- World News
The EU and North Macedonia: More ‘trauma’ before membership?
North Macedonia was officially included in the agenda for EU enlargement in 2005; the promissory note that Brussels offered Skopje on the conditions of good behavior and reforms is now older than the country’s new name. Yet with a track record of steady reforms, Skopje has seen the process slowed down to a virtual halt, which has not only raised…
- Sports News
Opinion: The Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony – the wrong pictures, the wrong message
The Olympics have started one year after their original date. But the opening ceremony shows the IOC has learned nothing from the pandemic and missed the opportunity to set an important sign, writes DW’s Sarah Wiertz. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
‘The only right thing:’ Hockey’s Nike Lorenz allowed to wear rainbow band
Germany’s hockey captain will be allowed to display rainbow colours in support of the LGBTQ community at Tokyo 2020. Her case has put the IOC’s rules under the spotlight, with some criticizing a lack of clarity. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
The Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony — live blog
The postponed 2020 Olympic Games officially start in front of empty stands due to the COVID-19 situation in Japan. Join us for all the updates! SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Tokyo 2020: Germany’s men’s football team outclassed by Brazil
The repeat of the 2016 Rio Olympics final saw Stefan Kuntz’s players suffer a defeat to a Brazil team that looked dominant from the opening kickoff. Captain Maxi Arnold was sent off for a second bookable offense. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Tokyo 2020: Germany among nations to have gender-balanced flag bearers
For the first time, two flag bearers, one man, one woman, will carry the German flag in the March of Nations at the Olympic Games. While not compulsory, it’s a change that is being encouraged by the IOC: SOURCE: DW News
- World News
COVID, scandals and controversies taint Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games stumbled into a new scandal on Thursday, just hours before the official opening event at the new National Stadium, with a senior organizer of the event dismissed for jokes he made in the past about the Holocaust. Kentaro Kobayashi, a comedian and one of the creative directors of Friday evening’s opening ceremony, was fired after…
- World News
Egypt: ‘Facebook Girl’ may be free, but oppression remains rife
This week’s Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, brought great news to around 40 detainees in Cairo’s prisons: that they were free to go. Among them were three popular journalists and three human rights activists. However, these releases don’t yet mean they have been acquitted: All 40 still have to appear in court at trials slated for at some time later this…
- World News
Poland and Hungary lash back against EU rule of law report
Bad faith, blackmail, political attack, double standards: Such were the terms used in reactions from government politicians in Poland and Hungary after the European Union presented its second report on the state of the rule of law in EU member states in Brussels on Tuesday, July 20. The report describes the situation in Poland and Hungary in particular as highly…
- World News
The EU declares war on money laundering
“The rules we have in place to prevent money laundering are among the toughest in the world,” said the vice president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, “but they must also now be systematically applied.” There hasn’t been enough of this in recent years. In practice, many EU member states don’t actually implement the rules or are simply too lax…
- World News
Kenya: Elephant herds seen from a unique angle
The sunrise at Amboseli National Park is breathtaking. A hot air balloon is prepared for a fascinating experience. Tourists will view animals from a different angle. The balloon can fly up to 20 meters. And the elephants remain undisturbed. The unique view delights everyone. Amboseli National Park has over 3,000 elephants. There has been no single case of elephant poaching…
- World News
AfricaLink On Air – 21 July 2021
News+++Tanzania arrests opposition leader+++Fighting domestic violence in Niger+++Kidnapped Nigerians freed+++Slow Niger Delta clean up angers locals+++Sexual harassment on Rwanda’s mines+++Veritcal farming grows in Kenya SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Tokyo Olympics unable to heal Japan-South Korea rift
Hopes that Japan and South Korea might finally be able to build new bridges through a summit of their leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo Olympic Games have been dashed after Seoul announced that President Moon Jae-in would not be going to the opening ceremony on Friday. The northeast Asian neighbors have long been at loggerheads over differing interpretations…
- Sports News
Tokyo 2020: IOC claims Games to be gender-balanced, but equality is not so simple
Tokyo will be the most gender-balanced Olympics yet, but the participation of women in sports is not evenly distributed throughout the globe. In which countries are women more likely to succeed in elite-level sports? SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Pegasus spyware allegations leave Indian democracy hanging by a thread
The Indian government has found itself at the heart of a spyware scandal that has sent seismic waves across the entire political world. A collaborative investigation, based on information accessed by non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International and shared with a host of publications, into the Pegasus spyware has revealed a list of potential targets for surveillance. More than 300…
