Penulis: Agus S

What do electric vehicles, fighter jets and digital cameras have in common? Rare earth elements. They're wanted everywhere but are only sourced from a few places.

Rare earth elementsare a group of 17 chemical elements that play an often small but irreplaceable role in many essential modern technological products.

Smartphones, flat-screen TVs, digital cameras and LEDs all rely on them but arguably one of their most important uses is in the making of what are known as permanent magnets.

These components can retain their magnetic properties for decades, and because they are so strong, they can be much smaller and lighter than any non-rare-earth alternatives currently available. As a result, they are critical to theconstruction of electric vehiclesand wind turbines.

But the uses for rare earth elements, also known as REEs, do not stop there. They are also key to a huge range ofdefense technologies— from fighter jets to submarines and laser range finders.

This strategic importance, both for commerce and defense, is part of what makes them so valuable. Neodymium and praseodymium, the most important REEs for permanent magnets, currently go for around €55 ($62) per kilogram. Terbium can sell for a kilo price of up to €850.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

The 17 elements are not as "rare"as their collective name might imply. In fact, they're very common, with trace amounts being found all over the world.

The challenge comes in finding areas with high enough concentrations to make extraction financially viable. Right now, according to US Geological Survey data, 70% of the world's rare earth elements are mined inChina, the vast majority coming from the Bayan Obi mine in the country's north.

This single source is orders of magnitude larger than the next biggest deposits on the planet — such as Mount Weld in Australia and Kvanefjeld in Greenland — and contains large quantities of all the rare earth elements used to make magnets.

Once they're out of the ground, they undergo a highly specialized process of separation and refinement to turn them into usable compounds. This too, largely takes place in China, meaning the country doesn't only provide most of the world's rare earth metals, but most of its magnets too.

This monopoly becomes even more powerful with certain types of the 17 REEs, which are split into three groups: light, medium and heavy, roughly based on their atomic value.

The lighter elements are typically less valuable and easier to source, with the magnet ingredients neodymium and praseodymium being the exceptions. Between80 and 100% of the EU's supply of elements from this group come from China.

And for the heavier elements, which are much less abundant and require an even more specialized separation process, Europe sources 100% from China.

China's monopoly has many Western nations concerned about future access. So in recent years, the US and EU have responded by starting the process of building internal supplies of rare earth elements and other critical materials.

In 2024, the EU signed theCritical Raw Materials Act, which sets non-binding targets for the volume of critical materials the EU should produce itself by 2030. It also allows the bloc to designate "strategic projects," both within the EU and with close allies such as Norway, as a way of to ensure access to funding, boost public acceptance and fast track approvals and permits.

Meanwhile, the US defense department has been investing heavily in domestic companies since 2020 and has set a goal of creating an internal "mine-to-magnet" supply chain by 2027.

The US and EU have both expressed interest in untapped sources of rare earth elements.

Ukraine and Greenlandhave become areas of key interest for US PresidentDonald Trump. Both have very large potential deposits that are currently hard to get to, leaving the future of access to rare earth elements for Western countries uncertain.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Germany is stepping up security around Israeli and Jewish-linked sites in anticipation of reprisals over Israel's attacks on Iran. Meanwhile, indicators suggest the economy may be turning a corner.

The German government has increased protection for Jewish andIsraeliinstitutions across the country.

ChancellorFriedrich Merzsaid Israel's Prime Minister had briefed him by phone, after which he convened Germany's security cabinet.

Berlin reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defense but urged both sides to avoid escalation, while Israel's embassy in Berlin remains closed "until further notice."

Meanwhile, a leading economic institute says Germany's economy is showing tentative signs of a recovery.

This blog is now closed. Below is aroundupof the major developments inGermanyon Friday, June 13:

A drink driver was apprehended in the eastern German state ofSaxonylate on Thursday night after drunkenly ordering aBockwurst– a boiled sausage similar to a hotdog (as opposed to the more commonly knownBratwurst, which is fried).

The 46-year-old German man ordered the midnight snack at a gas station in the town of Eilenburg, where his slurred speech raised suspicion.

After he drove off again, witnesses alerted the police, who caught up with and stopped the man a short time later.

A breathalyzer test revealed a blood alcohol level of 1.8 parts per thousand – several times over the limit and constituting a criminal offense potentially punishable by jail time.

Whether the man had ketchup or mustard on hisBockwurstwasn't immediately clear.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Airline and tourism stocks have continued to slide at the end of the week afterIsrael'sstrike on Iran early Friday.

Shares in tour operator TUI dropped to €6.22 ($7.18), their lowest since mid-April — marking a nearly 14% weekly decline.

The downward trend had already accelerated on Thursday amid fears of a broader Middle East escalation and news of a deadly passenger plane crash in India that killed over 200 people.

German airline Lufthansasaw a 7% drop over theweek,despite briefly hitting its highest share price since March on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, defense stocks rebounded Friday morning.

Shares in Rheinmetall,Germany’slargest arms manufacturer, turned slightly positive for the week after recent profit-taking. Defense electronics firm Hensoldt briefly erased its weekly losses, and propulsion specialist RENK was also able to limit its decline.

Germanbureaucracy'sobsession with paper documentsis well known, but the days of physical stamps and signatures could soon be at an end.

The Federal Ministry of Justice on Friday published draft legislation (online!) to enable the digital issuing and signing of certificates and other official documentation.

"It's high time that we introduced digital certification procedures," said Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig of theSocial Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in the coalition government.

"Most certificates are generally already stored electronically, but the production of the actual documents still takes place in paper form. This is unnecessarily cumbersome."

The legislation aims to put an end to the laborious and often frustrating necessity of having to print off a digitally-issued document in order to physically sign it before scanning and uploading it again.

