Author: DW

A British man aiming to run the length of Africa has been given the green light to enter Algeria – after visa issues left his gruelling challenge “hanging in the balance”.Russ Cook, from Worthing in West Sussex, has been running the length of the continent for 283 days, covering more than 7,600 miles (12,200km) and raising more than £150,000 for The Running Charity – which supports young people who are homeless. The 26-year-old says he will become the first person to ever run the full of length of Africa if he completes the challenge.He began his journey at South Africa’s…

The more likely it seems that Donald Trump will be the Republican Party’s nominee for the US presidency, the louder the voices become that warn Europe to prepare itself for a second Trump term in the White House. In an interview with French public broadcaster France 2, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, described the possible election of Donald Trump as a “clear threat” to Europe. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told the European Parliament in mid-January that “if 2024 brings us ‘America First’ again, it is really more than ever ‘Europe on its own.'” In a paper…

The retail group which owns the iconic Berlin department store KaDeWe and two other large luxury German shopping malls has declared bankruptcy, the corporation announced in Berlin on Monday. KaDeWe Group, part of the troubled Signa real estate empire, is 49.9% owned by Signa Retail, an Austrian-based property empire which itself filed for insolvency last year. The other 50.1% is held by the Central Group of Thailand. KaDeWe Group said “exorbitantly high rents” in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich “make it almost impossible to operate profitably in the long term.” Since the start of the pandemic rent has risen 37%, it said. “There is no…

The US will respond “in a manner of our choosing” after three American troops were killed and at least 34 injured in a drone strike in Jordan, its National Security Council spokesman has said.John Kirby would not reveal what options are being discussed in the White House, but promised a response to Saturday night’s attack near the Syrian border. Speaking on NBC’s Today programme, he said: “I’m not going to get ahead of the president’s decision space here or talk about what the options might be.”He said we’ll respond. We absolutely will do it at a time or in a…

The Court of Administration for Sport (CAS) announced on Monday that it had banned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for a period of four years – with the time frame beginning a few weeks before the opening of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. “Kamila Valieva is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation and sanctioned with a four-year period of ineligibility commencing on 25 December 2021,” a statement issued by the Lausanne-based court said. Valieva’s lawyers had argued that her positive test had been caused by contamination by traces of a heart medication they said her grandfather used. “Having…

Meghana AT, a theater artist from Mumbai, is the creator of an interactive show “Plan B/C/D/E.” Throughout the performance, she talks about her climate anxiety and tries to come up with solutions to deal with the threat of climate change together with her audience. “I love asking people in the audience when was the first time they heard about climate change,” the 28-year-old told DW. “While older people say they heard about it in their 40s or 50s, many younger people like me have grown up hearing about it, to the extent that we don’t remember a life where we…

Local public transport workers in all German federal states, except Bavaria, will go on strike this Friday, trade union Verdi announced on Monday. According to the union, more than 90,000 workers at over 132 local companies operating buses, trams and underground services are expected to join the walkout. Long-distance and regional trains operated by Deutsche Bahn, which went on strike last week, will not be affected. What are Verdi’s demands? Verdi has argued that the workload for employees and the shortage of staff in public transport have been increasing and that work pressure is growing. The trade union launched the bargaining…

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed one person during Sunday Mass at a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul.The extremist group said in a statement on Sunday night that it “attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony” inside the Santa Maria Church in the Buyukdere neighbourhood of Turkey’s largest city. Image: The Italian Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul. Pic: Reuters Two men, one from Russia and one from Tajikistan who are believed to be members of Islamic State, have been arrested, Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said last night.The statement claiming…

Amazon has called off its proposed acquisition of iRobot, the manufacturer of the automatic Roomba vacuum cleaner, blaming “undue and disproportionate regulatory hurdles” imposed by the European Union (EU). “We’re disappointed that Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot could not proceed,” said Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky. “We’re believers in the future of consumer robotics in the home and have always been fans of iRobot’s products.” Why did the deal fall through? The deal has faced antitrust scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic ever since the ecommerce giant announced that in 2022 that it was about to buy Massachusetts-based iRobot for…

Troubled property developer China Evergrande said Monday it would continue to operate despite a court in Hong Kong  ordering the firm to be liquidated as part of legal action by some of its foreign creditors. The legal proceedings were brought by Samoa-registered Top Shine, an investor in one of Evergrande’s subsidiaries, among others. High Court judge Linda Chan cited the “obvious lack of progress” in the company presenting a “viable restructuring proposal,” adding that the winding up order was “appropriate.” A crackdown three years ago by China on two decades of real estate speculation caused a deepening property crisis and left Evergrande owing $300…