Author: DW

American astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams are stuck in space — for now — as NASA and Boeingwork through issues with the Starliner spacecraftthat brought them up to theInternational Space Station (ISS). Starliner is a space capsule built by Boeing as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative where private companies provide private spaceflight services to the ISS. Rival SpaceX also provides such services. Wilmore (flight commander) and Williams (pilot) were at the helm of the Boeing-built capsule in its first crewed test flight to the ISS, which overcame pre-flight technical problems to dock with the…

“Make some noise,” yelled the compere of the breaking event on Friday at Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris. The crowd, still not full and certainly not sure of themselves, tentatively cheered back. Then the DJ cranked up the volume, and the competitors known as B-girl India (from the Netherlands) and B-girl Talash (representing the Olympic refugee team) took to the dance floor, ready to face off. Just like that, the Olympics’ newest sport got underway, watched by, among others, the American rapper Snoop Dogg, who had made an appearance on stage beforehand. “It felt really good,…

Police in Germany’s southeastern state of Bavaria warned late on Saturday night that four convicts had escaped a medical facility that handles prisoners with problems like pyschiatric conditions or addiction. It said they escaped shortly after 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT/UTC).  What else did police say about the escape? “According to our current knowledge, four patients of the BKH Lerchenhaid [hospital] are suspected of first threatening an employee of the BKH,” police said in a statement.  Police were present at the facility and searching the local area overnightImage: Hartl/vifogra/dpa/picture alliance “After that, the four occupants were able to flee…

Social media website X, formerly Twitter, will wind up its local operations in Brazilafter a legal battle at the Supreme Court over the platform’s rights and responsibilities, owner Elon Musk said Sunday But the company said the website would remain available to users in Brazil.  While X argued that it was protecting free speech and standing up against “illegal secret censorship,” Brazil’s Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes argued he was standing up against disinformation and tyranny in Brazil. In April, Moraes had ordered an investigation into Musk, accusing him of “criminal instrumentalization” of the platform. An order seen by AFP detailed…

It’s not every week that a country gets a new capital city, but that’s what is in line for Indonesia in the coming days — in theory at least. August 17, 2024, the country’s Independence Day, has long been marked in the calendar as the day when Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital city, will be officially inaugurated. It’s the signature project of outgoing President Joko Widodo, whose decade in charge of the world’s fourth-most populous country has been defined by major infrastructure projects. Nusantara has been by far the most ambitious and controversial.Despite a symbolic cabinet meeting in Nusantra on August 12, relocating…

Patients are being turned away from hospitals and clinics across India as more than a million doctors are set to join a strike in protest at the rape and murder of a trainee medic.The 24-hour strike began at 6am local time (1.30am UK time) with non-emergency treatment such as outpatient appointments and elective procedures cancelled, said the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The mass walkout paralysed hospitals as staff from medical colleges were drafted in to help with emergency cases.The strike was triggered by the killing of a 31-year-old trainee doctor, whose body was found on 9 August at the college…

Have vaccines for mpox been developed? The short answer is yes, they have. The European Union, United States, Canada and others approved the use of the MVA-BN vaccine back in 2022 during the first declared global health emergency for mpox.  The long answer is a bit more complicated.  What are mpox vaccines?  Vaccines to protect against an mpox infection do exist, but currently no available vaccines specifically target the monkeypox virus. How is this possible?  The monkeypox virus belongs to a genus of viruses called Orthopoxvirus, which are all complex DNA viruses.  Among others, viruses in this genus include the variola virus,…

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, has announced he will not be seeking to remain in charge for a third term. “New times call for new leaders,” the 70-year-old German lawyer told the 142nd general meeting of the IOC in Paris on Saturday night, ahead of the closure of the Olympic Games on Sunday. “I know with this decision I am disappointing many of you,” he told IOC members. “But it is in the best interests of our beloved Olympic movement.” Bach, an Olympic gold medalist in team fencing in 1976, has been IOC president since…

Indian medical professionals on Saturday began a 24-hour shutdown of non-essential medical services across the country, as protests against the rape and murder of a fellow medic intensify. The shutdown, which began at 6 a.m. (0030 GMT), will cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations in the world’s most populous nation, according to a statement by the Indian Medical Association (IMA). Essential services would remain operational, the medical body said. Doctors’ association calls for shutdown of services The protests were triggered by the rape and murder of a female medical trainee last week at the R G Kar government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata. “Doctors, especially…

A carnival float depicting a controversial Hindu Temple planned for an upcoming India Day Parade in the streets of New York City has sparked criticism, with several groups calling it “anti-Muslim.” The float depicts the Ram Mandir — a grand pink sandstone temple built for the Hindu god Ram, in the holy city of Ayodhya. The temple was built on top of the ruins of the 16th-century Babri mosque, which was destroyed by Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992. Consecrated and opened in January 2024 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the temple remains a controversial topic and a bitter reminder of…