Author: DW

A celebrity handbag designer whose products have been used by Britney Spears and on Sex And The City has been jailed for smuggling crocodile handbags into the US for fashion shows.Nancy Gonzalez, 71, admitted recruiting couriers to carry as many as four products each on commercial flights from her native Colombia to the US for New York Fashion Week, among other high-profile events. Gonzalez, who was arrested in 2022 in Cali, and later extradited to the US, was sentenced to 18 months in a federal court in Miami on Monday for breaking US wildlife laws.The handbags, made from the hides…

As the populist, anti-immigrant AfD(Alternative für Deutschland) party were rising fast in the German polls in 2023, national culture collective Die Vielen (The Many) decided to act. The alliance of some 4,500 theaters, galleries and cultural institutions had been on hiatus since the COVID pandemic. But Die Vielen members saw the upcoming European elections, to be held from June 6-9 — along with local and state ballots and a looming 2025 federal vote — as an existential threat to the pluralist democracy that allows artistic expression to flourish. Having initiated protests against the AfD in the run-up to the 2019 European elections, Die Vielen’s…

Germany is grappling with a critical labor shortage and aging population, with projections indicating a deficit of seven million skilled workers by 2035. With some 700,000 vacancies currently unfilled, Germany’s economic growth potential has dropped to about 0.7% now from around 2% in the 1980s, and is set to fall further to 0.5% if the country fails to resolve this problem, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said, stressing the importance of migration in bridging this widening gap. Engaging Germany’s Indian student population in the workforce may be part of the solution. Tapping into the international student talent pool According…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a launch of “super-large” multiple rocket launchers intended for use in a nuclear counter-strike, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.  The report said the launch, which took place on Monday, marked the first demonstration of Pyongyang’s new nuclear-weapons management and control system called the “nuclear trigger.” On Monday, South Korean and Japanese authorities reported the launch of what they suspected to be several short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles landed in waters to the east. According to the report, Kim said the drills were in…

A police operation is under way after reports at least five migrants have died during an attempt to cross the Channel.The French coast guard confirmed there was a failed attempt to cross the Channel and police were operating at a beach following the incident on Tuesday morning.The spokesperson said she could not say how many people were involved but added there were several “lifeless bodies”.French newspaper La Voix Du Nord reported at least five migrants have died.It comes hours after the UK’s government’s controversial Rwanda bill – intended to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats – was…

As the world increasingly feels the impact of fossil fuel emissions, the climate in Europe is also changing. Last year, the continent experienced a host of contrasting weather extremes, according to the latest European State of the Climate report. “In 2023, Europe witnessed the largest wildfire ever recorded, one of the wettest years, severe marine heat waves and widespread devastating flooding,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which authored the report alongside the World Meteorological Organization. The three warmest years in Europe have all occurred since 2020, and the 10 warmest since 2007. Billions of…

In the Afigya Kwabre district of Ghana’s Ashanti region, people like Kingsley Owusu are known for growing Ghana’s leading cash crop. Owusu and his community have been growing cocoa beans for over 30 years. For many years, the cocoa harvest allowed him to take care of his children, who have all grown to adulthood. But now, at the age of 60, Owusu is worried about his own livelihood. “My production levels have gone down because of climate change and diseases. And illegal mining activities are also contributing to this,” Owusu told DW, adding that he barely makes enough to get by. Owusu used to produce about 10…

Ten people have died after two helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade.The incident took place at the Malaysian navy’s Lumut Base – 100 miles (160km) northwest of the capital Kuala Lumpur – at around 9.30am local time.The crash involved an AW139 maritime operations helicopter, with seven crew members, and a navy Fennec, with three crew members. Image: Rescuers at the scene. Pic: Perak Fire and Rescue Department Image: Pic: Perak Fire and Rescue Department Read more from Sky News:Japanese navy helicopters crash into the oceanFour dead after flooding in southern China”All the victims…

Iran is “weeks rather than months” away from having enough enriched uranium to develop a nuclear bomb, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told DW. “But that does not mean that Iran has or would have a nuclear weapon in that space of time,” he added. He said while enrichment at near-military levels is a cause for alarm, one cannot draw the direct conclusion that Iran now has a nuclear weapon.  “A functional nuclear warhead requires many other things independently from the production of the fissile material, in this case, the uranium, including perhaps…

The British Parliament approved a controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda on Monday night after a marathon tussle between the upper and lower houses. The bill cleared its final hurdle when the House of Lords — which had repeatedly sent back the legislation — agreed not to make any further changes. Lawmakers in the House of Commons had already rejected two amendments made in the House of Lords last week. Hours before the vote, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that deportation flights would start in the coming months. “We are ready, plans are in place and these flights will go,…