Botswana: Bacteria in water behind mass elephant deaths

Germany's Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer praised Bundeswehr soldiers for "achieving incredible things" by getting thousands out of Afghanistan.

While the eyes of the world focus on the Covid-19 pandemic, the fight against HIV has slowed down in Romania. The pandemic has deprived at-risk groups of access to health services and testing, as well as disrupting supply chains and medicine supplies, raising fears of a rise in cases.

Police are investigating German musician Gil Ofarim's accusation of antisemitism at a Leipzig hotel. Activists are outraged, and the hotel in question is on the defensive.

The German capital's BER airport was almost nine years behind schedule and way over budget when it finally opened for business a year ago. Now, the scandal-hit site has a new problem: dirty water.

Are those protesting against Covid-19 restrictions just an angry few, or do they represent a much deeper malaise?As the Northern Hemisphere hunkers down for a new winter wave of Covid restrictions, backlash over these curbs is rearing up in Central Europe, the Netherlands and the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Some of the pushback is coming from fringe conspiracy theorists or muscle men, but many others have also lost trust in authorities and in what they see as heavy-handed measures and mixed messages. Is the unfiltered "anything goes" rhetoric that wins elections finally coming home to roost?

The United States is the only developed economy without any national policy on paid parental leave. American lawmakers have recently made efforts to pass mandates on parental and family leave, but the legislation is likely to be blocked in partisan bickering. “It has immense benefits” says Richard Petts, Sociology professor at Ball State University, to journalist Kate Moody. “It's really a can't miss policy”.

In a big day for LGBT residents of Botswana, an attempt to overturn the decriminalisation of homosexuality has failed in court. Also, South Africa's government says it is being punished as it tries to get countries to walk back some of their Covid-19 travel restrictions. And the China-Africa summit kicks off in Dakar, where participants are discussing trade, conflict and the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, saddled with around $300 billion in debt, has been struggling to meet interest payments on its loans. If it collapses, some of its partner firms could be driven to bankruptcy, prospective homebuyers could lose deposits and some banks would lend less money, which would lead to a credit crunch in the world's second-biggest economy. Property developers in China have in fact created an oversupply: there is enough empty property in the country to house more than 90 million people. FRANCE 24's team reports.

French far-right pundit Eric Zemmour has officially launched his bid for president with a 10-minute video clip on YouTube that looks like a crash course on replacement theory – immigrants supposedly taking over, violently – all to the dramatic sound of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. We ask our panel about the unorthodox campaign launch.

Annalena Baerbock: 'We stand in full solidarity behind Ukraine'

Government officials in Bangladesh denounced US sanctions but activists hailed them as a step forward for human rights in the country. The measures were implemented over rights abuses and extrajudicial killings.

From accepting a transgender mayor in Bangladesh, restoring gay rights in the US to decriminalizing homosexuality in Botswana, several countries have offered glimmers of hope this year in advancing LGBTQ rights.