Author: DW

Images of ruined 2,000-year-old temples and towers in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra shocked the world when they surfaced in 2015. Palmyra artefacts were blown up by the Islamic State that then occupied part of Syria. The city was one of numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites that were badly damaged during a relentless war, including the Ancient City of Aleppo and its citadel — one of the oldest castles in the world.   Now that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has fallen, bringing an end to over 50 years of dictatorship under the Assad dynasty, there is hope that the nation’s cultural heritage can…

New legislation, signed into law by outgoing US President Joe Biden in early December, prohibits US courts from recognizing trademarks that were “illegally confiscated” by the Cuban government since 1959 without the original owners’ consent. The year 1959 was when Fidel Castro’s revolutionary forces overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista and established a socialist state. During the revolution, US companies and citizens were expropriated, prompting the United States to respond with a lasting embargo against Cuba. Now, the No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act of 2023 introduces a new twist to the long-standing legal battle between spirits manufacturer Bacardi and the Cuban government over the…

It is a crime so brutal and depraved it defies words – so outside the court, they applaud instead.Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual abuseSince September, people have lined the route in Avignon clapping as Gisele Pelicot walks past. It is a wordless act of support for the 72-year-old woman at the centre of a mass rape trial that has sent shockwaves across France.It is a message that she, not the rapists, holds the power. An echo of Gisele’s rallying cry that “shame must change sides”.For four months, she has sat through the case of her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot,…

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…

There are not many places Dennis Schröder hasn’t played NBA basketball. In 2021 he was part of Boston Celtics, and then half a year later, he joined the Houston Rockets. A few months after that he joined LeBron James at the Los Angeles Lakers, but left after just one year to sign for the Toronto Raptors. He was then at the Brooklyn Nets before he most recently joined the Golden State Warriors. For Germany’s basketball star Dennis Schröder, life as an NBA professional has been full of trades and relocations that have taken him across North America. In swapping New…

Are they or are they not withdrawing from Syria? That is the question Middle East analysts have been asking about the Russian troops for the past several days. Open source investigators, looking at satellite pictures and online air traffic tracking, have noted significant moves by Russia at its long-held Syrian bases since the regime of its ally, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, was toppled nearly two weeks ago. They’ve seen attack helicopters and an S-400 long-range air defense system dismantled for travel, people with suitcases waiting to leave and large cargo planes being loaded. Additionally, Russian navy vessels left their…

A fire in a cafe in Hanoi killed eleven people on Wednesday night, authorities said. The Vietnam Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday the police have arrested a man suspected of starting the fire after authorities responded to reports of a blaze at 11:00 pm (1600 GMT), where many people were feared trapped. “The police suspect that the cafe was (deliberately) burned down and … have arrested the perpetrator,” Hanoi police said in a statement.Authorities suspect arsonImage: Hau Dinh/AP Photo/picture alliance According to the police, the man admitted to lighting a fire using gasoline on the ground floor of the three-story…

When Katharina visits her extended family in Peru for Christmas, her uncles, aunts and cousins give her their Christmas wish lists well before she leaves her home in Bonn. There’s one German item in particular that’s always high on their list: Haribo candies. “My family writes to my father to tell him which Haribo varieties they want, because they either don’t have them in Peru at all or they’re very expensive,” she explains. That’s why Katharina and her father go to the factory outlet in Bonn before their trip to stock up for the journey. “It often feels like half the suitcase is full,” she…

Inflation in the European Union’s single currency area has increased for the second month in a row – albeit slightly less than expected. In Germany, however, inflation rates remained above the Eurozone average. According to the Luxembourg-based statistics office Eurostat, average consumer prices in November rose by 2.2% year-on-year, down slightly from the predicted 2.3%. In October, they had risen by 2% and in September by 1.7%. Looking at individual Eurozone countries, Belgium experienced the steepest November increase at 4.8%. Romania, which doesn’t yet use the single currency, had higher inflation of 5.4%, while Croatia was third-highest at 4.0%.  Inflation…

The world is set to use more coal than ever before, this year, because of high demand in Asia and despite the warnings over the harm that burning fossil fuels does to the planet, a report has said.Global demand for the fossil fuel is expected to hit a record 8.77 billion tonnes in 2024, and stay near that level for the next three years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. Growth in renewables is forecast to drive down coal use in the longer term, but this year its impact will be more than offset by strong demand for…