "In the economic agenda, unemployment is the most important, the creation of employment opportunities is the priority," Figueres said. Costa Rica is experiencing its worst recession in four decades brought on by the global pandemic. Unemployment sat at around 14.4% in 2021 and there is a high level of inequality. About 23% of the Costa Rican population lives in poverty.   rs, kb/wd (AFP, Reuters, EFE)

7Politics

(Chiesa 60'; Morata 80') Italy win 4-2 on penalties Days after England did as the Italians do so often in Rome, Italy arrived in London to do what England have done here just once, win on penalties. A pulsating contest, particularly in the second half of normal time, was settled when Jorginho rolled in a slow motion spot kick in front of a wild wall of blue shirts behind the goal, after Alvaro Morata had missed for Spain.  As those in blue, and in red, shuffled towards the underground, it all felt a bit odd. English accents discussed Morata's constant confidence crisis, families hurried for the last train and 'Football's Coming Home' was slurred in to ceilings of the grey concrete spiral stairs. Spanish and Italian voices were present, but far from dominant though, in the case of the winners, that would soon change, as plastic horns and renditions of 'Seven Nation Army' filled the night air. While the travelling Euros circus has toured Europe, fans have broadly had to stay at home while their teams traverse the continent. But the coronavirus crisis and associated travel rules have allowed more immigrant fans to watch the nation of their birth in the home of their choice. "We don't go so much to the football, we just wanted to support our nation and we are living here in London anyway," Spanish fan Janice Ocampo told DW before the game. Less than a week after more than 50,000 EU citizens rushed to beat the deadline to secure their so-called 'settled status' in the UK, a similar number - many of Spanish or Italian origin - packed out Wembley stadium in the biggest communal event in the country since the pandemic began. More will soon follow, on Wednesday (England vs. Denmark) and Sunday (the final), despite the spike in cases caused by the emergence and spread of the delta variant. But for just over two hours, politics and COVID-19 were put to one side. "There is nothing here about politics, only football. We don't need always to talk politics," Italian fan Rosella, who moved to London in 2016, told DW, summing up the general mood.  The game provided plenty to distract. Spain probed and prodded fluently but had little to show for it. Having left Morata, the man he's backed so heavily in this tournament, on the bench, Luis Enrique strode the touchline with the air of an interior designer who has created a front room with perfect fixtures, fittings and finishings but forgotten a chair.  For all the pretty patterns Spain were weaving, Italy were always menacing; bursts of speed, inspiration and incision standing in contrast to their opponents. Their opener was perhaps the ultimate demonstration. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma spotted an opportunity with ball in hands and immediately hared to the edge of his area to roll it out. Two passes and a desperate Spanish tackle later, Federico Chiesa opened his body to curl beautifully in to the net. With a different type of crowd, came a different type of response. Shorn of those who conduct the noise, the match itself arguably became more of a centerpiece, the tactical tweaks highlighted and mistakes less harshly condemned. It lived up to the scrutiny. Twenty minutes later, Morata levelled things up, playing a one-two of sublime simplicity with Dani Olmo before side footing calmly in to the corner. It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, or even the most functional item in Enrique's front room, but it was enough to force extra-time. Now the tension rose, and the decibels dropped, replaced by a familiar, much-missed, nervous energy. Those subtle differences in sound, behaviour, reactions and attitude at a stadium used to hosting England served as a reminder of what the tournament experience has traditionally been and, to some extent, those cultural differences that the UK has chosen to abandon.  Like Tuesday's game, this tournament in general has become a place to forget all that. From the gut-wrenching collapse of Christian Eriksen and heroic response of Denmark's players on the first Saturday of the tournament, to the triumphs of collectivism and organisation that have propelled Switzerland, Ukraine, Czech Republic and, yes, even England, further than would have been expected. "This Italy side has a lot of courage," said Donnarumma after the game. "We never give up." It's hard to argue. Persistence is far from their only quality, but England or Denmark will have to match the ferocity of feeling Roberto Mancini has instilled in this Italian side to stand a chance. As Spain found out, that's no easy task. . Go to page two to relive the action in DW's live blog... Jorginho scores! Morata misses. Italy need to score to win. Bernadeschi puts his penalty in the top corner. Thiago slots his spot kick away as cool as you like. Bonucci sends Simon the wrong way. Gerard Moreno levels.  Belotti buries it in the bottom corner. Olmo blazes over the bar. Incredible start. Locatelli misses the first penalty. Saved by Simon! As the coin toss took place, Chiellini looked like a kid on Christmas morning, while Alba was acting like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Neither side are able to produce a moment of magic to decide the game and we're heading to a penalty shootout folks to decide this final four tie. Hard to see and chances being created now with players starting to show the effects of a taxing encounter. According to ARD commentator Tom Bartels, both sides have been practicing penalties in training. He wasn't impressed with Spain's showing in the quarter finals against Switzerland though. Berardi has the ball in the back of the net for Italy, but the flag goes up for a clear offside. Proof that Italy aren't out of this game yet though.  Dani Olmo's stock continues to rise tonight. One of the Spanish players that are also due to represent Spain at the Olympics, there's no rest for the wicked. No doubt Leipzig aren't thrilled about that prospect. No change to the scoreline at Wembley. The third shootout of Euro 2020 looms large. Spain have already won one against Switzerland in the previous round, but will want to avoid another if they can.  