- World News
Member of European Parliament wants Bulgarian cops watched
At a press conference in Sofia recently, Sophie in’t Veld, the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, accused Bulgarian Prosecutor General Ivan Zhev of invoking “extraordinary powers” to target the opposition. In ‘t Veld, who led a European Parliament delegation to Bulgaria in December to investigate reports of official misdeeds, said Zhev had…
- World News
Maria Kolesnikova: A heart for Belarus
The sentencing was a rare opportunity for the public to see Maria Kolesnikova, who had spent nearly a year in pretrial detention. On September 6, a court in Minsk sentenced the opposition politician to 11 years in a penal colony on charges including “extremism.” Her colleague, Maksim Znak, got one year less. The pair, who challenged Belarus’ disputed presidential election,…
- World News
Will China’s move against coal power improve its image in EU?
The Chinese government made the surprise announcement last week that it will stop building coal-fired power stations abroad, a decision that could put it in the good books of the increasingly eco-conscious European Union. The pledge was made by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a pre-recorded address to the UN General Assembly, although he gave few details and questions remain…
- World News
Czech Republic: Historic military bunkers go on sale
In the late 1930s, what was then Czechoslovakia built an extensive network of fortifications along the border with what was then the German Reich. Prague feared that the Germans would launch a surprise assault and overrun the country’s defenses before there was time to mobilize the army and reserves. Although the fortifications were not fully completed by September 1938, together…
- World News
Switzerland’s same-sex marriage referendum explained
Switzerland is one of the last nations in Western Europe to ban same-sex marriage. That could change on Sundaywhen voters decide if they should extend gay and lesbian couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The Swiss parliament alreadylegalized marriage for all last December, but a group of conservative Christian parties pushed for the decision to be revised in…
- World News
Libya: Will elections finally bring healing?
Throughout the year, national and international hopes have been pinned to the date of the Libyan national elections on December 24. However, exactly three months prior to this election date, the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly fractured. This week, the Tobruk-based lower chamber of the Libyan parliament, also called the House of Representatives, withdrew its support for the…
- World News
UN General Assembly: Africa’s leaders push for unity
World leaders are delivering their speeches at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York. In the past, Africans have mainly ignored this event but this year appears to be different. DW has the highlights of what several African nations brought to the global arena. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan makes debut Making her maiden appearance at the UN General…
- World News
Modern masculinity in Africa: Pressures, expectations and breaking the mold
What does it mean to be an African man in the 21st century? What kind of pressures are men under? And how do we even define masculinity in the modern world? These were just some of the questions put to the panel in the latest edition of The 77 Percent’s Street Debate in Nairobi, Kenya. Conversations around masculinity and manhood…
- World News
India: Why many medical students are taking their own lives
In what should be the beginning of a successful career, Barnali took her entrance exam to become a medical student in India this year. But the experience has been far from pleasant, as she explained to DW. “My parents are both doctors,” she began. “So I have always felt pressurized to take up medicine as a career. I don’t think…
- World News
German election: Pakistani-origin female politician eyes Bundestag seat
Misbah Khan, a Green party candidate for the German federal parliament, talks to DW about her journey in German politics as a young female politician with a migration background. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
German election: Which chancellor hopeful does the EU want?
EU heads of government haven’t made any official statements about the upcoming German election. But think tanks and insiders have speculated which chancellor candidate each country might prefer. In the running are Angela Merkel’s current finance minister, Olaf Scholz, of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD); Merkel’s favorite, Armin Laschet, from her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU); and Annalena Baerbock, the…
- World News
UN General Assembly: Germany struggles to define its place in the world
It’s morning at the German mission to the United Nations and diplomats are buzzing around the lobby, getting set for one of the many “side events” that flank the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Germany is hosting a meeting on the Libyan peace process, an attempt to keep the country on track to holding democratic elections for the first time ever…
- World News
Afghanistan: Girls’ education faces bleak future under Taliban rule
Girls in Afghanistan will have to wait longer to resume studies at secondary schools after the Taliban announced this week that first the group must “finalize things.” They will then allow girls to return to the classroom “as soon as possible.” “In the case of schools (for female students), the Ministry of Education is working hard to provide the ground…
- World News
Opinion: Small-scale farmers must control our food system
The Food Systems Summit in New York is supposed to come up with a global strategy to fight hunger and feed a rapidly growing world population. But it’s focused too much on the big agro industry. Corporate interests are taking center stage and expanding their influence in the UN system to an alarming extent, undermining democratic decisions. The concerns of…
- World News
Togolese fitness coach fights obesity
Mercy Tchawalla from Lome, Togo helps women regain confidence by leading fitness classes. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
AfricaLink on Air – 22 September 2021
South Sudan President Salva Kiir mulls retiring+++Namibia’s parliament debates reconciliation agreement with Germany+++Liberians coping with floods SOURCE: DW News
- World News
How has COVID impacted Pakistan’s education system?
