Latest news with #Bosnians
DW
12-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
Germany updates: Interior minister downplays coalition spat – DW – 07/12/2025
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the postponement of judicial appointments as normal, saying he cannot understand accusations of damage being done to Germany's top court. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Saturday described a postponed Bundestag vote on judicial appointments as normal. Critics within the ruling coalition have accused the CDU/CSU of "dismantling democratic institutions." A vote was abruptly cancelled Friday after the CDU/CSU withdrew support for an SPD candidate. from Bonn Following the pause, DW resumes its coverage of news and analysis from Germany. On Saturday, Germany awaits news from Paris, where the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO is expected to decide whether to grant World Heritage status to the castles of Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee, and Linderhof, as well as the royal residence on Schachen Mountain in Upper Bavaria. Stay tuned for more, and we hope you enjoy reading! It's just past midnight here in Germany, so we're pausing our coverage for now and will resume early in the morning. Thousands of Bosnians gather at a cemetery near Srebrenica to mark the 30th anniversary of a massacre in which more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces during a 1992-5 war. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German comedian Sebastian Hotz will have to go to court in relation to social media posts he made about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. The Berlin public prosecutor's office charges that Hotz, who is also known as "El Hotzo," condoned and rewarded criminal offences. His trial is scheduled to begin on July 23 at the Tiergarten district court in Berlin. Hotz deleted the posts on X, but screenshots soon began to circulate. In one comment, he suggested a similarity between a "last bus" and then presidential candidate Trump, writing that "unfortunately" both had been "just missed." In another, Hotz said: "I think it's absolutely fantastic when fascists die." In the wake of the scandal, regional public broadcaster RBB ended its collaboration with Hotz on a youth program. Soon after, national public broadcaster ARD Kultur canceled a literary event with him. Christina Block, heiress to Germany's Block House steakhouse chain, went on trial in Hamburg on Friday accused of ordering the violent kidnapping of her two youngest children. Block is standing trial alongside her partner, former television sports presenter Gerhard Delling, and several other alleged accomplices accused of snatching the children from their father in Denmark. Find out more about the high-profile case. Hasan Hasanovic lost his twin brother and father in the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. Now, he has made it his life's work to document the deadliest massacre in Europe since World War II. Today, one of Hasanovic most important projects has to do with building an archive with video footage of survivors of the genocide telling their stories. It is unique and the most important record of what happened 30 years ago. Read more about his life and work here. Vivian Spohr, the wife of Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, said she was "at the complete disposal" of Italian judicial authorities following the death of a 24-year-old woman who was struck by a vehicle in the Italian island of Sardinia. Local media reported that the 24-year-old died from serious head injuries after she was struck by a vehicle at a crosswalk on Tuesday, with Spohr reportedly at the wheel. Gaia Costa, the victim, was from from Tempio Pausania, in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia. She died at the scene of accident in in Porto Cervo in northern Sardinia. In a statement issued by her Italian lawyer on Friday, the 51-year-old German businesswoman expressed "dismay and deep sorrow for this grave accident, which has devastated a family, the town of Tempio, and the entire community of Gallura." The statement added that Spohr places herself "at the complete disposal of the Italian judicial authorities for the necessary investigations and, while aware that such a great personal loss cannot be repaired, will take steps to mitigate its consequences." Spohr had been staying at her family's vacation home when the accident occurred, local media reported. She returned to Germany shortly after the accident. Germany does not plan to procure more F-35 fighter jets beyond the 35 already ordered, the defense ministry has said, rejecting a report that claimed Berlin aimed to expand its fleet to 50. Germany has so far ordered 35 US-made jets to replace a total of 85 ageing Tornado aircraft. "The defense ministry currently has no plans to procure additional F-35s beyond the 35 F-35s already contractually agreed," a ministry spokesperson said at a regular news conference. A military source told the Reuters news agency that the 15 additional jets had been part of earlier considerations. However, NATO's new targets for weapons and troop numbers mean that the number may need adjusting. The source did not confirm if more jets will ultimately be ordered. The report by comes amid tensions between Germany and France over their joint FCAS fighter jet project. An industry source told Reuters that France now wants an 80% workshare, which could scrap the agreed split and block the project's next phase. