Author: DW

The path to a ceasefire in Gaza is “straightforward and there’s a deal on the table”, a senior US official has said, as mediators return to Egypt hoping to reach an agreement before Ramadan begins in a week.The unidentified official was speaking to Reuters news agency ahead of the talks in Cairo, billed as the final hurdle to a six-week ceasefire. The US said a deal has already been “more or less accepted” by Israel and is waiting for approval by Hamas militants.”The path to a ceasefire right now literally at this hour is straightforward, and there’s a deal on…

In Germany, turning 16 comes with a lot of new privileges, such as the right to buy beer, to drive a scooter, or to buy a phone. But until now, young Germans were not allowed to vote, except at a few communal or state elections. That’s about to change this year. In the upcoming European Parliament election in June, following lengthy debates on lowering the federal voting age for EU elections, 16- and 17-year-olds will be allowed to cast their ballots for the first time. Young citizens of Belgium, Austria, Greece and Malta will also be eligible to vote this year.…

Malaysia’s transport minister, Anthony Loke, said Sunday he was trying to arrange a new search for the lost Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. “The government is steadfast in our resolve to locate MH370,” Loke told a remembrance event to mark the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of the jet.  “We really hope the search can find the plane and provide truth to the next-of-kin.” The Boeing 777 aircraft was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, carrying 239 people, when it vanished from radar on March 8, 2014. Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found.Relatives of…

A female police officer has been honoured for protecting a woman from a mob accusing her of blasphemy in Pakistan.The woman was in a Lahore restaurant when people outside took offence to the Arabic script on her dress.The word printed on the dress was “halwa”, which means “beautiful” in Arabic, but the crowd mistook it for verses from the Koran, the Muslim holy book.Video footage shows them shouting for her to take the garment off, with some chanting that those guilty of blasphemy should be beheaded. Image: The woman was wearing a dress with Arabic writing on it. Pic: Punjab…

Pakistan’s newly formed government on Sunday elected its new prime minister following general elections on February 8. Shehbaz Sharif, head of Pakistan’s Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, was voted in for a second time. Pakistan lawmakers elect Shehbaz Sharif as prime ministerTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video”Shehbaz Sharif is declared prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” National Assembly Speaker, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said in the chamber after the vote. Sharif secured 201 votes in the 336-member National Assembly and returns to…

German opposition politicians on Sunday called for a parliamentary inquest following Russia’s interception and release of a sensitive discussion among high-ranking Bundeswehr military officers concerning Ukraine. Parliament’s special commissioner to the military, Eva Högl from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, meanwhile called for improved training on secure communication for senior military officers. “Firstly, all those responsible at every level of the Bundeswehr must immediately receive comprehensive training on secure communications,” Högl told the Funke group of newspapers on Sunday. “Secondly, the stable possibility for secure and secret information and communication transfer must be ensured.”  If this were not already possible,…

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a Jewish man in the Swiss city of Zurich.Police suspect antisemitism as a motive for the attack on Saturday night, which comes amid a rise in similar incidents across Europe.The Swiss Organisation Of Jewish Communities said the 50-year-old victim is in hospital with serious injuries.”Physical attacks on Jewish people in Switzerland are very rare,” the group said.”The Jewish community has been spared from such life-threatening attacks for the past two decades.”However, there has been a significant increase in such physical attacks since 7 October.”The war between Israel and Hamas began…

The planned launch of a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday has been postponed by a day due to poor weather, US space agency NASA said. Originally scheduled for February 22, the launch has now been postponed for a second time. SpaceX said on social media that “elevated winds” forced Saturday’s delay. NASA said it was now targeting Sunday at 10:53 p.m. (0353 Monday GMT/UTC) for liftoff. Crew-8 — which includes three American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut — was set to launch towards the ISS from Florida’s Cape Canaveral space center. Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX began operating astronaut…

All around the world, more and more people are taking dietary supplements that promise better skin and hair, a strengthened immune system, or improved performance. Magnesium, vitamin C, and others are part of a market worth billions of euros. Angela Clausen from the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia has been dealing with this topic for years. “The problem is that a great many people see dietary supplements as a kind of natural medication, so they use them accordingly: for therapy, and to relieve or heal diseases,” she says. “But dietary supplements are only really intended to supplement essential components…

Police in Haiti issued a call for help on Saturday night as they struggled to hold back armed groups closing in on the country’s largest prison amid what one gang leader called a bid to oust the country’s government. Two of Haiti’s main police unions have appealed for assistance to stop prisoners — many of them high-profile criminals — from escaping the National Penitentiary in the capital Port-Au-Prince. “They need help,” one of the union’s representing Haitian police said in a message published on social media with an “SOS” emoji repeated eight times. “Let’s mobilize the army and the police…