Author: DW

Beijing vowed to take “all necessary measures” to assert its sovereignty over Taiwan after the latest round of US arms sales to the self-ruled island which China claims as its own. The US State Department on Friday approved a $2 billion (€1.85 billion) arms sale package for Taiwan which includes surface-to-air missile systems and radar. China vows countermeasures over Taiwan arms deal The latest arms package “seriously violates China’s sovereignty and security interests, seriously damages China-US relations, and endangers peace and stability” in the strait, Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Saturday. “China strongly condemns and firmly opposes it, and…

She has an estimated value of €400 million ($433 million) and is a jewel in the crown of Egyptian antiquities. Yet a 3,370 year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti has been in Berlin since 1922. Pressure is now mounting for her to return home. Zahi Hawass, former antiquities minister of Egypt, began lobbying to repatriate Nefertiti before the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011. This September, Hawass launched a petition to urge Germany to return the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is currently housed in Berlin’s Neues Museum.  “This bust, remarkable and unrivaled in history for its historical and aesthetic merit,…

Sir Keir Starmer has downplayed the prominence of reparations for slavery being addressed at a Commonwealth summit, saying “none of the discussions have been about money”.The prime minister, who is in Samoa for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm), has been facing mounting pressure from leaders of Caribbean nations who want the UK to consider paying reparations for the impact of the transatlantic slave trade. They are seeking a formal apology from the countries responsible for the historic slavery.Sir Keir had already rejected the calls ahead of the meeting, saying it would lead to “very long, endless discussions” about…

Donald Trump’s US presidential election campaign rally in Georgia last month was strangely familiar, with the Republican candidate telling supporters: “I want German car companies to become American car companies.” Subject to his winning a second term in the White House, Trump promised that any foreign automaker that chooses to increase production in the United States would receive the lowest taxes, energy costs and red tape. But then came a new threat of “very substantial tariffs” on vehicles not made in the United States. The rhetoric had strong echoes of Trump’s 2016 election campaign pledge to Make America Great Again by…

Three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) Friday after seven months in orbit. The four, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin had been scheduled to return two weeks ago but those plans had to be delayed due to weather disturbances caused by Hurricane Milton. NASA said the crew had received medical exams upon exiting the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that flew them home, but added that the four, “were taken to a local medical facility for additional evaluation” after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida. NASA…

Andrei is a 30-year-old political refugee and artist from the Belarusian capital, Minsk. He did not want to reveal his surname because he feared the repercussions for his relatives in Belarus. He hopes the Bulgarian state will give him asylum so that he can stay in the country with his Russian husband Alex, a journalist and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two met when Andrei moved to Moscow in 2011, where he opened a small pottery workshop. They both say it was love at first sight, and have been inseparable ever since they met. They were married in Denmark 10 years…

Ghana’s two leading candidates for December’s presidential election are seeking to cover major ground by preaching their policies and promises to voters. Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia, from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), is facing off against John Dramani Mahama from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who served as Ghana’s president between 2013-2017.  Mahama is making his third attempt at securing the country’s top job, failing to do so in the 2016 and 2020 elections. He lost to outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo, who has served the maximum two teams in office, so is not in the running for this year’s vote.President Nana Akufo-Addo is stepping down after…

She has an estimated value of €400 million ($433 million) and is a jewel in the crown of Egyptian antiquities. Yet a 3,370 year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti has been in Berlin since 1922. Pressure is now mounting for her to return home. Zahi Hawass, former antiquities minister of Egypt, began lobbying to repatriate Nefertiti before the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011. This September, Hawass launched a petition to urge Germany to return the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is currently housed in Berlin’s Neues Museum.  “This bust, remarkable and unrivaled in history for its historical and aesthetic merit,…

An online predator who led an American girl and her father to take their own lives has been jailed for at least 20 years after the UK’s largest “catfishing” case.Warning: This article contains references to suicide and child sex abuse which readers may find distressing.Alexander McCartney, 26, previously admitted 185 charges, including the manslaughter of a girl who took her own life.Police called him a “dangerous, relentless, cruel paedophile” who “may as well have pulled the trigger himself” and said there were about 3,500 victims.Devices seized from his bedroom contained hundreds of thousands of indecent photographs and videos of underage…

Top German business leaders and politicians are flying to India this week for a major gathering where they will seek ways to further strengthen economic ties between Germany and the Asia-Pacific region.  “The region is becoming increasingly important for Germany and the EU due to geopolitical shifts and increasing desire to diversify,” Friedolin Strack, head of International Markets at the Federation of German Industries (BDI), told DW. “The increasing importance is evident in the value of exports from Germany to the Asia-Pacific, which totaled €214.6 billion ($231.9 billion) in 2023,” he said. The Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business opens in…