Author: DW

Pope Leo XIV has appealed for “no more war” in his first Sunday message to crowds in St Peter’s Square since his election as pontiff.The new pope called for an “authentic and lasting peace” in Ukraine and a ceasefire in Gaza and release of all Israeli hostages. Recalling the end of the Second World War, Leo quoted his predecessor Pope Francis as he denounced the number of ongoing conflicts as “a third world in pieces”. Image: Pope Leo delivers his first Sunday message. Pic: AP Image: Pontiff appears at the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: AP It is…

Measles is well-suited for eradication. The virus only spreads among humans and does not survive long in the environment. There’s a vaccine and it is cheap and effective. And if enough people (95% of a population) get immunized, the deadly disease could be gone forever. By the year 2000, 82 countries had eliminated measles within their borders, including the US. But measles is making a comeback — outbreaks are happening in every region of the world. Yemen saw over 10,000 cases in April 2025. And India had over 7,000 cases — measles is the number one cause of death from disease…

What has happened between India and Pakistan? India and Pakistan are engaged in conflict in Kashmir, a disputed territory between the two countries. Parts of Kashmir are controlled by India, Pakistan and China. India has carried out airstrikes, which it says targeted militant groups in the region in recent days, with Pakistan describing them as an “act of war” and vowing to retaliate. Both sides have since been launching attacks on each other. The current flashpoint started in April when 26 tourists in India-administered Kashmir were killed. But the region has been disputed for centuries, eventually leading to the current uneasy three-way administration.How India-Pakistan tit-for-tat military…

The conclave elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as the 267th pope surprisingly quickly on Thursday. Prevost, a native of the United States and a Peruvian citizen after having spent many years in the South American country, is a multilingual man of the world. But what will the new pope focus on as head of the Catholic Church? He offered some clues in his first short address as Pope Leo XIV on Friday. For the first time, a pope spoke to the crowd not only in Italian, but in another modern language: a few sentences in Spanish for his “dear diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru.”…

Bangladesh’s interim government banned all activities of the former ruling Awami League on Saturday. The party is headed by Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s long-serving former prime minister who was ousted in a mass uprising in 2024. The ban is to stay in place until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of people during anti-government protests last year. “It has been decided to ban the activities, including in cyberspace, of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act until the trial of the Awami League and its leaders ends,” the country’s law…

US President Donald Trump’s scrapping of a duty-free loophole has shattered Temu and Shein’s business model, choking their flood of cheap Chinese goods into the United States. In 2024, 1.36 billion shipments entered the US under the so-called de minimis rule, exempting goods valued under $800 (€704) from import tariffs. That figure marks a nine-fold increase from 153 million in 2015. Goods bought from Temu and Shein, who handled 30% of daily US low-value packages last year between them, will now be subject to a 30% tariff or flat fees of up to $50, plus the 145% tariff on imports from China levied by Trump last month. With…

Pope Leo XIV has said artificial intelligence is one of the main challenges facing humanity as he outlined his vision for the papacy.In his first formal audience, Leo said the Catholic Church must take the lead in facing newer threats to workers, such as AI. The 69-year-old said the technology posed “new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour”. Image: The Pope identified AI as a major challenge to humanity. Pic: Vatican Media/AP The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics referred to AI as he explained his choice of name to the cardinals who elected him.He…

It seems that, ever since taking office, Donald Trump and his Republican administration have been continuously berating Europe. But now, a different kind of US representative is visiting Germany: the Orchestra NOW (TŌN), a graduate program of Bard College, in the state of New York. Directed by Leon Botstein, the ensemble is presenting works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Max Bruch. It is also delivering a clear message: culture and music are the true pillars of trans-Atlantic relations. TŌN features top musicians, some of whom already have positions in other professional US orchestras Image: David DeNee A historically important location The trip to Germany is…

It was meant to land on Venus in 1972 at the height of the first space race. But “Cosmos 482” failed to leave Earth’s orbit and has been “parked” up there ever since.  Now, 53 years later, this Soviet-era Venera mission lander is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and come down in the Atlantic Ocean. Space debris from rockets and satellites reenters Earth every day. Most of it burns up in the atmosphere and pose little threat to life on the ground.  But Cosmos 482 is no ordinary space junk. It was one of two Venera 8 mission spacecraft — the…

Xabi Alonso used a regular prematch press conference on Friday to announce that he would leave Bayer Leverkusen a year before his contract at the club expires in 2026. “This week, the club and I agreed that these will be my last two games as Leverkusen coach. It’s the right moment to announce it,” he told reporters. “Now we have clarity,”  The 43-year-old Alonso thus confirmed that Sunday’s match against Borussia Dortmund would be his last home game with the Werkself. “We want to have a fitting farewell on Sunday, for some of the players and for myself,” he said.…