- Sports News
‘We’re not all bad:’ Football ultras supporting Germany flooding-aid efforts
In the wake of the floods in Germany, help has been arriving. In addition to the emergency services, local aid organizations and other volunteers, football fans have been using their organizational abilities to help out. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
President Pedro Castillo has radical plans for Peru
Only one road leads to Puna. The village in Tacabamba District consists of two dozen houses scattered around a few fields and paths — and a school where Jose Pedro Castillo Terrones taught until 2017. From here it takes a whole day to travel to the regional capital, Cajamarca, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) away. Born in Tacabamba in 1969,…
- World News
Peru: Pedro Castillo declared president
Former school teacher Pedro Castillo has won the disputed election in Peru and will become the country’s next president, election officials said on Monday. The presidential vote, which had taken place on June 6, had been held up by claims of election fraud by his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori. Why were the results held up? Castillo had led unofficially by…
- Sports News
Tokyo 2020: Major sponsor Toyota distances itself from Olympic Games
Japanese carmaker Toyota has announced it will not run Olympics-related TV commercials during the Tokyo Games. The decision underlines how polarizing the Olympics have become in Japan as COVID-19 infections rise. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Tokyo 2020: Nigeria pinning basketball hopes on American diaspora
Nigeria are potential Olympic medal candidates with a basketball team made up mainly of US-based players. But some question whether relying on the diaspora is a sustainable long-term model for basketball in the country. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Czech gold for future generations?
Jilove u Prahy is a picturesque town with almost 5,000 inhabitants and a great many historical monuments. This region, along the River Sazava, a tributary of the Vltava near Prague, is a popular recreational area for citizens of the Czech capital. In the 14th century, Jilove u Prahy was the third-most-important town in the kingdom of Bohemia, after Prague and…
- World News
Belgians pick up the pieces after deadly floods
The Belgian town of Pepinster, southeast of Liege, has just woken up from a nightmare. Wading through knee-high brown water with his wife and son, local resident Paul Brasseur looked back at what was left of their family home. “We’re alive and that’s all that matters — not everyone was so lucky,” he said. The Brasseurs’ house on the banks…
- Sports News
Tokyo 2020: ‘Zero fairness’ in Olympic Games preparation
For athletes gearing up for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, preparation has been anything but easy. But there have been huge discrepancies from sport to sport and country to country, and fairness has gone out the window. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Africalink 16.07.21 – 16 UTC – MP3-Stereo
Ramaphosa vows army will return order to South Africa+++ Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is in Burundi for a two-day State visit+++ UN Population Award goes to Niger policewoman SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Getting paid to play — Kenya’s esports boom
The future of professional sports in Kenya — from where some of the world’s top athletic performers originate — is still rather uncertain in the face of the COVID pandemic. Athletes preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, or anyone wanting to get out and exercise, have had to make do with alternative spaces as coronavirus measures put many gyms and stadiums…
- World News
Survey: Deutsche Welle would like to know more about users
You’re a dw.com user? We’re interested in getting to know you better! We would like to invite you to participate in a short survey. It should only take around 5 to 10 minutes. The questionnaire is about your personal interests and your reasons for using DW. There are no right or wrong answers — you will help us best if…
- World News
EU left behind as US pushes ‘vaccine diplomacy’ in Southeast Asia
The European Union’s international vaccine drive runs the risk of falling behind other major international powers, especially in Southeast Asia, where the United States is ramping up their vaccine-donation programs to compete with China’s contributions. US President Joe Biden pledged in May to donate 80 million vaccines worldwide from America’s domestic-supply, of which approximately 75% will be shared through the…
- Sports News
Olympic Games: After doping scandal, Russian athletes take Tchaikovsky to Tokyo
The Olympic Games in Tokyo will be a new experience for Russian athletes competing under a neutral flag. The country’s doping scandal has cast a shadow over their preparations – and will continue to do so in Japan. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Vaccines are latest regional power play in the Middle East
Last week, Egypt announced that it had successfully manufactured its first million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s an important step for Egypt’s 104 million people, of whom only about 1% are fully vaccinated. But it could also be seen as progress toward the country’s foreign policy goals, as vaccine diplomacy gathers pace in the Middle East. Vaccine diplomacy refers…