Author: DW

Celine Dion has received an emotional standing ovation at the premiere of her new film, which documents the lengths she has taken in order to fight stiff person syndrome.The music superstar announced in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with the rare condition after being forced to cancel a Las Vegas residency and tour dates. Earlier this month, she revealed she took life-threatening doses of diazepam to help ease muscle spasms so she could perform on stage. Image: Dion (right) with the film’s director, Irene Taylor, at the premiere in New York. Pic: Reuters Now, her story is being told…

For German Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger, freedom is the foundation “for the way we live in our country, for our democracy, our constitutional state and our prosperity,” she said at the launch of the Science Year 2024, which focuses this year on freedom, a theme chosen to mark the 75th anniversary of Germany’s Basic Law, the country’s constitution. But now more than 2,900 academics are accusing her of threatening freedom of expression and are calling for the minister’s resignation in an open letter.Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger is under fire for her reaction to a letter of protest from university professorsImage: Britta…

It was one of those moments that prove that Ilkay Gündogan is one of Germany’s best midfielders. In the 19th minute of Germany”s match against Scotland, Gündogan took the ball in midfield and played a perfect pass to Kai Havertz in the penalty area, allowing him in turn to set up Jamal Musiala for Germany’s second goal. A short time later, Gündogan drew a penalty, which Havertz converted to erase any doubt about the eventual outcome in what would be a dream start to Germany’s home Euros. “A world-class performance. Especially with the external pressure that he’s always under,” said…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked North Korea for its support of his invasion of Ukraine and said that the two countries would cooperate closely to overcome Western sanctions in remarks made ahead of a two-day visit to the country.  The comments were part of an op-ed piece printed in North Korean state media on Tuesday morning, soon before Putin was expected to arrive in Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  “We highly appreciate that the DPRK [North Korea] is firmly supporting the special military operations of Russia being conducted in Ukraine,” Putin wrote in the article carried by the…

Spanish police have shared aerial footage of a hammerhead shark off the coast of Gran Canaria after a popular tourist beach was closed on the island due to a sighting.Melenara Beach in the town of Telde was busy on Saturday when several swimmers saw a roughly two-metre-long shark near the shore, according to Spanish news channel Antena 3. Lifeguards contacted the police who then arrived and closed the beach before search teams went out on jet skis to try to locate the animal, the broadcaster said. X This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other…

European Union leaders gathered in Brussels on Monday for an informal meeting focused largely on discussing the choice of people to fill key positions in the bloc. Three jobs are up for grabs: president of the European Commission, currently held by Ursula von der Leyen; president of the European Council, a position currently held by Charles Michel; and that of foreign policy chief or “high representative,” which is at present in the hands of Josep Borrell. “I am sure we can find an agreement in the shortest possible time,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said as he arrived for the evening talks on Monday.  The dinner…

The top medical official in the United States has called on Congress to add a warning label to social media websites, similar to the warning labels found on cigarette packaging. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people in a guest essay that was published in The New York Times on Monday. “It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents,” Murthy wrote. “A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would…

Kitefoiler Jackson James Rice, who was gearing up to represent Tonga at the Paris Olympics, has died aged 18.The athlete, who was known as JJ Rice, died on Saturday while free diving from a boat in Faleloa, on the island of Ha’apai in the Tonga archipelago. His father Darren Rice confirmed his son’s death to local news outlet the Matangi Tonga newspaper.He said the teenager died after a suspected blackout in shallow water. His body was found on the seafloor underneath the boat at about 12.15pm by other divers.Efforts to resuscitate him had failed, the newspaper reported. The kitefoiler was…

Muhammad Anza from Rafah, a city near the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, has been searching for weeks for his uncle, Ibrahim Al-Shaer, who disappeared at the beginning of May.  “Since that day, he has never returned, and we haven’t heard from him,” Anza, 19, told DW from Gaza via phone. “We are in a state of great concern. We want to know where he is, we want to know if he is dead, so we can bury him and have mercy on him, or whether he was detained [by the Israeli military].” When Israel’s military launched an offensive in eastern Rafah on…

“The transfer of foreigners to Poland by the German police was carried out in violation of the principles of cooperation between the two services and against the transfer law. The German authorities must not make such a decision arbitrarily,” Poland’s border service wrote on social media on Monday. The statement came after German authorities reportedly deposited a family of five Afghan asylum seekers on the Polish side of their border near Osinow Dolny last Friday after apprehending them for having illegally entered Germany without the necessary paperwork. Under existing law, their lack of documents dictated they be returned to Poland, where…