World News
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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China’s Taiwan military incursions test the limits of airspace
Over the past four days, more than 120 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft have passed by Taiwan in separate maneuvers, entering the self-governing island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). On Saturday, coinciding with the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) founding holiday, the PLA flew a 39 aircraft into the ADIZ, including bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The flybys…
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COVID: Will India see a third wave in winter?
India has seen a significant dip in its coronavirus caseload over the past few weeks. However, health care workers and policymakers are warning of a possible third wave during the winter months. As of Monday, the country’s active case count stood at 271,550, marking the lowest figure in 199 days. The R-value, the number which measures the rate of transmission,…
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Graft, drug trafficking threaten Albania’s chances of joining EU
Prosecutor Altin Dumani knows there is a lot to do. A lot. His office, in Albania’s capital, Tirana, is crammed with stacks of documents. All of the cases deal with organized crime, especially drug trafficking and corruption, problems that have hindered the small southeastern European country for decades, Dumani told DW. The 46-year-old is the deputy head of Albania’s relatively…
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Pandora Papers: Secret tax havens of world leaders, celebrities revealed
The Pandora Papers investigation has revealed that 35 current and former world leaders — including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the king of Jordan and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta — as well as powerful billionaires were affiliated with companies that use offshore tax havens. Offshore accounts are often used to secretly manage and move large sums of money to…
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Students sleep in parks to protest rising rents in Turkey
For 18 months, in-person classes were suspended in Turkey because of the pandemic. When universities opened their doors again, many students were in for a nasty surprise: Rents have become almost unaffordable. This is partly because of inflation and the corresponding price fluctuations, which have also affected the housing market. On top of this, Turkey’s government has not ensured that…
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Activists call on Facebook and Twitter to follow YouTube’s lead in blocking anti-vax content
Following YouTube’s blocking of all anti-vaccine content, and anti-vax-themed conspiracy channels, social media activists are now turning their attention to some of the other big platforms to follow YouTube’s lead. Twitter and Facebook are now targets to do more in stopping misinformation from spreading online. YouTube already had “misinformation” policies in place to prevent some of the more outrageous anti-vax…
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The Gambia: The story of a Jammeh-era survivor
When Awa Njie married her late husband, Don Faal, in February 1994, she could hardly imagine the cruel fate that would befall her young family at the hands of her country’s regime. The couple met in her hometown of Farafefeeni, about 120 kilometers (70 miles) north of the Gambia’s capital, Banjul. At the time, Faal was stationed at an army…
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EU to launch ALMA work placement scheme for jobless youth
Carmen Quintana Gomez follows the same routine each day: wake up, breakfast, job search. “Everybody knows that they’re not going to have a job,” she said. “That’s how people think here.” For months now, the 25-year-old graduate from Spain’s capital, Madrid, has been out of formal education, training or employment — like around a quarter of Spaniards her age. She…
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South Korea looks to Germany for pointers on overcoming reunification hurdles
With just seven months left before he steps down as president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in and his government remain committed to their long-held dream of the two halves of the Korean Peninsula being reunited into a single nation. And with Germany one of the very few countries with experience in recent history of a similar amalgamation of two states,…
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Burkinabe chef overcomes disability
Edith broke her arm after a fall, aged 7. Doctors chose to amputate her arm to avoid infection. Now she runs her own restaurant in a bustling subrub of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. SOURCE: DW News
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From peaceful protests to war: The evolution of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict
Over the past five years, the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have rapidly morphed into a war zone. Lives have been lost, properties have been destroyed, and the humanitarian crisis continues to intensify. In its latest report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the impact on education: “Since the beginning of the crisis in 2016,…
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Tourism said to fuel Southeast Asia’s illegal wildlife trade
This article is written by Soraya Kishtwari and was originally published on China Dialogue under a Creative Commons licence. Tourist guides and information centres in Southeast Asia have been fuelling the illegal wildlife trade by facilitating consumption by tourists, several investigations show. Prior to Covid-19, shops trading wildlife items, from ivory bangles to tortoise shells, relied heavily on tourists, forming partnerships with travel…
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Tunisia’s first female PM: Mere symbolism or credible change?
After Wednesday’s appointment of geology professor Najla Bouden Romdhane as the first female prime minister in the Arab World, the 63-year-old is facing mixed feelings in Tunisia. While some wonder if Bouden could become the symbol of women’s progress and empowerment in Tunisia and the Middle East, others fear that President Kais Saied might exploit her limited political experience to…
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Afghanistan: Why has ICC excluded US from war crimes probe?
The call by prosecutor Karim Khan to resume an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into potential war crimes committed in Afghanistan is a development many human rights defenders are applauding after the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country. Until now the investigation covered crimes alleged to have been committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, as well…
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Myanmar: What can we expect from Aung San Suu Kyi trial?
