Author: DW

The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is known around the world and may rightly call itself the “greatest show on Earth.” During the 5-day festivities, beginning this Friday and lasting until Ash Wednesday next week, thousands of colorfully dressed dancers’ parade through the Sambadrome, a large, open-air venue, while millions more take to the streets for the famous so-called Blocos, meaning street parties. According to the city of Rio de Janeiro, an estimated 7 million people are out celebrating during Carnival — and quite naturally they spend a lot of money. Carnival in Rio is not just a cultural phenomenon,…

Doctors have suggested that the Pope has overcome the most critical phase of his pneumonia infection – as the pontiff marks two weeks in hospital.In an update on Friday morning, the Vatican said: “As in past days, the night was tranquil and the Pope now is resting.” This morning’s update marked the second day in a row where doctors avoided saying the pontiff was in a critical condition, suggesting he has overcome the most acute phase of the infection.But given the complexity of his lung infection, they said “further days of clinical stability are needed” before they revise their prognosis…

At first look, this could be any group of young schoolchildren learning English as a second language. They repeat together the names of the different everyday objects shown on a screen: “ball!”; “doll!” But then the teacher adds an extra task: The children are to yell out the word “danger” every time they recognize a picture of a toy that’s been booby-trapped with a bomb or a mine. It’s more than a game: To harm Ukrainians, Russian soldiers have been found to hide munitions rigged to explode upon discovery in a wide range of random objects, including in children’s toys. This is…

After months of building, the biggest locust swarm recorded in 70 years swept across 10 countries in East Africa in spring 2020. The damage to crops was estimated at $8.5 billion (€8.1 billion) in a region where 23 million people face severe food insecurity. During these invasions, desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) eat their own weight in food every day.  The biblical-scale plague ate through 160,000,000 kilograms of food a day — enough to feed 800,000 people for a year. Scientists have been trying to understand how individual locusts gather in swarms for decades. Knowing their behavior would help with predicting and managing outbreaks.  A new model,…

Fenerbahce’s coach Jose Mourinho has been handed a four-match ban and a fine by the Turkish Football Federation on Thursday, after his “offensive” comments about Turkish referees in the aftermath of a match against Galatasaray.  The 62-year old Portuguese will have to pay 1,617,000 Turkish lira (€42,616 , $44,000) for criticizing the match officials when speaking to the media after a Super Lig draw on Monday.  Mourinho already served one of his suspended four games on Thursday when he was absent from the bench for Fenerbahce’s 4-1 Turkish Cup win at Gaziantep. Fenerbahce has appealed the four-game ban, according to Britain’s Sky Sports News.…

After announcing a “historic declaration” on Thursday, Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) , called upon the militant group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. This would mark the end of decades of violence between the PKK and the Turkish state. Here’s what you need to know. The PKK: A brief history The PKK was founded in 1978 with the goal of establishing an independent, socialist-orientated Kurdish state in the Middle East. Later, it softened this goal and instead called for the recognition of Kurdish identity, as well as political and cultural autonomy in areas…

For most of the current conflict, Dr. Eyas al-Bursh, a young Palestinian general practitioner, had worked as a volunteer doctor at Gaza City’s main Shifa Hospital. But in March 2024, the 30-year-old was arrested with others after Israeli forces launched another major assault on the hospital. Blindfolded and handcuffed, he recounts being taken to Sde Teiman, a military detention center where an investigation by the Associated Press has previously exposed abuses.  “The journey was filled with relentless beatings, humiliation and insults,” al-Bursh told DW via a voice message from inside Gaza. “We were struck with fists, feet, batons and even bare hands. Then at Sde…

“There it goes,” says Aditya K Sood as the remote dashboard for a solar power plant in India appears on his screen. The US-based hacker is on a mission to educate on cybersecurity. Speaking on a video call with DW, he’s showing how easy it has been for him to log into a plant in southern India’s Tamil Nadu region. “You know, people deploy their devices and forget to actually change [default] passwords. Or they have configured very weak passwords,” Sood says as he’s pointing to the system open in front of him on the screen. “I would say it’s a complete control of the device if…

Police have said they are “confident” they will catch whoever murdered a Scottish businessman whose body was found in a sack of pineapples in Kenya.Campbell Scott, believed to be from Dunfermline in Fife, was last seen attending a conference at the JW Marriot Hotel in Nairobi on 16 February. His body was days later discovered in a sack of pineapples in a forest around 66 miles southeast of the city.His death is being treated as murder and two people have been arrested as inquiries continue.A National Police Service spokesperson described it as a “heinous, heinous crime”. The case is being…

US actor Gene Hackman, 95, who won two Oscars in the course of his decadeslong career, was found dead on Wednesday afternoon together with his 63-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their home in the US state of New Mexico, police said. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office confirmed the deaths and said foul play was not suspected to have played a role. They added that the couple’s dog had also been found dead. Couple discovered after call for welfare check Authorities said they found the couple at 1:45 am local time following a request to conduct a welfare check. Hackman received the best actor…