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DW
an hour ago
- Politics
- DW
North Korea's Kim offers Russia 'unconditional support' – DW – 07/13/2025
Kim Jong Un met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the port city of Wonsan. The meeting came as analysts suggest North Korea will send more troops to fight alongside Russia amid its offensive against Ukraine. North Korea's Kim Jong Un has reiterated his support for Russia in the war against Ukraine, according to state media on Sunday. The reiteration of support came after Kim met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday in the eastern North Korean port city of Wonsan, Pyongyang's state news agency KCNA reported. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Kim told Lavrov they "have the same views on all strategic issues" and that Pyongyang was "ready to unconditionally support and encourage all the measures taken by the Russian leadership as regards the tackling of the root cause of the Ukrainian crisis," KCNA reported. Kim and Lavrov exchanged views in "an atmosphere full of warm comradely trust," according to the statement. Lavrov's visit to North Korea was the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as both countries deepen military and political ties in the midst of Russia's offensive against Ukraine. North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to oust Kyiv forces and has also provided the Russian army with weapons. After visiting North Korea last month, the head of Russia's Security Council and former defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that Kim had agreed to send 6,000 more military engineers and workers to the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, underlining the growing military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed those figures. The spy agency also said that North Korea has now provided Russia with more than 10 million artillery rounds and missiles, receiving economic cooperation and military technology in return. At the end of June, North Korean state media showed images of Kim honoring the flag-draped coffins of what appeared to be North Korean soldiers killed while fighting for Russia against Ukraine. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
2 hours ago
- Climate
- DW
Climate, terrain complicate efforts to fight Syria wildfires – DW – 07/13/2025
Massive wildfires have burned along Syria's coastline for over a week. Bringing the blazes under control is proving difficult for the authorities because of the rugged terrain and the danger of landmines following years of civil war.
DW
2 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
Peace with PKK could boost Turkey's status in Middle East – DW – 07/13/2025
After its four-decade insurgency against Turkey's government, the Kurdistan Workers' Party has symbolically laid down its arms. The historic turning point presents opportunities and challenges for both sides. The Kurdsare the world's largest stateless ethnic group, with an estimated 25 to 30 million people living as minorities across Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Fragmentation and complex regional interests have always made Kurdish issues highly sensitive in the Middle East. But a possible turning point has emerged. After over four decades of waging an armed anti-capitalist struggle for Kurdish self-determination against Turkey's government, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has declared an end to the conflict and initiated a disarmament process. On Friday, 30 PKK fighters ceremonially laid down and destroyed their weapons in Dukan, in the Sulaymaniyah Governate of Iraqi Kurdistan. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Turkey's government has called the PKK's disarmament an opportunity for a peaceful future and promised to work toward stability and reconciliation. In February, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, called on adherents to end the separatist insurgency. That is just the first step toward achieving a sustainable peace in the long-deadlocked conflict. In a statement released on Thursday, the PKK emphasized that the success of the peace process will depend largely on concessions by Turkey's government. The statement called the symbolic act a clear sign of the PKK's desire for peace. However, the complete disarmament and dissolution of the PKK will require political, legal and social steps by Turkey's government, the statement said. The PKK is demanding Ocalan's release as part of the process. The group has also called for changes to Turkey's penal code that would enable the release of thousands of other Kurdish political prisoners, particularly elderly and the sick people. The PKK also seeks amnesty for fighters who hand in their weapons and opportunities for them to transition into legal politics. Turkey's government has yet to take any concrete steps of its own. Officials are waiting to determine whether the organization's disbandment is in earnest. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who leads the religious-conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP), and his ally, Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), will also need to secure the support of their supporters and the wider population. With more than 40,000 people estimated to have been killed in the conflict since 1984 — the vast majority of them Kurdish civilians killed by forces aligned with Turkey's government — the latter could prove immensely challenging. Vahap Coskun, director of the Diyarbakir Institute for Political and Social Research, said the cautious rapprochement was normal. In difficult peace processes, mutual trust usually only develops over time as the parties come together, he said. But the first hurdle, the start to laying down arms, has now been overcome, he added. Negotiations with an organization that has been designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU, US and their allies will be extraordinarily difficult for the government, which has long painted the PKK as the chief enemy of the state. Erdogan said Ankara would take no further steps before the PKK dismantled all of its structures. According to the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, which advocates for Kurds and other minorities in Turkey, a commission will be established in the national legislature in July to create proposals for "peace and a democratic social process" beginning in October. The commission will address the future of Ocalan and the PKK's estimated 2,500 to 5,000 fighters. The true size of the organization's arsenal remains unknown. Coskun said he expected the PKK to emerge from the mountains in groups of 40 to 50 fighters over the next few months to surrender their weapons. Media close to the government report that handover locations will be defined and monitored jointly by Iraq's central government and the administration of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. The weapons are to be registered and destroyed to prevent them from ending up with other Kurdish groups. The regional Kurdistan administration in Iraq supports the rapprochement between Turkey's government and the PKK. Although the PKK has agreed to this plan, it may not wish to relinquish control so quickly. Some fighters could join organizations such as the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) in Iran or the Kurdish militias of the People's Defense Units (YPG) in Syria. Turkey's government regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the PKK and has in recent years launched cross-border attacks on the group. Coskun is optimistic about the peace process, saying Turkey's government and the PKK have learned from previous, unsuccessful attempts. Those negotiations were often protracted, but this time the government wants to move forward quickly. Work on a political solution is set to begin in October, when Turkey's parliament convenes after the summer break. "This will require changes to the Turkish penal code, in particular the anti-terror laws and the law on enforcement," Coskun said. Demands by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party for more rights for Kurds and the recognition of the Kurdish identity would also require a change to the Turkish constitution, Coskun added. Coskun said the peace process could help improve the Turkish government's relations with Kurds in Iraq and Syria, as well. Though Turkey generally has a good relationship with Kurds in Iraq, the PKK's activities in the Kurdistan has often strained ties between the governments. Turkey has also always seen the Kurdish self-administration in northern Syria as a major threat because of its close ties with the PKK. If Turkey's government can resolve its domestic and cross-border conflict with Kurds, Coskun said, its relations with Middle Eastern countries could improve. On Saturday, Erdogan praised the beginning of the peace process, calling it the end of a "painful chapter" in Turkish history that had been characterized by the "scourge of terrorism." "Today the doors of a great Turkey, a strong Turkey, a Turkish century have been opened wide,' Erodgan said.
