Author: DW

Niger entrenched military rule for another five years this week when junta leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, who seized power in a 2023 military coup, was named president for the next five years. During his inauguration in the capital Niamey, attended by religious and military leaders, Tchiani boasted it was “a new beginning for a sovereign Niger.” Tchiani was sworn in under a new charter, which replaces the West African nation’s previous constitution. Depending on the security situation in Niger, which has been plagued by insurgencies and violence for over a decade, the five-year presidency may well be extended. Tchiani was also promoted to the country’s highest…

Germany’s labor market showed new signs of stress as unemployment rose sharply in March, marking the steepest monthly increase since October 2024. The number of jobless individuals rose by 26,000 in seasonally adjusted terms, bringing the total to 2.92 million, the Federal Labor Office reported on Friday. The figure more than doubled analysts’ forecasts of an increase of 10,000. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 6.3%, up from 6.2% the previous month — also slightly above market predictions. Spring recovery slowed by economic troubles “March marks the start of the so-called spring recovery on the labor market. This year, however, the…

Witnesses have described the chaos as an earthquake struck Myanmar, with tremors felt 560 miles away in Bangkok. At least 144 people have died in Myanmar with more than 730 injured, while in Thailand eight people were killed and 81 are trapped after a skyscraper collapsed.Myanmar’s state broadcaster gave the first update on fatalities on Friday afternoon as the country’s military warned there would be more deaths and casualties.As emergency workers in both countries respond to the disaster, we hear from people in Bangkok and Myanmar who witnessed the natural disaster.Myanmar earthquake latest: Follow live updates’There was a lot of screaming’Paul…

Ask your average German what they associate with the name Rudolf Steiner and they may well list off a string of things, from natural cosmetics brand Weleda to Demeter organic food products to the alternative school in their town. The name will at least ring a bell. Ask a non-German the same thing, and chances are they’ll just scratch their heads. Yet while Steiner himself may not be well-known, his ideas have certainly had global impact, especially in the field of education. Steiner opened the first Waldorf school in 1919, and, 100 years after his death (on March 30, 1925), there…

The primary cause of death in an earthquake is not the shaking ground but crumbling roofs, crashing walls and collapsing buildings.   No deaths have been reported from the most recent 7.7 magnitude earthquake affecting Myanmar and Thailand. The quake and a 6.4 aftershock caused evacuations from buildings in the Thai capital Bangkok and one high-rise to collapse. After the strong quake in central Japan earlier this week, smoke was seen rising from the scene of a fire in WajimaImage: Kyodo News/IMAGO How do earthquakes cause buildings to collapse?  Earthquakes can cause buildings to stretch, compress or shear.   Shearing occurs when unaligned forces act on…

After talks among close to 30 mainly European and NATO leaders in Paris on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron touted plans to deploy troops from “several” European countries to Ukraine should a lasting peace deal be established.  The contours of any such arrangement are still unclear but could take firmer shape in the coming weeks. British and French defense officials will soon visit Ukraine to scope out security needs on the ground, Macron announced. “There will be a reassurance force with several European countries who will deploy,” to Ukraine, Macron told the press after a three-hour meeting of leaders, including Ukrainian…

A US federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender military troops on Thursday, marking the second nationwide injunction in two weeks. US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that transgender service members would suffer “irreparable harm of losing the military service career they have chosen” if removed and criticized the administration’s lack of justification for the ban.  “The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” Settle wrote. Plaintiffs call policy discriminatory Thursday’s ruling follows a similar order last week by US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC,…

The news of the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu last week triggered heavy losses in Turkey’s capital markets, as many investors appear to be losing confidence in the presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish stocks experienced their worst week since the global financial crisis of 2008, with the blue-chip ISE 100 stock index losing more than 16% at the peak of the rout. In response, Turkey’s capital markets authority banned short selling and betting on further price declines. At the same time, it eased stock buybacks to support plunging shares. While the index initially rose by about 2%, it soon turned…

Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan for a “reassurance force” with several countries in Ukraine – but not all European allies have backed the idea.The French president said some nations disagreed on the proposed deployment of an armed force to back up an eventual peace deal, with only some wanting to take part. “It is not unanimous,” he said during a news conference after the third summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing” on Thursday, with leaders meeting in Paris to coordinate their stance.But Mr Macron said France and the UK, who are driving the initiative, will work with…

“Death of a Unicorn,” directed by Alex Scharfman and starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd, features something you don’t hear about every day: Killer unicorns. The film, released in the United States on March 28, is a story about human greed, poking fun at the ultra wealthy in the context of humans hunting down unicorns they discover on a remote ranch in Canada. The creatures are said to have magical healing properties. As the chase begins, gory chaos ensues. From medieval tapestries to sculptures by Salvador Dali, the film is the latest cultural product to harness the centuries-old symbolism of the mythical one-horned creature. The unicorn’s sage-like origins…