Italy have not conceded more than one goal in any of their last 35 international matches. They're unbeaten in 32 and have won the last 9 straight, but have gone from being one of the most formidable backlines to producing some defending laced with panic. If Italy are going to score it's only going to come from a counter-attack as they're once again allowing Spain to build up the pressure. The Spaniards are showing a greater sense of ambition as Dani Olmo stings the palms of Donnarumma. The flow of the game has changed completely in extra time. Fouls and injuries are disrupting the rhythm while a real physical battle is brewing in midfield. Definitely not complaining about an extra half an hour of a pulsating fixture. Will there be a winner or are we set for the third penalty shootout of Euro 2020?  Extra time will be needed to separate these two European heavyweights. 30 more minutes of a breathtaking spectacle that has definitely been worth the €345 entry fee!  Alvaro Morata has now scored more goals at the European Championships than any other Spain player, overtaking Fernando Torres' five goals. The intensity is off the charts at Wembley. It had to be Alvaro Morata. The much-maligned striker, dropped from the starting line-up tonight, comes off the bench to level the scores. That's goal number 22 in a Spain shirt for Morata. With every throw-in, every goal kick, Italy have already started time wasting at every opportunity to take precious seconds off the clock. You've got to do, what you've got to do, right? Italy are on course to become the first side to record six straight wins at a European championship. The Azzurri could also still break their record for most goals at a single major tournament if they net once more.  11 blue shirts behind the ball is becoming a common sight. Spain are probing and finding space to exploit, but failing to do so when the chances produce themselves. Where's Fernando Torres or David Villa when you need them? Morata and Moreno have both come off the bench to try and apply the finishing touch. Chiesa's goal was a thing of beauty. Like the 'Bend it like Cat' meme.  A dream goal for Chiesa. In his 31st appearance for the Azzurri that's only his third goal, but it is one to cherish, especially if it books Italy a ticket to the Euro 2020 final. Chances at either end to kick off the second half and the chants erupt from both sets of fans at Wembley. Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, even if there aren't many goals, this is going to be good.  Spain not taking their chances has been a predominant feature of their performances at Euro 2020, even when beating Croatia 5-3. Tonight they’ve had three big opportunities as the trend has continued with Busquets blazing over with the latest. We're back underway at Wembley. What will the second half hold? "Italy have to start controlling Spain’s midfield better. Bonucci or Chiellini may need to step out to apply pressure and up front they need to go back to the direct passes in behind that created their chances." "He’s an incredible player. Whether in midfield or as the lone striker, he’s making an impact. He's quick and intelligent and his build-up play is giving Chiellini a lot of problems so far." Huge chance for Italy's Emerson at the last, but there have been no goals so far. Nevertheless, there's a fascinating battle brewing for a spot in the Euro 2020 final.  Germany are represented in the final four of Euro 2020 by the refereeing team that tonight features Dr. Felix Brych as the frontman. We’re still waiting on the first booking of the game, but the German whistleblower is keep a lid on the theatrics so far.  Tactically Spain have now taken control of proceedings and the Italians are struggling to come to terms with their approach. Olmo keeps popping up in the half spaces and is impressing, but is still short of a clinical touch whether shooting or passing.  Spain have scored during the first half in each of their last four matches at EURO 2020. After a strong opening gambit from Italy, they are now looking the more likely to open the scoring at Wembley. 18-year-old Pedri has been a joy to behold so far. He predicted mistakes would decide the midfield battle and so far, Italy are making more. Two in quick succession for Donnarumma have seen him forced into the first save of the game and Chiellini forced into a last ditch tackle, on both occasions denying Olmo. ...that Italy centre-back Bonucci is still yet to commit a foul at Euro 2020? It sounds like there's a chant of "It's coming Rome" and not 'home' at Wembley, which then breaks out into Italian chants. When it comes to creating an atmosphere at major tournaments, Italy fans don't disappoint.  From their passing to their pressing, Italy went full throttle from the first whistle, but having failed to produce a breakthrough are being pegged back by Spain's possession play, which has created chances for Oyarzabal and Torres. Worth the entry fee? To be determined.  We expected Oyarzabal to replace Morata in the front three, but it Leipzig's Olmo is the man operating as the focal point up front. A big ask to play the False 9 role against Bonucci and Chiellini. A strong start on a milestone night for the Juventus defender, who makes his 17th appearance at the European championships. The 34-year-old moves level with Buffon in that regard, but will be hoping to break the record. A first glimpse of Italy's threat on the break, but Emerson's release is late as Barella is flagged for offside having hit the post. Immobile repeats the trick seconds later, but the intent for Italy to thread balls in behind is clear. They just need to work on their timing. We're underway in Wembley where the Italian fans outnumber the Spanish. Spain have been crowned European champions three times, Italy just once, but who will get a chance to add to the trophy cabinet? The consensus amongst expert is that midfield will be the key battle ground. Spain have had the most possession in the tournament, but no-one really expected them to reach the semifinals. Can they control the gamey against an Italy team that also likes to control the game? A win tonight would see Italy become the first team in the history of the European championships to win six straight matches, breaking a record held by France before this summer. Italy are unbeaten in their last 32 international fixtures and there are nine players in their squad who are yet to taste defeat on the international stage as a result. The Spanish press have compared facing the Azzurri to "visiting the dentist" and that's perhaps Italy's biggest quality given the fact that few if any teams in world football relish the prospect of facing them. For Luis Enrique's Spain they pose the greatest challenge faced at Euro 2020. A surprise in Spain's starting line-up, but not without reason. Oyarzabal has already scored twice at Euro 2020 after netting Spain's fifth in the Round of 16 win against Croatia, not to mention his nerveless penalty to win the shootout against Switzerland in the quarter finals. A fresh threat for Italy's backline to face. Former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli is dressed to impress in Wembley.  