Author: DW

After the first Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut about a month ago, Mansour Omar thought he should try and find somewhere else to stay. “I’ve been worried ever since that attack because I was living close to where the first raids took place,” says Omar, a Syrian refugee who’s been living in the Lebanese capital for nine years, after he was driven out of his home by civil war. “This week, after the attacks started, I searched in the suburbs.” But the rents being asked were “terrifying,” he says. “It’s exploitation.” So his family didn’t move. Then this week,…

The trial in a Munich regional court over a bizarre incident ended with former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehman accepting his conviction on two counts of damage to property and attempted fraud in return for a reduced fine. Originally fined €420,000 ($470,000) Lehmann saw this reduced to €135,000 on appeal.  Prosecutors had accused Lehmann of sawing off a roof beam in his neighbor’s garage with a chainsaw in July 2022 and said it was part of a long-standing dispute because the building blocked the previously unobstructed view from Lehmann’s property of Lake Starnberg southwest of Munich. Part of the evidence submitted was…

Tunisia’s Parliament backed a law on Friday that strips a top court of its power to rule on electoral disputes. The measure was approved by 116 of the 161 lawmakers in the chamber. It comes just nine days ahead of the North African country’s presidential elections, sparking fears among opposition groups that President Kais Saied will try to hold onto power. What else do we know about the draft law? The draft law removes the power of the administrative court, which is widely seen as Tunisia’s last independent judicial body after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and fired dozens…

In his small currency exchange shop in Beirut, 86-year-old Farouk Khoury is watching the news on television, showing the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel spreading across Lebanon. No customers ring the bell to exchange money. “Today, I have money to exchange, tomorrow, I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow we close,” Kouri tells DW, appearing increasingly uncertain about his business, which has deteriorated significantly with the recent escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. As he watches news footage of explosions and missile strikes on buildings, Kouri points to the logo of his business, showing the year 1975 — the same year the Lebanese civil war began.…

Berlin’s legendary club scene is struggling. Though some venues got a bump after long pandemic lockdowns, high inflation, rising rents and declining tourist numbers have seen queues dwindle across clubland in the capital. Fabled dance venues generated €1.5 billion in revenue for the city in 2018, and Germany this year recognized Berlin techno clubs as UNESCO “intangible culture assets.”  Yet clubsterben, or club death, is becoming a persistent theme as several iconic venues close their doors. Watergate, a pioneering electronic dance music club by the Spree River that opened in 2002, will say goodbye to Berlin this New Year’s Eve. The…

Skip next section Slovenia says precision weapons for Ukraine should not be ruled out09/27/2024September 27, 2024Slovenia says precision weapons for Ukraine should not be ruled outSlovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob cautioned against making hasty decisions in the face of German doubts about Ukraine’s use of Western long-range weapons on Russian soil. This was in response to a question about the potential use of long-range weapons that Western countries have supplied to Ukraine. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Golob emphasized the importance of considering all options. He acknowledged that any country possessing such weapons…

The US state of Florida had been bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Helene, a powerful Category 4 hurricane that is expected to be one of the largest in weather systems in decades. The National Hurricane Center said in a post on X: “Helene has made landfall in the Florida Big Bend region at around 11:10 p.m. EDT just E of the mouth of the Aucilla River.”  “EVERYONE along the Florida Big Bend coast is at risk of potentially catastrophic storm surge,” the NHC warned on social media. Weather officials forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned they…

There seemed little sign of any let-up in the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon with a spray of early morning strikes in the south. There were others in the eastern Bekaa Valley and northeast of the capital, Beirut.While we were in the hills of Mount Lebanon region in the southwest of the country, there were regular airstrikes landing south of us. Israeli drones circled above and we heard sonic booms as Israeli jets broke the sound barrier.”These are tactics to terrorise us,” one resident in the village of Joun told us.Weeping women and Al Risala scouts gathered with crowds of other…

Turkey’s strategic push into Africa has seen new projects in Somalia recently where Ankara wants to explore offshore oil fields and is planning to improve military cooperation with a new test site for missiles.  Since launching its African Initiative Policy in 1998, Turkey has aimed to strengthen commercial, diplomatic, and security ties with the continent. The Turkish government is investing “great energy and ambition” to reach its economic goals under the policy, says Volkan Ipek from private Yeditepe University in Istanbul. Its strategy was aimed at “increasing trade and fostering free-trade agreements,” he told DW. “In this sense, perhaps the most stable and efficient region,…

In 1932, sculptor Hedwig Maria Ley, a Nazi sympathizer, created the first authorized depiction of soon-to-be German dictator Adolf Hitler.  The Nazi party made her bust the model for portraying the leader throughout his notorious rule. However after Hitler’s death by suicide and Germany’s defeat in World War II, Ley buried the bust in her garden. Twenty years later, a relative of her gardener dug up the sculpture and placed it proudly on the fireplace in his living room — where it stayed until the 1980s. Such continuing reverence for the infamous Nazi leader was in stark contrast to young people…