Author: DW

Although no major policy decisions are pending at the FIFA Congress to be held in Asuncion on Thursday, the meeting still stands to cast a shadow over the future of the beautiful game. This is mainly due to FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s keenness to curry favor with the powers-that-be in the countries set to host the next two World Cups – particularly with President Donald Trump of the United States, primary host of the 2026 tournament. Also to be discussed is a possible further expansion of the World Cup to 64 teams. What decisions are to be made at the FIFA…

After 41 years of armed insurgency against the Turkish state, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has announced that it will disband. Representatives of the Turkish government and politicians in opposition parties have all greeted the decision and the likely end of a long and bloody conflict, one where an estimated 40,000 people lost their lives. The PKK’s announcement set off celebrations but also brought up many questions. Political experts say that the dissolution of the group, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany and other countries, could fundamentally alter the balance of political power in Turkey. How would Turkish…

Since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, there have been many attempts to implement a lasting end to the violence of its ongoing war in Ukraine . Over more than a decade, Ukraine, its European supporters and the United States have tried to resolve the crisis. All have been unsuccessful. What is the latest ceasefire proposal? Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a new round of ceasefire negotiations in Istanbul on May 15. His announcement came as Russia commenced a fresh drone attack on Kyiv  following the end of a unilateral three-day “truce” declared by Russia. European leaders rebuffed the proposal of direct talks, however, without…

Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner beamed as he met the newly elected Pope Leo in the Vatican.The world number one presented the US pontiff, himself a keen tennis player, with a racket after being invited to the Vatican along with his parents and a delegation from the Italian Tennis Federation. The two were pictured laughing as they held a racket each and Sinner, 23, also held a tennis ball. Image: Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters But Leo, who became the 267th pontiff in a historic election earlier this month, declined a suggestion to go for a hit with the three-time grand slam…

“I’m very nervous,” the 41-year-old director and screenwriter Mascha Schilinski tells Berlin public broadcaster RBB. “I’m insanely happy, but the nervousness outweighs that.” She had hoped that “Sound of Falling” would be screened at a major festival, and felt it deserved that distinction. “But I didn’t really expect it. It’s a filmmaker’s dream!” Now Schilinski is fulfilling that dream at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival, which runs from May 13 to 25. German directors at Cannes have been, as the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung noted sardonically, “at times harder to find than a decent lunch for less than €20.” This year, the…

Vaccines completely revolutionized public health when they were first created by Edward Jenner in 1796. They have protected billions of people worldwide against harmful and fatal viral diseases, even successfully eradicating diseases like smallpox and rinderpest. Over the last 50 years alone, vaccines have saved 101 million children’s lives around the world, according to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccines are available to protect against more than 30 life-threatening diseases and infections. The WHO recommends that every child should get vaccinated against 12 of those diseases: tuberculosis, hepatitis B, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenza type B, pneumococcal disease, rotavirus,…

On April 28, Vaibhav Suryavanshi made headlines around the world. Just 14, the cricketer became the youngest player to score 100 runs, in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a major landmark in the sport. Amazingly, he is also the second fastest ever to reach a century, taking just 35 balls. While his age is unusual, Indian cricket produces many young talents and the IPL, founded in 2008, attracts the cream of the sport.  For soccer fans in the country of 1.4 billion, the situation is a little different. Just weeks prior to the teenager’s achievement in Jaipur, which has pundits…

A charter plane carrying 59 white South Africans arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC, on Monday. For these 59 people, including families and children, the United States is their new home. US President Donald Trump himself had fast-tracked their arrival. Back in February, he had announced a new program to take in refugees from South Africa who, in his view, were suffering from racist policies. While many refugees wait years before they are approved to travel to the United States,  the Afrikaners who arrived on Monday were admitted in under three months. Refugee status ‘based on lies’ On Monday, Trump…

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he was open to discussing the potential deployment of his country’s nuclear weapons elsewhere in Europe. The comments came in an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Tuesday evening. Macron noted that the United States already stations nuclear-armed aircraft in Europe. “The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey,” Macron said. “We are ready to open this discussion.” “I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come,” he said. Macron lists conditions for sharing France’s nuclear umbrella In the interview,…

Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil, is planning a major rail link to Peru’s Chancay megaport on the Pacific — a project backed by Chinese financing with the aim of reconfiguring the Asian powerhouse’s trade routes and reduce dependency on traditional Atlantic shipping lanes. Brazilian business magazine Valor wrote recently that Chinese interest in new investments in Brazil is on the rise. Colombia, too, is reportedly weighing participation in China’s so-called Belt and Road Initiative, and Venezuela is actively pursuing deeper ties with Chinese oil firms.Why is China’s new megaport in Peru facing pushback?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web…