- World News
Uncertainty still shrouds Haiti presidential killing
On July 7, 2021, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry received a nighttime call from a secret service agent with the country’s interior ministry — mere hours before the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Henry, a politician and trained neurosurgeon, had been appointed to the post by Moise only a few days prior. The details of said phone call are unknown…
- World News
AfricaLink on Air — 17 September 2021
What next for Guinea after ECOWAS leaders imposed sanctions on coup leaders, among them holding elections in six months? +++ Gambia’s President Adama Barrow finally defends his alliance with former dictator Yahya Jammeh ahead of the December elections+++Zambians are divided on the fate of the expensive presidential jet. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
South Korean students embrace ‘niche’ learning alternatives
As a teenager, Young-chae Song studied German at his South Korean high school and had to pass an exam in the language to enter university. During that time, in the early 1980s, most high school students in South Korea would study English, plus another foreign language, typically German, French or Japanese. But today, young Koreans are turning their backs on…
- World News
Tanzania: First female defense minister ignites gender debate
“I have decided to break the longtime myth that in the defense ministry, there should be a man with muscles,” President Samia Suluhu Hassan said earlier this week as she administered the oath of office to Stergomena Tax. “The minister’s job in that office is not to carry guns or artillery,” Suluhu Hassan declared. Tax’s appointment was part of President…
- World News
Greece tightens its border with Turkey amid ‘tough but fair migration policy’
The river Evros forms the land border between Greece and Turkey. The waters of this river and its tributaries have made the Evros region one of the most fertile in Greece. Here, on both sides of one of Europe’s most controversial external borders, rolling green hills lined with small deciduous forests stretch as far as the eye can see. “Refugees…
- World News
African Swine Fever: China’s other pandemic
During a teleconference more than two years ago, Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua urged health authorities to step up efforts to rein in a growing pandemic despite initial “positive results,” and suggested that “enhancing quarantine and monitoring” measures would help prevent the spread of the virus. Hu’s comments came before the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Instead, he…
- World News
Osmani: If Kosovo delivers, the European Union should also deliver
In an interview with DW, the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, confirms her commitment to EU integration and NATO. She also emphasizes the country’s full support of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers war crimes court. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Sahel terror threat persists despite the killing of al-Sahrawi
The war against armed Islamist extremists in Africa received a boost on Thursday following the killing of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi. The self-proclaimed leader of the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) claimed responsibility for attacks in Niger in 2017 when four US troops and four Nigerien soldiers died. France also wanted him for the killing of six…
- Sports News
Germany go full throttle towards Euros
Upcoming games against Bulgaria and Serbia may be World Cup qualifiers in name, but they’re more like warm-ups for next year’s Euros. A mini-tournament in February also gives Martina Voss-Tecklenburg extra preparation. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Afghanistan: Pakistan braces for more ‘Islamization’ after Taliban victory
The Taliban’s capture of Kabul in 1996 gave impetus to Islamist militant groups across the world, but the country that was most affected by the rise of fundamentalism in Afghanistan was its neighbor, Pakistan. Not only did the victory of the “students” (the Taliban in Arabic) embolden extremist and militant groups in Pakistan, some people in the South Asian country…
- World News
Kenya’s shelter for suspected witches
These elderly people had to run away from home. Some have been brutally beaten. They are accused of practicing witchcraft. Many were persecuted by their own children. Kadzo Ngala has lived in this camp for two years. It’s a haven for those accused of sorcery in Kilifi County. Some in the region believe gray hair is a sign of witchcraft.…
- World News
Ghana’s children scavenging on rubbish dumps
These children are eking out a living picking through rubbish. They are scavenging for plastic and metal. From tin containers to iron bars and zinc. Children are at the frontlines of the scrap business. Plastic is harder to sell than the scrap metal. They sell it to the dealers who roam the streets. Dealers melt down the tin and aluminum.…
- World News
Afghanistan’s Hazara refugee women stitch future dreams
Some Afghan women refugees who fled to India a few years ago have found livelihood in a startup that aims at building sustainable communities of artisans. The women who work here have faced tremendous hardships in the past. Now they worry for their relatives back home under the Taliban rule. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani: Principled, yet willing to take risks
Vjosa Osmani was born on May 17, 1982, in Mitrovica to Kosovo Albanian parents. At the time, the town on the Ibar was still part of Yugoslavia, as was the whole of Kosovo. Even before the breakup of the multiethnic state in 1991, Serbian nationalists led by Slobodan Milosevic had succeeded in subjecting Kosovo’s Albanian majority population to an oppressive…
- World News
Will Russia swallow up Belarus?