DW
7 hours ago
- Climate
- DW
Spain: Two missing as heavy rains hit Catalonia – DW – 07/13/2025
Firefighters in the northeastern region were searching for two people who were reportedly swept away by floodwaters. The torrential rainfall has also disrupted transport services in and around Barcelona. Two people were missing after torrential rains and floods in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Firefighters said they were searching along the banks and mouth of the Foix river for two people who went missing near the town of Cubelles, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Barcelona. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for "great caution" and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in 10 northern and eastern regions that were on high alert on Saturday. "We are closely monitoring the situation in several communities with warnings for heavy rains and storms," Sanchez wrote on X. The prime minister said troops from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) had already been deployed to municipalities in Aragon. The national weather service, Aemet, said 10 centimeters (four inches) had fallen near Barcelona in a matter of hours. Catalonia and the neighboring region of Aragon were under a red "extreme risk" alert due to rains that could see up to 60 liters per square meter fall in one hour, according to Aemet. As a precautionary measure, Renfe, Spain's rail company, briefly suspended services throughout Catalonia on Saturday. In Barcelona, roads were blocked, while a hospital had to refuse patients after it flooded. A plane that took off from the city for the United States was forced to turn back after sustaining damage to its nose in a hail storm. In October 2024, heavy rains and devastating floods in the eastern region of Valencia killed 225 people in the worst meteorological disaster in Spain in decades. That rain storm, like the one currently affecting the country, was caused by a weather phenomenon known in Spain as a "cold drop" or DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels), in which a mass of cold air drops over the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
11 hours ago
- Business
- DW
Trump announces 30% tariffs on EU goods as trade talks stall – DW – 07/12/2025
The announcement follows failed attempts in recent weeks to strike a trade deal between the US and EU. Top EU leaders said negotiations would continue but have vowed to protect the bloc's interests. The United States is set to impose a 30% tariff on all goods from the European Union from August 1, US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform Saturday. The EU had been prepared for such a move, which comes a day after Trump told Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney that he would impose a 35% tariffs on Canadian imports. The 27-member bloc and the US failed to reach an agreement to strike a comprehensive trade deal, including zero-for-zero tariffs on industrial goods. In addition to the tariffs on EU goods, Trump posted another letter to his platform, declaring a 30% tariff rate on goods from Mexico beginning August 1 as well. Follow our live blog for the latest EU reactions to Trump's announcement. The US president said the trade relationship with the EU has been "unfortunately, far from Reciprocal." As such, "we will charge the European Uniona Tariff of only 30%," he said. Trump has frequently described tariffs as charges on other countries. However, the burden falls on consumers within the US, as tariffs make imported goods more expensive and thus less competitive. "Please understand that the 30% number is far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with the EU," he added, referring to the difference in goods imported from the EU and goods exported to the EU. Trump invited the bloc to negotiate further, writing in his letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that high tariff rates would be dropped if "the European Union, or countries within the EU, decide to build or manufacture within the United States." Trump has spent the week sending letters to trading partners, announcing new rates for a number of countries like Japan, South Korea, Canada and Brazil. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Trump imposed a 20% import tax on all EU-made products in early April as part of a set of tariffs targeting countries with which the US has a trade imbalance. Hours after the nation-specific duties took effect, Trump put them on hold until July 9 at a standard rate of 10% in a bid to calm turbulent financial markets and allow time for negotiations. But the president expressed frustration at talks with the EU. In May, he threatened to impose a tariff rate of 50% on EU goods into the US. That would cause a price hike on everything from Italian leather goods to French cheese to German electronics in the US. Then Trump announced that universal tariffs that were due to kick in July 9 would be delayed until at least the beginning of August. The EU currently faces 50% US tariffs on its steel and aluminium exports, 25% on cars and car parts and 10% on most other products. Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is prepared to take the necessary steps to safeguard its economic interests if the US proceeds with the 30% tariff rate. In a statement, Von der Leyen said that the bloc remained ready "to continue working towards an agreement by August 1." "We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required," she added. French President Emmanuel Macron said his government shares the European Commission's "very strong disapproval" of Trump's announcement, which came despite "weeks of intense engagement." "France fully supports the European Commission in the negotiations, which will now intensify," Macron posted on X, adding that he still hopes "a mutually acceptable agreement" will be reached before August 1. The French president added that the bloc would need to speed up "the preparation of credible countermeasures" if no agreement is reached before the new tariffs take effect. The EU has the ability to enact the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) which allows it to retaliate against countries seeking to pressure its members. It has been repeatedly brought up as a possible response to Trump's threats. The ACI can limit access to companies from those countries to public procurement tenders and target services trade or investment. Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche, meanwhile, warned that the US tariffs "would hit European exporting companies hard." She also said that they would have a "strong impact" on the US economy and consumers, as she urged for a "pragmatic outcome" to be reached "quickly." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