On February 1, 2021, the day the Myanmar military toppled the nation’s democratically elected government in a coup, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. Since then, the country’s most prominent politician and pro-democracy advocate has once again been under house arrest. She had already been under house arrest, with interruptions, for a total of 15 years between 1989 and 2012.…
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Life of Myanmar refugees in an Indian border village
Hundreds of people opposed to military rule in Myanmar were forced to flee to the neighboring Indian state of Mizoram in the middle of September. Heavy fighting between the junta and opposition forces this month wiped out an entire town on the India-Myanmar border. DW spoke to people from one of the Indian villages in Hnahthial district in Mizoram state…
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Pakistan: Will a Premier League partnership jumpstart professional football?
Michael Owen, a former England national team and Real Madrid football player, has signed a three year contract to promote football in Pakistan, with a Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) approved league. However, PFF, the country’s controversial football governing body, is not recognized by FIFA. Owen last week was announced as the official ambassador of the Pakistan Football League (PFL), launched…
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Rumour dispelled: The UN did not dedicate December 5 as ‘King’s Day’
Despite a rumour and video going viral on Thai Facebook and Twitter, the UN has NOT declared December 5 “international king’s day” in honour of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama 9, the former King who died in 2016 after over 70 years reigning over Thailand. The information came to light following a ‘fact checking’ article published by AFP. The post began…
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Beijing Winter Olympics to take place without overseas spectators
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will take place without any overseas fans present, according to a decision made by the Chinese organisers. The decision was announced by the International Olympic Committee yesterday. Attendance at the games will be limited to people living in China, in a bid to mitigate the risks posed by Covid-19. The games are scheduled to take…
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Ivermectin poisonings increase in the US, ineffective for Covid-19
In a recent report, the Financial Times said that reported poisonings and serious adverse health effects have more than doubled from Americans consuming the controversial drug Ivermectin, falsely believing it is a cure for Covid-19. The antiparasitic drug, commonly used in veterinary science, with limited applications for use on humans, has been touted by some as a vaccine-free solution to…
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Indonesian officials look to Phuket sandbox amid tentative re-opening plans for Bali
Tourism officials in Indonesia are monitoring the Phuket sandbox as they consider gradually re-opening Bali to foreign tourists. According to an AFP report, a final decision on re-opening the normally hugely popular island of Bali could happen today. However, the country’s tourism minister, Sandiaga Uno, says any re-opening will have to proceed with caution. “My recommendation is that we move…
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Opinion: Sweden continues to stand out on COVID-19 strategy
Seen from the outside, all Scandinavians seem to resemble each other: very progressive, accustomed to affluence and a high standard of living, and they pay extremely high taxes on beer. But all this is, of course, nonsense. In reality, there are differences between individual Scandinavian nations that run as deep as a Norwegian fjord. It starts with the fact that…
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Indian Right Livelihood winner: ‘Blurred lines between ecology and human rights’
Ritwick Dutta, a founding lawyer of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), which works with communities through a grassroots approach, was thrilled to receive the Right Livelihood Award. “Our work is not so publicized and to be honored in this way is definitely a recognition of the fight against some of India’s most significant environmental threats,” Dutta told…
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The Egyptian women reviving an ancient musical tradition
SOURCE: DW News
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Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis: What’s the latest?
After months of rising tensions, fighting broke out in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region in November 2020, pitting Tigrayan forces against the central government and forces from neighboring Eritrea. Nearly a year later, both sides face allegations of human rights abuses as the conflict continues. William Davison, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, updates us on the situation. SOURCE: DW…
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The music spurring on Tigrayan soldiers and refugees
A conflict between the central government in Ethiopia and the northern region of Tigray has spawned a dire humanitarian situation. Amid widespread famine and death over the past year, Tigrayan soldiers and refugees alike have taken comfort in the healing power of their own musical traditions. Reporter Emily Johnson met with some of the musicians at a refugee camp in…
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Guinea’s coup leaders try to keep investors happy
In the view of one official working in Guinea for the Russian aluminum giant Rusal, the military coup of September 5, which toppled President Alpha Conde, has not disrupted the mining sector as much an some had predicted. “Everything is stable, business is going on,” he told he told news agency AFP. “It’s just a transition period we are going…
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Tunisia’s opposition stands up to president’s power grab
At first, they praised him for taking such direct action to resolve Tunisia’s problems. But over the past few days, President Kais Saied has come under increasing pressure from some of his former allies. On July 25, faced with economic turmoil, the COVID-19 pandemic and political gridlock, Saied suspended Tunisia’s parliament, dismissed sitting Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and granted himself…
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2021 Right Livelihood winners fight for climate and justice
Marthe Wandou Marthe Wandou has been fighting against sexual violence and promoting women’s and children’s rights in Cameroon for decades. Founded in 1998, her nongovernmental organization, Action Locale pour un Developpement Participatif et Autogere (ALDEPA), applies a holistic approach focusing on education, abuse prevention, and providing psychosocial care as well as legal counsel. ALDEPA also seeks to effect broad societal…
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Wary of China, US and EU forge alliance on technology
The chip crisis turned dire when the coronavirus hit. As demand for electronics was skyrocketing in the spring of 2020, manufacturers warned they were running short of semiconductors — key components needed to make devices from smartphones to cars. They had good reasons: In the following months, the shortage forced factories to shut down assembly lines. Tech companies postponed product…
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