Some events are long in the making. Back in 1999, the leaders of Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on creating a “union state.” For the past three years, Moscow has been pushing Belarus to move toward greater integration on the basis of that treaty. The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, made repeated trips to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin,…
- Sports News
Champions League: Manchester City hit RB Leipzig for six
Jesse Marsch’s debut as RB Leipzig head coach was more than disappointing as the Bundesliga side were outplayed and outscored by a ruthless Pep Guardiola team. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Champions League: Jude Bellingham leads Borussia Dortmund to victory
In Borussia Dortmund’s first game of the 2021/22 Champions League season, it was 18-year-old Jude Bellingham who led the Bundesliga to victory. Whether Dortmund can build off this win though, remains as unclear as ever. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Afghan journalists ‘have to get out of the country’
It was an almost clandestine press conference that the organization Reporters Without Borders (ROG) held this Wednesday at its headquarters in Berlin. Only 20 journalists were allowed in, and unlike the normal routine since the coronavirus pandemic began, there was no live video transmission on the internet. The reason: In the room, there were journalists from Afghanistan who fear for…
- World News
An end to neo-Islamism in the Middle East?
Last week, the party that previously held a majority in the Moroccan parliament suffered a crushing setback. In the country’s federal elections last Wednesday, the Justice and Development Party lost 113 of the 125 seats it had won in the last election. In previous ballots of 2016 and 2011, the party, commonly known as the PJD, ended up with a…
- World News
Tanzania: Unlocking Lake Tanganyika’s economy
The women fishers of Kigoma want to increase their income. Annually, fishers catch more than 53,000 tons of fish from Lake Tanganyika. The volume could be higher if proper equipment were available. Fish spoil due to lack of proper storage. Fishers need basic items and guidelines for the business. Hundreds work in seafood processing that lacks refrigerators, processing facilities, and…
- World News
What does the end of the Merkel era mean for Southeast Asia?
Germany’s federal elections this month are unlikely to dominate the headlines in Southeast Asia. But experts agree that the outcome of the ballot will be important for the region nevertheless. The elections mark the end of Merkel’s 16 years as chancellor. Pundits think there is also a chance that the new government will be formed without Merkel’s once-dominant alliance of…
- World News
German Africa Prize 2021 goes to Ethiopian rights activist
Daniel Bekele, currently Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), will receive the German Africa Award for his fight for democracy and human rights. The prize is the highest award of its kind in Germany. It honors outstanding personalities from the African continent who are committed to peace, reconciliation, and social progress. “I am delighted that the independent…
- World News
Romania: The new mayor looking to clean up local politics
It’s a sunny Monday morning and the mayor, Zoltan Soos, is in a good mood as he walks into the conference room. A few members of the planning team are already there and the rest arrive in dribs and drabs until all 15 are present. The key officials from the municipal administration greet each other warmly. No one is subservient,…
- Sports News
Champions League: Bayern Munich ease to win in Barcelona
In the first game of the 2021/22 Champions League season, Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern Munich faced Barcelona in one of the most anticipated games of the competition. In the end, it proved a mismatch. SOURCE: DW News
- Sports News
Sheriff Tiraspol: The Champions League club without a country
Champions League debutants Sheriff Tiraspol from the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria face exiled Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Sheriff’s name offers a clue to their murky but successful recent past. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Will Malaysia’s ties with the EU improve under new government?
Changes of government are usually occasions for countries to reassess their foreign relations, but few analysts reckon Malaysia’s new government that came into office late last month will oversee any fundamental change in approach. That is a double-edged sword for the EU, which was beginning to build momentum with the previous government over a potential free-trade agreement between Malaysia and…
- Sports News
Champions League live: Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich
The Champions League group stage kicks off on Tuesday evening, with Bayern Munich traveling to Barcelona. The last time these two sides met, Bayern won 8-2 on their way to winning the trophy in 2020. SOURCE: DW News
- World News
Indonesia’s deadly prison blaze highlights region’s overcrowded jails
A blaze broke out at Tangerang prison near Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta last week while inmates were sleeping. In total,41 prisoners died and eight others were seriously injured. The facility houses over 2,000 inmates, exceeding its official limit of 600, according to government data. Block C, where the fire broke out, housed 122 inmates at the time — far over…
- World News
The EU’s 4 persistent problems still dogging the bloc
The findings of a recent Eurobarometer survey, commissioned by the European Union itself, are clear: Citizens in the bloc believe that the main issues it should be addressing are climate change, the COVID pandemic, health care, the economic situation and social inequality. These are thus the themes that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will broach in her second…
- World News
Why Pakistan’s new school textbooks are sparking backlash over gender
Pakistan’s ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched its revised Single National Curriculum (SNC) in August this year, deeming it “a milestone to end disparity in the education system.” Following the recent release of the curriculum’s accompanying new textbook, many have taken to social media to criticize what they view as patriarchal gender norms in the book. The outrage is similar…
