Author: DW

“We are dealing with it, of course. I have personally sent two employees to Rwanda to monitor the situation. Our colleagues will return this week and report back.” Those were the words of Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen to DW at the beginning of February. There has been no word since. Dreesen was responding to comments from DR Congo’s (DRC) Foreign Minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, who had called on clubs who deal with Rwanda to end their agreements. “Countless lives have been lost; rape, murder and theft prevail. Your sponsor is directly responsible for this misery,” she wrote at the time. Rwanda has…

Catholics around the world have gathered to mourn the passing of Pope Francis. The head of the Catholic Church, who had died in Rome on Easter Monday aged 88, was widely known as “the people’s pope” during his 12-year papacy. Many Catholics in Africa in particular have said that they felt a kinship with the late Argentinian-born pontiff, who preferred to lead a simple life rather than focusing on dramatic displays of the church’s global influence. Across much of Nigeria, which has one of the highest Catholic populations on the continent, there appears to be a cloak of sadness and grief hanging over churches and cathedrals following joyful Easter celebrations on the…

Over the weekend, Chaima Issa, a Tunisian writer and human rights activist, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The daughter of a former political prisoner, Issa has been imprisoned in Tunisia since 2023 and is accused of “conspiracy against state security.” She was not alone. Her sentencing came as part of a mass trial of prominent opposition figures in Tunisia last Friday, including politicians, diplomats, lawyers and civil society activists. All had spoken out against Tunisian President Kais Saied and were sentenced to between 13 and 66 years in prison. Some, like Issa, are in jail in Tunisia, while others have…

More than 150 people have been injured after a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook Istanbul, one of the strongest to strike the city in recent years, Turkish officials have said.There were no immediate reports of serious damage in the city, where 16 million people live. Residents were seen running out of buildings as the quake shook the area, and 151 people were admitted to hospital after suffering injuries while “jumping from heights”, the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement, blaming “panic”. Image: People outside with their pets. Pic: AP No one is in a life-threatening condition, the office said.The…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank rarely capture headlines outside periods of significant upheaval. A Google search for debt-laden Argentina, for instance, is as likely to bring up articles about IMF loans as it is to celebrate Lionel Messi’s latest football triumph. The IMF’s latest $20 billion (€17.4 billion) debt relief for Argentina, its largest debtor nation, was announced last week to help libertarian President Javier Milei continue reforming the South American country’s economy after decades of wasteful spending. However, the World Bank’s work tends to fly under the radar. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it quietly delivered $170 billion in…

Its name alone has become a verb: Missed the latest viral phenomenon? Just YouTube it. Somehow, 21st-century life without YouTube seems unthinkable. And yet it began as a quirky idea by three former PayPal employees — Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen — who activated their domain on Valentine’s Day 2005, unsure of its direction. At his University of Illinois commencement speech back in 2007, German-born Karim explained: “We didn’t even know how to describe our new product. To generate interest, we just said it was a new kind of dating site. We even had a slogan for it: ‘Tune in, Hook…

Russian hackers targeted a Dutch public facility last year, the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency and security service MIVD reported on Tuesday.  The target was the digital control system of an undisclosed Dutch public facility in the first known Russian attack on the Netherlands’ critical infrastructure, the MIVD said in its annual report. The report reviewed other cyber attacks against European allies of Ukraine amid the ongoing war. Why was the Netherlands targeted?  The Netherlands is an “interesting target country” for Moscow due to its continued support for Ukraine, the MIVD said. Last week, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced €150 million ($172…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled an overhaul of the US State Department on Tuesday. As part of the Trump administration’s “America First” mandate, the department is set to reduce its staff by 15% as it closes and consolidates more than 100 offices and bureaus worldwide. What do we know about the overhaul? According to an internal memo seen by Reuters and the Associated Press, the plan – of which Congress has been informed – would eliminate 132 of the State Department’s 734 bureaus and offices. A further 137 offices will be transitioned to another location within the department to “increase efficiency,”…

Michael Slater, a former Test cricketer for Australia, has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges.However, the 55-year-old is expected to be released based on time already served. The remainder of his sentence has been suspended for five years.Slater was taken into custody last year on charges of unlawful stalking or intimidation, breaking into a dwelling with intent at night, common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm and choking or suffocation.The offences took place between December 2023 and April last year. He was also charged with contravening a domestic violence order.In 2022, charges of…

What did Trump announce? US President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly paused import tariffs for 90 days on dozens of countries — except China — a week after announcing unprecedented penalties on most of the world over what he says are unfair trade practices. Trump, however, doubled down on China, raising tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy to 125%, citing a “lack of respect” by Beijing. On Thursday, the White House clarified that Chinese producers would pay a total of 145% in tariffs on imports to the US due to a 20% duty that was levied earlier in the year. “At some point, hopefully in the near future,…