Author: DW

South Sudan has postponed its long-awaited elections until December 2026, the government announced on Friday, revealing the fragility of the peace process in the world’s newest country. President Salva Kiir’s office posted on Facebook that the elections previously scheduled for December 2024 would be postponed until December 22nd, 2026. This also further extends the transitional period agreed under a 2018 peace deal by two years, as South Sudan struggles to usher in a vote following the 2013-18 civil war. Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said on Friday that the delay was agreed because “all the tasks which are critical for the conduct…

China will begin raising the retirement age for the first time in more than 70 years as the 1.4bn-strong country faces a shrinking and ageing population.China’s legislature, known as the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, has signed off a new policy which will see retirement age rise for both men and women as of January 2025, state broadcaster CCTV announced. Over 15 years, the retirement age for men will be raised from 60 to 63 and for women, who can currently retire at 50 if they are in blue-collar employment or 55 if they have white-collar jobs, will…

British street artist Banksy’s iconic “Girl with Balloon” painting has been found less than a week after it was stolen from a London gallery, police said on Friday. Worth millions of pounds, the artwork will now be returned to the gallery. Police charged two men, aged 47 and 53, with burglary on Thursday night. They have already appeared before a judge where they were bailed and will next appear in court on October 9, authorities said. The painting depicts a young girl painted in black and white, reaching for a red heart-shaped balloon. “Girl with Balloon” first appeared on the streets…

Astronauts walked on the moon. There are some people who don’t believe that. This and other conspiracy theories are very real, important and hard-to-shake beliefs for the people who swear by them. But people might budge on these beliefs, at least according to a new study from American psychologists published today in the journal Science, suggesting a simple back-and-forth discussion with a specialized chatbot is effective at reducing confidence in such conspiracy beliefs. And by some measure. Across two experiments, more than 3,000 confessed fringe theory believers saw the intensity of their conviction in both specific theories and untrue conspiracies…

American Football has been rocked by stories about concussion and serious brain injuries for years. Now the outcome of significant research is beginning to be seen on the field in NFL regular season games, with the introduction of so-called guardian caps, which go over the helmet and offer more protection to the head from big hits. But so far the uptake of guardian caps in the regular season has been limited, with players struggling to get used to the idea and others feeling they take away their competitive edge. Use of the caps has been made compulsory for certain positions during…

Pope Francis wrapped up his longest tour yet, on Friday, leaving Singapore for the Vatican after meeting people of the Catholic faith in four countries of the Asia-Pacific. The 87-year-old’s successful 12-day tour defied health concerns as he spanned deep jungles to skyscrapers. He visited the four nations of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and finally Singapore. “This Asia tour is a beautiful gesture, highlighting the importance of unity and understanding across cultures and faiths,” said Sandra Ross, a church administrator in Singapore. Highlights from the Pope’s trip On Thursday night, he presided over a small gathering of young…

Boeing workers in the northwestern United States on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to strike after unions rejected new conditions including a 25% pay increase over four years. The crisis-hit aviation manufacturing giant had characterized the new contracts as a good offer given the company’s current financial situation. But 94.6% of hourly workers rejected the offer before 96% voted to strike from Thursday night. “Our members spoke loud and clear tonight,” said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 (IAM). “This is about respect, this is about the past, and this is about fighting for…

When the West imposed sanctions on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it choked off the Kremlin’s ability to trade in US dollars, euros and other currencies. Russian banks were blocked from the SWIFT international payment-messaging system and the central bank’s foreign currency reserves were frozen. That forced Moscow to shift its remaining reserves to currencies not controlled by the West, including the Chinese renminbi (RMB) of which its principal unit of measurement is called the yuan. The Kremlin’s energy deals with China, to offset the income loss from missing European buyers of Russian oil and gas, have since helped international transactions in the yuan to a…

Three Red Cross workers have been killed after aid vehicles were “attacked” by Russia in eastern Ukraine, officials in the country have said.The staff members, who were all Ukrainian, died at the site of a planned frontline aid distribution centre in the Donetsk region today. Two other Red Cross workers were wounded.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the deaths a “war crime” and said Red Cross vehicles had been “attacked” by Russia in the region.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a humanitarian organisation, said no residents were affected by the shelling. The organisation added that the distribution of humanitarian…

In November 2023, an exhibition by Candice Breitz was canceled by the Saarland Museum’s Modern Gallery. The organizers wanted to avoid associating with the South African artist, claiming she had signed a letter by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement,  labeled by Germany’s government as “antisemitic”, and that she had not condemned the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. Breitz has repeated many times since then that both allegations are false, most recently at a panel discussion on the impact of Germany’s particular stance on BDS, held September 8 at Berlin’s International Literature Festival (ilb). Although she supports the democratic right…