The big news from tonight's starting line-ups is that Alvaro Morata has been dropped. The striker has been under fire all tournament, but instead of facing Juventus teammates Chiellini and Bonucci, he has to settle for a place on the bench as the pace of Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal is preffered. Italy: Donnarumma — Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson — Barella, Jorginho, Verratti — Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne  Spain: Unai Simón — Azpilicueta, Eric García, Laporte, Jordi Alba — Koke, Busquets, Pedri — Morata, Oyarzabal, Olmo  Italy's track record in the final four of the European championships is enviable as they've only failed to make it through one of their previous four appearances when Azeglio Vicini's side lost 2-0 to eventual runners-up Soviet Union 33 years ago. This is the fourth straight European championships that have pitted Italy against Spain. The last time these sides met in 2016 this happened...  "It will be difficult, even if Spain are different from Belgium. It will not be the same kind of game compared to the previous one, but it will present many difficulties for sure. Spain have been extraordinary for years, even if now there has been a change and they are a younger side. They have a good coach and very good players." "I don't think both of us can dominate, so it'll be interesting to see who wins this tussle. Apart from having top players, Italy are a real team. They attack and defend as a unit, which is really similar to what we do. The game will be really interesting. Both teams will have their moments.” Defender Leonardo Spinazzola remains Italy's lone absentee, though his presence will surely be missed in Roberto Mancini's side. The AS Roma defender, whose career has been plagued by various injuries, had put together a strong tournament. But the Italian defender was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering an Achilles tear against Belgium in the quarterfinals. Chelsea's Emerson is likely to replace the Spinazzola on the left side of Italy's defense. Spanish coach Luis Enrique is also only down one player for the semifinal — winger Pablo Sarabia. The Paris Saint-Germain forward injured his thigh in Spain's penalty shootout win over Switzerland in the quarterfinals.  His absence is likely to open the door once more for RB Leipzig's Dani Olmo, who started Spain's first two group stage games before being dropped in favor of Sarabia.  The Azzurri were among the favorites entering the tournament and have lived up to the hype. They won all three of their group stage games without conceding a goal, and, after an extra-time grind against Austria in the round of 16, they vanquished Belgium, ranked no. 1 in FIFA's world rankings, 2-1 in Munich to book their ticket for the last four. True to form, the Italians have been able to depend on a rock-solid defense. But more importantly, head coach Roberto Mancini has also got the most out of a versatile attack with a variety of goal scorers — six different players have scored for Italy at Euro 2020, four of whom have scored twice. It's hard to believe given the quality in their ranks but Spain's results at Euro 2020 haven't been the most impressive. After two draws in their opening group stage games, only a win over Slovakia — a 5-0 one, to be fair — guaranteed them a spot in the last 16. They then needed extra time to defeat a Croatia side without veteran Ivan Perisic, and the only goal they scored from open play in their penalty shootout triumph over Switzerland was an own goal. La Roja faced widespread criticism at home for their underwhelming start to the tournament — Alvaro Morata revealed that his wife and children had received verbal abuse from fans in Seville, where Spain played all three of their group-stage games. The Spaniards have scored the most goals at the tournament (12 goals in five games), held the most possession (67.2%) and passed at the highest success rate (89.4%). But Luis Enrique's side has been rightly criticized for doing too little with their ball dominance and scoring chances. Euro 2020 is the fourth straight European Championship in which the Italians and Spaniards have squared off. Spain defeated Italy in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals and in the Euro 2012 final en route to tournament wins. But Italy came out on top at Euro 2016, beating Spain in the last-16 tie before being knocked out by Germany in the quarterfinals. Overall, the historical matchup has been pretty even. Spain have won 13 of the 37 games against Italy, while the Italians have won 11 and there have been 13 draws. Both sides have scored 51 goals in the fixture. The two sides are also set to face off in the Nations League semifinals in October. The UK government announced in June that capacity at Wembley Stadium will increase to 75% when the ground hosts the Euro 2020 semifinals and final. That will allow up to 60,000 spectators to attend each of the three games. But that capacity is unlikely to be filled for the Italy-Spain semifinal. Travelers entering the UK must quarantine, even with negative tests, which limits the capability of fans abroad attending the game. Both Italy's Mancini and Spain's Enrique expressed regret that fans won't be able to travel to the game. Enrique called it a "strange situation" while Mancini dubbed the circumstances "unfair." The number of spectators at tournament games has been a source of outrage among EU lawmakers. German chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to the UK recently that she was "worried and skeptical" about high attendances at matches. Wembley hosted 22,500 spectators for England's group-stage games and saw 45,000 people attend England's last-16 win over Germany.

