Author: DW

International rail operator Eurostar canceled on Saturday 41 trains scheduled for Saturday due to tunnel flooding in England. “Flooding in the tunnels between St Pancras international and Ebbsfleet has not improved and train services are unable to operate”, Eurostar said in a statement, adding: “This is a total of 41 trains.” It added that Network Rail, Britain’s grid operator, was keeping it updated regarding how the situation is evolving ahead of Sunday. Thousands of passengers were stranded ahead of New Year’s Eve, struggling to reach their destinations within Europe. Canceled trains were to operate between major European cities including London, Paris,…

A man has been charged with murder after an altercation in a Dublin restaurant on Christmas Eve.Michael Andrecut, 22, from Corduff, west Dublin, appeared before a special sitting of the Criminal Courts of Justice on Saturday morning. Tristan Sherry, 26, was killed after an assault and a man in his 40s suffered gunshot wounds during an altercation at Browne’s Steakhouse in Blanchardstown at around 8pm on 24 December. Image: A forensic investigator at the scene in Blanchardstown, Dublin on Christmas Day Detective Sergeant Mark Murphy told the court Andrecut made no reply to the charge. Andrecut, who appeared in court…

“‘Pint’ size wine stocked on Britain’s shelves for the first time ever thanks to new freedoms from leaving the European Union,” Britain’s Department of Business and Trade exclaimed in a Wednesday press release. In the UK, an imperial pint measures 568 milliliters. In less enthusiastic tones, government officials also announced that a mooted, much broader revival of imperial weights and measurements was being axed — after more than 98% of the public told a government consultation that they did not want it. New “pint”-sized bottles were made possible by the UK’s vote for Brexit in 2016, and subsequent legislation passed this year which…

Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue was illuminated with Pele’s bright yellow football shirt to mark the anniversary of his death.The Brazilian “king of football”, who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died aged 82 on 29 December 2022. On Friday night, the 98-foot (30 metre) statue, which towers above the city, was lit up with an image of the yellow and green national jersey.The shirt projected onto the Christ figure, with its arms wide open, included Pele’s number 10 and the legend’s signature. Image:…

Knighted in 2002 for his contribution and service to the British film industry, Sir Ben Kingsley has played diverse roles in a career reaching 60 years, including a Jewish accountant in World War II-era Poland in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” (1993), a gangster with a sociopathic streak in “Sexy Beast” (2000) and an Iranian immigrant harassed by the former owner of his new home in “House of Sand and Fog” (2003). He also voiced the computer-animated black panther, Bagheera, for Disney’s 2016 live-action remake of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.” His impressive portfolio includes portrayals of famous or infamous figures, such as the Biblical character…

Hundreds of protesters — mostly students — gathered to block a major intersection in the Serbian capital ahead of a partial vote rerun on Saturday.The action was the first day-long protest since parliamentary and local elections on December 7, which President Aleksandar Vucic’s party claimed it had easily secured.  What is the opposition claiming? Opposition parties, such as the coalition Serbia Against Violence, allege that ethnic-Serbian voters from neighboring Bosnia had been allowed to vote illegally in Belgrade. They say the supporters of incumbent populist President Aleksandar Vucic took part in local elections by registering at bogus addresses in the capital,…

International rail operator Eurostar canceled on Saturday at least 14 trains that were due to arrive in or depart from London due to flooding in tunnels in southern England. Thousands of passengers were stranded ahead of New Year’s Eve, struggling to reach their destinations within Europe. Canceled trains were to operate between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Floods inundated the tunnels near Ebbsfleet International station in Kent, with the Met Office issuing weather warnings for rain, snow and ice across large swathes of the country. What do we know about the train disruptions? Eurostar, which is 55.75% owned by French state-owned…

Police in the US are searching for a 35-year-old woman accused of killing two of her children before disappearing.Officers in the state of Colorado have issued an arrest warrant for Kimberlee Singler, who is wanted on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, child abuse and assault. Police responded to a 911 call about a burglary in 5300 block of Palomino Ranch Point on 19 December.A nine-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy were found dead at the scene, according to police.Singler and her 11-year-old daughter were taken to hospital. Investigations determined the initial report of a burglary was “unfounded”, police said.The warrant…

Turkish police arrested on Saturday 189 people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State militant group in wide raids across 37 cities and provinces. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya made the announcement in a social media post on Saturday. He stressed that Turkish police do not “tolerate any terrorists.” A day earlier, Turkey said it thwarted Islamic State plans to attack churches and synagogues.  What do we know about the arrests? Raided cities included the capital, Ankara, as well as Istanbul, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Izmir and Konya.  Yerlikaya shared images of alleged IS members being handcuffed in their apartments during…

I get up at 5:30 a.m., answering my son’s lively questions after a round of exercise, before he goes to school and I head to work. For three weeks, this routine has been easier for me than ever before. Coincidentally, these were the three weeks in which I completely abstained from alcohol. Neither I nor Helmut Karl Seitz, director of the Center for Alcohol Research in Heidelberg, think this is a coincidence. A professor of internal medicine and gastroenterology, Seitz is certain that a lot has changed in my body during these three weeks. My son is an early riser, but…