Author: DW

The threats and insults have been coming from both sides for days now. Turkey is trying to establish a “neo-Ottoman state” in Syria and if it crosses “red lines” then Israel will act, senior Israeli officials warned. With its ongoing air attacks on Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, Israel’s “fundamentalist and racist” government has become “the greatest threat to the security of our region” with “aggressive and expansionist policies,” Turkish officials responded.  The latest undiplomatic comments came late last week as a result of Israel bombing Syria again. Since the former authoritarian Syrian regime, led by dictator Bashar Assad, was ousted in December 2024, Israel…

What has happened at St. Pauli? Bundesliga club St. Pauli has decided to suspend the playing of its famous “Das Herz von St. Pauli” (The heart of St. Pauli) fan song after research by the Bundesliga club’s museum team revealed the song has a Nazi past. “We absolutely know and understand that the song has great emotional significance for many people,” emphasized club president Oke Göttlich in a statement. “This can remain the case on a personal level, but an anthem in the stadium has a special function: such a song should bring people together, it should be a shared and unifying moment. In view…

Who will prove to be the defender of democracy in these trials? In Brazil, supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial before the Constitutional Court for an attempted coup, are facing off against the Brazilian judiciary. In France, supporters of the French right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, who was convicted of corruption, are protesting against what they consider a “political verdict”. And in South Korea, many people see President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was recently dismissed by South Korea’s Constitutional Court, as a “martyr for democracy.” Yeol had surprisingly imposed martial law in December 2024 to “protect the country…

France could be pivotal in making Europe’s defense sector autonomous. But the country will have to overcome hurdles — and shouldn’t go it alone, experts warn. French President Emmanuel Macron was already making the case for what he called “strategic autonomy” back in 2017. “When it comes to defense, our aim should be for Europe to have the capacity to act autonomously, alongside NATO,” he said during a Europe speech at Sorbonne University in Paris. At the time, his appeal fell on deaf ears in the European Union, especially on those of then German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Waking up amid new…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says two Chinese citizens have been captured while fighting in eastern Ukraine.He said his forces had fought six Chinese soldiers and two of them had been taken prisoner. He added he had ordered officials to obtain an explanation from Beijing. “We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just two. We are now finding out all the facts,” he added.Follow latest: Zelenskyy demands reaction from USChina is an ally of Russia and has been accused of helping its war in Ukraine, though Beijing has repeatedly denied allegations that it has supplied…

“I’m a modern witch, I admit it,” says 59-year-old Barbara. She has spent her entire life feeling that she is in contact with the spirit world. Her room smells of incense, and she’s about to consult the runes for her future. In the Early Modern period, Barbara would likely have ended up burned at the stake. This fate also threatened Maria Anna Schwegelin, for the people wanted to see the former maid burned in April 1775. She had confessed to fornication with the devil. Maria Anna Schwegelin was the last witch to be sentenced to death in Germany, in the Bavarian town of Kempten,…

For years, Germany had been seen as the leading light of Europe — both politically and economically powerful, and with a figurehead in the form of Angela Merkel who was instantly recognizable on the continent and internationally. Her retirement, a comparatively unstable successor government led by the center-left’s Olaf Scholz, and the difficult passage through the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Germany’s European star dull. Across the border, Emmanuel Macron — no stranger to his own domestic political battles — has emerged as Europe’s most important national leader amid the global shocks wrought by the second Trump administration and its hostile…

The trial of Norwegian double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s father has sparked conversation around the decisive role parents play in sporting development. But competetiveness can all too easily spill over.

The rout on global financial markets continued for a third day on Monday (April 7) in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s unprecedented tariffs on most trading partners of the United States. Investors are growing increasingly nervous about the prospect of a wider trade war, which would likely spark a global recession. They say the tariffs are poised to have far-reaching effects on world economic growth, due to much higher manufacturing costs, falling business confidence, market volatility and supply chain disruptions. Although the US stock markets regained some lost ground on Monday, Trump may have exacerbated further declines in Asia and Europe at the start of the…

The rout on global financial markets continued for a third day on Monday (April 7) in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s unprecedented tariffs on most trading partners of the United States. Investors are growing increasingly nervous about the prospect of a wider trade war, which would likely spark a global recession. They say the tariffs are poised to have far-reaching effects on world economic growth, due to much higher manufacturing costs, falling business confidence, market volatility and supply chain disruptions. Trump may have exacerbated further stock declines in Asia, Europe and the US at the start of the week by saying that investors would have to deal with…