9Sports

Emergency services on Sunday raced to find survivors a day after after the Mount Semeru volcano erupted on the Indonesian island of Java, claiming the lives of at least 14 people. Hundreds fled to makeshift shelters on Saturday afternoon as molten lava and ash spewed down the tallest mountain on the island, leaving the ground searing hot on Sunday and complicating rescue efforts. At least 14 people died after Mount Semeru's surprise eruption on Saturday covered nearby villages in volcanic ash. Another 56 people are being treated in hospital for burns — including two pregnant women, said Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the national disaster agency (BNPB). At least seven people were still missing after the eruption, with two believed to still be alive. "There were signs they are still alive as there were lights maybe from their cellphones," Hendro said. "But we cannot go there as the ground is still very hot. We want to ensure our team's safety too." But Muhari told reporters that ten people trapped by the eruption had been rescued. Local broadcaster Kompas TV said the survivors were sandminers caught out close to their workplace. Rescue efforts have been hindered by the damage caused by the hot mud flow. The dangerous mixture has severed a key road and destroyed at least one bridge leading to the area from Lumajang. Indonesian meteorologists predicted heavy rainfall over the next three days, further complicating rescue efforts. Emergency response crews used heavy loaders to remove debris and try to clear roads. Authorities evacuated about 1,300 people from at least 11 villages. Many mistook the hot mud flow from the volcano for rushing floodwaters — prompting them to seek shelter in their homes rather than fleeing their villages, local officials said. "They did not have time to run away," Lumajang Public Order Agency spokesperson Adi Hendro told news agency AFP. After a harmless eruption in January, authorities believe residents who farm the fertile slopes of Mount Semeru underestimated the size of the eruption and reach of the lava flow. Indonesian President Jokowo Widodo tweeted a photo of the aftermath of the natural disaster on Sunday, showing a town caked in volcanic mud. He said he had ordered emergency services to the area. "Searching and finding victims, providing care to the injured, and handling disaster impacts," he said of the work they were doing. "Health service assistance, logistical provision for refugees' basic needs, as well as infrastructure improvements must be completed in a short time." Anxious villagers who returned home tried to salvage their belongings, carrying mattresses and furniture away from the disaster zone while shepherding along their livestock. "For now, we urge people not to stay because the volcanic ash is still relatively hot," Indra Wibowo, BNPB chief, told the local Metro TV. Volcanic ash had spread for 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) by Sunday, with the BNPB urging people not to go within 5 kilometers of the crater. "All rescue efforts have been put on hold, because heavy rains have set in," said DW's Indonesia correspondent Georg Matthes. "A lot of people are still suffering from burns and respiratory problems due to the ash in the air but overall authorities have said there is enough aid coming and over the next days they hope to take care of the people there," he added. Matthes said that as Mount Semeru is "among the ten most active volcanoes in the world... local authorities should have warned the population that something like this might have happened." At 3:30 p.m. local time (0830 GMT) on Saturday, the 3,676 meter-tall Mount Semeru volcano erupted. Semeru is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia and is the highest mountain on the island of Java. Indonesia's center for volcanology said it had warned officials of increased volcanic activity on Thursday. The eruption was likely triggered by heavy rainfall and a thunderstorm that had eroded and collapsed the lava dome, according to the head of the geological survey center, Eko Budi Lelono. Videos released on social media showed people running down a street and screaming as a huge cloud of ash enveloped their villages. AirNav Indonesia said the eruption did not "cause significant impact" on flights in the region. Indonesia sits on what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, with the Indonesian archipelago itself having about 128 volcanoes notorious for seismic activity. jc/rs (AFP, AP, Reuters)

