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UK govt change won't affect Ukraine support, Starmer tells Zelensky
The change of government will make "no difference" to Britain's support for Ukraine's defence against the Russian invasion, newly appointed Prime Minister Keir Starmer reassured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Wednesday. "I just had a very good meeting with President Zelensky, where I made it absolutely clear that as far as the UK is concerned, the change of government makes no difference to the support that we will provide," Starmer told reporters. King Charles III appointed Starmer as prime minister on Friday, following a landslide election victory on Thursday by Starmer's centre-left Labour Party, which had been in opposition for 14 years. Despite their domestic disagreements, Labour and the ousted Conservative Party have been closely aligned on the provision of military support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. "We've been united on this when we were in opposition, and it was really important to me to be able to affirm that face-to-face in the meeting; I didn't speak to him immediately after I was sworn in as prime minister last week," Starmer said. He added that the Washington summit was an opportunity for his new Labour government to reaffirm its commitment to NATO.
AfD forms new group in European Parliament
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have announced the formation of a new right-wing group in the European Parliament on Wednesday. As the spokesman for co-leader Alice Weidel announced, the "Europe of Sovereign Nations" parliamentary group will initially be made up of 25 MPs from a total of eight countries, 14 of whom are from the AfD. The group is currently the smallest in the EU legislature. Political parties from more than 7 EU countries are need to set up a group, under European Parliament rules, with a minimum of 23 EU legislators required. Other countries represented include Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech...
NATO leaders to declare Ukraine's path to membership 'irreversible'
NATO leaders are expected to endorse a declaration of Ukraine's "irreversible path" to membership of the alliance on Wednesday, at a summit being held in Washington this week. The portion of text prepared for the summit declaration, seen by dpa on Wednesday, is intended to reassure Ukraine that its "future is in NATO." Leaders gathered on Tuesday for the first day of the summit, which is set to continue throughout Wednesday and Thursday. The text underscores that Ukraine can only join when all current members agree. The United States and Germany in particular are against rushing the process, diplomatic sources within the...
United States to station Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany
The United States will station Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany in order to strengthen NATO's military deterrent in Europe, according to a joint statement by the two countries' governments on Wednesday. The statement, issued on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington, said "episodic deployments" of the long-range missiles will begin in 2026. As well as Tomahawks, the cruise missiles include SM-6 "and developmental hypersonic weapons," which have longer range than missiles currently stationed in Europe. "Exercising these advanced capabilities will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence," the statement said.
Netherlands and England fans fight at restaurant in Dortmund
An altercation between Netherlands and England fans broke out in front of a restaurant in Dortmund on Wednesday, just two hours before the Euro 2024 semi-final between both teams. Dortmund is hosting the match and the party of the football fans had been largely peaceful during the day. However, according to a police spokesman, two groups of people from both sides attacked each other at the restaurant. Objects were thrown and people have been reportedly injured. Officers were on site to take action, the spokesman said. Videos posted on social media showed the moment of the altercation and, according to reports, there were also problems at a public viewing area. Around 100,000 Dutch supporters marched through the city centre on Wednesday before the game, singing and celebrating towards the stadium and public viewing areas. According to the police, this was the biggest fan march the city has ever seen. There were also 25,000 English fans in the city.
Left-wing camp in France divided over pick for prime minister
The broad leftist coalition that banded together to beat back the French far-right is struggling to pick a candidate for prime minister. The multi-party New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, which was the surprise winner of Sunday's snap parliamentary elections, consists primarily of the Socialists, the Greens, the Communists and firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon's hard-left France Unbowed. At an overnight meeting between the Socialists and France Unbowed, no agreement was reached, broadcaster France Info reported on Wednesday, as both parties vie for supremacy in the alliance. The Socialists see their party leader Olivier Faure as the best candidate for the premiership. France Unbowed is pushing for...
NATO leaders to declare Ukraine's path to membership 'irreversible'
NATO leaders are expected to endorse a declaration of Ukraine's "irreversible path" to membership of the alliance on Wednesday, at a summit being held in Washington this week. The portion of text prepared for the summit declaration, seen by dpa on Wednesday, is intended to reassure Ukraine that its "future is in NATO." Leaders gathered on Tuesday for the first day of the summit, which is set to continue throughout Wednesday and Thursday. The text underscores that Ukraine can only join when all current members agree. The United States and Germany in particular are against rushing the process, diplomatic sources within the...
