Author: DW

A referendum in Moldova on joining the European Union appeared too close to call early Monday morning, with 98% of the count showing the “yes” vote at 50.03% and the “no” vote coming in at 49.97%, according to the country’s election commission.  Earlier, Moldovans appeared to have had rejected plans for the former Soviet republic to add its goal of joining the EU to the constitution, preliminary results from 70% of ballots in the country’s referendum showed on Sunday evening. However, ballots from Moldovans living abroad were counted towards the end, giving the “yes” camp a last-minute push.  A largely agricultural country of…

Two gunmen in southern Mexico shot dead a Catholic Priest, who was also an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers, amid a surge in violence in the southern Chiapas region. Marcelo Perez was killed in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, in the state of Chiapas, as he was returning to his home church after officiating a mass. According to state prosecutors, the religious leader was shot in his car by two men on a motorcycle. Who was Marcelo Perez? Perez belonged to the Tzotzil Indigenous Maya group. He had served the community for nearly 20 years and…

When teens in Germany and around the world use the word “aura,” it is not a wholly new take on the original, which is the distinctive atmosphere or essence surrounding a person. But Generation Z and Generation Alpha have given aura a slightly new twist by using the term as a positive expression of being cool or doing good deeds. The 2024 German Youth word of the year, which was announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Saturday, can also be expressed as “aura points.” “Your aura is the sum of your aura points,” explained TikTok teacher of youth slang, Mr Lindsay,…

The first thing you see when rolling into the German city of Wolfsburg in Lower Saxony by train are four giant smokestacks rising from a huge factory building that carries the VW logo in blue and white on the front of its reddish-brown brick walls. Welcome to Volkswagen city, home to one of the biggest car-making factories in the world.   Wolfsburg is one of the few German cities built during the first half of the 20th century as a planned city, meaning it was designed for a purpose and constructed on previously undeveloped land. Founded by Hitler’s Nazi regime on 1 July 1938, Wolfsburg was built to become…

Liam Payne fans have gathered for a vigil in his memory in London’s Hyde Park.Hundreds of people stood in silence to remember Payne at the park’s Peter Pan statue on Sunday.They brought pictures of the star and his former One Direction bandmates, alongside flowers, balloons, and handwritten notes. Image: Crowds gather around the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park on Sunday Image: One Direction lyrics in a frame in Hyde Park Image: Liam Payne fans lay tributes to him in London’s Hyde Park Read moreWhat we know about singer’s death so farGrief as details emerge of star’s final hoursLiam Payne:…

Depression symptoms may come and go, but a new study has found that the condition changes internal communications in the brain, regardless of whether people feel depressed or not. Using a brain imaging method called fMRI, researchers found that depression ‘remaps’ a major brain network involved in motivation and attention.   The changes in the brain network could be detected in people before they showed any symptoms of depression, meaning the researchers were able to predict who might develop depression and who probably won’t. “The key finding is an expansion of the percentage of the cortex, which is occupied by a brain…

Why is everybody talking about Thomas Tuchel? Exactly four months after long-term coach Gareth Southgate quit the England job following the team’s Euro 2024 final loss to Spain in Berlin, his replacement has been unveiled. The appointment of former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, who will take over officially on January 1, is not without controversy. While he is not England’s first foreign manager – the late Sven-Goran Eriksson, of Sweden, and Italian boss Fabio Capello have both taken on the role – his nationality is of concern to some sections of English society and media. While the…

Skip next section North Korea condemns US-led sanctions monitoring team10/20/2024October 20, 2024North Korea condemns US-led sanctions monitoring teamNorth Korea condemned a new US-led sanctions monitoring team established after Russia rejected the annual renewal of a UN panel. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui described the move as “utterly unlawful and illegitimate.” North Korea has in recent years intensified its development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, moves which have been met with international sanctions. The US and South Korea have warned of North Korea’s deepening military ties with Russia. On Friday, Seoul’s spy agency said that Pyongyang had sent…

Two associates of leading Mozambican opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane were gunned down in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, on Saturday. It comes after an October 9 election after which the opposition accused the ruling Frelimo party of electoral fraud. What do we know about the killings? Lawyer Elvino Dias and candidate Paulo Guambe were in a car in downtown Maputo when they were surrounded by other vehicles and shot at, according to witnesses. Witnesses said that two gunmen fired 20 bullets in the attack. Guambe was a candidate for the Podemos party that backed Mondlane for president in the October 9 election. Podemos…

Unlike other wartime films showing death and destruction on the frontline, “Of Caravan and the Dogs,” co-directed by Askold Kurov and an anonymous filmmaker, was primarily shot in the newsrooms of different Russian media outlets. Yet, despite the unspectacular settings, the heartbreaking documentary allows viewers to directly witness the final nails being put in the coffin of Russia’s free press. DW met Kurov as the filmmaker was presenting “Of Caravan and the Dogs” in Berlin during the Dokumentale film festival. Many collaborators on the project, including the film’s co-director, are listed as anonymous to avoid threats in Russia. Meanwhile, Kurov has…