1Catastrophe

Paris police chief Didier Lallement has accepted a 'failure' in security operations during the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. He also apologized for tear-gassing supporters as they attempted to enter the Stade de France while speaking to a commission investigating the incident at the French Senate. "It is obviously a failure," Lallement admitted. "It was a failure because people were pushed around and attacked. It's a failure because the image of the country was undermined." French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin claimed to reporters in the immediate aftermath of the game in May that police officers had 'prevented deaths' after riot police sprayed tear gas on fans, including women and children. However, Lallement said he was "sorry" for authorising the use of tear gas in order to move supporters away from the stadium before adding he believed there was 'no other means' of reducing the growing pressure at the entrance. "We needed to get people to move back," Lallement explained. "We asked people to move back, then we used tear-gas... it's the only way to our knowledge of moving a crowd back, except for a baton charge." The head of police was also pressed on the accusations of the number of fake tickets interior minister Darmanin had claimed Liverpool supporters attempted to use on the evening of the match. Lallement admitted the figure may well have been exaggerated and that there was no scientific data to draw from, citing instead reports from police on the ground at the game. "I might have been wrong on the figure of 30,000 to 40,000 thousand [fans with fake tickets] I gave to the [interior] minister," said Lallement. "I never claimed it was absolutely accurate." "From an operational standpoint, it doesn't change anything if it was around 40,000 or 30,000 or 20,000." He encouraged supporters from Liverpool and Real Madrid to file complaints if they were victims of counterfeited tickets or street crime outside the stadium "so that we can find the guilty parties and prosecute them." km/jt (dpa, AP) To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

9Sports

Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita stepped down from her position on Friday citing a lack of support in the former Soviet Republic. The pro-Western government had been in power for just 18 months, during a period dominated by the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Moldova's President Maia Sandu accepted Gavrilita's resignation and said she would talk with parliamentary groups about a possible replacement. "Thank you so much for your enormous sacrifice and efforts to lead the country in a time of so many crises," Sandu wrote on Facebook. According to Moldovan and Romanian media, Sandu nominated Dorin Recean, her pro-Western former defense minister, for the role of prime minister. Gavrilita's pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity won a majority in elections in August 2021. Along with Sandu, she pushed for accession into the EU — the country was given candidate status last year. The government had been planning a series of reforms in line with EU accession to speed up the process while also seeking to diversify the country's energy supply and reduce its dependence on Russia. Moldova gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but a thin stretch of the country along the Ukrainian border, known as Transnistria, has continued to hold close ties with Moscow and claims autonomy from Chisinau. Russian troops are also present in the separatist region, giving weight to the direct and indirect threats made by Russian officials. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Moldova has been hit by a myriad of problems, including skyrocketing inflation, energy insecurity, and large numbers of Ukrainian refugees crossing into the country. The threats posed by the war in neighboring Ukraine were made evident on Friday when a Russian missile flew through Moldovan airspace. The government has also faced widespread protests, organized by the party of pro-Moscow politician in exile Ilan Shor. Chisinau has claimed the protests were backed by the Kremlin to destabilize the pro-Western government. "I took over the government with an anti-corruption, pro-development and pro-European mandate at a time when corruption schemes had captured all the institutions and the oligarchs felt untouchable," Gavrilita said in her resignation statement. "We were immediately faced with energy blackmail, and those who did this hoped that we would give in." "In spite of unprecedented challenges, the country was governed responsibly, with a lot of attention and dedicated work. We have stability, peace and development — where others wanted war and bankruptcy," she added. ab/jcg (Reuters, AP)

