Author: DW

Australia and Nauru have announced a landmark security treaty on Monday — a move which is seen as a broader effort by Canberra to push back against China’s influence in the Pacific. The treaty will provide the tiny Pacific island nation with 100 million Australian dollars (€60.6 million, $64 million) in direct budget support over five years. But it also gives Australia the final say over Nauru’s key infrastructure. “It’s a good day for the security and resilience of the Pacific region,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a joint media briefing with Nauru’s President David Adeang. What do we…

Bashar al Assad started out as a doctor and ended up a mass murdering tyrant now on the run.The man who trained to save lives in Damascus and London would go on to take them in their hundreds of thousands, bombing hospitals and gassing his own people. He was a strangely unimpressive man to meet. Tall, slightly gauche, with a lisp and thin tufty moustache.Christopher Hitchens called him the human toothbrush. The writer recalled Hannah Arendt’s phrase the “banality of evil” when he remembered meeting another dictator, Argentina’s General Videla. But it applied equally well to Mr Assad.He was ordinary,…

In April 2024, hundreds of police officers raided homes and offices in 11 countries and arrested several individuals linked to JuicyFields, a company initially based in Berlin. JuicyFields had promised huge returns to those willing to invest in medical cannabis through its website. Almost 200,000 people did so and became victims of a scam. Prosecutors estimate the damage to be around €645 million ($678 million). DW’s Cannabis Cowboys podcast was early to investigate the scam and has received numerous awards since the final episode was published in March 2023. A network of investigative journalists in several European countries has now further investigated the…

The time for the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris has finally come, and there’s a sense of excitement in the air in the French capital. “Paris without Notre Dame is just not Paris — it’s really touching to see it reopen,” one Parisian lady told DW, beaming with joy, as she was walking along the Seine riverbank, not far from the monument. Starting on Saturday morning, people began taking up places in the front rows of what the authorities are calling “boxes” — fenced-off areas around Notre Dame with space for some 40,000 people. The spectators will be able to watch tonight’s ceremony…

In table tennis, China has been the undisputed No. 1 for decades, success that has been supplemented to a certain extent by regional neighbors. Now though, the rest of the world, led by Europe, wants to catch up to truly take the sport to the next level and increase its popularity on all continents. “Historically, table tennis has been seen as an Asian-dominated sport, largely due to China’s enduring excellence and its deep cultural connection to the game,” World Table Tennis CEO Steve Dainton told DW. Challenging China and changing this perception will not be easy. The country’s love affair with…

Is Alice Weidel really the most popular German politician in China? The leader of the populist, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is probably the only member of Germany’s Parliament, the Bundestag, who speaks Chinese. As a student, Weidel researched and wrote her doctoral thesis on the pension system in China. Many reels about Weidel are circulating on Chinese state-controlled social media. The designated AfD candidate for chancellor in the 2025 election is popular in China because she opposes US and EU integration policies. The fact that Weidel could have a chance of becoming German Chancellor is one of countless…

South Korean police arrested former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Sunday for his alleged role in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law, according to Yonhap News Agency. Kim was considered a key figure in Tuesday’s short-lived martial law decree. He had already resigned as defense minister. Police have launched an investigation into Kim, as well as Yoon and martial law commander Park An-su, for alleged insurrection. Police also raided Kim’s home and placed him under a travel ban, Yonhap reported. South Korean lawmakers fail to impeach embattled presidentTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports…

Syrian rebels have reportedly reached the suburbs of the capital Damascus as their lightning offensive threatens to end Bashar al Assad’s 24-year rule.Protesters on Saturday brought down a statue of the president’s late father in a main square in a suburb a few miles from the centre of the capital. The group called for the downfall of Mr Assad and headed to government buildings in the heavily policed area of the city.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents are now active in three Damascus suburbs.Mr Assad is still in the capital, according to a…

On Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry announced that it was banning the export of certain minerals and metals to the United States. The products, such as gallium, germanium and antimony, are so-called dual-use items, which can be used in the production of semiconductors and also for a wide range of military and technological applications. Why has China taken this step? China’s move is a direct response to export controls that the United States placed on Beijing on Monday. The US and Chinese actions are the latest exchanges in the countries’ rivalry, with much of the recent focus being around trade, the production…

Germany likes to promote itself as a nation of culture. But that image is at odds with plans by the cash-strapped state of Berlin to cut arts funding by 12%. The cuts would affect both world-renowned institutions and independent organizations in the areas of theater, orchestra, cinemas, dance and literature. The German Culture Council, the umbrella organization for arts associations, has declared that “the golden age for culture is over.” It’s a similar situation across the country: More and more municipalities and federal states face financial difficulties. The federal government, an important source of funding, is also holding back. Following the…