Author: DW

The post-COVID era has been punishing for global trade. Lockdowns and factory closures sparked supply chain delays around the world and helped fuel decades-high inflation. The Suez Canal was closed for a week in 2021 after a container ship got stuck. Attacks on shipping by Yemen-based Houthis and Iran over the past 10 months have forced a rerouting of container vessels from the Red Sea via Africa And now China’s military standoffs in the South China Sea could also impact the smooth flow of trade. How important is the South China Sea for world trade? Making up part of the western Pacific Ocean, the South China…

The Scottish government has announced it will no longer hold meetings with Israeli ambassadors until “real progress has been made towards peace” in the Gaza conflict.The move comes after the SNP administration faced criticism over a meeting earlier this month between External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson and Daniela Grudsky, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK. In a statement on Monday, Mr Robertson apologised that the meeting was not “strictly limited” to talks about a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.He claimed the meeting with the new ambassador was made at Israel’s request, which gave the Scottish government an opportunity to express…

A new type of mpox called “clade 1b” appears to be deadlier and able to spread from person to person more easily than previous forms. Mortality rates are as high as 10% of infections.  Mpox, formally known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Clade 1b mpox was first detected in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa, where it started spreading in September 2023. Infections have since been reported in Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Rwanda. New cases in Uganda and Kenya in early August 2024 were also linked to clade 1b. The World Health Organization on…

“Tonight Africa won regardless,” said a victorious Dricus du Plessis after submitting Israel Adesanya to retain his middleweight title at UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 305 in Perth, Australia, on Sunday. In its 31-year history, UFC has become one of the most popular sporting tickets in town. But the build-up to this contest highlighted a part of the world that has largely been ignored in its rise. Former champion Adesanya left Nigeria at the age of 10 to move to New Zealand but feels he represents both nations. That was questioned by du Plessis, of South Africa, in a fraught buildup. “Did those belts ever…

The Central Bank of Libya on Sunday said it was suspending operations after one of its employees was abducted. The bank said that its head of information technology Musab Msallem “was kidnapped by an unidentified group from his house this morning” in the capital, Tripoli. Libya has seen rising tensions between different armed factions in recent weeks. What else did Libya’s Central Bank say? The Central Bank said it would “not resume operations” until Msallem was released. It said that other executives were also “threatened with abduction.” In its statement, the bank denounced what it called “unlawful parties” that “threaten the…

Chinese and Philippine ships collided on Monday during a confrontation near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, Chinese state media said. The Second Thomas Shoal has been the site of repeated altercations between Beijing and Manila. What did China say about the collision? Beijing accused one of the Philippine vessels of “deliberately” colliding with a Chinese ship. “Despite multiple warnings from the Chinese side, the Philippine vessel 4410 deliberately collided with China’s 21551 vessel,” state broadcaster CCTV said, citing Chinese coast guard spokesperson Geng Yu. “Philippine Coast Guard vessels… illegally entered the waters near the Xianbin Reef in the Nansha…

Frenetic shuttle diplomacy is under way to end the war in Gaza and avert an Iranian and Hezbollah attack on Israel.But there remains a wide gap between Hamas and Israel on the face of it. Hamas wants Israel’s military out of Gaza and not coming back before it gives up the Israeli hostages it has held since 7 October. Image: Palestinians at the site of an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Saturday. Pic: Reuters Israel wants guarantees that if it does, Hamas cannot then regroup, get strong again and carry out another such attack as its leaders have repeatedly…

Actor Alain Delon, one of the major stars of European cinema from the 1960s on, has died at the age of 88 after a long period of ill health, French media reported on Sunday. Delon triumphed over a troubled early life to take leading roles in several major films, rising to fame in two movies by Italian director Luchino Visconti, “Rocco and His Brothers” in 1960 and “The Leopard” in 1963. His last years were clouded by a family feud over his care following a 2019 stroke between his sons Anthony and Alain-Fabien, and his daughter Anouchka, an affair that was covered by…

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,…