Author: DW

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced a major restructuring of the military on Thursday. The changes include the establishment of a fourth branch of the armed forces that specializes in cyber warfare, which will operate alongside the army, the air force and the navy. The expanded Cyber and Information Domain Service (CIR) will be tasked with fending off cyberattacks, protecting electronic infrastructure and analyzing disinformation and other hybrid threats. It’s the latest step in an overhaul of the German army, or Bundeswehr, that was launched in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “No one should have the idea of attacking us…

A South African footballer and Olympian has been killed in a hijacking in South Africa, the player’s club has said.Luke Fleurs, a 24-year-old defender for Kaizer Chiefs, was shot at a petrol station in Johannesburg, according to police. “Luke Fleurs tragically lost his life last night during a hijacking incident in Johannesburg,” Kaizer Chiefs said in a statement.”Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.” The attackers fled with Mr Fleurs’s vehicle and police are investigating a case of murder and car hijacking, according to police spokesperson Mavela Masondo. Mr Fleurs previously played for…

Almost all of the victims were young. They were mainly students, on their way from the Greek capital Athens to Thessaloniki in northern Greece, when their train collided with an oncoming freight train. Another 85 passengers were seriously injured. The exact causes of the Tempi train collision of February 28, 2023 have yet to be clarified, and almost 80% of the Greek population doubts that there will ever be justice for the victims and their families. Many believe that the government is to blame for the failures in the investigation, and that there has been a cover-up.It was the worst…

Fully 38% of German companies taking part in a recent business survey said they are relocating production facilities from China to Japan, while 23% are also shifting regional management functions in the same direction, with economic, political and social stability the primary considerations. The study was conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, and accounting giant KPMG in Germany, with 164 firms responding to the survey released on March 27. The report closely echoes the findings of another study, released by the Japan External Trade Organization a week earlier, which found that Japan is an attractive destination…

Peru lawmakers gave their support to the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen in a vote of confidence in Congress on Wednesday. It paves the way for Adrianzen to move forward in his post, which he took up last month. The vote of confidence passed by a margin of 70 votes in favor to 38 against and 17 abstentions and comes just days after six ministers tendered their resignations, including Interior Minister Victor Torres. What Peru’s prime minister said about the new Cabinet Adrianzen proposed “an administration with clean hands, a transparent government to face corruption and inefficiency,” in a speech which lasted nearly…

Rescue efforts are under way to save a killer whale stranded in a remote tidal lagoon off Canada’s Vancouver Island.The young orca calf will be airlifted by rescuers with the hope of reuniting the two-year-old with its extended family, according to Canadian authorities. Canada’s fisheries department and First Nations officials said there are plans in place to put the calf in a sling to be lifted out of the lagoon by helicopter.The young whale will then be put in a net pen in the ocean while awaiting a reunion with its extended family.Ehattesaht First Nation council, fisheries department officials and…

A 7.2 magnitude earthquakecentered off Taiwan’s eastern coast on Wednesday morning was widely felt throughout the island, and was followed by over a hundred aftershocks throughout the day.  “I thought I was going to die,” recounted a 30-year-old Taipei resident to DW, describing the fear she experienced as her apartment was violently shaken. An elementary school teacher in New Taipei City said she was with her pupils on the playground when the ground started to shake. “It was the first time I felt the entire crust behaving like a spring,” she told DW. As of Thursday morning, authorities said there have…

Legacy chips, used in everything from washing machines to cars and TVs to medical devices, may not be as powerful as the state-of-the-art semiconductors that power artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. But they’re a growing headache for the United States and European Union due to China’s market dominance. Washington has already blocked Chinese firms from accessing Western-designed cutting-edge chips in the hope of delaying Beijing’s ambition of becoming a technology superpower. Attention has now turned to so-called legacy chips, of which China currently has close to a third of the world’s manufacturing capacity.  Faced with limited access to the more advanced chips, Beijing has sharply stepped up investments in the production of mature chip…

The world’s oldest man has died at the age of 114, just under two months before his 115th birthday.Juan Vicente Perez, from Venezuela, was confirmed to be the world’s oldest living man by Guinness World Records when he was aged 112 years and 253 days as of 4 February 2022. He attributed his longevity to “working hard, resting on holidays, going to bed early, drinking a glass of aguardiente [a strong liquor] every day, loving God, and always carrying him in his heart”. Image: Mr Perez celebrating his 113th birthday. Pics: AP Born on 27 May 1909, Mr Perez was…

Ernest Hemingway famously said: “While it’s important to have an end to journey towards, it is the journey that matters, in the end.” But then again, Hemingway didn’t quite have the kind of modern, jet-setting lifestyle that many people have become used to. Air travel is more popular than ever, and is projected to almost double from 3.7 billion global air passengers in 2016 to 7.2 billion in 2035. But it is also killing the environment: Aviation accounts for around 2% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.  So instead of having yet another hypothetical discussion about how we all ought to fly less, I…