The changes would affect all sorts of documentation from property purchase agreements to company articles of association to marriage and birth certificates.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice also wants todigitalizedistrict court proceedings so that hearings can take place online.

"The online process will make citizens' access to the court system easier than ever," promised Hubig.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Germany's bid to host the UEFA Women's Euro 2029 will not include matches in the capital,Berlin.

The German Football Association (DFB) has announced that it has selected eight cities for its bid: Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich and Wolfsburg.

Berlin, along with Gelsenkirchen and Rostock, was dropped after the DFB leadership followed recommendations from an expert panel.

"This gives us a momentum and confidence for the international bidding process. We can also say with regard to the venues: we are ready to organize another major football festival in Germany in 2029," DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said.

Germany is aiming to host the tournament for the third time, having previously done so in 1989 and 2001 — both without Berlin as a host city.

"Berlin is not prepared to take financial and contractual risks as part of the bid," said Sabine Beikler, spokesperson for the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior, Digitalization and Sport.

Other bids for the 2029 tournament include individual proposals from Poland, Portugal and Italy, as well as a joint bid from Denmark and Sweden. UEFA is expected to make its final decision in December.

Berlin hosted matches during the 2006 men's World Cup and Euro 2024, with both finals held in the capital’s Olympic Stadium.

Germany’sannual inflation rateremained unchanged at 2.1% in May 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The rate was the same as in April, following slightly higher figures earlier this year — 2.2% in March and 2.3% inJanuary and February, respectively.

"The inflation rate hasstabilized, mainly due to the continued decrease in energy prices", said Destatis President Ruth Brand.

"On the other hand, the rise in food and service prices drove inflation up in Mayalso," she added.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1% in May compared with April.

Germany'seconomy is back on a modest growth track, according to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), which has raised its forecasts for 2024 and 2025.

The country's inflation-adjusted GDPis expectedto grow by 0.3% this year and 1.7% next year — up from the previous outlook for the two yearsof 0.1%and1.1%.

"The surprisingly strong start to the year should spare us from another year of stagnation," said DIW's chief economist Geraldine Dany-Knedlik. She pointed to rising private consumption and a surge in exports in anticipation of upcoming US tariffs as key drivers in the first quarter.

However, Dany-Knedlik warned this rebound would not resolve Germany's structural weaknesses, such as declining competitiveness and a shortage of skilled labor.

One "bright spot,"she added,is a new infrastructure investment package expected to deliver a noticeable boost in 2025.

DIW President Marcel Fratzscher cautioned that US trade policy remains a risk, with planned tax cuts in the US potentially increasing debt and triggering market turbulence.

He also cited domestic political gridlock as a concern, urging Germany’s coalition government to finalize its 2025 and 2026 budgets and present a unified long-term vision.

Germany has increased protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions afterIsrael's latest strikes on Iranian targets, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said.

The chancellor said security services had already implemented the necessary measures.

Merz saidIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuinformed him by phone on Friday morning about the military operation and its objectives. Merz then convened a meeting of the federal government's security cabinet.

Germany reiterated Israel's right to defend its existence and protect its citizens, Merzsaid,but urged both sides to refrain from actions that could escalate the conflict and destabilize the region. He emphasized that Germany was ready to use all available diplomatic means to influence the warring parties.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt underlined the need for increased security measures for Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany, citing the situation in the Middle East.

"We will take security policy precautions to enable enhanced protection of Israeli and Jewish facilities in Germany," Dobrindt said after an interior ministers’ conference in Bremerhaven. "We see this as a potential initial threat scenario that could arise from the situation in the Middle East."

Meanwhile, the Israeli Embassy in Berlin has closed "until further notice," according to a post on X. The mission is reportedly Israel's second-largest diplomatic representation worldwide.

Germany's Foreign Office said around 3,500 German nationalsare registeredin Israel through its "Elefand" crisis warning service. About 1,000 are in Lebanon, with lower triple-digit figures in Iran andIraq,and 200 in Jordan. The ministry urged citizens to follow local authority instructions.

Guten Tagfrom Germany's "federal village" of Bonn!DW will bring you the latest development from acrossGermany, where Berlin says it is ramping up protection at Jewish and Israeli sites.

That comes afterIsrael launched attacks against a series of targets in Iran, raising fears of a further escalation in the region.

Inside Germany, there appeared to be positiveeconomic newsongrowth, while inflation also appeared to be easing.

Stay tuned for all the latest headlines, analyses, multimedia content, and DW's on-the-ground reporting on all things Germany.

Zornitsa Gyutsova is a Bulgarian influencer whose misogynistic online content has sparked outrage in Bulgaria. Why is there a market for her content in the Balkan country and how are some Bulgarians fighting it?

"Women love men who can be violent if need be. That's why they like men who hit them," Bulgarian influencer Zornitsa Gyutsova tells her followers.

Gyutsova suggests that not only do women prefer men who physically assault them, but that this is also the way men should behave because a woman should respect a man's physical power since she is "unable to comprehend his intellectual power."

This is the kind of "advice" that can be found on Gyutsova's social media profiles and in a private group founded by her on Telegram called "Upstanding Man."

Zornitsa Gyutsova offers her followers private chats over video where she teaches them how to "deal with" women — for a fee, of course.

Many influencers, life coaches and other online personalities inBulgariaand elsewhere offer private sessions or courses.

What makes Gyutsova's content stand out from the rest is that its sole purpose is to explain to men that they need to learn to control their partners both psychologically and, "if necessary," physically.

In Gyutsova's view, men in general have been treated badly by women, and women are the ones who exert violence on men, namely by not paying them enough respect.

