Author: DW

India’s 2024 general election is poised to be one of the biggest and longest in the country’s history. However, little is expected to change politically with the ruling BJP leading the polls. Source link

China desperately needs its people to have more babies.The country is facing a demographic disaster and it’s a crisis for the economy. Put simply, there are not enough young people and too many elderly. Drastic times call for drastic measures. The latest one being employed by Chinese censors is to take down short online videos that portray unhappy Chinese families with stories about difficult and demanding mother-in-laws and lazy husbands.The government’s fear is that these popular videos will further discourage young Chinese from having families.So hundreds of videos from online platforms Douyin, which is the Chinese version of TikTok, and…

The jailing of 12 Shiite Muslim men in Saudi Arabia has highlighted the dangers for fans who want to travel for sporting events such as the World Cup, according to human rights campaigners and an exiled Saudi Shiite. The men were summoned, along with more than 100 other fans, for questioning after being filmed singing a religious song celebrating the birth of Imam Ali, an important figure in the Shiite Muslim faith at a match between their team, Al Safa, and Al Bukiryah in January. Those 12 jailed have received sentences of either six months or a year, though with little…

Russian peacekeepers will withdraw from Azerbaijan’s Nagorgno-Karabakh region, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the move, responding to a question about reports in the Azerbaijani media about the withdrawal. “Yes, it really is the case,” Peskov told reporters. Azerbaijan retook the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh last September despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers there. The move triggered a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians. What did Russian peacekeepers do in the region? For nearly three decades, Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, was controlled by pro-Yerevan separatists and had a majority Armenian population. In…

More than 1,000 people have succumbed to cholera, while tens of thousands across Africa have been infected in a series of deadly cholera outbreaks since the beginning of 2024. The hardest hit nations are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Zimbabwe , Zambia in southern Africa, and Ethiopia further north. Zambia is being battered by its worst outbreak ever, with more than 740 cholera deaths recorded since the onset of seasonal rains in October 2023. The highly contagious bacterial disease can cause severe diarrhea and dehydration within hours of infection. When people are quickly treated, less than 1% die. But the death…

The father of a 16-year-old accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader has said.The boy spoke in Arabic about the Prophet Muhammad after he appeared to stab Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Reverend Isaac Royel during a church service in Sydney on Monday, which was being streamed online.Neither cleric suffered life-threatening injuries.The boy, who was overpowered by the Orthodox Assyrian congregation, remains in an undisclosed hospital under police guard. He suffered severe hand wounds in the struggle.After the incident, officials said around 600 people gathered outside Christ…

The Venice Biennale, which runs this year from April 20 to November 24, is one of the world’s most prestigious international art shows. It is also held alongside the Documenta in the German city of Kassel. The lagoon city will once again become the center of the international art world in the coming weeks and months. Over 800,000 art lovers made a pilgrimage to the previous Biennale held two years ago, and two-thirds came from abroad, a new record. Israeli pavilion to remain closed in protest The Israel-Hamas war is having a direct impact on the prestigious art show.  A collective of pro-Palestinian activists,…

The jailing of 12 Shiite Muslim men in Saudi Arabia has highlighted the dangers for fans who want to travel for sporting events such as the World Cup, according to human rights campaigners and an exiled Saudi Shiite. The men were summoned, along with more than 100 other fans, for questioning after being filmed singing a religious song celebrating the birth of Imam Ali, an important figure in the Shiite Muslim faith at a match between their team, Al Safa, and Al Bukiryah in January. Those 12 jailed have received sentences of either six months or a year, though with little…

On Wednesday, Croatian citizens will elect a new parliament and prime minister. Polls had long favored incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The opposition is widely viewed as weak, with local victories few and far between. In 2021, the green-left Mozemo! (We Can!) movement won the mayoral election in the capital, Zagreb. But now, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic is shaking up an election that seemed as if it had been decided before it had even begun. He threw his hat in the ring as the lead candidate of the Social Democrats (SDP) just four…

The strengthening of the US dollar has emerged as a significant concern for countries worldwide, triggering alarm bells not only in emerging economies (EMs) but also in advanced industrialized countries. The currencies of the G20 group of major economies are almost all depreciating against the dollar. The Turkish lira has been leading the decline since the beginning of the year at 8.8%; the yen has fallen 8% and the South Korean won 5.5%. Both developed and emerging economies have seen currencies weaken at an accelerating pace, with the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, and euro falling 4.4%, 3.3%, and 2.8%, respectively. Why is the US dollar…