Author: DW

The “Havana Syndrome” experienced by US diplomats may have been related to a Russian intelligence unit, according to a media investigation released on Monday. The syndrome was first reported in 2016 when US diplomats in Havana reported falling ill and hearing piercing sounds at night. Other symptoms have included bloody noses, headaches, memory lapses, dizziness and vision problems. What did the report on the ‘Havana Syndrome’ say? Diplomats may have been targeted by sonic weaponry, according to a joint report by the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the Latvia-based independent Russian news portal The Insider and the US broadcaster CBS. They…

A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been killed in an airstrike on the country’s consulate in Syria, according to Iranian state TV.Mohammad Reza Zahedi was reportedly killed in the explosion, which destroyed the Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Image: Emergency services work at a destroyed building hit by an air strike in Damascus, Syria. Pic: AP Tehran’s ambassador to Damascus, Hossein Akbari, claimed between five and seven people had been killed in the strike.Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad also told media after meeting Iran’s ambassador that “several” people were killed, without offering further…

German athletic apparel giant Adidas said Monday that it would stop the online sales of the number 44 German national team jersey due to its likeliness to a Nazi symbol forbidden in Germany.  The font design for the 44 jersey, as social media users have noticed, bears a resemblance to the “lightning bolts” insignia of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS).  The SS was a paramilitary organization that assisted Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. The SS helped carry out the deliberate murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust. The public display and dissemination of the SS symbol is banned in Germany and can be…

A car bomb has killed a Moscow-installed official in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, local authorities said on Monday. The local branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee said the deputy head of a state-run education agency was killed when “an unidentified device detonated in a car.” Municipal head Vladimir Chernev named the victim as Valery Chaika. “Our comrade is dead,” Chernev said in a Telegram post. Russia claimed to have annexed the Luhansk region in September 2022, alongside neighboring Donetsk and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in southern Ukraine. What else did Russian authorities say about the attack? The Investigative Committee posted…

An appeals court in Pakistan suspended a graft conviction for former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife on Monday, his spokesperson said. The ruling throws out a 14-year sentence, but the couple won’t be released as they are already serving prison terms for other cases. The 71-year-old former prime minister now has more than 170 criminal cases hanging over him, which include treason and illegal marriage. What was the case about? Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were charged with illegally selling gifts during his time as prime minister that should have landed in a state treasury known locally…

Japan’s imperial family has made its Instagram debut, in an effort to shake off their reclusive image and reach out to younger people on social media.The Imperial Household Agency, a government agency in charge of the family’s affairs, posted 60 photos and five videos showing Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako’s public appearances over the past three months. The first photo published was of the imperial couple sitting on a sofa with their 22-year-old daughter Princess Aiko, all smiling as they marked New Year’s Day. Image: The first image posted on the family’s Instagram, which was taken to mark the new…

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,…