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make his first official visit to London on Thursday, with a German-British treaty of friendship expected to be signed. Government spokesman Steffen Meyer said in Berlin on Friday that the visit aims to deepen close ties between the two countries. Merz will be received by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has sought to repair relations with the EU after Brexit. The draft treaty is set to be approved by the German Cabinet on Wednesday. It will focus on cooperation in foreign and defense policy, economic growth, and more direct contact between citizens. Once signed, the agreement will go to the Bundestag for approval. An action plan with specific joint projects will also be presented to strengthen bilateral ties. Independent justices preside over Germany's Federal Constitutional Court. How are they chosen? DW looks at the process of picking judges in Germany. A joint car plant in the Chinese city of Nanjing, run by German car company Volkswagen and its local partner SAIC, will be closed in the coming months. "Volkswagen Group and its joint venture partners are accelerating the transformation towards electric, intelligent, connected vehicles," a spokesperson for Volkswagen told AFP news agency. "Many SAIC Volkswagen sites are currently being converted or have already been converted for electric vehicle production," the spokesperson said. The spokesman also confirmed the news first reported by German newspaper, , about production having already come to a halt there. One reason for the closure of the plant, which is set to be closed over the second half of the year, was because of its urban location, making the expansion of electric vehicle production difficult. The plant, which has a capacity to produce 360,000 vehicles per year, first opened in 2008. It made models like Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Superb. The number of companies that went bankrupt in Germany significantly rose again in April, according to finalized data from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The number of 2,125 companies going bust in April 2025 marks a rise of 11.5% more than in the same month last year. Volker Treier, the head analyst of the German Industry and Commerce Chamber, warned that "Whoever wants to ensure competitiveness, cannot further postpone relief." According to preliminary data from Destatis, the number of businesses filing for bankruptcy in June 2025 is expected to rise by 2.4% in comparison to June 2024. A Bundestag debate marking the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide on Friday ended with recriminations and outrage when members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party suggested that what happened in Bosnia in 1995 was not in fact genocide. AfD politician Alexander Wolf caused uproar by questioning whether the events in Srebrenica were worthy of the label of "genocide," arguing that Bosnian Serbs had only shot men, and had spared women and children. The statement does not square with the fact that, beyond the killings of about 8,000 men and boys during the massacre, there have been thousands of reported cases of sexual abuse against Bosniak women and girls. Verdicts by both the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have already determined the genocidal character of the massacre. Politicians from the coalition SPD and CDU/CSU accused Wolf of spouting revisionist history that denies genocide and sides the perpetrators of war crimes. Still, the AfD was not done, with Martin Sichert calling Srebrenica a glaring example of the threat posed by multiculturalism, claiming that Germany was running headlong into a similar fate. It was then that parliamentarians demonstratively turned their backs, with Klöckner reprimanding Sichert and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul unexpectedly taking to the speaker's pulpit to apologize to Bosnia-Herzegovina's Ambassador to Germany Damir Arnaut for having to listen to Sichert's words. On Friday, the German parliament held a special session in memory of the Srebrenica massacre, which took place 30 years ago. About 8,000 Muslims were murdered by Bosnian Serbs in an act, recognized by several international courts as a genocide, that started on July 11, 1995. Julia Klöckner, president of the Bundestag, said that "Srebrenica was the worst war crime on European soil since World War II." She said that the massacre was the result of UN peacekeeping forces doing nothing to protect those seeking refuge. "With brutal violence, the attackers separated families and deported women, children and the elderly," she stated. "They kept men and boys behind in order to systematically murder them in the days that followed." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A German backpacker who went missing in western Australia almost two weeks ago has been found alive, Australian media reported on Friday. Australian police must first confirm the 26-year-old Carolina Wilga's identity, Australia's reported. A passerby ran into Wilga on a path in the bush, Australian media reported. Her reappearance follows a large-scale search that dragged on for days. Read more on when Wilga went missing and how she was found here.
