Australian military chief reacts to report on Afghan killings

Tehran said it would hit back in response to "the slightest step by Israel." Meanwhile, religious tensions in Jerusalem are once again close to boiling over.

The US and China spent the most on their military in 2021, accounting for 52% of the total global defense expenditure, according to a new SIPRI report. Russia also saw a spending jump ahead of its invasion of Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to speed up Pyongyang's nuclear development during a military parade to celebrate the founding of the country's armed forces.

Touring areas of the Kyiv region where Russian forces suffered a defeat, DW correspondent Mathias Bölinger saw not only signs of the clashes between the two armed forces but also between two different military doctrines.

In a decision that was long time coming, Malian ruling junta pulled the plug on a number of military accords with France. French soldiers and European partners are on track to leave Mali by the end of summer.

Germany is set to draw down its EU deployment in Mali and increase its UN deployment. France is withdrawing from Mali amid friction with the military junta there.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that a Chinese intelligence ship was not in Australia's territorial waters but its presence off the northwestern coast was "concerning."

Since North Korea reported its first official coronavirus case last week, the WHO has warned it might spread rapidly in the unvaccinated country. Ruler Kim Jong Un wants the military to turn the tide.

Australia is counting down to its next federal election on May 21. The environmental crisis is high on voters' minds and smaller parties and independents are gaining momentum by riding a wave of disillusionment over the conservative coalition's lack of climate action. With a hung parliament looking likely, these minor players could force the traditional parties to do more to tackle global warming. Climate change is an increasingly hot-button issue since the country's devastating bushfires of 2019-20. Our correspondents Richelle Harrison Plesse and Gregory Plesse report.

Two new prospective members of the 73-year-old NATO alliance have submitted their applications to join. Their bids, which come in light of Russia's aggression in Ukraine, have already faced resistance from Turkey.

Germany's Humboldt Research Fellowships are very popular with visiting Chinese scientists. Back in China, some of them go on to do research for the military, a DW investigation finds.

Australia could become a "renewable energy superpower," said incoming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He is due to be sworn in just a day before a Quad summit in Tokyo.