EU leaders relieved after surprise election win for French left
The victory of the French left in the recent parliamentary elections was a surprise for many, with EU leaders quick to share their relief that a nationalist government is not taking power in France. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was "happy" with the result. "In Paris enthusiasm, in Moscow disappointment, in Kyiv relief," the former European Council president said on X. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez praised the "rejection of the radical right" on X and said France had opted for "a social left that tackles the people's problems with serious and courageous policies." German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also told reporters...
No grandma? No problem! A program connects kids with 'wish grannies'
Colourful building blocks are scattered across the living room floor and a thick rope for twirling dangles from the ceiling next to the dining table. Traces of children are everywhere in 75-year-old Marita May's house in Bad Ems, a town some 75 kilometres north-west of Frankfurt, but no children live there. That's because May is a so-called granny by choice or wish grandmother. In German, a Wunschoma is someone who acts as a grandmother but is not biologically related to their "grandkids." A Wunschopa is the term used for a wish grandfather. For about 10 years, she has been regularly meeting with two...
How courts are becoming battlegrounds for action on climate change
Judges are increasingly being drawn into the fight against climate change as activists and civic groups bring lawsuits aimed at enforcing climate commitments and protecting the environment. Courts from Estonia to Norway to the US are all weighing cases that pit governments against small groups of dedicated activists. Cases focus on disputes about concrete measures to protect the environment as citizens and organizations seek to force lawmakers to do more to protect the climate. A group of elderly Swiss women made headlines earlier this year when they succeeded in their demand for stricter measures against climate change in a case decided by the...
German spy agency uses catchy logos, Bond-style ad to attract talent
With a new, cryptic logo, lots of bass in the soundtrack, a bit of Bond: Germany's foreign intelligence agency is stepping out of the shadows with a fresh, modern image to attract new talent. The trademark of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, has been one of secrecy for decades. However, the BND recently launched a campaign to revamp its public image. This move is part of a strategy to compete with other employers and security agencies for skilled workers. "From mystery to brand" is a catchphrase at the agency which reveals the mission's aim. The spies have been secretly fine-tuning their new image...
South Korea needs more doctors — but 9,000 are on strike
By many measures, South Korea's healthcare system is among the most successful in the world. Seeing a doctor is easy. The mortality rate from preventable illnesses is low. And though most hospitals and clinics are privately run, a nationalized single-payer health insurance program keeps costs affordable. An appendectomy costs $2,500 — less than a fifth of the average price that one pays in the United States for example — with 80% of that covered by government insurance. But a four-month-old strike by more than 9,000 medical residents and interns across the country is turning the public against the medical establishment. At issue is a...
'Gladiator 2' trailer teases epic battles and star-studded cast
Fans have been left waiting almost a quarter of a century for a sequel, but now at last Paramount Studios has released an action-packed three-minute "Gladiator 2" trailer, four months before the blockbuster's scheduled cinema release. The trailer, teasing many bloody battle scenes in the Roman Colosseum, features a mounted rhinoceros and attacking warships, setting an intense tone for the sequel to the original 2000 film. Irish actor Paul Mescal of "Normal People" fame has trained hard to build muscles for his gladiatorial role in the upcoming film, directed by Ridley Scott. As the lead actor, Mescal plays Lucius Verus, the now-adult son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), fighting for his life as a gladiator and rebels against the rulers in Rome. Denzel Washington portrays a Roman statesman, while Pedro Pascal stars as General Marcus Acacius. "Gladiator 2" is set to hit cinemas in mid-November. In the original 2000 film, Russell Crowe played the celebrated gladiator Maximus, who kills his rival, the treacherous emperor's son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), in a duel and dies himself at the end. Lucius Verus, a nephew of Commodus, was just a small boy at the time. The blockbuster film won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.
Scholz says Germany will fulfil its 'special responsibility' to NATO
Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he has assured fellow NATO leaders that Germany, as Europe's largest economy, will pull its weight in the alliance. "Germany is the largest country in Europe within the NATO alliance. This gives us a very special responsibility," Scholz said on the sidelines of the NATO summit under way in Washington on Wednesday. "And I can say this very clearly and unequivocally here: We will - I will - fulfil this responsibility." The question of Germany's role in the alliance is being asked more loudly in view of Donald Trump's possible victory in the US presidential election and French President Emmanuel Macron's likely shaky political position in the wake of parliamentary elections. Perhaps most pressingly, there are worries whether aid for Ukraine can be maintained at the current level if Trump wins the White House and shuts off funding.
