Author: DW

Nirmala and Milan Bastola are about to celebrate their silver jubilee as a same-sex couple this year. They come from Mangalpur, a small village in Nepal’s Chitwan district, nearly 190 kilometers (118 miles) south of the capital Kathmandu. The couple faced enormous challenges and social pressure as they fought for acceptance of their relationship. “It was worth every effort. There was discouragement, yet we focused more on the support we received from our friends and family,” Milan, a transgender person, told DW.  The couple adopted a newborn child in 2009, and for years they felt everything was going according to…

Skip next section Blinken says F-16 jets from Denmark, Netherlands en route to Ukraine 07/10/2024July 10, 2024Blinken says F-16 jets from Denmark, Netherlands en route to Ukraine F-16 fighter aircraft are en route to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during the NATO summit on Wednesday. The first batch of the US-built fighter planes were already being transferred, Blinken said. “And those jets…will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression.” The F-16 transfer “concentrates Vladimir Putin’s…

China has detained a man after custom officials “discovered” more than 100 live snakes in his pants. According to authorities, the man was stopped in his tracks at Futian Port on the border between the Chinese administrative region of Hong Kong and the mainland city of Shenzhen. Customs officials found six cloth bags with snakes hidden in the man’s clothing. “Upon inspection, customs officers discovered that the pockets of the trousers the passenger was wearing were packed with six canvas drawstring bags and sealed with tape,” the statement said. Milk and corn snakes “Once opened, each bag was found to contain living snakes in all…

Former reality TV personality Spencer Matthews is preparing to attempt a new Guinness World Record by running 30 marathons in 30 days – through scorching temperatures in the Jordanian desert.The 35-year-old is now an endurance athlete, podcaster and entrepreneur, and has previously completed three ultramarathons in the Amazon Rainforest as well as the Arctic. He has also taken part in the Marathon des Sables, dubbed the “toughest footrace on Earth” – a seven-day, 250km-ultramarathon in the Sahara Desert.And he’s about to undertake the equivalent of five of those, back-to-back.”I think I will come out of this quite different”, he said.…

A video shows an episode of Family Guy, one of the world’s best-known cartoon comedy shows, in which Peter Griffin, the main character, drives a van containing a bomb at gunpoint over the bridge. It is a clip from the episode “Turban Cowboy,” which aired in 2013. However, the audio accompanying the video has changed, as Peter Griffin, normally voiced by show creator Seth MacFarlane, sings some unusual lyrics. “Our weapons are heavy, our ranks are many, but the soldiers of Allah are more than ready,” he warbles in the song in his distinctive Rhode Island accent, meant to encourage followers of the extremist…

The idea of China outstripping the United States to become the world’s largest economy has been a fixation for policymakers and economists for decades. What will happen, they argue, when the US — one of the most dynamic, productive economies — is usurped by an authoritarian regime with a three-quarter-of-a-billion-strong workforce? Predictions of when exactly China would steal the US crown have come thick and fast ever since the 2008/9 financial crisis, which hampered growth in the US and Europe for many years. Before the Great Recession, China saw double-digit annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth for at least five years. In the decade following the…

An Irish woman who was detained by police and charged with attempting suicide by a Dubai court will be allowed to return home, Ireland’s prime minister has said.Tori Towey, from Boyle in County Roscommon, says she tried to take her own life after allegedly being attacked and left with severe bruising and other injuries.Irish authorities were urged to intervene after the 28-year-old, who works in the United Arab Emirates as an airline cabin crew member, was taken to a police station and her passport blocked from use.Taoiseach Simon Harris now says the travel ban imposed by Dubai authorities has been…

Much of Germany’s Euro 2024 was about generating the same thrill and excitement around the country as the 2006 World Cup did, or about giving the most decorated German footballer ever, Toni Kroos, a fitting farewell. But beyond collective unity the end of this tournament not only marks the end of Kroos’s career but the end of an era that peaked a decade ago. After many years of coming close to moving on from the golden generation of 2014, the likely international departures of Thomas Müller (34), Ilkay Gündogan (33), and Manuel Neuer (38) mean Germany will likely enter their 2026 World…

News about Ethel Brooks’ success spread quickly within the Roma community in Europe: “Have you heard?” people would say, “We have a Roma professor in the US!” There are perhaps a handful of Roma professors in the world, and one of them is Ethel Brooks, the first in the United States. Any Roma person who makes it to the top is well known in the Roma community: Livia Jaroka, the first Romani woman in the European Parliament, for example, or Nizaqete Bislimi-Hoso, a successful lawyer in Germany or Esma Redzepova, who is often called the queen of Roma music. Racism…

At least 12 schoolchildren and the driver of their mini-bus were killed in a road crash in South Africa’s Gauteng province as they were going to school, local officials said on Wednesday. Seven other children were brought to a hospital for treatment. The children came from two schools in Carletonville, situated around 78 kilometers (48 miles) west of Johannesburg, Gauteng Minister for Education Matome Chiloane said in a statement. School transport allegedly struck from behind “I am profoundly saddened by this tragic event. The loss of our children is a devastating blow to our community,” said Chiloane.  The Gauteng Education Department said the vehicle…