Author: DW

The boundary dispute between India and Nepal has heated up once again after the Nepali government last week announced a new currency note featuring a map that shows three border areas claimed by New Delhi. The dispute involves the territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are currently under Indian control. The new map adds 335 square kilometres (129 sq. miles) of land to Nepal, and the country’s central bank is expected to take up to a year to print and issue the new note. India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar slammed Nepal’s decision, saying it will not change the reality on…

A Texas lawyer was shot and killed outside a McDonald’s after trying to calm down an angry customer, police say.Jeffrey Limmer, 46, died after the incident in Houston on Saturday evening and his attacker fled the scene in a pickup truck. The customer was upset with employees over his order and demanded a refund. Mr Limmer tried to calm them down, according to local news outlet ABC13.Police say the fight went outside and Mr Limmer pushed the customer to the ground.The customer then went to his car and pulled out a gun and allegedly shot him before fleeing the scene,…

AstraZeneca has reportedly withdrawn its COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria, also known as Covishield, worldwide, citing commercial reasons for the decision. “As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied,” the company was quoted as saying by various media outlets. A document hosted by the European Medicines Agency website confirmed that Vaxzevria was no longer authorized in the region. In an email to DW, virologist Wolfgang Preiser said “the demand for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is very low and unlikely to pick up significantly…

The young woman’s gaze is direct yet benign. A cloak richly decorated with flowers is wrapped around her shoulders, contrasting starkly with the painting’s red background.   For almost 100 years, “Portrait of Miss Lieser” was thought to have been lost. Then the work by Austrian Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) suddenly appeared at an auction. “Miss Lieser” was painted during Klimt’s last creative period, shortly before the artist’s death. The artist’s signature is missing, which is why it is believed that he didn’t have time to finish the work before dying of a stroke. The Viennese auction house Im…

Berlin’s state minister for economy, energy and enterprise, Franziska Giffey of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), was injured in an attack at a library in the Rudow district of the German capital on Tuesday. Giffey, a former mayor of Berlin and an ex-federal minister, “briefly went to hospital for outpatient treatment for head and neck pain,” police and the Berlin prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Giffey was attacked at an event in a Berlin library on TuesdayImage: dts-Agentur/picture alliance What we know about the incident The attacker suddenly attacked Giffey “from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on…

A few years ago, the German professor of intellectual property law Tim Dornis was on sabbatical in California when the General-Secretary of the German Association for Intellectual Property Law (GRUR) contacted him. “He said, ‘We’re about to see a very important development in Geneva that we need to have a look at. Because it could be something groundbreaking’.” Geneva is home to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency that promotes and protects intellectual property (IP) across the world. IP Law deals with the legal protection and ownership rights for things people create with their minds, like inventions, art and…

Malaysia has said it plans to present orangutans to major palm-oil-importing countries with the aim of boosting its credentials as a conserver of biodiversity. The Asian nation is the world’s second-largest producer of the widely used commodity, whose production is blamed by environmentalists for fuelling the destruction of the great ape’s habitats in both Malaysia and Indonesia. The move comes after the EU last year decided on phasing-out commodities, like palm oil, that are linked to deforestation by 2030. Malaysia argues that the ban has been introduced to protect the bloc’s own oilseeds market. What has Malaysia said? Malaysia’s commodities minister, Johari…

French air traffic controllers have been granted the right to turn up to work three hours late and leave three hours early. Under a new agreement between the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers, reported by French media, the country’s government made a practice called “clearances” a legal right for controllers. Clearances, where air traffic staff leave work during quiet periods, are believed to be a common practice in France. Image: An air traffic controller in the main control tower at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Pic: Reuters The deal came after workers threatened to go on strike before the Paris…

Hong Kong’s appeal court on Wednesday banned the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” — an anthem popularized during the territory’s widespread democracy demonstrations in 2019. The decision makes the song the first to be prohibited since Britain handed the former colony back to China in 1997. Why has the song upset authorities? Demonstrators often sang the anonymously written piece during their pro-democracy protests.  Its lyrics include the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; Revolution of our times,” and it had already become dangerous to play or sing after authorities crushed the demonstrations. Officials have lobbied Google to remove the song from search results…

Berlin’s state minister for economy, energy and enterprise, Franziska Giffey of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), has been injured in an attack in a library in the Rudow district of the German capital. Giffey, a former mayor of Berlin, had to be treated in hospital as a result. A man suddenly attacked her “from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck” in a library on Tuesday afternoon, police said on Wednesday. Giffey “briefly went to hospital for outpatient treatment for head and neck pain,” police and the Berlin prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Pattern of…