Author: DW

Bogdan Leonov, a Russian national, is building a chain of power-bank rental stations in Cyprus and Greece, and setting up a franchise in Portugal.   His WE53 startup, launched in 2023, has already seen annual revenues rise to about €600,000 ($693,000)and it now employs dozens of people. The network currently boasts almost 3,000 stations. His previous brainchild provided the same service in Russia.Between Russia and Germany — Arts.UnveiledTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But setting up a business abroad was particularly challenging as he had to learn all operational…

Cologne must have believed they had a chance of becoming the first team to defeat Bayern Munich this season, when Ragnar Ache’s 31st minute header powered the host ahead in the DFB Pokal match. However, a brace from Harry Kane — who struck either side of half time — eased Bayern to a 4-1 win, their 14th consecutive victory in all competitions as they set a new European record. For Kane, the brace was just the latest reminder of his astonishing consistency. Just over two years since arriving in Munich, the 32-year-old is maintaining some of the best form of…

The Latvian Parliament on Thursday voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at supporting women who are victims of violence. The tally from the ballot was 56 to withdraw from the treaty, 32 to remain, and two abstentions. Is the vote set in stone? The vote, which came after a 13-hour session of intense debate, would make Latvia the first European Union member state to quit the Istanbul Convention, which the very same parliament ratified in November 2024. The motion must now be signed by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who has indicated he is not in favor. He has, however, also hinted that he might not subvert a parliamentary…

Chinese President Xi Jinping will take center stage at the annual summit of Pacific Rim leaders in South Korea on Friday, as he is expected to hold talks with his Canadian, Japanese and Thai counterparts after securing a fragile trade truce with US President Donald Trump. That agreement — struck just before Trump left South Korea, skipping the main two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit — will halt further curbs on China’s exports of rare earths that threatened to jam up global supply chains. Supporting supply chains is a significant focus of this year’s APEC summit, hosted in the historic South Korean city of Gyeongju. The 21-member economic club aims to encourage cooperation and…

She sits on stage dressed in black, smoking an e-cigarette, her blond, curly hair flowing down from her thick knit cap. The unrelenting Maria Alyokhina, a 37-year-old activist and performance artist best-known as a member of Pussy Riot, is presenting her new book “Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia” in Cologne as part of the literary festival lit.COLOGNE. Maria Alyokhina is one of several women who staged a protest the evening before Vladimir Putin was reelected president of Russia — a position he continues to hold to this day. That night, the group donned colorful clothes and masks and…

Thursday’s high-stakes encounter between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinpingwas meant to help resolve months of global tariff tensions and smooth trade between the world’s two largest economies. While Trump gave the “amazing” talks a 12 out of 10, Beijing was more cautious, calling on the United States to keep the lines of communication open. For anyone hoping for a bigger thaw in US-China ties, the brevity of the meeting was a sobering reminder that mistrust between the world powers still runs deep. The closely-watched meeting in Busan, South Korea, lasted just 100 minutes, compared to the US president’s anticipated three to…

Bird flu cases are rising in the Northern Hemisphere, and outbreaks are likely to continue testing farmers and public health authorities determined to curb the spread this winter. The current circulating “clade” of H5N1, which is mainly carried by birds, is highly pathogenic, meaning it can cause severe avian influenza (or bird flu). Though H5N1 was first detected in the mid-1990s, outbreaks have only occurred annually since 2020. H5N1 is now present on every continent, including Antarctica, and continues to concern health authorities, disease scientists and wildlife specialists. In Germany, major farm culls — half a million chickens, ducks, geese…

When US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping meet in South Korea on Thursday, perhaps they can find common ground and inspiration in basketball. Earlier in October, two NBA teams, the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns played pre-season games in Macau, a special territory of China. Over the summer, with the league back in the country, a handful of NBA players also toured China, including LeBron James and Steph Curry. The NBA, by far the sport’s biggest competition, had been frozen out of its biggest overseas market since 2019, but the relationship seems to be thawing. LeBron James was…

US broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) said on Wednesday that it will stop all of its news operations effective as of Friday, October 31. It will be the first time the international broadcaster has completely gone off air since it was founded nearly 30 years ago. RFA is one the few reliable sources of news in regions of Asia where authoritarian governments limit people’s access to information. Suspension of news comes after deep cuts RFA had already drastically scaled back its news programming earlier in the year. It laid off almost 90% of its US-based workforce after President Donald Trump axed…

The US military killed four people in a strike on a suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday. “This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said. He also posted a 22-second video on X showing the boat in international waters erupting in a large explosion. The strike followed US attacks earlier this week that killed 14 people in the region. The latest strike brings the death toll from Washington’s anti-narcotics campaign…