Author: DW

Russia does not officially provide figures regarding the number of soldiers killed or wounded in the war against Ukraine. This information is classified and so far, the authorities have only made occasional statements regarding casualties. In October 2023, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Vovchenko, said that 54% of severely wounded Russian soldiers had had at least one limb amputated, and of these one fifth had required upper limb amputations. At the end of 2024, Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivilyova, who is described by uncensored Russian media outlets as being a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, put the…

The M23 rebel group was advancing towards another city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a UN expert said on Friday, just days after seizing the key eastern city of Goma. Bukavu is the capital of South Kivu province and home to hundreds of thousands of people. Rwandan-backed M23 rebels entered Goma, the capital of North Kivu and the largest city in eastern Congo, on Monday. Large parts of the city are now under rebel control in what’s considered the worst escalation of a long-running conflict in more than a decade.M23 rebels in DR Congo advance on Bukavu after seizing…

As Dry January comes to an end, those who took up the challenge of abstaining from alcohol for the first month of the year may be looking forward to their first drink in February. Others might be rethinking their relationship with alcohol altogether.  Similarly, a growing number of people in Germany are taking a more conscious approach to drinking. Consuming beer and wine has long been an integral part of culture in the land of Oktoberfest.  Not only is drinking in German public spaces like parks tolerated, teenagers as young as 14 are legally allowed to consume alcohol when accompanied by their parents. Germans drink…

A British-Israeli hostage held by Hamas for 15 months in Gaza has told Sir Keir Starmer she was detained in a United Nations facility but denied medical treatment during her captivity.Emily Damari, 28, was taken hostage after being kidnapped from her home on 7 October 2023 by Hamas gunmen who shot her in the hand and leg, as well as killing her pet dog. While on the phone call with her mother, Emily told the prime minister she had been held for some time in United Nations facilities belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) but was…

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic about two years ago, China’s economy has been anything but dynamic, grappling with a series of problems. At home, Chinese consumers have been holding off on spending. At the same time, a long-simmering real estate crisis has made many people poorer and deeply unsure about their future economic well-being. Across the Pacific, in the United States, Donald Trump is brimming with confidence after returning to the White House for a second term in office as president. As the world nervously watches how Trump’s campaign promise of higher tariffs on imports from virtually the entire world plays…

Borussia Dortmund have moved quickly to appoint an eighth coach in the last 10 years. Former Bayern Munich boss, Niko Kovac, is the successor to Nuri Sahin. Does he have what it takes?

US President Donald Trump threatened BRICS member states with 100% tariffs on Thursday to dissuade them from replacing the US dollar as reserve currency. Trump had made a similar statement right after winning the November 2024 elections.  “We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs,” he said on his Truth social media platform. “There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade, or anywhere else, and any country that…

The German Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, on Thursday evening passed a law that extends maternity leave protection to women who suffer a miscarriage after 13 weeks of pregnancy. A large majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the bill which aims to support women during a period of physical and emotional recovery, said Sarah Lahrkamp, a lawmaker from the Social Democratic Party (SPD). There were two nearly identical bills on the subject. As part of a cross-party agreement, the parliamentary committee responsible decided to adopt the text introduced by the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Southern Union (CSU)…

Marianne Faithfull, who was a defining figure of sixties and seventies British pop culture, has died at the age of 78. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull,” her spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday. “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.” Icon of Britain’s Swinging Sixties Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull was born in London on December 29, 1946. Her father was a British secret service officer. Her mother was closely related to the Austrian aristocracy.…

An American Airlines plane was found upside down and in three sections after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter over a major river in Washington DC.A total of 28 bodies – 27 from the passenger plane and one from the helicopter – have been recovered from the Potomac River after the two aircraft fell into the icy waters around 9pm local time (2am UK time) on Wednesday night.The American Airlines flight 5342, which had 60 passengers and four crew on board, was flying into the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from Wichita in Kansas, when the collision took place.Washington crash…