Author: DW

Funnily enough, there is no definitive origin story for April Fool’s Day. The oft-repeated legend is that this day, when people hoax or prank others for fun, dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. Up until Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar in 1582, Europe had followed the Julian calendar, first instituted by Roman emperor Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., in which the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1. Those who didn’t get that memo — or pigeon…

Queues of sky blue shirts snake from the tram stops to the turnstiles as Manchester City fans make their way in to the Etihad Stadium for one of the season’s biggest games – the Manchester derby against United. This crowd, of 40,086, is increasingly becoming normal for women’s matches across England. Less than a decade ago, the present situation was close to unthinkable. The league was not professional until 2018 and United, arguably the biggest men’s club in England, didn’t even have a women’s team until that same year. Now, the WSL is held up as an example to follow: Arsenal average crowds of…

At the last European election in 2019, the liberal Renew Europe group turned out to be the kingmaker — or rather, the queenmaker. Together with the center-left Social Democrats and the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), they elevated Ursula von der Leyen to the post of European Commission President. When they kicked off their election campaign in Brussels in mid-March this year, Renew was still riding high. “We managed to place our group, our family at the center of the game,” said Valerie Hayer, member of the French Renaissance party and chair of Renew in the EU Parliament. Never before have…

Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou arrived China on Monday for an 11-day trip he called a “journey of peace,” as he aims to cool cross-strait tensions. Ma, who was president from 2008 to 2016,  is now a senior member of Taiwan’s main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT). The party, which strongly denies being pro-Beijing, advocates close ties with China. During Ma’s presidency, cross-strait ties improved, and the former president met Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Singapore summit in 2015. Will Ma and Xi meet again? Chinese officials did not comment on Taiwanese media reports suggesting Ma might meet Xi. Hsiao Hsu-tsen,…

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in anti-government protests in Israel while the country’s prime minister underwent “successful” surgery for a hernia.Protesters in Jerusalem were urging the government to reach a ceasefire deal to free the dozens of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. They also called on the government to hold an early election, which is not due to happen until the spring of 2026.Middle East latest: Follow live updatesDespite Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to destroy Hamas and bring all hostages home, many of their families believe time is running out. “We believe that no hostages will come…

“I was 23 when I moved from my parents’ house to Chemnitz. And then real life began,” reads a comic panel. The illustration shows a young man with his arms thrown out joyfully in front of a disco ball in the former East German town. “Chemnitz sounds incredibly boring to most people. It has a bad reputation,” reads the text in the next frame. “For me as a young gay guy who found a small community, gay clubs and so on, it was the best place in the world.” The comic is illustrated in black, white and yellow by comic…

For the first time in 15 years Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund met in ‘Der Klassiker’ without the Bundesliga title on the line, but Germany’s most-anticipated clash still drew the attention of an international crowd. Munich-born Karim Adeymi silenced a 75,000-strong crowd at the Allianz Arena, which included Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan, as the visitors earned their first league win in Bavaria in 3,641 days and at the 10th time of asking. The jubilant celebrations from the Dortmund players at full time following their 2-0 win in front of their 5,000 travelling fans showed the meaning of the victory and the…

Police in the Netherlands’ capital Amsterdam said on Sunday that they had cleared the area around the central Rokin metro station and that explosives experts were on the scene investigating. Amsterdam police wrote about the operation in a post on social media network X. “Due to a suspicious situation, Rokin metro station has just been evacuated and the area around the station cordoned off. TEV is investigating on site,” the police wrote, referring to the explosives team. Rokin metro station is in the very center of the city, close to the Dam square and the main shopping street. Large area cordoned off…

Partial results have Turkey’s opposition candidate and incumbent mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, leading in local elections according to local media. Broadcaster NTV on Sunday said that the country’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had nearly 51% with around 92% of ballots counted in the country’s largest city. Opposition upbeat after early partial results “We are in first position with a lead of more than a million votes … We have won the election,” Imamoglu told reporters at the CHP’s Istanbul headquarters. Murat Kurum, the candidate of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s  Justice and Development Party (AKP), which rules nationally, had around 40%.…

The remains of a two-year-old boy, who went missing in the French Alps in July, have been found near where he disappeared, according to local media reports.Bones, including a skull, were discovered by a walker near Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday.Forensic tests showed they belonged to the boy, known only as Emile, French broadcaster BFMTV said, quoting prosecutors. Image: Pic: Gendarmerie Nationale Some reports named him as Émile Soleil.Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said: “On Saturday, the police were told of the discovery of bones near the hamlet of Le Vernet.”After testing them, police concluded on Sunday that “they were…