Author: DW

The voice is a democratic instrument per se. Almost anyone without health impediments can use their voice and, unlike other instruments, it doesn’t cost anything. “You can be particularly creative with your voice,” says Christine Siegert, President of the State Music Councilsin Germany. The music councils annually choose an instrument of the year, and in 2025 it is the human voice. From singing and speaking to whispering or shouting, the voice can do a lot. “All these sounds can also be used musically, and you can also be creative with loud shouts or screams,” Siegert tells DW. In addition, the…

Multilateral organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) hold little significance for US President-elect Donald Trump, who views them as contrary to US interests. The former German ambassador to China, Michael Schaefer, even believes that Trump considers any prolonged search for compromises in those institutions “a waste of time.” Trump’s perception of the world, he told DW, is so fundamentally different from what proponents of a rules-based world order would support that his first term in office will likely be considered a “walk in the park” compared with what he’s planning to do now.Life won’t be easier for WTO chief Okonjo-Iweala…

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Russia’s Christmas Day bombardment of Ukraine, saying the hail of missiles and drones was “bloody and brutal”.The prime minister lamented that there was “no respite even at Christmas” for Ukrainians, who spent the morning sheltering in metro stations as bombs rained down on their cities. Russia’s defence ministry said it carried out a “massive strike” on energy facilities that it claimed supported Kyiv’s military.Volodymyr Zelenskyy also condemned the attack, saying Russia was seeking to plunge his people into darkness.”Putin deliberately chose Christmas,” he said on Wednesday. “What could be more inhumane?” In the east, Kremlin…

The Amsterdam district court convicted five men for their part in last month’s violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans in Amsterdam. The violence surrounding an early November Europa League clash shocked the world and prompted accusations of anti-Semitism. What we know about the cases The Amsterdam court found them guilty of a range of offenses, including beating Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in the street and inciting violence on messaging platforms. A man identified only as Sefa O. was handed down the heaviest sentence of six months in prison for public violence against several people. According to prosecutors, Sefa O played…

At least two journalists and a police officer were shot dead in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, in an attack by gang members on a hospital, according to a local media collective and authorities. The journalists were covering the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital when the attack occurred. The State University of Haiti Hospital had been closed since February of 2024 after it was attacked by gang members. Authorities had then pledged to reopen it on Christmas eve but as members of the media gathered for the opening, the street gang opened fire. What do we know? …

Demonstrators in Panama on Tuesday protested against US President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the US government could retake the Panama Canal. Trump had complained about what he referred to as “exorbitant” shipping fees, demanding the canal be “returned” to US control if they are not reduced. What do we know about the protests? Dozens of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Panama and chanted slogans such as “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and carrying banners reading “Donald Trump, public enemy of Panama.” The United States largely built the Panama Canal and administered its territory for decades before transferring complete…

Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus by observing Christmas. Each culture puts its own spin on the celebrations. Rolling up to church Attending Christmas church services is common, but Venezuelans take it up a notch: On December 24, they roller-skate to Midnight Mass to commemorate the birth of Christ. The belief is that it’s the Southern Hemisphere’s summertime answer to sledding in the snowier North’s winter. The practice, which began in the 1960s, remains popular. Traffic is blocked for the skaters’ safety.Get your skates on and get to Christmas Mass in VenezuelaImage: Schneider/dpa/picture alliance Star of wonder The…

Germany was quick to announce a pause in asylum applications from Syrian nationals following the fall of dictator Bashar Assad on December 8. Just 36 hours after Syrian rebels declared they had liberated the capital, Damascus, the German government suspended decisions on more than 47,000 pending asylum claims from Syrians. Within hours, France, Britain, Italy, and several others followed suit. The decisions heightened nervousness among the more than 1.5 million Syrians who have settled in Europe since the civil war began in 2011.  Particularly alarming were remarks by Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, who instructed his ministry to prepare a program for the “orderly repatriation and deportation…

Shipping containers have fallen into the sea after a cargo vessel tilted sideways off the Turkish coast.The dry cargo ship at Istanbul’s Ambarli Mardas Port tilted on Monday morning, pictures show. The ship, called Amnah, was carrying a Comoro Islands flag and its crew had to be rescued.Authorities rescued 10 of the 15 crew members, while the other five jumped into the water and managed to make it to land by themselves.Read more from Sky News:American Airlines forced to ground flightsHunt for driver after dog walker killed in crash The incident, which happened at 4am, was reportedly due to improper…

Syphilis and Christopher Columbus have more in common than you might think. Both touched down on new continents and colonized local inhabitants at the end of the 15th century: Columbus the indigenous Americans, syphilis the Europeans. Both also sought a route to Asia. Syphilis first erupted in Europe in 1494 in a French army camp, a year after Columbus returned from a voyage to America . The disfiguring disease spread between soldiers and their sexual partners, causing sores on their genitals, rectums or mouths.  Within just five years, syphilis had spread through all of Europe. Soon after, it spread to India,…