LeMonde
12-07-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Srebrenica massacre commemoration: 30 years later, the enduring bitterness of grieving families
Lips pressed together and eyes teary, Zejad Avdic carried his brother's coffin through an emotional crowd. On Friday, July 11, exactly 30 years after the start of the Srebrenica genocide, this French-Bosnian carpenter who lives near Pontarlier (eastern France) could finally mourn Senajid, whom he last saw in 1995, when his brother was 16. "For years, we hoped to be able to bury more than just his jawbone, which was found in 2010, but the identification center told us it was rare to find any other remains," explained the man in his 40s, with salt-and-pepper hair, surrounded by his family and thousands of Bosnians attending the 30 th anniversary commemoration of the largest civilian massacre in Europe since the end of World War II. As each year, victims identified over the past 12 months or whose families had finally agreed to burial were laid to rest on this occasion. "It had to be done while I am still alive," said Husein Avdic, Zejad's 71-year-old father, before his son's coffin was quickly covered with earth, according to the Bosnian Muslim rite. Zejad Avdic lost track of his brother during the Bosnian war, when the Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladic took control of Srebrenica, a Bosnian enclave that was supposed to be protected by Dutch United Nations forces. While Zejad managed to escape by walking for six days with thousands of other men in terrible conditions toward areas held by Bosnian fighters, Senajid, who was 19 at the time, never made it to safety.
Express Tribune
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Bosnians honour Srebrenica genocide victims 30 years on
A Bosnian Muslim survivor of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide walks among headstones as she visits the graves of her relatives at the memorial cemetery in Potocari, near the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, July 11, 2024. Photo AFP Thousands of Bosnians marked the 30th anniversary of a massacre in which more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces during a 1992-1995 war at a cemetery near Srebrenica on Friday. Families buried the partial remains of seven victims, one of them a woman, alongside 6,750 already interred. Local and foreign dignitaries laid flowers at the memorial where the names of the victims are engraved in stone. About 1,000 victims have yet to be found from Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two, which, decades later, still haunts Bosnia and Herzegovina's 3 million people. Families who retrieved victims' remains have increasingly opted to bury even just a few bones to give them a final resting place. "I feel such sadness and pain for all these people and youth," said a woman called Sabaheta from the eastern town of Gorazde. Survivors and families, standing or sitting by the rows of white gravestones, joined a collective Islamic prayer for the dead before the burial. Then, in a highly emotional procession, the men carried coffins draped in green cloth and Bosnian flags to the graves. The massacre unfolded after Srebrenica — a designated UN "safe area" for civilians in Bosnia's war that followed the disintegration of federal Yugoslavia — was overrun by nationalist Bosnian Serb forces. While the women opted to go to the UN compound, men tried to escape through nearby woods where most of them were caught. Some were shot immediately, and others were driven to schools or warehouses where they were killed in the following days. The bodies were dumped in pits then dug up months later and scattered in smaller graves in an effort to conceal the crime.
Edinburgh Reporter
11-07-2025
- General
- Edinburgh Reporter
Thirtieth anniversary marked with commemoration at the Botanics
Scotland marked the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica on Friday with a solemn commemoration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). The event, organised by genocide education charity Beyond Srebrenica, honoured the memory of more than 8,300 Bosniak men and boys murdered in Srebrenica in July 1995 and reflect on the broader Bosnian war that claimed over 100,000 lives and displaced more than 2 million people – including thousands who sought refuge in the UK. The youngest of the victims was two days old. Sabina Kadić-Mackenzie, chair of Beyond Srebrenica and survivor of the war in Bosnia, said: 'This tree carries deep symbolic meaning – and chilling parallels to the human experience of war and genocide Like so many Bosnians, it found a way to survive despite everything that was done to erase it. 'On the 30th anniversary of the genocide, we remember not just the loss and horror – but the endurance, and the hope it takes to recover from the rubble of war. This tree now thrives in Scotland, just as so many of us Bosnians have. Its roots now touch Scottish soil, linking our two nations in remembrance and in hope. 'The spruce stands as a living memorial to both environmental and human resilience – and Scotland's quiet but enduring connection to Bosnia's story.' During the ceremony, guests tied white ribbons to the tree – a quiet act of solidarity and remembrance. Sabina, who is a survivor of the war, continued: 'This Spruce is more than a tree. It is a living memorial to all that we lost, and all that we refused to let be destroyed. It stands as a symbol of our survival, and of the profound connection between Bosnia and Scotland forged in the most painful of times. 'The tree stands now not only as a symbol of ecological resilience but also as a quiet testament to the resilience and grace of the Bosnian people who, like it, endured immense suffering yet refused to disappear.' Speaking at the ceremony, Simon Milne MBE, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said: 'Rare and resilient, this tree is now listed as endangered. It survives in only a handful of shrinking mountain refuges in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Its story mirrors that of this region – scarred by war, threatened by change, but still standing. 