Author: DW

A young women’s rights activist from Afghanistan recently left the country and travelled to Iran.Women in both countries have few rights – but the activist told Sky News that when she arrived she saw a massive difference between the two places. That was until Iranian women revealed how they suffered under the Islamic Republic’s regime. We are keeping the activist anonymous to protect her safety. This is her story:Almost three years of living in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime has systemically erased me and my fellow Afghan women from public life. During this time, I struggled with deep depression and…

For Lydie Beassemda, May 6 will be an important date: When Chadians head to the polls to elect a new president, the 57-year-old will also stand for election. She’s one of 10 candidates, but the only woman to vie for the most important public role in the central African country. She told DW in a recent interview that it was her father who had founded the Party for Complete Democracy and Independence (PDI), making a career politics a family affair for her. “I wanted to lend a hand and offer a break to those who were there and who had grown…

Israel’s allies have ramped up the pressure in recent weeks to allow more aid into Gaza to avert a worsening humanitarian crisis. But few have so far imposed sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, or boycotted products from Israel. DW looks at what measures a handful of countries and activist movements have taken. Turkey raises the stakes In its first significant measure against Israel since the war began, Turkey has announced it will not resume trade with Israel,worth $7 billion (€6.52 billion) a year, until a permanent cease-fire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. Israel’s “uncompromising attitude” and the worsening situation in Gaza’s southern Rafah region prompted…

Madeleine McCann’s parents said their daughter’s absence “aches” and they are still “living in limbo” as they mark 17 years since she vanished.In one of the most high-profile cases of a missing person in British history, Madeleine disappeared while on holiday with her family in Portugal’s Algarve back in 2007.Gerry and Kate McCann had left Madeleine in bed with her twin siblings while they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant in Praia da Luz when the then three-year-old disappeared on 3 May.In a message issued on the official Find Madeleine website, the McCanns, from Rothley in Leicestershire, said:…

The African Football League (AFL) will finally kick off on October 20, four years after the idea was mooted. CAF, the continent’s football governing body, selected eight elite teams from across the continent. Initially slated to be called the African Super League, before CAF changed its name after a suggestion by European governing body UEFA to avoid the negative connotation associated with the failed attempt by some clubs to establish a European Super League in 2021. “Our friends in Europe advised us not to use the expression ‘super league,'” CAF president Patrice Motsepe said. “This advice was based on the negative…

Last month, the European Parliament voted to approve a landmark package of migration and asylum reforms, set in motion by the implosion of the EU asylum system in 2015. It was the last major hurdle in almost a decade of political wrangling. A majority of lawmakers waved through each of the ten legislative texts, though the deal was slammed by many parliamentarians on both the left and right. Non-governmental organizations and left-leaning lawmakers said it undermined the right to claim asylum and that nothing in the deal would prevent people from making the dangerous boat crossings in the Mediterranean to reach…

The US Federal Reserve’s announcement on Wednesday (May 1) that it would not be cutting interest rates any time soon was not a surprise. For the past few months, inflation has crept back up steadily, causing significant headaches for policymakers, central bankers and investors who had been expecting not one but several interest rate cuts over the course of 2024. The picture is not hugely different in Europe. Germany’s inflation rate rose more than expected in April, on the back of strong food and energy prices. That has also reduced expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) will make several rates cuts…

Noor Ul Amin Danish, 29, was once a well-known investigative crime reporter in Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad. But he left the South Asian nation in 2021 and is now residing in Canada, working at a currency exchange point. “Journalism in Pakistan offers no financial or intellectual growth. The controlling institutional policies and media ownership are significant barriers,” he told DW. Danish is among the numerous journalists who have fled Pakistan in recent years, seeking physical safety and financial stability in either North America or Europe. The exodus is driven by security fears, financial struggles and job dissatisfaction, and it highlights the…

The UK will appoint a new envoy to oversee a plan to ramp up the production of weapons and ammunition, which is now a “national priority”, the foreign secretary has revealed.Lord Cameron, speaking on a visit to Ukraine, also underlined the importance of supporting the Ukrainian war effort against Russia, warning that the world was at an “absolutely critical tipping point” and Kyiv must prevail or else Europe faced a “very dangerous future”. However, he cautioned against an idea from French President Emmanuel Macron to consider sending NATO troops to Ukraine to join the fight if Russia’s Vladimir Putin achieves…

There are practical reasons why Sudan’sbiggest club Al Hilal S.C are leaving their homeland but the club’s desire is that its departure also brings hope to the people suffering across its war-torn nation. “The people of Sudan need to see that there is more to life than war,” Al-Hilal’s business manager Abdelqadir Musa told DW. “They need to see something on the television or hear something on the radio or television that is about sport and not just war and fighting.” Al-Hilal are a Sudanese powerhouse and are well-known in Africa and the Arab world having won 29 league titles and twice finished runners-up…