Author: DW

Even before the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, female boxers were rare and viewed with skepticism by broad sections of the country’s society. However, this has not prevented some young women from pursuing the sport. Among those who defied such societal expectations is Sadia Bromand. As a girl, she would ride her bike to school and play sports after her classes were over. After finishing school, she worked as a journalist for a women-run television station. “The biggest challenge for a woman in Afghanistan is simply being a woman,” Bromand told DW in a recent interview. “And…

India-administered Jammu and Kashmir is grappling with its deadliest attack in two decades. On Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on tourists in the popular town of Pahalgam, killing 26 men. A little-known armed group calling itself The Resistance Front (TRF) allegedly claimed responsibility. In the days that followed, India suspended a decades-old water-sharing treaty with Pakistan, announced the closure of a key border crossing, withdrew visas for Pakistani nationals and accused Islamabad of enabling cross-border terrorism. Pakistani officials have denied any involvement. In response, Islamabad cancelled visas issued to Indians and closed its airspace to Indian planes. The attack has drawn attention to the…

A business consultant and former member United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Senate staff has been appointed as the US State Department’s top executive for Europe, the department’s website showed on Friday. Brendan Hanrahan has taken on the role of the senior bureau official for the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR). Who is Brendan Hanrahan? According to the website, Hanrahan was an investor at a private American firm and previously worked as a policy adviser for the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship under Rubio. Hanrahan replaces Louis Bono, a senior foreign service officer who was appointed…

A Russian general has been killed by a car bomb near Moscow, the country’s top criminal investigation agency says.The death of Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik is the second such fatal attack on a top Russian military officer in four months. The investigative committee said he was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside the capital. Image: Yaroslav Moskalik. Pic: Russian Ministry of Defence He was a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces.Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel, adding…

Some love affairs only go so far. And German’s love affair with cash could slowly be running up against a copper and steel wall in the form on 1 and 2-cent euro coins. While the idea of dropping these coins has been gaining ground, it recently found a high-level advocate in a group associated with the Bundesbank, the country’s central bank. This comes just after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to try to force the US mint to stop making pennies. What’s suddenly so wrong with small change? Who doesn’t have a jar full pennies at home?…

Auerbachs Keller in Leipzig is one of the most famous restaurants in the world. Every year, 36,000 home-made beef roulades are eaten here. Around 90,000 liters of beer and just as much wine are also served. “We have around 300,000 guests a year, many of them from abroad,” says Tanja Pieper, spokeswoman and anniversary ambassador for the storied cellar restaurant. Even more impressive than the quantities consumed at the venue is the fact that some 250 years ago, Auerbachs Keller partly inspired the great drama “Faust — The Tragedy of the First Part,” by poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. One scene in “Faust” takes place in the restaurant, attracting Goethe…

What you need to know Parents who used an AI chatbot were three times more likely to vaccinate or schedule an HPV vaccination for their children, according to new research. Vaccination was eight times more likely for those living in rural areas.  The chatbot also increased consultation rates with healthcare workers and vaccine literacy.    With vaccine-preventable diseases on the rise, finding new ways to bring people accessible, judgment-free medical information could help rebuild confidence in vaccines.  Coinciding with World Immunization Week, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance issued a joint statement Thursday warning about a…

Doctors testifying in a trial of medical workers who treated Diego Maradona before he died said Thursday that the former Argentina football star was considered a “high-risk” and “very difficult” patient to treat. Maradona, 60, died of cardiac arrest at his home near Buenos Aires on November 25, 2020. He had been recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot after decades battling cocaine and alcohol addictions. Seven health care workers are accused of negligence over his death. The defendants are facing between eight and 25 years in prison if found guilty of “homicide with possible intent.” They have denied the…

A team of archaeologists on Thursday said they had unearthed the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman in Caral, Peru. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archaeologist David Palomino told the AFP news agency. What did the archeologists find in Peru? Palomino said the woman’s remains were carefully preserved in layers of fabric, with a mantle of macaw feathers. It contained her skin as well as part of her nails and hair. Preliminary findings show that the woman was between 20-35 years old and was about 5 feet tall (around 1.5…

Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, was hit by a strong earthquake on Wednesday. Over 150 people were injured when they jumped or attempted to jump from buildings, Istanbul’s governor Davut Gul said, adding that “their injuries were not life-threatening” and nobody had died in the quake. Following events like this, images and videos begin to circulate on social media — content creators are eager to gain views and increase their number of followers. However, a study shows that misinformation during and after natural disasters often leads to panic and hinders effective disaster management. DW’s research shows that many videos circulating online following the earthquake in Turkey do not depict the recent…