'Today, the tree grows far from its homeland, in botanic gardens and conservation sites across Europe – thanks to the work of organisations like the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. But like memory, it cannot thrive without care. As we protect these rare trees, let us also protect the truth.' The commemorative event was hosted by Beyond Srebrenica, a Scotland-based organisation working to ensure that the memory of the genocide endures and its lessons are never forgotten. 11th July 2025 Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Scotland. Elsa (11) and Olive (8) Kadic-Mackenzie , at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, pictured as white ribbons are tied to a group of Picea omorika tree, a rare and ancient conifer native to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pic Phil Wilkinson / Beyond Srebrenica 11th July 2025 Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Scotland. Elsa (11) and Olive (8) Kadic-Mackenzie , at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, pictured as white ribbons are tied to a group of Picea omorika tree, a rare and ancient conifer native to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pic Phil Wilkinson 11th July 2025 Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Scotland. Sabina Kadic-Mackenzie with daughters Elsa (11) and Olive (8) at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, pictured as white ribbons are tied to a group of Picea omorika tree, a rare and ancient conifer native to Bosnia and Herzegovina. They joined charity Beyond Srebrenica and members of the Bosnian community to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bosnian Genocide in Srebrenica. 11 July is the UN international day of remembrance and reflection for the victims of the genocide. Pic Phil Wilkinson / Beyond Srebrenica Like this: Like Related
Straits Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Bosnians honour Srebrenica genocide victims 30 years on
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Bosnian Muslims gather amid grave stones of victims killed during the Srebrenica genocide, at the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial in Potocari, Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 11, 2025. REUTERS/Amel Emric TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY SREBRENICA, Bosnia - Thousands of Bosnians gathered at a cemetery near Srebrenica on Friday to mark the 30th anniversary of a massacre in which more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces during a 1992-5 war. About 1,000 victims have yet to be found from Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two, which still haunts Bosnia and Herzegovina's 3 million people decades later. Families who retrieved victims' remains have increasingly opted to bury even just a few bones to give them a final resting place. At a ceremony on Friday, the partial remains of seven victims were to be buried alongside 6,750 already interred. Survivors, families and dignitaries walked along rows of white gravestones. Some prayed and cried at the gravesides or sat motionless, heads buried in their hands. "I feel such sadness and pain for all these people and youth," said a woman called Sabaheta from the eastern town of Gorazde. The massacre unfolded after Srebrenica - a designated U.N. "safe area" for civilians in Bosnia's war that followed the disintegration of federal Yugoslavia - was overrun by nationalist Bosnian Serb forces. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Nuclear safety research gets boost with new institute, $66m funding as S'pore weighs energy viability Singapore Man who killed 5-year-old daughter gets life sentence after he appeals against 35-year jail term Singapore More than 14,300 people checked during 7-week-long anti-crime ops Singapore Over 150 e-bikes and other non-compliant mobility devices impounded in last 2 months: LTA Singapore S'porean who defaulted on NS obligations used fake Malaysian passports at checkpoints over 800 times Singapore Over 12,000 lower-income households to receive $60 in transport vouchers by end-July Business CEO salaries: At Singapore's top companies, whose pay went up and whose saw a drop? Singapore NDP 2025: Leopard tank transmission fault identified, vehicle to resume role in mobile column While the women opted to go to the U.N. compound, men tried to escape through nearby woods where most of them were caught. Some were shot immediately, and others were driven to schools or warehouses where they were killed in the following days. The bodies were dumped in pits then dug up months later and scattered in smaller graves in an effort to conceal the crime. General Ratko Mladic, who commanded the forces, was convicted of genocide by a U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague along with Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic. As part of the commemoration, nearly 7,000 people took part in a three-day peace march in reverse of the 100 km route that some Muslim Bosniak men managed to take from Srebrenica to escape the Bosnian Serb death squads. Two international courts have ruled the massacre was genocide but Serb leaders in Bosnia and Serbia dispute the term, the death toll and the official account of what went on – reflecting conflicting narratives of the Yugoslav wars that still feed political divisions and stifle progress toward integration with Western Europe and the EU. Last year, the U.N. General Assembly declared July 11 an international day of remembrance of the Srebrenica genocide, with many countries organising commemorations this year. "This can never be forgotten. Who can say this wasn't a genocide? Only a person without a soul," Sabaheta said. REUTERS
