Author: DW

Born in Prague in 1883, Franz Kafka belonged to the German-speaking Jewish minority, which made him somewhat of an outsider to begin with. He also felt little acceptance from his family and suffered throughout his life at the hands of his father in particular, who would have preferred his son to be a businessman rather than a writer.  Unable to make a living from writing alone, Kafka worked from morning to noon as an insurance clerk and then devoted himself to the things that gave him pleasure. He rode a motorcycle, went to the movies and visited brothels. He was sporty,…

Hansi Flick is back in football after being named the new coach of Spanish side Barcelona.  The 59-year-old has signed a two-year deal. Flick, who has not coached since being sacked by Germany in September 2023, takes over after the Catalan giants failed to win a trophy this season under their former player Xavi Hernandez, who was dismissed on Friday. Flick won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup with Bayern in 2020 but a fall-out with the board led to him leaving in 2021 after another German league title. He soon succeeded Germany’s World Cup-winning coach Joachim Löw at the national team,…

Belgian investigators raided the home and offices of a European Parliament staffer believed to be involved in spreading Russian propaganda ahead of the EU assembly election next month. The searches on Wednesday “concern evidence of Russian interference, indicating that members of the European Parliament were approached and paid to promote Russian propaganda via the news site Voice of Europe,” Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said. “Evidence suggests that the European Parliament staffer in question played an important role in this case,” it added. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo last month announced a probe into suspected Russian interference in the upcoming European Union elections.…

When the prime minister of your country calls your community “infiltrators” you are left wondering if you really belong, said Sadaf Tasneem, a Muslim student from Lucknow in northern India. “I have unintentionally become defensive of my identity in the face of continuous systematic and institutional attacks,” she said. Last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a highly controversial campaign speech in western Rajasthan state. “When they [the opposition Congress party] were in power earlier, they said that Muslims have the first right to the country’s resources. So, who will they redistribute resources to? Those who have more children. Those who are…

Ancient Egyptians appear to have carried out surgery on people with cancerous cells, a study has found.Scientists already knew from their texts that ancient Egyptians were exceptionally skilled with medicine – and could treat diseases, traumatic injuries, build protheses and put in dental fillings. But an international team of researchers studied two human skulls, each thousands of years old, and found “extraordinary” evidence of attempts to treat cancer.The study’s lead author, Professor Edgard Camaros, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela, said: “This finding is unique evidence of how ancient Egyptian medicine would have tried to deal with…

A former head of the Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD is set to become Prime Minister of the Netherlands at the head of a right-wing-led coalition government. Dick Schoof, a 67-year-old senior civil servant at the country’s justice ministry with no current party affiliation, is considered an expert on security and migration – two key issues for the four coalition partners. The largest party in the coalition is the nationalist Party for Freedom (PVV), which emerged as the largest party after November’s election — albeit with less than a quarter of the vote and nowhere near enough support to govern…

UN development specialist Garry Conille has been named Haiti’s new prime minister by the country’s transitional council. The move comes amid a security crisis in the Caribbean country, with armed gangs controlling most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and parts of the countryside.  The transitional council was formed last month after former Prime Minister Ariel Henry formally resigned. A member of the council told the AFP news agency that Conille was elected 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon. Council president Edgard Leblanc also announce the decision on social media. Who is Garry Conille? Conille has been UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the…

An NFL player has been accused of sexually assaulting two women on a flight to London last year.Former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus has been named in a lawsuit by women identified only as Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II, which was filed last Friday in Duval County, Florida, according to reports.The women allege that the Jaguars did not provide a safe working environment for staff on the flight, which took the team to the English capital for the NFL’s annual London Games last autumn.They accuse McManus, who now plays for the Washington Commanders, of rubbing and grinding up…

Children born with Type 1 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa die in childhood, said Biyi Adesina, a diabetologist in Nigeria. That was certainly true until very recently. Now, increased awareness of the condition throughout the region has allowed many children with Type 1 diabetes, who depend on daily insulin injections, to live past their first and second birthdays.  But Adesina told DW that a diagnosis was just half the battle. In Nigeria’s private health care system, the majority of the population is uninsured. Drugs for noncommunicable diseases — such as insulin — are frequently an out-of-pocket expense for patients or their parents.  Parents can’t pay children’s diabetes…

Mozart’s “Magic Flute” is one of the most famous and reverred operas in the world. But the composer, dubbed the “pop star of classical music,” also produced works that are mainstays of popular culture, including “Little Night Music” — perhaps best-known today as a ringtone. The musical prodigy too created profound music that plumbed the depths of the soul. “Mozart is more than the chocolate ball from Salzburg and more than a cell phone ringtone,” said Evelyn Meining, director of the Mozartfest Würzburg, the biggest Mozart festival in Germany.  “He was a hard-working person who composed day and night,” she added. Meining wants to promote am image of Mozart that…