Last week, Pakistan opened both public and private schools in various districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with Sindh province opening its schools in August. Schools are now operating with a 50% attendance policy on alternating days due to the COVID regulations set forth by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC). Vaccinations were also made mandatory for all staff…
- World News
Angola’s ‘traveling’ Beauty Salons
Male manicurists, or “unheiros”, are a common sight in Cuito, central Angola. Most of their clients are men aged 15 to 35. This male grooming is done by young people wanting to support families and pay for studies. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
World in Progress: The men experiencing domestic violence
Reporter/Presenter: Andreas Boueke/Connor Dillon SOURCE: DW News
- World News
World in Progress: Daring to speak up
SOURCE: DW News
- World News
The men experiencing domestic violence
Reporter/Presenter: Andreas Boueke/Connor Dillon SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Cochlear implant surgery in Uganda
Cochlear implant surgery is the last alternative for children when a hearing aid and other interventions fail. Cochlear implantation has become more accessible in Uganda. Kampala Audiology and Speech Centre is a reference institution. According to KASC, hearing impairment affects almost 12% of adults. Many Ugandans believe they have been witchcrafted and don’t seek proper treatment for their impairment. The…
- World News
Witnesses recount horror of Perm State University shooting
Alexei Trapesnikov was about to get in his car and leave Perm State University after a presentation on campus — but he wasn’t able to. “The security guards at the entrance told me to turn back,” Trapesnikov, a reporter with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, told DW. “I saw a man covered in blood running towards the building. He appeared to have a…
- World News
Nambia: A timeline of Germany’s brutal colonial history
1840s: Missionaries from the German-based Rhenish Missionary Society arrive in what is now called Namibia. 1883: Adolf Lüderitz, one of Germany’s first prominent colonialists, signs an agreement with Chief Joseph Frederick of Bethanie in what is now southern Namibia. The treaty gives the German businessman rights to the area around a strategic natural harbor called Angra Pequena, which he renames…
- World News
Namibia debates German genocide deal
Namibia’s parliament on Tuesday resumed debate around the signing of a joint declaration with Germany regarding the former colonial power’s recognition that it perpetrated genocide in the early 1900s. Parliamentary debates in June had been suspended as Namibia battled a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections, which delayed the National Assembly in agreeing to Berlin’s May offer of a formal apology…
- World News
Is reconciliation with New Delhi possible in Indian Kashmir?
“Just like everything else in Kashmir, I am a shadow of my previous self,” says 58-year-old Shabir, a boatman from the city of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. Shabir, whose name has been changed, used to be the proud owner of a traditional yellow Shikara boat on Dal Lake. The lake’s floating market had been Shabir’s bread and butter. That was…
- World News
Opinion: How real is the threat of Taliban infighting?
In recent days, reports have abounded of disputes within the Taliban, purportedly fueled by the formation of a hard-line, noninclusive interim government disdained by the group’s moderate factions because of its lack of non-Taliban leaders and ethnic minorities. Several accounts have provided striking details of a physical altercation earlier this month between lead representatives of the moderate and hard-line camps…
- World News
Iran enriches uranium as the West watches on
Iran may now be capable of producing enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear warhead within just a month. That’s according to US experts who were quoted in The New York Times last Wednesday after reviewing classified new data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The experts weren’t permitted to speak in an official capacity, but told the newspaper…
- World News
South Korea’s balancing act amid US-China Indo-Pacific rivalry
As the US bolsters its alliances to counter China throughout the Indo-Pacific region, medium-size regional powers are coming under growing pressure to choose a side. South Korea has been militarily aligned with the United States since the 1950-53 Korean War, and is also deeply economically intertwined with neighboring China. Analysts say Beijing is putting pressure on South Korea to move…
- World News
South Korea squeezed by US-China Indo-Pacific rivalry
As the US bolsters its alliances to counter China throughout the Indo-Pacific region, medium-size regional powers are coming under growing pressure to choose a side. South Korea has been militarily aligned with the United States since the 1950-53 Korean War, and is also deeply economically intertwined with neighbor China. Analysts say Beijing is putting pressure on South Korea to move…