Author: DW

When French author Jules Verne died in 1905, powered air flight, which he put at the center of his 1886 book Robur the Conqueror, had moved from fiction to reality. Just two years earlier, the Wright brothers had achieved the first manned air flight in human history Yet more of Verne’s predictions of world-changing technologies were still far from being realized when he died. Being able to orbit the moon on a spaceship, as he depicted in his 1865 novel Around the Moon, seemed like a distant fantasy. But it came true just sixty years later with NASA’s Apollo 8 mission in 1968.…

In a statement posted on its website, the Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) announced that Agnes Keleti had passed away on Thursday, a week short of her 104th birthday. “These 100 years felt to me like 60,” Keleti told The Associated Press on the eve of her 100th birthday in 2021. “I live well,” Keleti said. “And I love life. It’s great that I’m still healthy.” Banned, persecuted for being a Jew Keleti was born Agnes Klein in Budapest to a Jewish family on January 9, 1921. Keleti got off to a promising start in gymnastics, winning her first Hungarian championship in…

Skip next section Transnistria suffering ‘severe’ energy crisis after Russia halts gas supplies01/02/2025January 2, 2025Transnistria suffering ‘severe’ energy crisis after Russia halts gas suppliesTransnistria, the breakaway region of Moldova is suffering a “severe” energy crisis after Russia halted gas supplies, pro-Russian separatist officials said. Russia had announced that it would halt gas deliveries to Moldova over a financial dispute between Chisinau and Russian energy firm Gazprom. It also comes after Ukraine did not renew a five-year deal that expired on Wednesday. Kyiv had previously allowed Russia to continue sending gas across its territory to countries in Central and Eastern Europe. “The crisis is…

South Korean investigators have failed to carry out an arrest warrant against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after arriving at his residence to execute it. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that they faced resistance upon arrival and were then locked in a nearly six-hour long standoff. The investigators entered into the presidential residence through heavy security barricades and Yonhap reported that the attempts to enter were hindered by a military unit inside the compound. After managing to “move past” the unit, they were confronted by the Presidential Security Service still protecting the impeached president. In response to the investigators arrival…

Since 1971, downtown Chemnitz has been home to one of the largest portrait busts of Karl Marxin the world. “Karl Marx needs no legs, no hands, his head says it all,” the statue’s sculptor, Soviet artist Lev Kerbel, reportedly said. The philosopher and social theorist’s head is an iconic symbol of Chemnitz. It has even given rise to the eastern German city’s nickname: “Schädelstätte,” roughly “cranium city.” So what does Karl Marx have to do with Chemnitz? On a personal level, not very much. Marx was born in Trier and died in London; he never even visited Chemnitz.  Following World War II,…

The gas had kept flowing despite nearly three years of war between Russia and Ukrtaine, but Russia’s main gas firm Gazprom said it had stopped at 0500 GMT on January 1 after Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the end of gas transit through his country to Europe was “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats” and urged the United States to supply more gas to Europe. “The more there is on the market from Europe’s real partners, the faster we will overcome the last negative consequences of European energy dependence…

An Islamic State flag attached to the pickup truck used to kill and injure dozens of people in New Orleans is a grim reminder of the persistent threat posed by Islamist extremism.Investigators are rushing to understand why Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, the US citizen and army veteran who is suspected of carrying out the atrocity in the early hours of New Year’s Day, appears to have been inspired by the terrorist group, also known as ISIS. A key question will be establishing whether he was self-radicalised by the terrorist group’s extreme ideology – or whether there was any kind of direction…

Space science and exploration hit exciting new heights over the last 12 months. We learned that galaxies are much bigger than we thought, how Europe is building its new flagship rocket Ariana 6, and what being stranded in space does to an astronauts’ body. Germany’s first female astronaut will head to space in 2025, too. 2025 is set to be just as exciting, but what’s ahead? Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have remained on the ISS since June and will not return to Earth until March 2025 at the earliest.Image: NASA/abaca/picture alliance ‘Stranded’ NASA astronauts to return to Earth in spring…

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday vowed to step up Israel’s offensive in Gaza if the Hamas militant group does not cease launching rockets into Israel. On the same day, Israeli strikes killed at least 17 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel could deliver ‘blows of an intensity not seen in Gaza in a long time’Image: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP What did Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz say? Katz called for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and for Hamas to stop launching rockets at Israel. “I…

The number of migrants crossing the English Channel into the United Kingdom in 2024 rose by 25%, according to data released by the interior ministry. The numbers were up to 36,816 in 2024, from 29,437 in 2023, though still below the 2022 record of 45,774. The year 2024 also marked the deadliest year for Channel crossings, with at least 76 recorded deaths. According to French officials, there were also over 5,800 sea rescues and 870 attempts at crossings foiled. The surge in migrant crossings comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is under increased political pressure to address the…