Author: DW

 Wildfires in South Korea have caused the death of at least 18 people, with blazes causing “unprecedented damage”, acting president Han Duck-soo said on Wednesday. A helicopter engaged in fighting the flames crashed, officials said. The pilot of the helicopter was killed, the official Yonhap news agency reported. Han told an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the blazes were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.” “This is a full-scale national response,” the acting president said, adding that the government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level. What do we know about…

What is a ‘war economy?’ There is no official definition of a “war economy” but there are many attributes that add up to one. A war economy means that a country has mobilized its resources, manufacturing capabilities and workforce to support military preparation and production leading up to or during wartime. The most obvious economic change is a shift in industrial production away from consumer goods to things like weapons, ammunition or other military equipment. Besides traditional military hardware, modern weapons require investments in technology and digital services like software, data analytics, satellite systems and reliable internet, says Penny Naas, a public…

World Athletics will introduce mandatory testing for anyone entering female competitions to verify their biological sex, insisting it is necessary to protect women’s sport.It is the latest move overseen by Sebastian Coe – as president of the governing body – to address the gender eligibility issue, two years after banning anyone assigned male at birth from female events. Lord Coe said after a World Athletics Council meeting today that they could adopt non-invasive cheek swab tests or dry blood tests that only have to be carried out once on an athlete.”This we feel is a really important way of providing…

For decades, Greek authorities have been arguing for the permanent return of the so-called Parthenon Sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles. These include about half of the surviving fragments of a 160-meter-long (520-foot) frieze from the Parthenon Temple, which dates back around 2,500 years. They currently sit in the collection of the British Museum in London. Greece wants them returned to Athens after they were taken from the Acropolis around 200 years ago. Former UK prime ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak rejected any such move.  “The UK has cared for the Elgin marbles for generations,” Sunak said in 2023. “Our galleries and museums are funded by taxpayers because they are a huge asset to this…

What you need to know A study by Australian researchers has found that heat is a major factor of heart disease. The disease burden of heat-related heart diseases could double if global temperatures continue to rise. Researchers are calling for health measures protect people from the effects of heat. Researchers have found rising global temperatures are making cardiovascular diseases more debilitating. A new study, published in the journal the European Journal of Cardiology, found heat is now a major factor of cardiovascular disease burden for people in Australia. Currently, cardiovascular diseases are the second highest contributor of fatal health burden…

Russia may be banned from meaningful competitions and pariahs across much of the world over the war in Ukraine, but its national football team is not struggling too much to find willing opponents. In the last year, Russia faced Syria, Belarus, Brunei, Grenada, Vietnam and Serbia in friendly matches. Iran, Qatar, Cuba and Iraq were among the opposition before that. Russia has won their last seven games in a row, scoring 31 goals and conceding none. But apart from those with more obvious ties to the Kremlin, several African sides have started to play the 2018 World Cup hosts. An Egyptian under-23 side was the first in…

Arriving in Jerusalem on Monday, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas met both Israeli and Palestinian officials, as well as the families of Israeli hostages. The stakes were high and the timing could not be more critical. Tensions in the region have surged since Kallas’ last meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Brussels back in February, making her message all the more urgent. At a press conference in Jerusalem, Kallas stressed that “resuming negotiations is the only way to put an end to the suffering on both sides.”  The visit coincided with Israel’s ongoing military escalation in Gaza, where strikes on…

Indian comedian Kunal Kamra on Monday night refused to apologize for his act criticizing a politician allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the launch of an investigation accusing him of defamation. “I don’t fear this mob and I will not be hiding under my bed, waiting for this to die down,” Kamra, among India’s leading comedians, said in a post shared on his social media accounts. Why is Kamra being investigated? Kamra has stirred controversy since he performed a skit where he called Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde a “traitor.” Supporters of Shinde’s Shiv Sena party were quick to attack the venue where…

It was the FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, that got Kanishk K.* to start investing in the stock market. He told DW that as India battled the second wave of the COVID lockdown in 2021, he started noticing ads on Instagram featuring social media influencers giving money-making tips. “I didn’t want to miss out on this — the way people were making money. That, I would say, is the first thing that got me into the market,” Kanishk said. He explained how, after initially investing in mutual funds, he gradually moved to trading on the stock market. Like a…

Since winning re-election, president-elect Donald Trump has expressed an interest in acquiring Greenland.His aims surrounding Greenland coincide with his repeated claims that Canada should become the 51st state of the US and him directing the US military to draw up options to achieve his goal of “reclaiming” the Panama Canal. Here is everything you need to know about the US president’s proposals and if they could actually happen.Why does Trump want Greenland?National security purposesGreenland is the world’s largest island and a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. With a population of 57,000, it has been part of Denmark for 600 years. It…