"The idea of equality is like a worm in people's brains that insists men and women should be partners […] which is so contrary to human nature that it can never work," Gyutsova declared in a long video about her work that was broadcast on Bulgarian National Television.

Although the broadcaster, which is partly financed by taxpayer's money, has since removed the video from its platforms, it has never publicly commented on the case.

Gyutsova's profiles on social media have been gaining traction for several years now.

Screenshots and videos from her private Telegram group chat recently surfaced on social media, triggering a huge backlash in Bulgaria.

Local woman Petya Krasteva was so appalled by Gyutsova's online content that she filed a complaint against Gyutsova with the prosecutor's office.

"On her social media channels, she not only encourages people to degrade women and useviolence against them, she also boasts that she uses the same methods on her child and her cat," she told DW. "I thought to myself: This is not only absolutely unacceptable, it's criminal."

Many other women did the same as Krasteva, only to find out a couple of weeks later that their efforts had been in vain.

In an official reply, the prosecutor's office stated that nothing could be done because Bulgaria's criminal code does not define gender discrimination as a crime and that the issue was a matter for the Commission against Discrimination.

Krasteva promptly lodged a complaint with this commission, but received another negative answer based on the same reasoning.

Although these complaints did not lead to charges being brought against Gyutsova, the backlash did have an impact.

The outcry and the fact that Gyutsova's social media accounts were reported by people who found their content abhorrent, meant that the influencer'sTikTokand Instagram profiles were deactivated.

They were, however, reactivated a short time later.

Krasteva feels that part of the reason why content like Gyutsova's strikes a chord in Bulgaria is that while patriarchal norms and domestic violence are not accepted in the country,Bulgarian society often turns a blind eye to them.

"The other huge problem," she says, "is that as with many other social issues, there is a complete lack of consequences for the perpetrators."

Valentina Dimitrova, a psychologist who works for the Emprove Foundation, a Bulgarian organization that supports women who have suffered domestic violence, holds a similar view.

"Sadly it's embedded in the Bulgarian mindset that we often just accept that things are bad and we do nothing about it," says Dimitrova.

She believes that this is also why many women stay in violent relationships: They simply have no faith in the authorities because time and time again, men who beat or even kill their partners face no legal consequences.

Although some people seem to think that social media content is less problematic than actual abuse in real life, Dimitrova stresses the dangers associated with such content: "It can truly cost a human life."

Misogynistic online content that paints women as lesser human beings and men as oppressed by women is not unique to Bulgaria. Such content has been growing and spreading all over the world in recent years.

Influencers likeAndrew Tate, who faces charges of rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and more, have created a whole movement around this sort of content.

Gyutsova fits neatly into this category of influencer, but what makes her different is that she is a woman.

Dimitrova thinks one issue here is thatfeminismis often misunderstood.

"Feminism does not entail men being suppressed and women controlling them. It means that women can have equal rights and can function as equals to men not only in society but also in their personal relationships," she says.

Dimitrova also believes that the patriarchal notion that men should not be allowed to express emotions is highly problematic. This is reflected in Gyutsova's content, which suggests that men are weak and not "manly" if they dare to express their fears, emotions or feelings.

It's a vicious circle: "Men who are not allowed to express any sort of emotion for fear of being labeled weak don't know what to do when they experience something frustrating in their relationships and so they resort to aggression," says Dimitrova.

Dimitrova suggests that first and foremost, men should receive support and their concerns should not just be swept under the carpet.

She stresses, however, that this support should not validate the inclination to deal with problems by exerting psychological or physical violence on women.

Although the Emprove Foundation focuses primarily on women's rights and issues, it does have a project that focuses on men'smental health— something the foundation says is incredibly important in the fight against gender-based violence.

"Men should be encouraged to connect to a healthy understanding of themselves, so they can build healthy relationships as well," says Dimitrova.

Petya Krasteva firmly believes that even though authorities in Bulgaria rarely provide the support needed in cases like this, society should not remain indifferent.

"We should be as loud as possible when something like this turns up," she says. "We should be perfectly clear that it is unacceptable. That way, other people who come across this content will know that this is not something that society approves of, and that could help them realize that they shouldn't have anything to do with it."

Dimitrova agrees. "We will keep talking about it [this kind of content], calling it out and not tolerating it until the authorities wake up."

The Tehran-backed group remains remarkably restrained following the Israeli strikes on Iran. Is Hezbollah too weak to attack or is the group busy rearming?

Following Israel's attack onIran, tensions across the Middle East are at an all-year-high.

Yet,Hezbollah, once Iran's best equipped and biggest militia group in the region, issued a statement only hours after the attack. The group condemned Israel's attack and sent condolences toTehranfor those who got killed. But Hezbollah did not offer to join in the retaliation — even though, being based in Lebanon, they have a direct border withIsrael.

"The previous rule was that when Iran is attacked on its territory, it retaliates from its territory," Heiko Wimmen, Project Director of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon at the International Crisis Group, told DW. However, he wouldn't rule out that these "rulebooks have changed."

"Hezbollah could be waiting for a clear call to action from Iran," Wimmen said.

Ronnie Chatah, a Beirut-based political analyst and host ofThe Beirut Banyanpodcast, told DW that "Iran cannot easily retaliate from Lebanon today as a result of Hezbollah's major losses during last year'swar with Israel."

Iran's "'crown jewel' may no longer serve as it was built and honed to function: a front line of external defense for Tehran," he added.

Yet, he still sees that in "terms of general trends in the region and how Hezbollah reacts, it is safe to conclude that even in its withered state, Hezbollah remains a reflection ofIran's security concerns."

