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A Guide to Visiting Austria in 2021
Sponsored Can Travellers Visit Vienna from Thailand? A Guide to Visiting Austria in 2021 If you’re wondering whether visiting Austria from Thailand is currently possible, keep reading… It’s safe to say global travel has been difficult over the past 18 months. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many destinations have closed their borders to many international tourists. Austria, like most other…
- World News
Is the fall of Kabul the kick European defense needs?
“Afghanistan has shown that the deficiencies in our strategic autonomy comes with a price,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after an informal meeting of defense ministers on Thursday. “And that the only way forward is to combine our forces and strengthen not only our capacity, but also our will to act.” A day earlier, Borrell used sharper…
- World News
AfricaLink on Air — 02 September 2021
Anti-government sentiment in S.Sudan: Where does the youth stand? +++ Mozambique’s “tuna bonds” corruption trial +++ New coronavirus variant spreading in South Africa +++Do beauty standards reflect colonial attitudes +++ Controversy over TV rape demonstration in Ivory coast SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Paralympics Digest: ‘I definitely have my life back’
Syria’s Anas Al Khalifa made his Paralympic dream come true simply by competing for the refugee team at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Meanwhile, an Afghan athlete made her debut in the newly Paralympic sport of taekwondo. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
UAE’s new human rights institute: Real change or ‘image washing’?
The United Arab Emirates announced earlier this week that it would set up an independent national human rights organization. The new institution will open an office in Abu Dhabi and, according to the UAE’s state media, “aims to promote and protect human rights and freedoms” in accordance with the local and international laws and guidelines. The new organization — official…
- Sports News
World Cup Qualifying: Liechtenstein vs Germany — live blog
The Hansi Flick era for the German national team begins with a World Cup qualifier against minnows Liechtenstein. Flick has promised an “all-in” approach from his side. Follow all the build-up in DW’s live blog. SOURCE: DW News
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Young Ugandans develop anti-rape bracelet
SafeBangle Technologies in Kampala, Uganda have developed a prototype bracelet to report sexual and gender-based violence. SOURCE: DW News
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Afghanistan: Turkey moves into the spotlight
The United Nations’ statistics leave no room for doubt: The situation in Afghanistan is dire. UN experts estimate that more than 18 million people in Afghanistan need help: That’s more than half the entire population. Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital, Kabul, is central to overcoming the country’s most urgent problems. At present, though, following the withdrawal of all…
- World News
Boxer Samuel Takyi becomes Ghanaian hero
20-year-old Samuel Takyi before ended Ghana’s 30-year wait for an Olympic medal. He’s called the “Golden Ring Warrior” and he trains in Accra. He was also rewarded by president Nana Akuffo-Addo. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Thailand’s ‘spirit houses’ believed to bring fortune and protection
Eagle-eyed visitors to Thailand may have noticed these miniature shrines set up in cities across the country. It is a common sight to see locals pausing on a busy Bangkok street to give these doll-house -like structures a deferential “wai” (a traditional form of greeting in Thailand). Some leave offerings at these ornate structures, ranging from candles, incense, flowers, food…
- World News
India: Schools reopening signals return to normalcy after COVID catastrophe
Many schools across India are opening this week for the first time in 18 months, as the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in the country seems to have subsided. As part of nationwide lockdown measures, most schools were closed in March 2018, and classes went online. As doors are reopened, students will be required to follow strict COVID protocols. “It…
- World News
Afghanistan: How can we help journalists under attack
As the Taliban has asserted power over Afghanistan in recent weeks, media there face new and daunting challenges. On September 1, international media outlets worldwide unite as the One Free Press Coalition to publish this special edition of the global monthly “10 Most Urgent” list — with a focus on how governments, international groups, and individuals can help journalists under…
- World News
Germany’s Afghanistan veterans struggle with mission’s fate
Jenni Bruns found the images of the Taliban’s invasion of Kabul hard to bear. “I’m not doing well at all,” the former soldier says on the phone. In 2010 she was deployed to Afghanistan. In an outpost in the north of the country, she worked to manage the treatment of water. While there she witnessed attacks by the Taliban and…
- World News
Afghanistan pullout chills US-German relations
After the Taliban took Kabul and desperate Afghans flooded the airport trying to escape the country, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her dismay: “The developments are bitter, dramatic and terrible,” she said at a press conference on August 16. “It seems right now like it was all in vain.” For Germany, whose military has spent nearly 20 years in…
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Will post-Afghanistan US foreign policy shift focus to Southeast Asia?
