Author: DW

Luang Prabang, in the north of Laos, is experiencing something of an economic boom. When the author of this article last visited in 2012, the city’s central street and roadway, Sisavangvong Road, did not have many foreign tourists, and most of Westerners were backpackers just passing through to either Thailand or Vietnam. The hospitality scene felt limited. But things are different today. Handicraft markets have popped up at the south end of the now-bustling road, near tight alleys leading from the Wat Pa Phai Buddhist temple. Further down Sisavangvong, many international travelers and tourists can be seen dining and drinking in…

What you need to know: The prospect of humans returning to the moon looks more likely than ever, with NASA and ESA collaborating on the Artemis program There have been a number of recent, successful moon missions by China and India Space agencies and commercial companies want to use the moon for scientific research and as a base to get to Mars A growing interest in moon missions The Artemis program is a North American, NASA-led human spaceflight program, involving 55 international collaborators, including the European Space Agency (ESA).  NASA aims to establish a permanent base at the moon’s south pole…

Just hours after Real Madrid confirmed that they had signed former Bayer Leverkusen boss Xavi Alonso to take their club forward, the Werkelf presented their new boss. “Bayer 04 are one of the best clubs in Germany and also among the top clubs in Europe. The club offers outstanding conditions, I’ve been very impressed with the discussions of the management,” Erik ten Hag said in a statement on the club’s website. “I’ve come to Leverkusen to continue with the ambition shown in recent years. It’s an attractive challenge to set up something together in this period of change and develop…

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Monday his intention to request a government confidence vote in parliament, after his candidate, Rafal Trzaskowski, lost a presidential election on Sunday. “The first test will be a vote of confidence, which I will ask in the parliament soon,” Tusk said in a televised speech. “I want everyone to see, including our opponents, at home and abroad, that we are ready for this situation, that we understand the gravity of the moment, but that we do not intend to take a single step back,” he added.Tusk to ask Polish parliament for no-confidence vote To view this video please…

Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned on Tuesday after failing to secure enough support in a confidence vote, a parliamentary statement said. It comes after weeks of public protests against allegations of corruption. Oyun-Erdene received just 44 votes in the 126-seat parliament, well below the 64 needed to remain in office. Following the declaration of the results, Oyun-Erdene said: “It was an honor to serve my country and people in times of difficulties, including pandemics, wars, and tariffs.” He will remain a caretaker role until a successor is appointed within 30 days. Political crisis brews Prior to the vote, Oyun-Erdene…

On May 20, the hearing of a French billionaire before a parliamentary inquiry committee was intended to lift the lid on what the committee had earlier called an “outright ecosystem of political conquest.” The lid, however, had to be kept tight because Pierre-Edouard Sterin didn’t show up to the National Assembly. Originally, French lawmakers wanted to question the billionaire founder of Smartbox — a company that sells experience gifts — on his Pericles project, through which he’s invested about €30 million ($34.24 million) in initiatives promoting his conservative values. “Yesterday, Mr Sterin told us he wanted to testify via video link for security reasons,” the…

The head of the UN says he is “appalled” by reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza on Sunday.Secretary general Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation, and said: “It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food.” At least 31 people were killed yesterday near an aid distribution centre in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.The intervention by Mr Guterres came as 14 people were killed in an Israeli strike, mostly women and children, on Monday.Meanwhile, a funeral has been held for Gaza doctor who lost…

In the annals of World War II history, few would have expected a British-born Sikh princess from a dethroned royal family to quietly resist Nazi Germany, and live openly with a female partner long before LGBTQ+ rights were acknowledged — let alone accepted. Yet, that is precisely what Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh did. The daughter of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Catherine blazed her own trail and defied social norms.  The recognition of her legacy is relatively recent. Among those who’ve brought her acts to the forefront is British biographer Peter Bance, who has spent over two…

Light consists of individual particles that propagate in waves. The wavelength determines the color and energy of the light. The human eye can only perceive a small section of this spectrum, approximately the range between 400 and 700 nanometers. Because of that, we humans are unable to see the infrared range, with its longer wavelengths of 750 nanometers to one millimeter. So in order to see infrared light, we have needed comparatively bulky night-vision goggles or night-vision devices with their own energy source — until now. Infrared contact lenses from China Researchers at the University of Science and Technology in…

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) won the Champions League for the first time by thrashing Italian side Inter 5-0 on Saturday. It’s the most one-sided final in the tournament’s history, eclipsing Inter’s city rivals AC Milan’s 4-0 win over Barcelona in 1994. PSG gave their opponents no chance from the start of the match in Munich, Germany. PSG are just the second French club since Marseille in 1993 to win European club football’s top trophyImage: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images The 19-year-old French forward Desire Doue scored twice for PSG and set up the opening goal for Achraf Hakimi in the stadium usually used by Bayern Munich before…