Israel's strikes on Iran'smain enrichment facility and the country's ballistic missile program took place two days ahead of the sixth round ofUS-Iran negotiationsover a new nuclear deal inOman. It now remains to be seen whether that meeting will still take place.

However, hopes for a new agreement were somewhat dashed even beforeIsrael's attack on Iran. Earlier this week, a senior Iranian official already told the news agency Reuters that Tehran would not abandon its right to enrich uranium. Also US PresidentDonald Trumphas lowered expectations for a new deal which could have eased tensions in the region.

"Another reason for Hezbollah's radio silence is that they could have decided to prioritize internal restructuring," Heiko Wimmen said. This would include appointing a new leadership and focusing on local arms production in order to become more independent from Iranian supplies.

"Also, nobody really knows for sure what happened to those strategic missiles that Hezbollah supposedly had but never really used against Israel in last year's war," Wimmen added.

In November 2024, aceasefireended 11 months of skirmishes and two months of a full-scale war that was triggered by Hezbollah, whose military wing is classified as terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Arab states. Over time, Israelkilled most of Hezbollah's leadershipand destroyed large parts of the group's infrastructure, as well as Lebanon's south and large parts of Beirut. Also, some 4,000 people were killed.

Despite theceasefire, Israel has been frequently attacking sites it says are connected with Hezbollah. Last week, Israel's military carried outintense strikeson a suburb of Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway. The Israeli military said that it targeted Hezbollah's underground drone factories. Hezbollah officials denied the existence of such facilities.

Still, the most recent report by the Institute for the Study of War,statesthat "Hezbollah likely seeks to prioritize domestic drone production after recent setbacks that have complicated its ability to procure and smuggle Iranian weapons into Lebanon."

While this is in line with Hezbollah's previous role as well-equipped and much larger armed group than for example Lebanon's national army, it goes against international calls for Hezbollah's disarmament and growing pressure on Hezbollah even from within Lebanon.

However, Hezbollah officials have repeatedly said that they would not give up arms until Israel stopped its airstrikes and withdrew from five points it is still occupying along the border in southernLebanon. Israel though said it would not stop targeting Hezbollah as long as they posed a threat.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's government has alsostepped up effortsto contain Hezbollah. Earlier this month, Lebanon's Minister Nawaf Salam said in a televised address marking 100 days in office that the Lebanese army had dismantled "more than 500 military positions and arms depots" belonging to Hezbollah in the south of the country.

"The state continues its action… torestore its authorityover the entire national territory… and to have a monopoly on arms," Salam said.

"The conversation is very different from the last civil war of the 2000s, where Hezbollah emerged as the key party that delivered reconstruction and economic support for the people, thus garnering political support," Kelly Petillo, Middle East researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told DW upon her return from Beirut earlier this week.

"Now, the conversation is about disarmament at the national level," she said, adding that "at a local level the conversation is about who's going to lift us from hardship and the aftermath of a terrible war."

Meanwhile, posters of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's former leader who was killed in September 2024 during an Israeli strike on Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut, are still lining major streets in the city.

"Flags and posters with Nasrallah and other Hezbollah leaders still hang, but they hang on destroyed buildings along worn down streets," Petillo says.

"It can't be denied that Hezbollah has become weak," she told DW, adding that "the flags are still there and even though they are covered in dust and rubble it also means that Hezbollah will not disappear anytime soon."

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

They hoped for a better career but ended up in Russia's war factories. A new study reveals how young women, mainly from Africa, have been being exploited. Some of those affected have shared their stories with DW.

"I like Russia, its language and culture," Aminata, 20, told DW. She wants to leave her home country ofSierra Leonein a few weeks to pursue an apprenticeship around 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) away inRussia.

Her travel costs will be covered by the Alabuga Start program, named after an industrial area in southwestern Russia, where dormitories are provided for program participants.

Alabuga Start offers female applicants from poorer countries the prospect of a well-paid career.

For most of them, the dream is shattered shortly after their arrival in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a large industrial area in the Russian region of Tatarstan.

According to areportpublished in May by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, many new arrivals find themselves assembling cheap drones under poor conditions.

DW contacted several program participants — most of whom do not want to talk about their experiences on the record for fear of reprisals.

Chinara, a youngNigerianwoman who took part in the Alabuga program and left Russia disappointed, was willing to give an interview via social media messaging services.

"They turned us into hard laborers with low wages," she wrote in the chat with DW.

"At first we felt good because when we applied, we were offered areas such as logistics, service and catering, crane operators," wrote Chinara, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

She explained that at first it seemed like a rare opportunity for African girls to gain a foothold in these professions. "But when we got here, they changed everything and gave excuses."

Some said they were assigned to a drone assembly factory, others supervised drone production, and the rest worked as cleaners.

The young women were exposed to "highly dangerous and life-threatening chemicals," Chinara claimed, adding that "Even the Russians themselves do not work there for long because it is a very dangerous place."

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

The Alabuga SEZ is a major production hub forGeran-2 drones, which are based on the Iranian-made Shahed 136 and play a key role in attacks onUkraine.

The SEZ was established in 2006 to attract companies and investments to Tatarstan.

AfterRussia's invasion of Ukrainein 2022, the facility expanded rapidly and parts were converted to military production by adding new buildings or renovating them, as satellite images show.

Labor shortages are repeatedly reported from war-torn Russia. At the same time, migrant workers from theGlobal Southare apparently becoming more of a focus for recruiters.

According to figures from the Single Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System (SIISS), an official Russian government database, more than 111,000 African workers arrived in Russia in 2024 — a 50% increase compared to the first year of the war in 2022.

The strongest growth was recorded by Cameroonians, with many others coming from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, the Central African Republic and Gambia.

