Author: DW

After artists from Iceland and Finland opposed Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in mid-January, voices from this year’s host country have also spoken out. More than 1,000 Swedish artists have signed an open letter against Israel’s participation in the music competition, including famed international acts like Fever Ray and Robyn, and contest veterans such as opera star Malena Ernman — who performed in the song competition in 2009 and is the mother of climate activist Greta Thunberg.   The letter alleged that the Israeli army had committed “gross war crimes,” noting that more than 25,000 Palestinians, including more than 10,000 children,…

Organizers of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics have come under pressure from a South Korean parents association following reports they had provided condoms to the participants, who are aged between 13 and 18. Over 1,800 young athletes are taking part in the Games. In a statement issued on January 23, six days after the official opening ceremony in the South Korean province of Gangwon, the National Federation of Parents’ Organizations demanded that no more condoms should be handed out and that the organizing committee issue an official apology. A failure to do so, it added, would mean that the Youth Olympics should…

On Sunday, an attack drone killed three US soldiers and injured some 30 others near the border between Syria and Jordan. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he decided on a response, though he did not specify exactly what course of action he would take.  According to the Pentagon, over the past four months, Iranian-backed militants have mounted over 150 attacks on bases occupied by US forces in Iraq and Syria. This has given rise to serious concerns over escalating tensions in the Middle East, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning of “further spillover” of the war in Gaza into the wider region. At the same…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told his Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar, he was confident Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government would be restored soon.The two leaders spoke on the phone after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) reached a deal with the UK government to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland after an almost two-year power vacuum. “The prime minister said he was confident that the steps taken paved the way for the restoration of power-sharing in the Northern Ireland executive,” Sunak’s spokeswoman told reporters in a readout of the call. “Both leaders agreed it was in the people of Northern Ireland’s interest to have a stable, devolved…

The first thing you see are the twinkles of blue flashing lights, reflected over the distant brow of a hill.A minute later, the flash of headlights and then the sound of horns. And finally it all comes into view. In front of us, a column of tractors is driving down the A4 motorway, one of the main roads that links Paris with the rest of France.The rush hour has barely finished, but the tractors are the only moving vehicles I can see other than a couple of police cars driving alongside.The motorway is blocked; only these tractors are moving. Behind…

Neuralink has implanted its first “brain-computer interface” (BCI) chip inside a human brain, according to the company’s co-founder Elon Musk. On January 29, Musk wrote on his social media platform, X, that results were “promising.” It’s been eight years in the making: Since it was founded in 2016, the company has been developing a computer chip designed to be implanted into the brain, where it monitors the activity of thousands of neurons.  The chip — called Telepathy — consists of a tiny probe, containing 1,024 electrodes, attached to flexible threads thinner than a human hair. Each electrode records the electrical activity of neurons in the brain,…

Ever since last week’s surprise announcement that Jürgen Klopp would be stepping down as Liverpool head coach at the end of the season, speculation as to his possible successor has sent football’s rumor mill into overdrive. And nowhere more so than in football-mad Thailand, where police have warned fans not to fall for online scammers impersonating Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has told supporters to watch out for a viral message which purports to show Alonso confirming via his Instagram account that he will be taking over from Klopp as Liverpool coach but asking for…

Skip next section Russia destroys 21 Ukrainian drones: reports01/30/2024January 30, 2024Russia destroys 21 Ukrainian drones: reportsRussian air defence systems destroyed or intercepted 21 Ukraine-launched drones over the Crimean Peninsula and other regions, Russian news agencies said citing the Defense Ministry. Eleven of the drones were destroyed over Crimea, RIA state news agency reported. Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol in Crimea, said on the Telegram messaging app that there was no damage in the port city. Reports said drones were also destroyed over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga and Tula regions. Kaluga Regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram debris fell on the roof of a non-residential building,…

Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2023, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Tuesday, confirming their previous estimates. Facing high inflation, high interest rates, a low demand for German exports and a series of strikes, Europe’s largest economy saw its GDP also fall 0.3% for the entire year of 2023, according to the preliminary government data. Germany is also expected to face a rough 2024, with economists predicting further shrinking in the first quarter of this year. “The German economy has not grown for almost two years and there is no turnaround…

What was the Woermann Company?  The C. Woermann shipping and trading firm — from Hamburg — first set up shop in Douala, Cameroon, in 1868. It traded along the West African coast. Adolph Woermann took over the family business of his father, Carl Woermann, in 1874. The ambitious younger Woermann believed Africa was a market in which to sell cheaply-made German products, like alcohol, and a source for cheap labor to produce valuable raw materials for German factories. An idyllic depiction of colonial-era Woermann Company factory in Douala, Cameroon. But for most Cameroonians, the exploitative practices of German colonialists caused much…