Author: DW

In case of an extended armed conflict between Israel and Iran, Israel would have to reckon with factors that are difficult to assess. The most pressing aspect is whether Iran’s non-state allies would take part in such a conflict. Iran’s most important ally in the Middle East is the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Furthermore, the Houthi militia in Yemen and a number of Shiite militias in Iraq could also become involved or be recruited by Iran as military supporters. “Israel has been long preparing for the risk of such a multi-front war,” Arye Sharuz Shalicar, a spokesperson for the Israeli army, told DW. The…

The deaths of 48 people in the worst fire in the history of Ireland have been ruled by a jury as unlawful killing.A jury at Dublin District Coroner’s Court delivered majority verdicts on the victims of the 1981 Stardust nightclub fire in the city on Thursday. The venue in Artane, north Dublin, was packed with around 800 people when the fire broke out in the early hours of Valentine’s Day. Image: The Stardust fire took place in Dublin in the early hours of 14 February 1981. Pic: PA More than 200 people were injured in the disaster.Fresh inquests into the…

Some 800 years ago, mystery gripped a Chinese village when a body was discovered with multiple stab wounds. Upon inspection, local detective Song Ci determined the wounds had been wrought by a sickle. To locate the culprit, he gathered the villagers together on a hot afternoon and told them to lay down their sickles for inspection. Blowflies started swarming around. They eventually settled on a single sickle. Attracted by trace amounts of the victim’s blood, the flies had identified the offender, who was led away pleading for mercy. Case closed. This is the first known case of a detective identifying…

Despite all the talk of the English Premier League’s seemingly bottomless riches and the Bundesliga struggling to compete financially, two German sides are in the men’s Champions League semifinals and England’s finest are instead licking their wounds. “I don’t think anyone thought we’d progress against Arsenal,” admitted Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer after their quarter-final triumph. Bayern will face Real Madrid on April 30 and May 8 while Borussia Dortmund take on Paris Saint-Germain on May 1 and May 7 for a place in the Wembley final on June 1, where UEFA bosses probably expected an English side to help supplement the…

The European Union’s reputation appears to have taken a hit in Southeast Asia, according to a region-wide survey of “elites” conducted by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. The researchers gathered the data by questioning some 2,000 representatives of academia, business, government and civil society in January and February this year. The respondents come from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Brunei. The results show that there is now less trust in the EU to uphold free trade or the rules-based order compared with last year. Less than 14% of the respondents see the EU as the leading…

Sports beyond the disability Have you ever heard of wheelchair basketball, amputee football or heard of a differently abled breakdancer? These sports have their own rules and competitions, and for the people who play them, they’re given a chance to prove what they’re really made of.  A person in a wheelchair playing basket ballImage: DW   Martial arts and boxing in Africa Boxing and martial arts have a rich history in Africa – from traditional boxing and wrestling to Muhammad Ali’s famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ match against George Foreman in Kinshasa – even Mandela was a boxer. Here’s a…

A bishop who was stabbed during a church service in Australia has said he forgives his alleged attacker.Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel said in a video message on Facebook he is “recovering quickly” and urged the community to remain calm and not retaliate. He was attacked on Monday at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney.A 16-year-old boy has been arrested over the incident in which at least four people, including another cleric, the Reverend Isaac Royel, were injured, and police are treating as a terror incident. Image: The bishop was attacked at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd…

It’s been an historic week for German football on the pitch as Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time and both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich progressed to the semifinals of the Champions League. But it’s also a big week off the pitch as the German Football League (DFL), which operates the Bundesliga, opens the bidding for the sale of its domestic broadcast rights for the seasons 2025/26 to 2028/29. The billion-euro negotiations take place every four years and are a vital process since they concern German football clubs’ most important revenue stream. However, the DFL confirmed on…

Judges in Strasbourg on Thursday ruled in favor of Lithuanian authorities’ ban on singer Philipp Kirkorov entering the country because he was considered a threat to national security. The court agreed with the Lithuanian assessment of Kirkorov, who has previously referred to himself as Vladimir Putin’s “representative on stage.” Why was Kirkorov barred from entry? In January 2021, Lithuanian migration authorities, at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, banned Mr Kirkorov from entering Lithuania for five years The authorities noted that Kirkorov was a tool of “soft power” for Russia’s propaganda in states of the former Soviet Union. They…

Former US President Donald Trump met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday in New York, discussing NATO defense spending and other global issues, according to Trump’s campaign. Trump: ‘We’re behind Poland all the way’   In town for his court appearances in a criminal trial, Trump hosted Duda at his Trump Tower property in Manhattan. Trump praised the Polish president, saying, “He’s done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.” “We’re behind Poland all the way,” Trump added. Duda called the two-and-a-half hour meeting friendly and “in very nice atmosphere,” emphasizing the strength of US-Poland relations. The European conservative, an…