Almost all of these countries appear in the GI study in connection with Alabuga Start. Initially, according to the study, mainly African women between 18 and 22 were recruited.

The program has since been expanded to other developing countries in Asia and Latin America, and several former Soviet republics.

The authors of the study analyzed data and conducted around 60 interviews between December 2024 and March 2025.

Co-author Julia Stanyard told DW that girls as young as 16 were also hired for drone production by the Alabuga Polytech training facility, which is located on the production site.

"The working conditions are exploitative, the young women spoke of working long hours and being supervised by Alabuga management. They work with chemicals that pose a risk to their health," said Stanyard.

"The program seems to resemble a form of fraudulent exploitation," Stanyard told DW. "They are not told what they will produce when they are recruited. Many young girls are trapped in Alabuga and leaving the country seems impossible."

In Zimbabwe, parents are worried about their children who applied online and set off for Russia with a plane ticket paid for by Alabuga.

The mother of a girl from rural northern Zimbabwe complained about her daughter's suffering.

"She wanted to further her technical education. Now she told us about forced labor, she is hardly allowed to use her phone and is under surveillance. She has not received the $1,500 (€1,300) she was promised," she told DW. "Now I can't even get her back."

A father of another girl who left Zimbabwe for the Alabuga SEZ told DW it was a nightmare that a supposedly credible training program had turned into "a death trap."

And a mother in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, told DW about her 20-year-old daughter in Alabuga, who was also supposed to undergo technical training.

"But she is doing something completely different. We can hardly speak to her, her passport has been withheld so that she can't run away," the woman told DW.

In the neighboring country ofBotswana, the training program has now attracted the attention of investigators:Interpolhas stepped in to probe whether Alabuga Start is involved in human trafficking.

"Alabuga's sham facade is beginning to crumble a little," claimed Stanyard, noting that some countries — such as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — have become more aware of the program's risks and have launched investigations.

TheAlabuga Startprogram did notrespond toDW's requestforcomment

Garikai MafirakurevainZimbabwe and Aleksei Strelnikovcontributed reporting to this article, which has been adapted from German

Tehran has said it considers Israeli strikes on military leaders and nuclear sites to be a "declaration of war." A diplomatic de-escalation seems like a distant prospect.

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said Israel will suffer a "bitter and painful" fate, followingFriday's attacks on Iranian targets. Iran's military has warned there will be "no limits" to its response.

Israel's military has said over 100 targets in Iran were struck overnight, which were followed up later in the day by another series of strikes.

The targets included at least six leading nuclear scientists and four senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who were killed in attacks on residential buildings in the capital, Tehran.

Iranian media have reported that the IRGC commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami, was among those killed, along with top Khamenei aide and diplomat Ali Shamkhani, who also led a committee coordinating nuclear talks.

Iran has characterized the Israeli strikes as a "declaration of war."

"The current situation is the result of a lack of effective and functioning diplomacy between Iran and the US in the nuclear negotiations," Mohammad Sadegh Javadi Hesar, a former Iranian parliamentarian and editor in chief of the dissidentTusnewspaper, told DW.

"This situation has created a space in which Israel is behaving undiplomatically and has drawn both negotiating parties into a military confrontation that neither was desired nor is desired by Iran," he added.

The US in recent months hadrestarted negotiations with Iran over Tehran's nuclear programwith the aim of reaching a deal to keep Iran away from developing a nuclear weapon. In 2018, during his first term, US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of a nuclear agreement with Iran thattraded sanctions relieffor a verifiable Iranian drawdown of uranium enrichment.

Israel views the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat. The Iranian leadership does not recognize the state of Israel and regularly threatens to destroy it.

However, Tehran officially emphasizes that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a different perspective. According to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, Iran is enriching uranium to an extent that exceeds that of all other non-nuclear weapon states.

In a resolution on June 12, the UN nuclear watchdogdeclared for the first time in almost 20 yearsthat Iran had violated its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. This provides an opportunity to refer the case to the UN Security Council.

In response to the IAEA's condemnation of the lack of cooperation, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Agency jointly announced their intention to build a third uranium enrichment facility "in a safe place."

Javadi Hesar, an Iran-based political critic, told DW that the IAEA ruling has allowed Israel to legitimize its strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

"Israel can now claim that even the IAEA has determined that the Iranian nuclear program is neither predictable nor controllable. Therefore, it is necessary to strike preemptively and destroy Iranian nuclear facilities out of self-protection," Hesar said.

"To prevent this escalation from turning into a major war, and to keep the confrontation between Iran and Israel at a low and limited level, the US government — as Iran's negotiating partner — should quickly condemn Israel's actions and make it publicly clear that it was not involved in this attack," he added. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later on Friday said the US was not involved in supporting or orchestrating the strikes.

IAEA chief Grossi, meanwhile, condemned the attack on Iran's nuclear program.

On Friday, he stated that, according to the Iranian authorities, theuranium enrichment plant in Natanz had been hitby the Israeli attacks.

Israel claimed the facility had been "significantly" damaged. The IAEA has not seen increased radiation levels at the site.

A second facility in Fordo and the nuclear center in Isfahan were not affected as of Friday afternoon.

Iran has spread its nuclear facilities over several locations, some of which are in underground bunkers, which makes it difficult to completely destroy them.

If Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked, Iran has little choice but to strike back for internal political reasons, according to Arman Mahmoudian, Iran expert at the University of South Florida.

He added Iran is concerned about a development similar to the Syrian war, in which Israel destroyed several nuclear facilities under construction.

"Iran feels compelled to send at least a limited but clear countersignal in order to prevent further attacks. Israel, in turn, could expand its operations and target Iran's electricity and oil infrastructure in order to increase the pressure on Tehran on a daily basis," Mahmoudian told DW.

