World

Japan on Thursday commemorates the 81st anniversary of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during the last days of World War II, killing close to 80,000 people in the initial blast. Three days later, the US dropped a bomb over Nagasaki. "Japan adopted a pacifist constitution in reflection on World War II," noted Masako Wada, assistant secretary general of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers' Organizations.  Japan "earned the trust of the international community as a country that promised never to wage a war again," added Wada, who survived the Nagasaki bombing as a 1-year-old.The dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, flattened more than two-thirds of Hiroshima [FILE...

A dead fish lies half-decayed on the shore. Its eyes have been picked out by the birds. Hungary's Lake Velence will likely experience a massive fish kill. That's because oxygen levels in the body of water are too low, according to environmental experts. This means more and more fish will suffocate. Hungary has seen temperatures soar to 40 degrees Celsius, with barely any rain. This heat is having a major impact on the country's third-largest natural lake. Its water has never been particularly deep, but the current situation is dire. Water levels have been recorded in Agard, on the southern shore, since 1933. It dropped to a historic low in September 2022, measuring just 53 centimeters. Yet as of today, August 4, the water level has dropped to a mere 29 centimeters (11 inches). As long ...

US President Donald Trump touted it as a "historic breakthrough." But so far the new Gaza peace deal, announced last week and meant to help end the fighting and ease the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave, only seems to have resulted in another standoff between the key belligerents. However, experts point out, there are some differences between this new peace deal and previous arrangements that could be positive. For one thing, it is much more detailed and substantive. For another, statements by Trump indicate he might be more willing to push Israel towards accepting the deal. And finally, after resisting the idea for years, this month the Gaza-based group Hamas has agreed to disarm. It was Hamas that sent fighters into Israel on October 7, 2023, an attack that resulted...

US President Donald Trump touted it as a "historic breakthrough." But so far the new Gaza peace deal, announced last week and meant to help end the fighting and ease the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave, only seems to have resulted in another standoff between the key belligerents. However, experts point out, there are some differences between this new peace deal and previous arrangements that could be positive. For one thing, it is much more detailed and substantive. For another, statements by Trump indicate he might be more willing to push Israel towards accepting the deal. And finally, after resisting the idea for years, this month the Gaza-based group Hamas has agreed to disarm. It was Hamas that sent fighters into Israel on October 7, 2023, an attack that resulted...

The village of Bentiu has seen it all: Located in the north of South Sudan near the border with Sudan, the capital of Unity State used to have a population of merely several thousand people. But war, violence and other crisis have resulted in an additional 140,000 displaced persons seeking shelter there since 2013, resulting in the establishment of a massive camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Several UN bodies including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are active on the ground, running what is known as the Protection of Civilians (POC) camp, which by now feels more like a permanent structure.In South Sudan, usable water is increasingly becoming a rare commodityImage: UIG/IMAGO At ...

Zambia's opposition is entering the 2026 general election without Edgar Lungu, the politician who for years united its biggest parties and inspired much of its support. Lungu, the country's former president, died in South Africa on June 5, 2025. Opposition parties have since been competing to inherit his political legacy while trying to convince voters they remain a credible alternative to incumbent Hakainde Hichilema's ruling United Party for National Development (UPND). Lungu had led the now dismantled Patriotic Front (PF) party, a faction of which became part of Zambia's overall opposition Tonse Alliance in 2024. The former president had also intitially been fronted as the coalition's 2026 presidential candidate.Edgar Lungu was Zambia's president from 2015 to 2021Image: Philippe Wojaz...

Just two years after a student-led uprising ended the nearly 16-year rule of Sheikh Hasina, many fear Bangladesh is slipping backward. With Hasina, now in exile in India, planning a return in December and critics accusing the current government of failing to deliver on its promises, the country's political future is once again in doubt. "At the end of the day, we did not see the elimination of discrimination, the creation of an inclusive society, or the new political order that was promised," Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, told DW. "It seems we are forgetting the very reasons behind the uprising of last July, especially those who came to power." The protest movement began in 2018 over a controversial quota system for government jo...

An investigation by Reuters news agency into Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, has raised a question: has Iran's most prominent opposition figure abroad lost credibility and influence among Western policymakers and Iranians? Reuters reported in July that Pahlavi's candidacy had "sputtered" after appearing to reach its high point earlier this year. Although he has repeatedly declared his readiness to lead Iran through a transitional period, senior US officials have publicly distanced themselves from the prospect of a US-backed effort to bring Pahlavi to power. The Reuters report notes that critics accuse Pahlavi of relying too heavily on foreign military intervention and failing to build a lasting political coalition. A shift in Pahlavi's rhetoric During periods of height...