The calamity of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan over the past two weeks has drawn scathing rebukes of US foreign policy, while raising serious questions over how the US intends to project power in the future. In Southeast Asia, the US has been working to shore up regional alliances vis a vis China. Last week, US Vice President Kamala Harris…
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The aftermath of Hurricane Ida
Hurricane Ida caused massive destruction in the US state of Louisiana, killing at least two people. Almost 400,000 people are without electricity in New Orleans alone and it could take months to repair the damage. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Tokyo Paralympic Digest: Afghanistan’s Hossain Rasouli ‘super excited’ to compete
Sometimes sport is not as much about winning and losing as it is about simply competing. Afghan Paralympian Hossain Rasouli is a case in point. Meanwhile, Germany climbed up the table with 10 medals on Day 7. SOURCE: DW News
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Domestic opinion divided on Albania’s decision to host Afghan refugees headed to US
The Albanian coastline is teeming with domestic and foreign tourists wrapping up their summer holidays. But the coastal town of Durres is not only a holiday resort. It’s also a temporary home for hundreds of Afghan refugees. Space has been made available for them in a number of hotels. We would like to talk to the refugees, but are sent…
- World News
Why Qatar fosters close contact with the Taliban
Just a few days ago, US President Joe Biden picked up the phone to thank the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for the generous support in the ongoing evacuation from Afghanistan. Biden also thanked Qatar for facilitating intra-Afghan talks — even though they had failed even before the Taliban took power. Germany, meanwhile, criticized Qatar after the…
- Sports News
Vietnam looking to take Southeast Asia back to the World Cup
It has been over 80 years since a Southeast Asian nation appeared at the World Cup. Such a dismal record is partly explained by incompetence and corruption, but now Vietnam is in the final round of qualifying for 2022. SOURCE: DW News
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Basketball in Mali: Slow progress in inquiry into sexual abuse
The coach of Mali’s successful under-19 women’s basketball team, Amadou Bamba, is accused of sexually abusing underage girls in his protection. But an official FIBA inquiry into the case has come to a standstill. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Art expo preserves Tanzania’s indigenous legends
The contemporary art expo has brought the legends and beliefs of the indigenous people of the Southern Highlands to life in order to preserve this rich, but slowly fading heritage. SOURCE: DW News
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Slovenian Press Agency: Enough money for one more paycheck
Slovenian Press Agency journalist Gregor Mlakar reported from an event attended by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban on October 14, 2020. The resulting text on the start of work on the power line that will connect Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia heralded the beginning of the difficulties for the Slovenian Press Agency STA, which has…
- Sports News
Bundesliga: Jamal Musiala a player with all the time in the world
Jamal Musiala scored the pick of the goals as Bayern Munich cruised to a 5-0 win over Hertha Berlin. While his technical skills are excellent, it’s his maturity, composure and ability to find space that sets him apart. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
African presidents wish Angela Merkel farewell
It was a moment of goodbye: At the conclusion of the Compact for Africa (CwA) conference on Friday, a good dozen African heads of state used the opportunity to wish German Chancellor Angela Merkel farewell before she leaves office after the Bundestag elections at the end of September. During her tenure, Merkel had been personally involved in economic and social…
- Sports News
Tokyo Paralympics Digest: Stars Vio and McFadden deliver again
Two of the biggest stars at the Paralympics claimed medals on a busy Saturday in Tokyo. Fencer Beatrice Vio defended her title in style, while Tatyana McFadden won her 18th Paralympic medal. Germany also had a good day. SOURCE: DW News
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Afghan refugees in Greece still stuck in limbo
Forty-three-year-old Nemat Tajik had just been transferred to the Alexandria Refugee camp near the port city of Thessaloniki in Greece, when he heard that the Taliban had regained power in Afghanistan. “I felt powerless. It was like watching my mother being killed in front of my eyes,” he said. Tajik who comes from Herat, a city in west Afghanistan, left…
- World News
Saudi Arabia and Taliban unlikely to revive old alliances
In the past, they worked together. But today, Saudi Arabia and the Taliban are separated by political and cultural differences, as well as some problematic history. The last time the Taliban ran Afghanistan, between 1996 and 2001, Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries in the world to officially recognize the Islamist group’s government. Neighboring Pakistan and the United…
- World News
The Taliban’s broken promise to protect journalists
After the Taliban ousted the Afghan government earlier this month, a spokesman for the militant group made a series of public pledges amid heightened scrutiny — and skepticism. The tone may have been conciliatory, but the West and international organizations, including the UN,eyed the statements warily. One such pledge outlined in the Taliban’s August 17 statement was that there would…
- World News
Trying to flee Kabul: ‘We had no information at all’
Ahmad R., software developer from southern Germany I got married in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. We wanted to fly out earlier, but all flights were canceled. I registered with ELEFAND, which is the German Foreign Ministry’s online portal for German citizens in crisis areas, and I got an answer early last week telling us to head to Kabul airport. We…