Iran's first reaction was to fire more than 100 drones at Israel, all of which were intercepted outside Israeli territory, according to the Israeli military.

The Iranian armed forces released a statement saying that Tehran had "no restrictions" in its response to Israel's strikes.

Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh has said that "new" weapons had been tested and handed over to the armed forces. Iran has also called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

US President Donald Trump on Friday took to his Truth Social social media platform and called on the Iranian leadershipto make a "deal"and warned otherwise of "even more brutal" attacks.

"There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end," Trump posted.

Trump told US broadcaster CNN on Friday that the Israeli strikes were a "very successful attack" while it was left to Rubio to confirm the lack of US involvement.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the prime minister will speak with Trump at some point on Friday.

"So far, Iran has not wanted to be drawn into a direct military conflict with the US, which would be an extremely risky undertaking," saidIranexpert Mahmoudian.

"However, there is a difference between the US merely supporting Israel and actively getting involved in a war with Iran," he added.

To completely destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, Israel would need more advanced weaponry that only the US would be able to provide.

Should such involvement occur, Iranian retaliation would likely also target US facilities in the region, which would furtherdestabilize the already tense situationin the Middle East.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

This article was originally written in German.

The fatal crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has put the spotlight on air safety in one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets.

An Air India flight with 230 passengers and 12 crew on board crashed inIndia'snorthwestern city of Ahmedabad on Thursdayshortly after takeoff, killing all but one of the people aboard.

The aircraft, a wide-bodied Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner powered by twin jet engines, was bound for London's Gatwick Airport.It's the first fatal incident involving the Dreamliner aircraft.

Videos posted on social media showed the jet losing altitude before it hit a medical staff hostel and exploded into a ball of fire.

The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Authorities have launched a formal investigation to ascertain the reason behind the crash, but Air India has said the investigation will take time.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Jitender Bhargava, a former executive director of Air India, said authorities will carry out a thorough investigation.

"The industry's response, including investigations and ongoing safety reviews, reflects a system designed to learn from accidents and prevent future occurrences," he told DW.

Planemaker Boeing has said a team of experts is ready to go to India to help in the probe.

Captain Sandeep Bansal, a former fighter pilot, said that an analysis of the aircraft's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be crucial to determine the cause of the crash.

"This accident is a sobering reminder for every one of us associated with the aviation industry to stay vigilant. These modern aircraft are incredible machines, but they are still machines. We humans are trained professionals, but are still humans," he told DW.

"The reason for this crash could be human error, sabotage, technical malfunction or environmental hazard like bird strikes, which was the reason in case of Airbus A320 force landing in Hudson River in 2009," said Bansal.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Indian authorities said on Friday that the plane's flight data recorder, or black box,had been recovered from a rooftop near the crash site. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said that it had begun its work with "full force," the Associated Press news agency reported.

The investigation is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, Reuters news agency reported.

Sanjay Lazar, CEO of Avialaz consultants and aviation expert, said the plane appears to have suffered a loss of power in engines.

"It appears to have been something extraordinary that happened as you can see from the visuals — that the aircraft could not climb, and had no thrust, so either it was a catastrophic failure of both engines or some major ingestion into the engines," he told DW.

"Safety and engineering standards at Air India have always been top notch and I can't see much at fault there. Though I do expect heightened surveillance of airlines across India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India's aviation regulator, hereafter," he added.

India's aviation regulator on Friday ordered safety checks on the entire Boeing-787 fleet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi,meanwhile, visited the crash side, and met the lone survivor at the hospital.

The incident renewed a debate about air safety in one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets.

Air India has suffered a number of both fatal and non-fatal crashes over the years.

Other Indian airlines, like IndiGo and SpiceJet, have also faced issues.

Two years ago, several mid-air technical malfunctions forced pilots to make emergency landings, drawing public attention at the time to the issue of aviation safety.

At present, India is the world's fourth-largest air market, including both domestic and international travel.

The International Air Transport Association projects that it will become the third biggest over the next decade.

The Indian government is also pumping billions into building new airports, as well as expanding and modernizing existing ones, earmarking around $11 billion for the purpose.

Just earlier this month, Modi, while addressing the International Air Transport Association (IATA) summit, said the government aims to increase the number of airports to over 350 by 2047, the centenary of India's independence.

"Our domestic traffic has surged 30%, international traffic has risen from 55 million to 72 million, and in April 2025 alone, domestic air traffic grew by 10% — outpacing the global growth rate of 8%," said Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu at the event.

Authorities recognize that restoring and maintaining confidence is essential for sustaining growth in the civil aviation sector.

As US President Donald Trump gears up for the first major military parade in the US in decades, protesters are planning "No Kings" events all over the country on Saturday.

The biggest protests sinceUS President Donald Trumpbegan his second term are currently taking place in Los Angeles. For days, people in the city and its suburbs have beendemonstrating against Trump's hard-line immigration policy and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Though most of the protesters are peaceful,Trump has sent in the National Guardand almost 700 Marines to the city in southern California.

On Saturday, demonstrations are expected to take place across theUS. They too will slam Trump's large-scale deportation campaigns, but these will not be the main focus. The motto of the protests is: "No thrones. No crowns. No kings." They are planned in each of the US' 50 states, including Alaska and the island of Hawaii. The organizers expect almost 2,000 people in total.

As a result of Trump's decision to deploy the military against demonstrators in LA, Saturday's upcoming protests have drawn more attention. But the "No Kings" protests are supposed to be more generally against the Trump administration and not only its migration policies.

"They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services," is what the "No Kings" website says.

