World

Former US President Bill Clinton testified that he had no knowledge of the sex crimes of the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, according to a video released by a US congressional committee on Monday. The recording of the depositions, made under oath, to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee spanned over two days last week. What did Clinton tell the lawmakers? During the deposition Bill Clinton told the committee that he had parted his way from Epstein years before the convicted sex offender entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Bill Clinton told the committee that he first met Epstein when he boarded the financier's private jet in 2002 for the Clintons' humanitarian work, but their ties fell apart a year later. "There's nothing that I...

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced that his country's navy boarded and diverted a vessel believed to be part of Russia's illicit shadow fleet of oil tankers on Sunday. Francken said the ship was being taken to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, where it would be officially seized by Belgian authorities. What do we know about Brussel's capture of the Russia fleet tanker? Francken said the tanker Ethera, captured Sunday by Belgian and French forces, was suspected of sailing under "false flag and false documents." "Over the past few hours, ​our ‌armed forces, with the support of the French Defense, have boarded an oil tanker belonging to the ‌Russian shadow fleet," Francken wrote in an early morning ‌post ​on X. "The vessel is currently being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, ...

Around 12 hours after Ali Khamenei's compound had been largely destroyed by dozens of bombs, Iranian state television confirmed the death of the cleric and supreme leader. The complex, known as "Beit-e Rahbari" ("House of Leadership") and located in the center of the capital Tehran, was one of the first targets of the US and Israeli military strikes against Iran on February 28. The 86-year-old ayatollah, who had repeatedly expressed his desire for a martyr's death in his public speeches, had apparently remained there with his family in the last few days despite the high probability of an attack. Numerous videos have since circulated online showing people celebrating Khamenei's demise. The videos have been verified, but it is unclear whether and to what extent people in Iran are able to ...

A luxury hotel, ports, inner city neighborhoods, industrial areas, airports and oil infrastructure: All have been targeted by Iranian missiles in the neighboring Gulf states over the past two days, after a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran started the current conflict. In a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council, Iran's foreign minister said Iran would "exercise its right of ⁠self-defense." The country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, explained that it would consider all US assets in the region to be legitimate targets. Subsequently, an Iranian missile hit the headquarters of the US navy in Bahrain. Qatar said it intercepted missiles heading for Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American base in the region. And Kuwait said Iranian strikes had hit Ali Al-Salem air base...

Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency confirmed on Sunday the death of the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli air force attack on Saturday. The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said in a social media message that Khamenei, "one of the most evil people in history," had been killed. Khamenei, who was appointed supreme leader in 1989 after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founder, ruled the country with an iron fist, leaving no room for dissent or political freedom. The news of Khamenei's death was received with joy and grief in different quarters of Iran, with those opposed to the hardline regime seen celebrating on the streets, while others mourned the demise of their leader. DW spoke to some Iranians, who had mi...

The US-Israel attack on Iran and Iran's aggressive response have unnerved oil markets, with many analysts predicting a massive rise in oil prices.While Iran is responsible for just 3-4% of global oil output, its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, considered the most critical oil chokepoint in the world, is prompting oil analysts to raise their forecasts for future oil prices. A prolonged disruption to traffic in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil production is transported, could see oil prices breach the $100-a-barrel threshold, a prospect that would hurt the global economy and push up prices that are already proving difficult to rein in. Oil prices had already risen to their highest levels in months ahead of the latest war in the oil-rich region as traders worried abou...

For four days, Grace Garganta sat inside the public gallery of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. She listened as ICC prosecutors read aloud the words of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is standing trial accused of unleashing a "drug war" in the Philippines that killed thousands, including Garganta's brother and father.  At times, Garganta sat silently with the other family members of victims. Tears streamed down her face as lawyers recounted harrowing details of police clampdowns and streets littered with bodies, some with their heads bound in packing tape. At other moments, she could barely contain her rage as Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte's lawyer, countered that relying on Duterte's former speeches to prove criminal intent is impossible.  "That is why it is...

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, tensions have simmered with neighboring Pakistan. On Friday, those tensions again reached a boiling point, with both sides exchanging strikes in the worst escalation in fighting since the Taliban controlled much of southern Afghanistan in the 1990s. The last large-scale outbreak of violence killed 70 people on both sides in October 2025. Several rounds of talks at the time followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but no lasting agreement materialized. On Friday, Pakistan's defense minister clearly spelled out a new level of escalation, declaring "open war" between Islamabad's forces and the Afghan Taliban. Escalating conflict between Pakistan and AfghanistanTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and cons...

The United States on Friday authorized part of its embassy staff in Israel to leave "due to safety risks," amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. The US Embassy in Jerusalem said non-emergency staff and family members of embassy employees would be able to leave Israel following approval from the US State Department. It also said US citizens should consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are still available. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if ongoing negotiations on curbing its nuclear program fail and has sent a massive fleet of warships and aircraft to the region. Trump said Friday that he was frustrated by Iran's position in talks but added he had not decided whether to carry out an attack. "I'm not happy with the fact that they're n...

A military cargo plane carrying banknotes skidded off the runway near Bolivia's capital La Paz on Friday and crashed into a busy avenue. Officials said 15 people had died into the incident and at least 30 others were injured. Fire Chief Pavel Tovar did not clarify if the dead were in the plane or in the cars on the highway in the city of El Alto, which is adjacent to La Paz. The Bolivian government is yet to confirm some details of the crashImage: Juan Karita/AP Photo/picture alliance Crash triggers cash grab Videos on social media and those reported by local media show the C-130 Hercules transport plane veering off the runway, into a busy highway where it damaged about a dozen vehicles, before coming to rest in a field. The aircraft was carrying Bolivian bank notes which scattered wh...