Author: DW

Ernest Hemingway has famously been credited with saying: “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but 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’s 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…

04/08/2024April 8, 2024Zelenskyy says stalled US aid could mean defeat for UkraineUkraine’s allies must step up support and provide proper air defenses, as Kyiv fends off Russian forces in several flashpoints, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. In his nightly address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said the world must “finally hear” the pain inflicted on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which has been subject to a recent wave of attacks and bombings. “It is quite obvious that our existing air defense capabilities in Ukraine are not sufficient and it is obvious to our partners,” Zelenskyy said. Earlier on Sunday, the president warned during…

Ecuador’s detained former Vice President Jorge Glas was hospitalized on Monday, barely three days after his arrest during a highly controversial raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, where he was seeking refuge. Glas fell ill at a prison in Guayaquil, prison authorities said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. The former vice president’s arrest from the Mexican embassy has caused a spat between Mexico and Ecuador and invited an outpouring of condemnation from the latter. Indeed, Quito is accused of violating the 1961 Vienna Convention governing international relations.Ecuador draws outrage after raid on Mexico’s Quito embassyTo view this video please enable…

The Indianapolis Speedway is home to the Indy 500, the biggest single-day sporting event in the world. Emotion in the stands here is not unusual, but the noise that came from the bleachers at 3.06pm was something completely different. The nearly 50,000 spectators knew roughly what to expect, aware that at the period of totality the moon would completely obscure the sun, plunging the arena into darkness.But first-time eclipse watchers were overcome by the feeling.Many of them began to cry as the sky suddenly darkened, turning afternoon into night-time in a matter of minutes. Please use Chrome browser for a…

Around midday on April 8, 2024, the sky over parts of North America will suddenly go dark for a few minutes. The reason is a total solar eclipse that will begin over the continent from near Mazaltan, Mexico and go beyond Montreal, Canada, passing through nearly a dozen states in the US. The path along which the total solar eclipse can be seen is approximately 115 miles (about 185 kilometers) wide, according to NASA. For the millions of people in the path of the eclipse, sunshine will be blocked momentarily, causing a momentary dark dusk-like state during the prime of the…

The trial of 27 people connected with thePanama Papers tax evasion scandal began in a Panamanian criminal court on Monday, some eight years after the revelations first emerged. Among the defendants are German-born Jürgen Mossack, and Ramon Fonseca, the co-founders of a Panama-based law firm that was at the center of the document leak in 2016.  Mossack, Fonseca and other former employees of the law firm are facing money laundering charges based on allegations the law firm set up shell companies in tax havens.  Fonseca has previously said the firm, which closed in 2018, had no control over how its clients might use…

“Sexual harassment leaves a mark” — large white placards with this slogan were placed in three German cities behind three bronze statues of nude women with breasts that have become visibly lighter from frequent touching. The action is part of a campaign called “unsilence the violence,” launched by the German women’s rights organization Terre des Femmes. According to the group, two out of three women experience sexual harassment at some point in their lives. “Sexual harassment is a problem that is far too often trivialized or ignored,” Sina Tonk of Terre des Femmes said in a press release. “We must work together to ensure that the…

Billie Eilish has said she is “nervous and excited” as she announced her third album will be released next month.The US singer-songwriter said Hit Me Hard And Soft will be out on 17 May and appeared to suggest new tracks will not be released before the record. The previous album by Eilish, who collaborates with her brother Finneas O’Connell, was 2021’s Happier Than Ever.She wrote on Instagram: “So crazy to be writing this right now I’m nervy & excited not doing singles I wanna give it to you all at once.”Finneas and I truly could not be more proud of…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz became the latest head of state to join TikTok on Monday. A video uploaded to his account offers a glimpse of his office with glass windows. The camera then pans to show the chancellor sitting at his desk. Scholz also broke the news on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “I won’t dance. Promise.” The spokesperson for the chancellor, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a statement that the TikTok channel would seek to offer more information to citizens who are “increasingly using TikTok to find out about and discuss politics.” The account will also offer a “look behind the scenes of everyday government life,”…

Discussions about transgender rights and sports have been ongoing among athletes and sports federations for years. In a recent development, an upcoming World Aquatics Swimming World Cup event in Berlin will introduce a new, open category specifically for transgender athletes. The move comes after transgender swimmer Lia Thomas made a splash in the sport when she won the US collegiate 500-yard freestyle title in 2022. She aims to make it to the 2024 Paris Olympics. “I’m a woman, just like anybody else on the team,” she told Sports Illustrated, an American sports magazine. “I don’t know exactly what the future of my swimming…