A grassroots organization called 50501 — 50 states, 50 protests, one movement — is orchestrating the protests.

Though Trump's supporters see him as a strong president who will bring order to the US, for example by making the country more efficient by making cuts in government organizations or cracking down on undesirable immigrants, his opponents see the way that his administration tries to circumvent the courts and Congress as a threat to the democratic pillars of the US.

It is not by chance that the "No Kings” protests are taking place on Saturday, June 14. That is the day that Trump is organizing a military parade in the US capital to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Army. It is also Trump's 79th birthday, though officially this is merely a coincidence.

The different eras and conflicts of US history will feature in the parade, from the Revolutionary War, to the two world wars of the 20th century, to the Vietnam War. Soldiers wearing corresponding uniforms will take part alongside members of the same unit wearing modern uniforms. Various tanks, planes and helicopters from different eras will also be displayed during the parade.

"We will celebrate a spectacular military parade in Washington, D.C., like no other," Trump has told the media, adding that the event will be "better and bigger than any parade we've ever had in this country."

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

The last military parade to take place in Washington D.C. was on June 8, 1991. President George H. W. Bush organized it to celebrate the successful conclusion of Operation Desert Storm and the end of the First Gulf War.

Trump had wanted to organize a major military parade in the US capital during his first term (2017 – 2021) but the project was rejected on grounds of the high costs and the expected damage that would be caused to the roads by the heavy military vehicles.

This year's parade has met with less resistance, perhaps because the 250th anniversary of the US Army is deemed a grand occasion. Its estimated cost is $45 million (ca.€39 million), which includes $16 million to repair the roads.

The "No Kings" protests are planned all over the US, but not in the immediate vicinity of the military parade. Trump has said that counterdemonstrations will not be tolerated: "For those who want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force."

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Though it is a security issue, too, the organizers of the "No Kings" protests say that they do not want the focus to be solely on Washington on Saturday. "Real power isn't staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else," they say on their website.

Instead of the day being about Trump's birthday and his military parade, they want it to be about the rest of the US and their protests.

This article was originally written in German.

The EU has announced another loan as part of a G7 aid package, as Kyiv's European allies bolster their support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia has returned the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers.

This blog is now closed. Below you can follow the main developments fromRussia's war in Ukrainefrom Friday, June 13, 2025:

The European Union on Friday agreed to extend temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine by one year.

The measure, which was approved by the Council of the EU, affects more than four million Ukrainians who came to the EU in the wake of Russia's invasion.

"While Russia continues to terrorise Ukrainian civilians with indiscriminate air strikes, the EU continues to show its solidarity with the Ukrainian people," Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said. Poland currently holds the rotating six-month EU Council presidency.

"We will continue to offer protection for millions of Ukrainian refugees for another year," he said, according toa Council statement.

Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have taken in the majority of the 4.3 million Ukrainian refugees registered in the EU.

Under the temporary protection scheme, they are guaranteed rights of residence, access to the labour market and housing, medical assistance, social welfare assistance, and access to education for children.

The EU granted Ukrainian refugees temporary protections following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The measure had been set to expire in March 2026.

The extension was backed with "unanimous support" at a meeting of EU interior ministers on Friday in Luxembourg.

The interior ministers also discussed how the program would eventually end.

"The Polish presidency also initiated discussion on a strategy to phase out temporary protection once a just peace is achieved," Siemoniak said.

"In the near future, we will work towards common, EU-wide solutions in this area, including in the context of returns to Ukraine."

While EU members were quick to welcome millions of Ukrainian refugees, public patience has started to wane as the war has entered its fourth year and peace efforts have so far failed.

In Germany, which hosts 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine — the most in the EU — anti-immigration sentiment has risen, while in neighboring Poland, the recently elected president said he wants to reduce refugee benefits.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

Four people died and 11 others were seriously injured after a bus carrying a group of Ukrainians crashed on a motorway in westernFranceon Friday.

Authorities in the department of Sarthe said 34 others had sustained minor injuries in the crash, which occurred on the route between Rennes and Le Mans, near the town of Degre.

"The coach, coming from Le Mans, was carrying adults and teenagers of Ukrainian nationality," Sarthe authorities said on X.

The road has closed off in both directions to allow emergency and rescue work to be carried out, the post added.

Forty-nine fire trucks were deployed to the scene.

France's Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot has described the crash as a "very serious accident" that had a "very heavy" human toll.

"I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the victims," Tabarot said.

No details about the identities of the coach's passengers or how the crash occurred have been released.

Ukrainian authorities on Friday said Russia had returned the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers.

"According to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, in particular military personnel," Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (KSHPPV) said on Telegram.

The statement added that law enforcement investigators and "experts" would conduct tests to identify the repatriated bodies.

The bodies were returned as part of a deal this month in Istanbul that also saw the two sides agree to alarge prisoner of war (POW) exchange.

TheIstanbul talksprovided for the return of the remains of more than 6,000 fallen soldiers from each side.

Dozens of POWs have been exchanged since. Around 1,200 soldiers were swapped on Thursday.

Also this week,Ukraine repatriated the bodies of 1,212 soldierswho died fighting the war, which began in February 2022 after Russia launched a full-scale invasion.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday announced that the European Union had sent a further €1 billion to Ukraine.

"We are with Ukraine for the long haul," von der Leyen said on X.

The latest loan, which von der Leyen explained would be repaid with interest from frozen Russian state assets being held in the EU, brings the bloc's support for Kyiv since the war began in 2022 to €150 billion.

The EU and its member states, including Germany,have sought to bolster their supportin the form of more financial and military aid this year amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The €1 billion is part of a major aid package that was announced by the Group of Seven (G7).

