Author: DW

Germany said Thursday it is sending Holocaust survivors in Israel €25 million ($27 million) to help them cope with the impact of the October 7 attacks by Hamas and its aftermath. There are around 113,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel, according to Jewish groups. What do we know about the payments? Each of the survivors in Israel will receive a one-off €220 payment, according to the New York-based Claims Conference, a Jewish umbrella organization that seeks damages for Holocaust survivors. “Many Holocaust survivors were hit particularly hard by the Hamas attacks,” said a spokeswoman for the German Finance Ministry. She added…

The port of Hamburg used to be a vibrant part of the northern German city and a magnet for tourism. Everyone could visit the port to watch the ships roll in and dockers at work. Germany’s largest port is known as the country’s “gateway to the world.” However, this has fundamentally changed. Entire areas are now cordoned off, with visitors facing fences or closed gates. Since September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the US claiming thousands of lives, shipping infrastructure has been considered security-sensitive because it too is vulnerable to terrorism.Hamburg has the largest seaport in Germany — any shipping disruptions would cost the…

Mali’s military junta continued to restrict political life in the country on Thursday, banning the media from reporting on the activities of political parties and associations. The country’s high authority for communication issued a statement calling on “all media (radio, television, written press and online) to halt broadcast and publication of the activities of political parties and the activities of a political nature of associations.” It did not indicate what would happen to media organizations that did not observe the ban. The ban came on the heels of a decision on Wednesday that banned all activities of political parties until…

Lawyers for the families of OJ Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman have told Sky News they still believe he was “a murderer”.The former NFL star and Hollywood actor died aged 76 of cancer on Wednesday. Nicknamed “The Juice”, Simpson was tried for their double murder in 1995, in what was dubbed the “trial of the century”. Image: LA police department booking photo of OJ Simpson following his arrest for two murders. Pic: Reuters He was found not guilty of murdering Ms Brown and Mr Goldman, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil…

A memoir written by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny before his death in February under mysterious circumstances in a Siberian prison camp will be released in October, American publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced Thursday. The memoir, titled “Patriot,” is a testament not only to Navalny’s life, but “to his unwavering commitment to fight against dictatorship —  a fight he gave everything for, including his life,” said Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow.    She added the book would be released simultaneously in at least 11 different languages on October 22, including in Navalny’s native Russian, although the book is unlikely to be available in Russia, as…

Mali’s junta on Thursday banned all media coverage of political parties. The West African country’s highest authority said it had ordered “all media (radio, television, written press and online) to halt broadcast and publication of the activities of political parties and the activities of a political nature of associations.” What do we know about the ban on political party activity? It comes a day after the Mali’s military leadership issued a decree suspending the activities of political parties, government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga said in a statement read on state television Wednesday night. “Until further notice, for reasons of public order,…

The European Central Bank held interest rates at a record high but signaled Thursday it could cut interest rates at its next meeting in June. The announcement is the fifth consecutive pause since October and was widely expected. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations will remain unchanged at 4.50%. The interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 4.75% and 4.00% respectively. The bank’s rate-setting council said it would wait for confirmation that rapidly receding inflation is firmly under control before deciding to cut interest rates. “Most measures of underlying inflation are…

US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are meeting on Thursday in Washington for their first-ever trilateral defense summit. The meeting comes as Chinese and Philippines coast guard vessels in the disputed South China Sea regularly become involved in skirmishes, with China increasingly asserting its territorial claims in the region. Kishida, for his part, addressed Congress on Thursday as part of a Washington visit, becoming the second Japanese premier to do so since Shinzo Abe in 2015. His address, which comes after a Wednesday summit with Biden, focused on the importance of a strong US-Japanese partnership amid growing skepticism in Congress,…

Three sailors were saved from a tiny uninhabited Pacific island after forming a giant “HELP” sign using palm tree leaves.The three men were found on Tuesday evening after being stranded for more than a week on the minute Pikelot Atoll, part of the Federated States of Micronesia. The trio, who have not been identified but are all in their 40s and related to one another, survived on coconuts. Image: The crew of USCGC Oliver Henry making contact with three sailors stranded on Pikelot Atoll. Pic: US Coast Guard They had travelled to a different atoll – Polowat – on Easter…

Rocks, soils and minerals — the elements that make up the land we live upon — have no protection from the weather. They are struck by lightning, flooded by rains and baked by blistering sunlight. This natural process, which represents the gradual chipping away of the surface of our Earth, is called weathering. Over the past two decades, and particularly in the past few years, public health researchers have been using this term in a different context: to describe a process they say occurs in the bodies of Black people who grow up in white American society. The theory is…