7Politics

Harder coronavirus lockdown restrictions came into force across all of Germany's 16 federal states on Monday. Ten states, including the most populous, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden Württemberg, introduced the new rules as of Monday. A number of restrictions were introduced on December 16 in a bid to curb a second COVID-19 infection wave. These were originally slated to remain in place until at least January 10 but have had only a moderate impact on caseloads. Some of the measures that were already in place have been extended, while other restrictions have been tightened. Health Minister Jens Spahn appealed to the public to stay the course.  "I know that these are once again particular difficulties, hardships for many," Spahn said on ZDF television. "Also social hardships, but at the moment that is the arena in which the virus is spreading above all others." The measures come into force as Germany logged another 12,497 cases on Monday, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious disease. The death toll rose by 343.  The figures on Sunday and Monday are usually lower than usual as not all health offices transfer their data during the weekend. On Friday, Germany recorded 1,188 deaths — the highest daily tally so far. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state premiers agreed in a January 5 meeting to bring in stricter measures, lasting until at least January 31. Several states introduced the harder restrictions early, including Hamburg on Friday, and Berlin, Thuringia and Lower Saxony on Sunday. Authorities in Saxony, where the infection seven-day incidence is 386 per 100,000 residents, have already announced the lockdown measures will remain in place until at least February 7. Germany has kicked off its vaccination program but authorities have come under fire for its slow rollout. kmm/msh (Reuters, AFP)

5Health

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that the US and its allies stood with Ukraine amid fears over Russia's military movements. Blinken's visit comes amid soaring tensions between Washington and Moscow as tens of thousands of Russian troops mass near Ukraine's borders, prompting fears of a possible invasion. Blinken said he traveled to Kyiv to show Washington's unwavering support for Ukraine when its "security, its prosperity, its democracy, its fundamental right to exist as a sovereign independent nation are facing an unprecedented challenge from Russia." "Moscow has systematically sought to weaken Ukraine's democratic institutions, as well as to divide Ukrainian society using everything from election interference to disinformation to cyberattacks," Blinken added. He told Zelenskyy that the US and its allies were steadfast in backing his country and its democratic aspirations.  "The Ukrainian people chose a democratic and European path in 1991. They took to the Maidan to defend that choice in 2013, and unfortunately ever since you have faced relentless aggression from Moscow,'' Blinken said, referring to Ukraine's path since the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Our strength depends on preserving our unity and that includes unity within Ukraine,'' he said to Zelenskyy. "I think one of Moscow's long-standing goals has been to try to sow divisions between and within our countries, and, quite simply, we cannot and will not let them do that." Blinken urged Russia to pursue a "peaceful path" and accused Moscow of acting with "no provocation, no reason." Moscow is attempting "to challenge some very basic principles that undergird the entire international system and are necessary for trying to keep peace and security — principles like one nation can't simply change the borders of another by force," Blinken claimed, alluding to Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. "If we allow these principles to be violated with impunity, then we will open a very large Pandora's box. The entire world is watching what is happening here," the top US diplomat warned.  Last month, the United States gave Ukraine an additional $200 million (€176 million) in military aid. Zelenskyy thanked Blinken for the support, which was only formally confirmed on Wednesday, as well as for his visit and assurances of support. "This support not only speaks to our strategic plans of Ukraine joining the alliance but more importantly to the level of our military, our military supplies,'' he said, referring to Kyiv's desire to join NATO despite Russia's strong objections. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The West says that under the terms of the Helsinki Final Act — a nontreaty accord to improve East-West detente during the Cold War — nations are entitled to a free choice on which alliances they join. Russia maintained a tough posture, saying it will accept nothing less than "watertight" US guarantees that Ukraine will never be accepted as part of NATO. Following Blinken's meeting with Ukrainian leaders on Wednesday, the top US diplomat threatened Russia with additional sanctions if more aggression occurs, along with further American military assistance to Kyiv. The show of US support for Ukraine comes ahead of a meeting between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expected to take place in Geneva on Friday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that he hopes Russia would be less aggressive following the meeting between Blinken and Lavrov. Kuleba also said Kyiv is not planning any attacks against pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. The Ukraine trip also comes after talks between Moscow and the West held in Europe last week failed to allay fears and resolve disagreements over Ukraine and other security matters. Russia has repeatedly denied that an invasion is planned.  In a call between the US and Russian top diplomats ahead of Blinken's trip, Lavrov had urged Blinken "not to replicate speculation about the allegedly impending 'Russian aggression.'" Blinken stressed the importance of diplomacy in the current crisis, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Any discussion on European security must include NATO partners and allies in Europe, including Ukraine, he said. Blinken said he would not present a written response to Russian security proposals during his meeting with Lavrov on Friday. The top US diplomat said the two sides need to explore common ground. Blinken will also travel to Berlin on Thursday where he plans to meet German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, along with their British and French counterparts, to discuss a possible response to any Russian military action. dvv, rc, wd/sms (AFP, AP, dpa)

