Author: DW

I was often sad or gloomy as a kid growing up in northern England, so much so that friends often said: “Keep your pecker up.”  It turns out this was very good advice — they were talking about my courage, enthusiasm, good spirits. But “pecker” is also English slang for penis — and a new study shows that regular erections — keeping your pecker up — are important for maintaining erectile function. The study, published in the journal Science, found that the number of fibroblasts in the penis is linked to the frequency of erections. A higher number of fibroblasts means…

Indonesians voted for a new president, vice president and members of parliament and local legislative bodies on Wednesday with no major incidents reported across the archipelago. Early and unofficial results were expected by the end of Wednesday by quick-count outlets certified by the General Elections Commission.  The election was a massive undertaking, with over 204 million of the country’s 270 million people registering to vote across some 17,000 islands. The voters are spread across three time zones, from Papua in the east to the tip of Sumatra over 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) away in the west.Election officers used a boat to distribute ballot boxes to polling…

Polls have closed in Indonesia for the world’s biggest single-day election that will see a new president succeed Joko Widodo, also known as President Jokowi. The voters are also deciding on new lawmakers and parliamentarians. Voting took place across three times zones with polling stations opening at 7:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) in the easternmost region of Papua and closing at 01:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) at the other end of the country in jungle-clad Sumatra. Thunderstorms caused flooding in some parts of the capital, Jakarta, with Reuters news agency reporting that dozens of polling stations had been affected.Indonesia holds the world’s…

A car has crashed into an A&E department in Texas – killing one person and injuring five others.A child is in a life-threatening condition after the vehicle smashed into the lobby of the emergency room at St David’s North Austin Medical Centre shortly after 5.30pm on Tuesday. The driver received CPR but died at the hospital. Image: Pic: AP Four of those who were hurt – two adults and two children – have been transferred to other hospitals.One of the adults has “serious, potentially life-threatening injuries”, officials said. The crash is being investigated, with the Austin Police Department saying it…

The two traditional powerhouses of Pakistani politics and rivals to Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced late on Tuesday that they planned to form a coalition. This ends the deadlock which followed last week’s parliamentary election, where no party secured a simple majority. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said it was joining forces with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as well as other smaller parties.  Together, the parties would have enough seats to command a majority in parliament. The PML-N controls 75 seats and the PPP, 54. Candidates from Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party mostly had to run…

Among the crowds of homeless people now packed into southern Gaza, there is a five-year-old boy called Mu’min who was hit by a grenade.A fragment from the device passed through his left eye and is lodged in his brain – but the injury he sustained in the kitchen of his home forms just a part of this story. The incident is just one of an innumerable number of catastrophes experienced by children in Gaza.Follow latest updates: ‘Dreaded scenario unravelling at alarming speed’, UN warns More than 10,000 have died according to the territory’s ministry of health. At least 17,000 children…

The US’ Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden’s top border official, with migration policies taking center stage ahead of November’s presidential election. Conservatives blamed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a surge in crossings of illegal migrants from the US-Mexican border. The vote narrowly passed with 214 in favor and 213 against. It was the second attempt to impeach Mayorkas. Last week’s impeachment attempt failed, in the absence of Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was receiving cancer treatment. Scalise attended Tuesday’s session and gave the motion the decisive vote. Mayorkas’ impeachment…

Spectacular photos have captured the Northern Lights in the skies above Iceland.Pictures of the phenomenon taken last night show sheets of green light dancing in the sky. “Might be the best night of 2024,” one person posted on X. Image: Pic: @IcelandToursX Image: Pic: @IcelandToursX The spectacle, also known as the Aurora Borealis, can often be seen in countries such as Iceland and Norway.Occasionally it can be seen in the UK. Read more from Sky News:The space race to the moon – for a crucial resource that could change everything’Archaeological discovery of a lifetime’ as ancient scrolls deciphered by AINew…

The father of world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum has called on the Kenyan government to investigate his son’s death – saying four people came “looking for” the athlete days before he died.The death of the 24-year-old, who won the London Marathon last year, was announced by Kenya’s former prime minister, Raila Odinga, on Sunday. The athlete’s coach, Gervais Hakizimana, also died when a car the pair were travelling in crashed on a road between two towns in western Kenya.Devastated by the death of his only son, Kiptum’s father, Samson Cheruiyot, has appealed to the government to conduct an investigation,…

The party of Pakistan’s former prime minister and its allies have announced they will form a coalition government after elections failed to elect a single party. Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairs, father and son, Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, agreed the deal which would put an end to the hung parliament. It is widely believed that Mr Sharif’s brother, Shehbaz Sharif, will be the nominee put forward for prime minister.Mr Sharif welcomed the support from the PPP and other parties, saying they had all come together because they…