- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
Historic German 'rail bridge' aids war-ravaged Ukraine
The convoy rolls slowly out of the heart of Berlin, its eight cars tethered to a bright red locomotive. Destination: Ukraine, thanks to a historic "rail bridge" delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged country.
Four days' journey, more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) travelled and at the end of the line, tonnes of food and other essentials delivered to people in need.
The operation of the Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German rail company, echoes the famous Allied airlift -- known as the "air bridge" in German -- during the Cold War to help the city of Berlin during a Soviet blockade.
"It only took four days" to set up this cooperation with the Polish and Ukrainian railways which now allows this "rail bridge" to operate regularly, explains Sigrid Nikutta, head of DB Cargo, the freight service of the public company.
Every other evening, a convoy leaves the German capital after having collected donations from companies and individuals throughout the country, at dedicated points or directly from manufacturers and supermarket chains.
Pallets of baby food, boxes of sanitary pads and tampons, small electrical appliances, medical equipment, floor mattresses, blankets... the outpouring of generosity is so overwhelming that the containers fill up rapidly.
"Each container is a message to Ukrainians: 'We aren't leaving you on your own!'," Nikutta says.
Among the DB staff, morale is high. Employees take convoys to Poland where they then hand off to local drivers.
The containers must later be unloaded and transferred because the width of the rails in Ukraine is different.
When the train arrives in Ukraine, the national railway takes over.
- 'Respect' -
The unfailing commitment of the employees of the Ukrainian national company to transport food and refugees from one end of the country to the other has earned the admiration of their colleagues to the west.
"They have my respect but also my concern because we all know that this is dangerous," Nikutta says.
However the risks for the "rail bridge" are limited, says DB Cargo spokesman Michael Schmidt.
"We do not transport weapons, no oil", he stresses, noting that since the start of the Russian offensive, attacks on the Ukrainian rail network have been rare because "the Russians need to keep this infrastructure in good condition".
All the convoys, sent to various Ukrainian cities and towns, have so far arrived safely, Nikutta says with pride.
She even received a photograph of the arrival of the containers in Kyiv sent by the mayor of the capital, the charismatic ex-boxer Vitali Klitschko.
"Many Ukrainians feel today, after four long weeks of war, what the Berliners felt at the time of the blockade by the Soviets" in 1948-1949, says the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, who attended the departure of a convoy this week.
"Without the enormous effort of the Allies at the time, what would this beautiful city have become?" he asks.
"We now need other solid bridges, including political ones, and the most important would be a prospect of EU membership for Ukraine", says the ambassador, giving the starting signal to the locomotive stamped with the slogan "We stand with Ukraine".
N.Fournier--BTB