World

Shirin (name changed), a nurse at the Imam Khomeini Hospital in the western Iranian province of Ilam, recently found herself at the center of a tragedy far beyond anything she had seen in her work. At the end of last week, she took note of reports on social media of a brutal clampdown on anti-government protesters in Malekshahi county, but she never imagined that she would find herself in the middle of it. A few hours later, the first group of wounded people from Malekshahi — those who could not be treated at home — were rushed to the hospital where Shirin works. "More than 40 injured people, covered in blood, were brought to us," the 38-year-old said. "Most had been shot in the upper body: neck, chest, shoulders. Two of them died on the way here. Two young men." Video footage of secur...

The Syrian city of Aleppo once again became the site of fighting on Friday as after Kurdish groups rejected government demands to abandon their positions. Syrian forces hit the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiya neighborhoods that have been held by Kurdish forces since the early days of the war that broke out in 2011. Although Kurdish fighters said they have already left the city, Kurdish security forces remain in place. Why did fighting break out between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces in Aleppo? The Syrian Defense Ministry announced a ceasefire overnight into Friday, calling on Kurdish forces to leave the city and move into other Kurdish-held areas. But Kurdish forces rejected what they called "a call to surrender," adding that they would "defend their neighborhoods." Several hours ...

North Korea on Saturday accused South Korea of flying a drone into its airspace on January 4 and infringing on its sovereignty. What did North Korea say? The North Korean military tracked the drone "moving northwards" over South Korea's Ganghwa county, one of the closest territories to the North, Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) cited a spokesman for the Korean People's Army as saying. The drone was shot down inside the North Korean airspace near the city of Kaesong after flying for 8 kilometers, the spokesperson added. Pyongyang alleged that the drone was equipped with surveillance cameras and had reportedly filmed "major" North Korean facilities. The state news agency published photos of the destroyed drone and its purported surveillance footage.  How has Sou...

A viral video from Minneapolis in the US state of Minnesota is circulating on social media. It shows a confrontation that took place on January 7, in which an officer of the US immigration enforcement agency ICE shot a 37-year-old white American woman called Renee Nicole Good in her car. She was declared dead in hospital shortly afterward. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has shared another video of the incident, and has presented the situation as follows: that the woman in the car ran the ICE officer over, and he seems to have shot her in self-defense. The DW Fact Check team has examined the claim. Claim: "[…] the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defen...

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vetoed a bill on Thursday that would have reduced former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's prison sentence. Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a coup last year. Lula, the country's left-wing leader, announced his decision three years to the day after Bolsonaro supporters rioted in the capital Brasilia after his 2022 election loss, in scenes similar to the riots by supporters of US President Donald Trump who tried to storm the US Capitol building. Bolsonaro's supporters went through government buildings and rioted demanding that Brazil's army to overthrow Lula, who had just taken office The plan included plan to assassinate Lula as well as his vice president and Supreme Court justice, Alexandre de Moraes.Bolsonaro supporters stormed Planalt...

Two people were shot and wounded by US Border Patrol officers in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon, authorities said. Portland police said officers responding to emergency calls found a man and a woman with apparent gunshot wounds. "Two people are in the hospital following a shooting involving federal agents," Portland police ⁠said in a statement. Their conditions were not immediately known. Local police stressed that their officers were not involved in the incident.Portland's mayor urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to 'end all operations' in the cityImage: Jenny Kane/AP Photo/picture alliance What did authorities say? The FBI said ​it ​was probing the shooting in which the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents were involved. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson ur...

The US military's pre-dawn attack in Venezuela on Saturday and the capture of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores over alleged drug offenses prompted a swift response from the African Union. The bloc expressed "grave concern" and called for respect for sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity. "The African Union calls upon all parties concerned to exercise restraint, responsibility, and respect for international law to prevent any escalation and to preserve regional peace and stability," it said in a statement on the situation in Venezuela. Maduro: a disputed president  The United States does not regard Maduro as a legitimate president. Like the EU and many Latin American states, it questions the official result of Venezuela's 2024 presidential el...

Hours after the US controversial seizure of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro this weekend, China's Foreign Ministry stated Beijing was "deeply shocked" by the "blatant use of force against a sovereign state." The Asian nation also appealed to Latin American and Caribbean countries, calling them "good friends and good partners" and assuring them Beijing was willing to work with them and "navigate the changing international landscape with solidarity and coordination." While criticizing the United States for attacking Venezuela, Chinese diplomats have also sought to portray their own country as a responsible global power. Those remarks are likely to resonate strongly across Latin America. With US President Donald Trump reviving the Monroe Doctrine — a foreign policy stance first articulated over...

Japan has criticized new Chinese restrictions on exporting so-called dual-use goods to the country, imposed after comments from its prime minister on Chinese military drills near Taiwan upset Beijing.  "A measure such as this, targeting only our country, differs significantly from international practice, is absolutely unacceptable and deeply regrettable," Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara saidd.  Dual use items are goods, software or technologies that can have both civilian and military applications, and can include certain key rare earths used to make items like drones and computer chips.  Minoru Kihara called the Chinese step 'deeply regrettable,' with Japan yet to announce any measures in retaliationImage: Motoya Taguchi/Jiji Press/picture allian...

Colombia is "very sick," and its government is run by "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States," US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday. Asked about a military intervention in Colombia, he responded: "Sounds good to me!" Gustavo Petro's response to Trump's threat was not long in coming. The Colombian president had already frequently fired back at attacks from Trump or Elon Musk on social media, and this time Petro also went all out on the platform X. "Every soldier in Colombia now has an order: any commander of the security forces who gives preference to the US flag over the Colombian flag will be immediately dismissed from the institution on the orders of the base, the troops, and myself. The order to the security forces is not to shoot at the...