2Conflicts

The two Northern Irish ports of Larne and Belfast temporarily suspended border checks and withdrew staff on Tuesday amid safety fears. Officials pulled a dozen staff members from duty at Larne Port after an "upsurge in sinister and menacing behavior," Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said. This included new graffiti in the Larne area, 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Belfast, that "referenced increasing tensions around the Northern Ireland Protocol." The council referred to post-Brexit tensions over Northern Ireland and describing port staff as "targets.'' Staff also reported signs of suspicious behavior, including people writing down vehicle license plate numbers. The relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was characterized by decades of sectarian violence. Known as the Troubles, it began in the 1960s and lasted until 1998. But Brexit saw tensions between the two neighbors rise again when Ireland remained in the EU while Northern Ireland exited the bloc along with the rest of the UK. Central to this tension was the issue of the Irish border. Following Brexit, both sides found it necessary to reimpose checks on goods travelling between the UK and the EU bloc. But there could be no physical, or "hard" border set up between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The removal of a physical border was viewed a key pillar of the peace process that ended the conflict. To solve this problem, a new "regulatory" border was established between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). Pro-British Unionist politicians have spoken out against the move, saying it amounts to a border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Police have warned that violent pro-British Loyalist groups could capitalize on the tensions. Politicians from all parties in Northern Ireland's power-sharing government slammed the apparent intimidation campaign. In a joint statement, they said: "the Executive is united in condemning any threats made against workers and staff going about their duties at Belfast and Larne ports." "There is no place in society for intimidation and threats against anyone going to their place of work," they said. A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "The safety of staff at our ports ... is our top priority and we are working closely with the PSNI (Northern Irish police service) to better understand the situation." kmm/dj (Reuters, dpa, AP)

7Politics

Britain saw a major reset to its relations with the European Union on January 1, the first day after the end of the 11-month transition phase which served to smooth its exit from the bloc. The UK officially left the bloc on January 31, 2020, but it effectively remained tied to it in terms of customs and commercial arrangements while it sought a free-trade agreement.  At the stroke of midnight in Brussels and 11 p.m. in London on Thursday, the UK quit the EU's Customs Union and Single Market. The New Year also ended freedom of movement between the UK and nearly all of the EU states, except for Ireland. However, special rules are now in place for Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory on the southern Spanish coast. Talks between the governments in London, Madrid, and Gibraltar on Thursday came down to the last hours to scramble a deal that sees Gibraltar enter the Schengen zone. The first post-Brexit truck carried goods across the border on Friday. The driver pulled in at the new pit stop at the exit of the Channel Tunnel with a new array of documents which will now become standard practice for those passing between the UK and the EU as a result of Brexit. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video DW correspondent Barbara Wesel, reporting from Calais, in northern France, said that there was very little traffic on the morning of January 1, but she explained that this was because the bigger companies had had time to prepare and accustom themselves to the new rules. However, "it is going to hit a lot of the smaller transport companies that carry mixed loads ... For them, life is going to be much more difficult." She added that the delays might be more noticeable on Monday, after the long weekend and the New Year's day holiday. "Then we might see those traffic jams that everybody has been warning about," Wesel said. British officials say concerns about long delays to freight traffic may have prompted many firms to postpone journeys for the first few days. In a New Year message, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain would remain "an open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and free-trading" country once it left the EU sphere. "This is an amazing moment for this country," he said. "We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it." However, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed regret over the split. "The United Kingdom remains our neighbor but also our friend and ally," said Macron in his New Year's address. "This choice of leaving Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises.'' UK lawmakers approved a post-Brexit trade deal on Wednesday, just a day before the end of the EU-UK transition period. EU citizens will no longer have the conditional right to move to the UK to work and settle, and vice versa. From now, they will need to follow immigration rules and obtain work visas. People from the UK who want to stay in most of the EU for more than 90 days in any 180-day period will need a visa. However, EU residents visiting the UK will be able to stay for up to six months without a visa. Customs border checks are to return for the first time in decades, and despite the free-trade deal, travelers and traders are expected to face queues and disruption from additional paperwork. Also, despite both sides pledging to continue security cooperation, police in the UK will lose instant access to EU-wide databases on fingerprints, wanted individuals, and criminal records. ab,rc/mm (APF, dpa, Reuters, AP)

