Author: DW

China’s lunar probe has returned to Earth, making the country the first to bring back samples from the moon’s far side.The re-entry capsule of the Chang’e probe touched down in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia at about 2pm Beijing time (7am UK time), carrying lunar soil collected earlier in June. At the start of the month, the probe had successfully landed at the moon’s South Pole, in the Aitken Basin, a gigantic impact crater that always faces away from Earth. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:55 Chang’e-6’s mission was programmed to collect around…

Prosecutors in Wuppertal on Monday said it was pursuing a blackmail investigation against at least two individuals accused of trying to extort money from the family of German F1 legend Michael Schumacher.  Last week, the German officials said two people had been arrested on suspicion of attempted blackmail “to the disadvantage of a celebrity.” On Monday, Wuppertal prosecutors confirmed media reports the Schumacher family was targeted. According to prosecutors, the suspects told employees of the family that they possessed information the Schumachers would not want to be released in public. “They demanded a payment in the millions in order to prevent the publication…

Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei believes his radical economic program could win him a Nobel Prize. “Together with my senior advisor Demian Reidel, we are rewriting a large part of economic theory,” Milei said during a visit to the Czech Republic on Monday. “If we get it right, I will probably receive the Nobel Prize for Economics Sciences together with Demian,” he added. Milei made the comments while purportedly accepting an award from Czech think tank, the Liberal Institute. However, the Liberal Institute said the ceremony was an unauthorized event that had been organized by individuals who had not been…

When North Korean troops poured across the frontier with the South on June 25, 1950, Rah Jong-yil was a boy of nine-years-old. He and his family would endure more than two months of indoctrination from the communist invaders before they were liberated. Now, as South Korea marks the 74th anniversary of the start of the three-year Korean War, Rah fears the regime of Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang has been emboldened by its new military pact with Russia and that Kim believes the nations that stood with the South in 1950 will not commit to its defense again. Rah said the situation could…

Russia has said it is updating its nuclear doctrine, in a sign of growing tensions between Moscow and the West.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, citing an earlier statement by Vladimir Putin, told a briefing that “work is under way to bring the doctrine into line with current realities”. He did not provide any further details.North Korea warns US over ‘new world war’ – follow Ukraine live updates The nuclear doctrine currently states it may use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack or in the event of a conventional attack that poses an existential threat to Russia.Tensions between Moscow and…

The president of the Palestinian Olympic Committee has called for Israel to be banned from the 2024 Paris Olympics over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In an exclusive interview with DW, Jibril Rajoub highlighted several examples of how he said Israel had broken the Olympic Charter, the set of rules governing the Olympic Games. Rajoub, who is also head of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), claimed that around 300 sportspeople and officials had been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since Israel declared war in response to the Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Sports stadiums…

Botswana, home to the world’s largest elephant population, has been a staunch critic of attempts by some European nations to ban the import of hunting trophies from Africa. The government of the United Kingdom is close to passing a new law that would ban the import of hunting trophies, i.e the body parts of animals hunted for sport on safari in Africa. The legislation would prohibit the import of body parts from elephants, bears, lions, hippos, and zebras into the UK. But critics say the UK should drop the issue, since paid-for hunting finances efforts to combat poaching, provides tourism-related jobs to…

Police in northwestern Pakistan said on Monday that they had arrested at least 23 individuals suspected of being part of a mob that dragged a man from police custody, killed him and burnt his body last week.  The victim was accused of “blasphemy,” the perceived insult of a god or religion, more specifically of desecrating a copy of the Muslim holy book the Quran in his hotel room.  Police continue search for further suspects The mob confronted police in the Swat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, demanding they turn the man over to them for immediate punishment. According to…

There is a lot we still don’t know about the attacks in Dagestan.It’s not clear who the gunmen were or what their wider affiliation might be. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility. There are also questions over how many assailants there were and how many people died in total.But despite that uncertainty, conclusions are being made, some more surprising than others.According to the local member of Russia’s parliament, Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev, there is “no doubt” the attacks are connected to “the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries”. Really? There doesn’t seem to be any evidence.But it’s not the…

He seems to be insatiable. Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 years old and, in his own words, still gets “butterflies in my stomach” just before kickoff. “I’m glad I feel that because once it’s gone, it will be time to retire.” However, this doesn’t appear to be in Ronaldo’s immediate future. As captain, he is aiming to lead Portugal to their second UEFA European Championship title. Their first was at Euro 2016 in France. Ronaldo is playing in his record-breaking sixth European Championship, having made his first appearance in the 2004 tournament. He is also a record-setter with 14 goals in the Euros, having scored in each of his five tournaments…