Author: DW

A new study by researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan has identified patterns of behavior shown by cats toward humans they know, such as their owners, and strangers. Previous research suggested that cats rely on their sensitive noses to identify other cats as friend or foe. But whether that same function applies to detecting humans was not fully understood. So, the researchers in Japan took 30 domestic cats and tested their responses to a range of special scents. The cats’ owners provided samples of their scents by swabbing their underarms, behind their ears and between their toes. These swabs were…

Warning: This article contains references to suicide, sexual assault and other details that readers may find disturbing Joel Le Scouarnec is not the name on everyone’s lips in the western French seaside town of Vannes, where this week the former surgeon was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping and sexually abusing nearly 300 of his patients — most of them children — over more than three decades. His face was not on the front page of the local newspaper the morning after his conviction, and, as the weather oscillated between grey rainy skies and bright May sunshine, people mulling around…

An Argentine court on Thursday declared a mistrial in the homicide case against the medical team of the late football legend Diego Maradona. Thursday’s mistrial ruling came after one of the court’s judges recused herself over ethical conflicts posed by the fact that she had appeared in a television documentary about the case. Prosecutors argued that the situation created a conflict that tainted the trial. Judge Maximiliano Savarino said the conduct of his colleague Julieta Makintach had “caused prejudice” to the proceedings. A new trial will be held with a different panel of judges but Thursday’s statements did not specify when. Judge…

UK authorities on Thursday charged a 53-year-old man with ramming a car into a crowd celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League title earlier in the week. The suspect, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, was charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving and five other counts covering variations of causing grievous bodily harm. He was arrested on Monday and has been remanded into custody to appear before the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Friday. Seventy-nine people aged 9 to 78 were injured when the Ford Galaxy plowed into supporters as they celebrated their club’s record-equaling 20th English top-flight title. There were no fatalities.Car plows…

For Enoch Aikins, a political economist who focuses on Africa, the topic of sending money home to relatives is personal. “I can use myself as an example, as somebody that comes from a typical village with a lot of people or [with] a family that depends on me,” he told DW. A researcher with the Institute of Security Studies now based in Pretoria, South Africa, Enoch grew up in the small town of Agona Kwanyako, about 70 kilometers (about 43 miles) from the Ghanaian capital Accra. Enoch Randy Aikins has personal experience of the importance of remittancesImage: privat His job means he can…

A mother has been sentenced to life in prison after she kidnapped and trafficked her own six-year-old daughter.Kelly Smith, whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were convicted of the crimes in South Africa after Joshlin Smith disappeared from Saldanha, in Western Cape, last year. The youngster has not been seen since and remains missing following a nationwide police hunt. Image: Kelly Smith, the mother of Joshlin Smith, arrives for her sentencing hearing. Pic: Reuters Image: Jacquen Appollis and Steveno Van Rhyn. Pic: Reuters During the trial, one witness said…

Throughout his life, the Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o advocated for the African continent and his home country to free itself from Western cultural dominance. Baptized James Ngugi, he was born on January 5, 1938, in the central Kenyan region of Limuru. He died Wednesday at the age of 87. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, this Wednesday morning,” Wanjiku wa Ngugi wrote. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight,” she added. Ngugi studied at the renowned Makerere College (now Makerere University) in Kampala, Uganda, in the early…

A new study by researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan, identified patterns of behavior shown by cats towards humans they know, such as their owners, and strangers. Previous research suggested cats rely on their sensitive noses to identify other cats as friend or foe. But whether that same function applies to detecting humans was not fully understood. So, the researchers in Japan took 30 domestic cats and tested their responses to a range of special scents. The cats’ owners provided samples of their scents by swabbing their underarms, behind their ears and between their toes. These swabs were…

Andrew Tate faces 10 criminal charges in Britain, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Wednesday. The CPS said it had authorized the charges against the internet personality, which relate to three complainants, before an extradition warrant was issued in 2024 to bring him to the UK from Romania. What are the charges against Tristan Tate? Tristan Tate, Andrew’s brother, faces 11 charges, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking. This is in relation to one complainant. “We can confirm that we have authorized charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate for offences…

When Nomine Fabian made her way to a beach on the coast of Föhr in the North Sea for her first sailing lesson of the year, she did so in a wheelchair. She was accompanied by Dirk Hückstädt, her coach, who runs a surfing and sailing school on the small German island. The two know each other well, as Hückstadt started teaching Nomine how to sail some six years ago, when she was only five. A first for the coach “Nomi was the first wheelchair user who came to us wanting to learn to sail,” Hückstädt told DW. “At the time,…