7Politics

Argentina appointed Silvina Batakis as its new economy minister on Sunday after theabrupt weekend resignation of her predecessor, Martin Guzman. President Alberto Fernandez appointed 53-year-old Batakis, who was economy minister for Argentina's biggest and wealthiest province, Buenos Aires, from 2011 to 2015. The appointment was announced on Twitter. Guzman, the architect of a $44-billion (€42-billion) debt restructuring deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), unexpectedly stepped down on Saturday. This followed constant clashes with the militant wing of the ruling coalition loyal to Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who disapproved of his tighter fiscal policy. Batakis comes in at a time when the Argentine economy is in full-blown crisis mode, with inflation above 60%, a high fiscal deficit, fears rising about debt defaults, and people losing faith in the peso currency and anticipating a devaluation. She is seen as more aligned with the ruling Peronist coalition's militant wing, which wants more public spending to help alleviate high poverty levels in Argentina. "There is no dignified poverty," she wrote in a pinned post on her Twitter account. "It is just poverty, and we must fight it." This is in direct contrast of the stipulations of the deal with the IMF to bring down the fiscal deficit, increase reserves and lower central bank financing. Her critics remain skeptical of the appointment. Matias Carugati, an economist from Consultora Seido, pointed to a lack of information regarding Batakis' policy vision. "Now we have a minister," he said, "But we do not yet have an economic plan." The political turmoil comes at a time when Argentina is undergoing tumultuous economic times. The agricultural powerhouse has been battling inflation of more than 60% in the last 12 months. The economy also has been disrupted by trucker strikes over shortages of diesel. Guzman's abrupt departure also leaves the country in the lurch, as he was expected to travel to France for talks this week to renegotiate a $2 billion debt deal with the Paris Club group of sovereign lenders. The original debt of $57 billion to Argentina was the largest ever issued by the IMF. The final tranche of the deal was refused by President Alberto Fernandez after he took over office from liberal predecessor Mauricio Macri. With soaring inflation and bleeding of foreign currency reserves due to high energy import costs, investors are questioning Argentina's ability to meet its debt commitments. Returns on government bonds are among the highest in the world, demonstrating investors' lack of confidence in them being honored. Argentina has defaulted on its debt nine times since its 1816 independence from Spain, and three times this century, with the largest default taking place in late 2001.  To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ss/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)

7Politics

India evacuated about 50 diplomats and other staff members from its consulate in the Afghan city of Kandahar on Sunday as Taliban forces continue to gain control.  The staff members traveled back to Delhi on Saturday night in an Indian Air Force flight.  "India is closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan. The safety and security of our personnel is paramount," said a spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs on Twitter. The ministry said this was a temporary measure, and that the consulate would continue to function through local staff members. The Sunni Muslim insurgent group claimed to have gained control of over 85% of Afghanistan as troops from the US and other foreign forces are finalizing their withdrawal from the war-torn nation after 20 years. The US pullout from the country is 90% complete. President Joe Biden said the US mission would fully withdraw by August 31. US allies have also been leaving the country, with Australia on Sunday becoming the latest nation to confirm that all of its troops had returned from Afghanistan.  While peace talks have been taking place, tensions between the Afghan government and the Taliban continue to raise questions over the stability in the region.  Indian media reported that the embassy in Afghanistan had asked Indians to exercise caution and avoid non-essential travel to Afghanistan. An advisory issued by the embassy had described the situation in Afghanistan as "dangerous." Russia had closed its consulate in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif last week. China evacuated more than 200 of its nationals from Afghanistan earlier this month. In June, Australia shut down its embassy in Kabul, saying it would be reopened "when circumstances permit." tg/dj (dpa, AFP, Reuters) 

2Conflicts

The ministers of defense of NATO member states are holding a round of talks in Brussels on Wednesday to deal with the response to security threats posed by Russia in the medium to long term. Ahead of talks NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said "Russia's war against Ukraine is posing the biggest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades." Stoltenberg said that NATO needed to made stronger with more support given to partners. "Allies are committed to continue providing the military equipment that Ukraine needs to prevail, including heavy weapons and long range systems," the NATO chief said. Stoltenberg also said that he expected consensus on a new package of assistance at the upcoming NATO leaders' summit in Madrid later this month. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Stoltenberg will be chairing the talks which begin with a working dinner on Wednesday evening and will continue with an allied ministers' meeting on Thursday. Finland, Georgia, Sweden and Ukraine and the European Union have been invited to the session which Stoltenberg said would be an opportunity to assess Ukraine's urgent needs, while also affording NATO allies the opportunity to pledge more support. The Ukrainian leadership has made repeated appeals for more military assistance in the form of heavy weaponry since the Russian invasion on February 24. While various pledges have been made, there has been a level of criticism that support has been slow in coming. As Russia's invasion of Ukraine heads towards the four month mark, Baltic states bordering Russia want a stronger military presence in the region.Last week German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to bolster the alliance's eastern flank with a €100 billion ($106 billion) special fund that would reinforce German forces in the area. “I welcome Germany’s intension to strengthen its engagement in Lithuania, which leads our NATO battlegroup and develop it towards a more robust combat brigade," Stoltenberg said. With that in mind, the security alliance's summit in Madrid is expected to determine what the future of the NATO deployment in eastern Europe will look like. A separate meeting being held by the US and the Ukraine Defense Contact Group is also being held on Wednesday, although NATO is not officially taking part in discussions. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video kb/jcg (dpa, Reuters)

2Conflicts