Author: DW

India and China have pushed back firmly against US President Donald Trump’s threats of secondary sanctions — penalties for doing business with a sanctioned country — over their continued purchases of Russia’s oil, which is a key revenue stream for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.  Both nations vowed to protect their energy security and economic sovereignty against what Beijing firmly called “coercion and pressure” from the United States. China became the biggest importer of Russian oil in 2022. India, meanwhile, accused the West of hypocrisy, pointing out that the European Union continues to import Russian energy, despite having massively reduced its reliance on it since the war began.. New Delhi further noted…

German historian Karl Schlögel, an expert on Russia and Ukraine, is the winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for 2025. On Tuesday, it was announced that one of Germany’s most prestigious literary prizes, bestowed annually by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association at the Frankfurt Book Fair, would go to Schlögel for his work that has recently concentrated on the historical context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  “His was one of the first voices to warn of Vladimir Putin’s aggressive expansionist policies and authoritarian-nationalist claims to power,” read the jury’s statement. “Today, Schlögel continues to affirm Ukraine’s…

Fraudulent scientific research is on the rise and it is jeopardizing medical research, experts have warned. A new study has found that networks of bad actors work together to publish bogus research. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, came from analyzing more than 5 million scientific articles published across 70,000 journals. “There are groups of editors conspiring to publish low quality articles, at scale, escaping traditional peer review processes,” said the study’s lead author Reece Richardson, a social scientist at Northwestern University, US. The research uncovered evidence of networks of scientific journal editors who frequently publish research that is flagged…

These are busy times for football in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The women’s team played in the African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the first time since 2012 while the men are currently top of their qualification group for the 2026 World Cup, putting them on course for a first appearance on the global stage since 1974. Off the pitch, there is also encouraging news. If a peace deal that was signed in June between the country and neighboring Rwanda holds, enduring violence could recede and citizens could have a fresh chance to play or watch sport. The eastern region of…

A wildfire in the Corbieres hills in southwestern France, inland from the Mediterranean coast, has already closed a major highway and left nine people injured, one critically, local officials said. The fire started in the town of Ribaute and has since spread over 11,000 hectares, the affected Aude department said on social media in an update early on Wednesday morning. Seven firefighters and two other people have been injured, “including one person in critical condition with severe burns,” Aude department said.  Another fire had since broken out some 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of the original blaze. Camping grounds and one…

The Japanese city of Hiroshima held a silent prayer at 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMT) on Wednesday. That was the moment when US aircraft Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb called “Little Boy” over the Japanese city on August 6, 1945. Hundreds of officials, students and survivors laid flowers at the memorial cenotaph. The ruins of the Genbaku Dome, the only structure left standing in the area where the bomb exploded, were visible in the background — a stark reminder of the horrors that unfolded. Before dawn on Wednesday, survivors and their families came to pray at the peace memorial park as the…

Season 1 of the 2022 Netflix production, “Wednesday,” remains the streaming platform’s second most-successful series worldwide — second only to “Squid Game” (2021). And it’s the first among English-language series, ahead of this year’s British surprise hit, “Adolescence.” It’s no wonder the sequel is so highly anticipated.   What’s the story with ‘Wednesday’? Produced and directed by Tim Burton — famed for quirky gothic horror films like “Beetlejuice” (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990) — “Wednesday” reinvents the cult horror comedy series, “The Addams Family,” giving it a stylish Gen-Z makeover. Played by Jenna Ortega, the title character Wednesday Addams is a mysterious teenage girl who never…

Matches at Euro 2025 in Switzerland have largely been sold out, with swelling crowds cheering on global stars they recognize from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. At first glance, women’s football has never been closer to men’s football. Beyond the ongoing battle for equal pay, there is however another glaring and striking difference between men’s and women’s international football in Europe. Most women’s teams are significantly whiter than their male counterparts. While fans, players and football institutions strive to make the women’s game inclusive, limited access to football in certain communities means Euro 2025 – at least on the pitch – doesn’t really reflect many…

Australia will upgrade its navy with 11 frigates from Japan, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Tuesday. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever been struck between Japan and Australia,” Marles said. The 10 billion Australian dollar ($6.5 billion or €5.6 billion) deal saw Mitsubishi Heavy Industries awarded the tender to supply Mogami-class warships, beating out Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Deal sees tightening of Australia-Japan partnership Japan is one of Australia’s most important partners in the Indo-Pacific region. “This decision was made based on what was the best capability for Australia,” Marles said. “We do have…

Once a year, on August 5, the small sleepy town of Knin in Northern Dalmatia becomes the heart of Croatia’spolitical life. The country’s political and military elite gather under the flag on the castle ruins above the town, and there are patriotic speeches with pathos galore. It’s the “Day of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving” and the “Day of Croatian Defenders,” commemorating the military operation “Oluja” (Storm) carried out from August 4 to 7, 1995. The raising of the oversized flag above Knin Fortress remains to this day a symbol of Croatian troops victory over Serbia during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.…