Author: DW

The buzzing came out of nowhere, said Mohammad Zakaria Junaidi. “I was about to get lunch for my wife and kids when an armed drone started chasing my motorbike,” Junaidi, a farmer in Syria’s northwest, told DW. “I thought that me and my two sons — who were with me on the motorbike — were about to die,” the 33-year-old father said as he recalled the situation from late February. “There is no place to hide on the street that connects the village and the fields,” he told DW. However, in an attempt to escape, he sped up the motorbike and entered a dirt…

Germany’s benchmark blue-chip stock index, the DAX, crossed the 18,000-point mark for the first time during trading on Wednesday morning shortly after opening. The DAX, which is made up of 40 large publicly traded German corporations, has been on a strong run recently despite struggles for the overall  German economy. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3%  in the last quarter of 2023. However, in January this year, Europe’s biggest economy recorded a jump with German companies hitting a 6.3% increase in the value of goods exported.What’s wrong with Germany’s economy?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading…

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made his first public appearance on Thursday since his early release from jail. He visited a Bangkok shrine in the morning before flying to the city of Chiang Mai in the north, his birthplace. The controversial billionaire was accompanied by his daughter Paetongtarn, the leader of the governing Pheu Thai party. He was only recently freed early from jail  after being convicted of graft and abuse of power. A divisive political figure Thaksin, a two-time prime minister and a divisive political figure was ousted in a 2006 coup. The 74-year-old politician spent 15 years in self-exile…

Russians are set to head to the polls for their country’s presidential election – with only one expected outcome.With Alexei Navalny dead in unexplained circumstances and opposition candidate Boris Nadezhdin barred from running, there is nobody remaining to pose a serious obstacle to another six years of rule by Vladimir Putin. Nonetheless, the election will be closely watched by those looking for insight into Russia’s political machinations, as well as opinions across wider Russian society.So what should we expect from polling day in Russia, and what does it mean for the war in Ukraine?Sky News takes a look at some…

UNESCO announced on Wednesday that it has added six new entries in Germany to the intangible cultural heritage list, including Berlin techno.  The German capital has become world famous for its vibrant techno scene. However, the Berlin clubs are still suffering from the aftermaths of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Lutz Leichsenring, a member of the executive board of “Clubcommission” in Berlin, a network of clubs and cultural promoters, told DW that the designation was “another milestone for Berlin techno producers, artists, club operators and event organizers.” Clubcommission also supports the preservation and development of Berlin’s club culture. “The decision will help us ensure that club culture is recognized as…

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders said Wednesday he would not be the Netherlands’ next prime minister. Wilders’ Party for Freedom won the most votes in national elections last year, but he failed to persuade potential coalition support to get the top job.  “I can only become Prime Minister if all parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case,” Wilders wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Right-wing coalition on the cards Wilders, known for his radical anti-immigration, Islamophobic politics and staunch Euroskepticism, was in talks with the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, populist Farmer Citizen Movement, and centrist New Social…

For the second time in four years, the popular Chinese shortform video app TikTok is in the crosshairs of lawmakers in the United States.  Ahead of the 2020 US presidential election, Donald Trump signed an executive order forcing owner ByteDance to sell the app within 90 days, but it failed after legal challenges. Lawmakers are once again seeking to force the sale of TikTok, threatening a nationwide ban of the app otherwise. On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted 352-65 to force ByteDance to divest of the app within six months or see it barred from the Apple and Google app stores in the…

Strikes by security personnel at several regional airports are set to cause flight cancellations and disruptions in Germany on Thursday and Friday. Trade union Verdi announced that further labor action was planned for Friday, a day after it said personnel would strike at five airports on Thursday. What airports are affected? Trade union Verdi said that security staff would strike all day Thursday at Hamburg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Cologne and Berlin airports. Additional strikes on Friday will hit Hanover, Dortmund, Weeze, Dresden, Leipzig and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airports.  At Munich Airport, staff in personnel and goods control as well as cargo control are also set to…

Director Roman Polanski is facing a civil trial in the US after being sued by a woman who has accused him of raping her at his home when she was under 18 in 1973.The claim was aired in a news conference led by well-known US lawyer Gloria Allred. The claimant also appeared but did not give her name and was introduced as Jane Doe. “It took me a really long time to decide to file this suit against Mr Polanski, but I finally did make that decision,” she said. “I want to file it to obtain justice and accountability.”Polanski, now…

European Union lawmakers on Wednesday gave their final approval to landmark legislation to govern artificial intelligence. The Artificial Intelligence Act was passed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg with 523 votes in favor and 46 against. The new law aims to protect citizens in the bloc’s 27 member states from the possible risks associated with the fast-changing technology, as well as allow innovation to thrive. “Our ground-breaking AI law will allow us to be world leaders in digital and tech innovation based on EU democratic values, because Europe has the ability to set the tone worldwide and lead responsibly,” European Parliament…