World

The death of her husband pushed 60-year-old Moroccan widow Meryem into a deep crisis. Speaking with Moroccan magazine Egalite Mag in February, she said it wasn't just the sadness over her loss that has made her feel vulnerable. "I find myself alone, facing his family, treated like an enemy even though I built this life with him for 30 years," she said, asking that her last name not be published for fear of retaliation from her late husband's family. Meryem's husband had made a point of providing for her future by purchasing an apartment in her name. But shortly after his death, his relatives claimed in court that the property belonged to them, according to one of the Sharia-based inheritance rules, taasib. Under taasib, in cases where a deceased man leaves daughters but no sons, male rel...

US President Donald Trump on Sunday hailed a framework agreement between the United States and Iran aimed at ending hostilities in the Gulf that have reduced commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle for more than three months. The deal, scheduled to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, reopens the strait to shipping without tolls, lifts the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and allows Tehran to resume oil exports under limited sanctions relief. The framework also extends the current ceasefire for at least 60 days while launching broader talks on Iran's nuclear program. Yet, unlike reopening a highway after a car wreck, restoring prewar oil, gas and container traffic through this vital chokepoint faces significant hurdles. Greek maritime risk management agency MARISKS wa...

Since the 2020‑2023 coups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, military leaders have imposed sweeping criminal defamation and antiterrorism laws that enable the arbitrary detention of journalists, bloggers and activists. They have also ordered the shutdown of independent radio stations and online platforms. "It has become more repressive. It's no longer as easy to speak out," said Ulf Laessing, former director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Sahel program in Mali. People have become more cautious. "That is clearly a point of criticism against the government," he told DW. In Mali, General Assimi Goita seized power through two military coups in 2020 and 2021 and gradually placed the country under military rule. In 2025, the National Transitional Council passed a draft law securing Goita's...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that an agreement with Iran could be imminent. He spoke of a "memorandum of understanding" (MoU) that both sides aim to conclude in the coming days. Iranian officials said that no draft MoU had yet been approved. However, if the United States were to accept the proposal put forward by Iran, it was likely that Iran would follow suit. An agreement would mark the most significant diplomatic development since the Iran war began over three months ago — a conflict that has cost thousands of lives and pushed global energy prices higher. Iran's nuclear program remains key hurdle At the center of the US-Iran negotiations is Tehran's nuclear program, in particular the handling of what is believed to be around 400 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium e...

A landmark study on cyberscams in Europe released this week has found that 75% of adults encountered a scam in the past year. While 71% of respondents said they were confident in recognizing scams, 8% of those exposed went on to interact with scammers. Some 16% of parents said their children had been approached by a scammer. Across the European countries surveyed, around €50 billion ($57.7 billion) has been lost to scams in the last 12 months, according to the study by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), a nonprofit organization that polled around 22,200 people across 15 European countries. Of those who interacted with a scam, 22% suffered a financial or data loss, yet only 39% reported the incident to authorities. The average financial loss was $2,735 (€2,369), with the highest avera...

The situation in the Middle East remains tense, with a fragile ceasefire in the Iran war looking more and more tenuous as all sides exchange threats and fire. On Monday (June 8), the US blamed the crash of an attack helicopter off Oman on Iran and carried out strikes on Iranian sites. Strikes have continued into Tuesday. Iran has responded with attacks of its own on US sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. But the conflict is not limited to the US and Iran. Despite an ostensible ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, the Israeli army struck targets in the suburbs of Beirut over the weekend following new Hezbollah rocket attacks. Shortly thereafter, Tehran responded with missile strikes on Israeli territory. Israel, in turn, responded with attacks on targets in Iran. The cont...