Author: DW

Delegates from the 211 FIFA members are to vote at a Congress in Bangkok on Friday, May 17 on where the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be held. This will be the first time that a full FIFA Congress decides whether a country or countries will host a Women’s World Cup. The previous nine World Cup hosts were decided either by the FIFA Executive Committee or later by the FIFA Council. The last World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand last year, featured 32 teams for the first time. The 2027 edition of the tournament will remain at 32 teams.…

A concrete wall spanning 74 kilometers (45 miles) is to be built along a section of Iran’s border with Afghanistan and help close a known illegal crossing point, Iranian officials say. The wall is set to be 4 meters (13 feet) high and expanded with additional barbed wire fencing. The border between Iran and Afghanistan is about 920 kilometers long. For over 40 years, thousands have braved tough desert and mountain terrain to enter Iran and leave behind civil war and poverty. Now, they are once again fleeing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Iranian authorities see their northeastern Razavi-Khorasan province and North and South Khorasan as the top destinations…

Orcas have sunk a yacht off the coast of Gibraltar – the latest in a string of similar attacks by the mammals over the past four years.The Alboran Cognac sailing vessel was rammed by an unknown number of killer whales in the Strait of Gibraltar at around 9am local time on Sunday, the Spanish maritime rescue service said. Two people were on board, who reported feeling blows to the boat’s hull and rudder before it started taking on water.They had to be rescued by a nearby oil tanker after they radioed the coastguard for help. The pair were taken to…

Economy ministers from the European Union’s 27 countries gave the final greenlight on Tuesday to an overhaul of the bloc’s migration and asylum policies.  The plan seeks tougher borders and shared responsibility of asylum seekers among the EU’s members.  The reform, comprised of 10 pieces of legislation, was backed by a majority of the bloc’s countries despite opposition from Hungary and Poland. The new rules come into effect from 2026.  The final approval comes shortly before the European Parliament election, with migration seen a major topic in many campaigns.  What is the EU migration reform? The so-called New Pact on Migration and Asylum is…

The White House said on Tuesday that it was increasing tariffs for goods from China worth some $18 billion (roughly €16.5 billion), calling it a response to Beijing’s “unfair” trade practices.  “China’s unfair trade practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are threatening American businesses and workers,” the White House said. “China is also flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports.”  What’s being subjected to more tariffs? Perhaps the most notable and sharpest increase was for Chinese-built electric vehicles.  The tariff will increase from 25% to 100% for these, plus some other extra costs, with the White House citing “extensive…

At least 14 people have died and dozens are feared to be trapped after a billboard bigger than an Olympic swimming pool collapsed in Mumbai.The disaster, which left at least 75 people injured, happened during a thunderstorm in the western Indian city on Monday.The injured people were taken to hospital with 31 of them having been discharged, according to Mumbai’s municipal corporation (BMC), the governing civic body of the city in Maharashtra.About 25 people and some cars were still trapped under the crumpled billboard on Tuesday, a BMC official who did not want to be named has said. Footage shows…

Counterfeit fentanyl pills are being seized by US law enforcement at an unprecedented rate. A study published May 13, 2024, in the International Journal of Drug Policy indicated that more than 115 million pills containing illicit fentanyl were seized by US law enforcement in 2023. The researchers behind the study said the number had grown from 71 million pills in 2022 and 50,000 pills in 2017. The counterfeit fentanyl pills are made to look like legal prescription opioid medication — such as oxycodone and tramadol — but are often far deadlier than the originals. “Fentanyl in pill form is now beginning to dominate…

More than 220 people have been killed, scores are missing and approximately 60,000 have been displaced since communal and ethnic violence ripped through India’s northeastern state of Manipur between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki in 2023, according to government officials and civil society groups. A year after the first violent clashes, tensions between the two communities appear undiminished. Military camps now dot the landscape in a stark reminder of instability and insecurity gripping the region. Ordinary people ‘dread’ armed militias The religious divide is also apparent geographically — the mostly Hindu Meitei, who make up 53% of Manipur’s population, tend to live in…

At the weekly protest in Jerusalem, Amos Cividalli was handing out small pieces of adhesive tape with the number “218” written on them. The figure represents the number of days the estimated remaining 128 hostages in Gaza have been held by Hamas and other militant groups since the terror attacks on October 7. “I don’t have much trust in the government and we’re afraid they’re not doing enough, they’re not doing enough to bring them home,” Cividalli, a regular at the protests, told DW. Just like him, thousands of Israelis took to the streets across the country on Saturday night to…

Tourists in parts of Mallorca and Ibiza will face hefty fines for drinking alcohol on the streets as part of a crackdown in areas of “excessive tourism”.The government of Spain’s Balearic Islands has toughened laws that were first introduced in 2020. As well as banning drinking on public roads, the rules stop shops from selling alcohol late at night and put tighter controls on party boats.Any tourists found breaking these rules could face a fine of up to €3,000.Here is what you need to know to avoid a fine. What areas are covered by the ban?The rules apply in three…