The forum, which is made up of the world's leading democratic economies, is due to hold a leaders' summit in Canada on Sunday.

Von der Leyen also said on X that she will call on the EU's G7 partners "to keep coordinating strong support for Ukraine and hard-biting sanctions against Russia. Until the Kremlin stops this war."

The G7 has pledged to send approximately €45 billion in aid to Ukraine in the next two years, with the EU pitching in with €18.1 billion of that total.

The latest payment announced Friday brings the bloc's contributions to €7 billion so far this year.

A day after German Defense MinisterBoris Pistorius' visit to Kyiv, which he said underscores Berlin's commitment to supporting Ukraine long-term, the war-torn country's European allies on Friday announced a new loan as part of a major G7 aid package.

European CommissionPresident Ursula Von der Leyen said the EU, which has now sent €150 billion to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, is with Kyiv "for the long haul."

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it has received the bodies of 1,200 soldiers who were killed fighting the war against Russia.

The bodies were returned as part of a deal signed in Istanbul this month that also saw one of the largest exchanges of prisoners of war (POWs) of the three-year conflict.

Follow DW for real-time news and analysis ofRussia's war in Ukraine.

Trapped between what it sees as a historical responsibility to Israel and international law and diplomacy, Germany is facing a tough foreign policy test after the latest Israeli attacks on Iran.

Germany's foreign policy in the Middle East has always involved a delicate balancing act — a balancing act that just got a little more difficult.Israel's attack on Iranthis week is likely to put further pressure on Germany's close relationship with Israel.

Israel's security is part of Germany's so-called"Staatsräson," or "reason of state."Former Chancellor Angela Merkel popularized the term when she addressed the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in 2008. Although the idea has no official legal standing, Merkel's successor, Olaf Scholz, doubled down on it in the months after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

More recently though, thesevere humanitarian consequencesof Israel's ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip have made it difficult for the German government to find a suitable position on the conflict there. Only a few days ago, Germany's newChancellor Friedrich Merzsaid, "frankly speaking, I no longer understand what the goal of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip is," during a television interview.

"Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism," he told German public broadcaster WDR. Despite those statements though, there have been no consequences. For example, Germany continues to send weapons to Israel.

TheIsraeli governmentis defending its latest strikes against Iran by saying it was acting against "an existential threat." Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz called it a "pre-emptive strike" becauseIranwas close to developing a nuclear bomb, something Israel wanted to prevent happening.

The German government appears to share that opinion. In a press statement issued the morning of the first Israeli strikes, Merz said Israel had "the right to defend its existence and its citizens." Merz had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone and Netanyahu had informed himof the military action and its objectives.

The press statement also said that the German government has repeatedly expressed concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran's "nuclear program violates the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and poses a serious threat to the entire region, especially to the State of Israel," the German government statement said.

The goal of any diplomatic intervention and de-escalation, which Germany supports, must be thatIrandoes not develop nuclear weapons, the statement concluded.

That reaction from the German government was to be expected, Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Netherlands-based Counter Extremism Project, told DW.

"Now it is the direct negotiations between the US and the Iranians that are crucial," Schindler said. "The previous negotiating format — Germany, France, the UK and the US, with the Iranians — is not a part of this any longer. In this conflict the Europeans are increasingly spectators, rather than actors."

Schindler does not believe that the current military escalation will change anything around Germany's position on Israel. "We're not just any other country. We're Germany, with the history of the Holocaust," he explained. "In that sense there's absolutelyno other moral or ethical optionthan expressing solidarity with Israel."

That does not mean that Germany has to approve ofeach Israeli military operationand every Israeli government decision, Schindler continued. "The new German government seems much more prepared to criticize than the previous one," he noted.

Voices critical of the Netanyahu government had recently been growing louder in the German government, including in the governing coalition made up of conservatives from the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, and the Christian Social Union, as well as the left-centrist Social Democrats, or SPD.

Some members of the government seem to fear being pressured by Israel. At the end of last month, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany would not allow what he called "compulsory solidarity."

During his visit to Cairo, Wadephul commented on the Iranian strikes that came in retaliation for the earlier Israeli ones. "We condemn the indiscriminate Iranian attack on Israeli territory in the strongest possible terms," ​​Wadephul, a member of the CDU, said. "Iran is currently attacking Israel with hundreds of drones. There are initial reports of casualties. These developments are more than worrying." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had apparently informed him of the attack.

After the Israeli attacks on Iran, SPD foreign policy specialist Rolf Mützenich told German public radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that Israel had the right to defend itself. However, that right should be connected to imminent danger and an existential threat. Whether those prerequisites had been present for Israel to base its attack on, would certainly be discussed at the United Nations Security Council, or UNSC.

At the same time, Mützenich also confirmed the dangers posed by the Iranian nuclear program, adding that Teheran had also acted irresponsibly and was also part of the current escalation spiral.

Whether Israel's attack on Iran was legitimate under international law is also being discussed. Law experts say a preemptive strike is actually only permissible under certain, very specific conditions — for example, when there is an imminent threat that cannot be prevented any other way.

Foreign policy spokesperson and co-chair of Germany's Left party, Jan van Aken, described the Israeli attack as "a serious violation of international law, which cannot be justified as self-defense."

The UNSC should meet today in order to decide on the nature of this attack, van Aken said. "All sides must immediately deescalate, also to protect the affected civilian population in Iran and Israel," he added.

Some German politicians also see danger developing inside their own country due to the Israeli attack on Iran. The country's Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt said that, after talking to his counterparts in states around Germany, Israeli and Jewish institutions in Germanywould get extra protection, so they are prepared in case a potential domestic threat develops.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry also said it would close all consulates and embassies worldwide.