Ukraine's Zelensky thanks Germany's Scholz for air defence systems
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the delivery of air defence systems from Germany. "Thank you, Olaf, for the air defence," Zelensky told Scholz at a meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington. Air defence systems are a key element of the military aid Germany has provided to Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion of the country in February 2022. Most recently, the German armed forces provided three Patriot air defence systems. Scholz is lobbying other NATO allies to offer Ukraine further protection from Russian airstrikes. "In my view, this process is not complete," said Scholz before his meeting with Zelensky.
Germany's women footballers to receive €20,000 each for Paris gold
Germany's women footballers would each receive €20,000 ($21,400) for an Olympic victory in Paris, the German Football Federation (DFB) confirmed to dpa on Wednesday. This would be around the same amount the men would have won if they had been successful in Tokyo three years ago. Instead they went out in the group phase while the women did not qualify for Tokyo. Horst Hrubesch's women's team will face Australia on July 25, world champions the US on July 28, and Zambia on July 31. The German men have not qualified for Paris. Before the Olympics, the women's team have two European Championship qualification games on Friday in Reykjavik against Iceland and on Tuesday in Hanover against Austria. They have already qualified for the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland. Bayern Munich midfielder Sydney Lohmann will miss the two qualifying matches due to a muscle injury and is a doubt for the Olympic Games. "Lohmann will complete her rehabilitation programme at her club in order to be able to travel to the Olympic Games in France if her recovery progresses optimally," the federation said in a statement.
NATO: Ukraine's path to membership 'irreversible'
Ukraine's path to NATO membership is "irreversible," according to a text prepared for an alliance declaration seen by dpa on Wednesday. The wording is intended to reassure Ukraine that its "future is in NATO." NATO leaders are expected to formally endorse the text in a declaration during an alliance summit in Washington that began on Tuesday and continues on Wednesday and Thursday. The text underscores that Ukraine can only join when all current members agree. The United States and Germany in particular are against rushing the process, diplomatic sources within the alliance said. But other NATO member states want to demonstrate that Russia cannot put the brakes on Ukraine joining NATO by waging war against the country. The text welcomes Ukraine's "concrete progress" on "its required democratic, economic and security reforms," since the last NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius a year ago. NATO has accepted the idea of Ukrainian membership in principle since 2008, while Ukraine has had its NATO membership ambitions enshrined in its national constitution since 2019.
Many reported dead in fighting and strikes in Gaza
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it is pressing home its operations in the Gaza Strip, and successfully targeted groups of militants also in Gaza City. On Tuesday, troops killed dozens of terrorists in the city's northern Shejaiya district, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on X. Here, Israeli forces destroyed underground tunnel routes, while troops attacked and killed several members of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the centre of the coastal strip, according to the post. Operations were also continuing in the city of Rafah in the south of the Palestinian territory. "Over the past day, troops eliminated...
Scholz holds out prospect of further Ukraine aid at NATO summit
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has described the support provided to Ukraine with air-defence systems to date as a "major step," on the fringes of the NATO summit in Washington. At the same time, he held out the prospect of the delivery of further aid. "In my view, this process is not complete," Scholz said on Wednesday before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The United States, Germany and other allies had promised Ukraine five systems to defend against Russian airstrikes at the start of the NATO summit on Tuesday. Ukraine had already requested seven additional systems in April, so the demand...
Deschamps to stay on as France coach, Mbappé admits he played poorly
Didier Deschamps is set to remain as national team coach despite France's semi-final exit at Euro 2024 and significant criticism of their performance during the tournament. "I see no reason to question his contract," French federation boss Philippe Diallo told the L’Équipe newspaper on Wednesday. Deschamps has a contract until 2026, which Diallo said must be respected. He believes Deschamps led the team through the tournament in the best possible way and achieved their sporting goal. France reached the semi-finals but were defeated 2-1 by title favourites Spain on Tuesday. Deschamps has been coaching Les Bleus for 12 years, winning the World Cup...
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