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Fake weddings in Pakistan signal a cultural shift – DW – 12/12/2025

13Dec

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Life Style, World

Fake weddings in Pakistan signal a cultural shift – DW – 12/12/2025

The wedding stage looks inconspicuous at first glance: marigold-laden, with bright, cheery yellow tones adorning where the bride and groom sit. It seems like a typical Pakistani mehndi — part of the country's traditional three-day wedding festivities — yet a closer look reveals something unusual: the groom is a woman. This isn't a same-sex marriage but a "fake wedding," an organized event giving people the chance to get together and enjoy a spectacular night out free from social pressure. Pakistan's fake wedding trend, which has been gaining traction since 2023, replicates the aesthetics and festivities of a "real" wedding, but without the lifelong commitment or family pressures that usually define Pakistani marriages. This type of event increased in popularity after a fake wedding orga...

Messi returns to Kolkata to a hero’s welcome – DW – 12/13/2025

13Dec

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World

Messi returns to Kolkata to a hero’s welcome – DW – 12/13/2025

Argentina soccer superstar Lionel Messi arrived Saturday in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, as large crowds of jubilant fans gathered at the airport and lined the streets in the city to welcome him. Indian news agency ANI said the soccer player, considered the greatest of his generation, was escorted out of the airport via an alternative route because an overwhelming number of people turned out at the airport to catch a glimpse of him. Messi is visiting India as part of what's billed as his "GOAT (greatest of all time) Tour" and is set to tour four cities in total: Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. Messi visited Kolkata, the former capital of British-ruled India, for the first time in 2011. This time, the soccer-mad city built a 70-foot-tall statue to mark his visit. The...

Can Lionel Messi’s visit boost Indian football? – DW – 12/13/2025

13Dec

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World

Can Lionel Messi’s visit boost Indian football? – DW – 12/13/2025

Argentina football star Lionel Messi's much-anticipated visit to India, as part of what's billed as his "GOAT (greatest of all time) Tour," has generated great excitement. Messi, who just won Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Player award for the second season in a row, last visited India in 2011, when Argentina faced Venezuela in an international friendly in Kolkata, India's footballing heartland. After kicking off his four-city visit in Kolkata on Saturday, Messi is scheduled to visit the southern city of Hyderabad and Mumbai before concluding the tour in New Delhi on Monday, where the 2022 World Cup winner is to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Among the highlights of his stop in Kolkata, Messi is to inaugurate the world's largest statue of himself, a towering 70-foot (21.3 meter...

Thailand strikes Cambodia despite Trump truce claims – DW – 12/13/2025

13Dec

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World

Thailand strikes Cambodia despite Trump truce claims – DW – 12/13/2025

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that his country would keep up military strikes on Cambodia until it no longer felt under threat from its neighbor, telling local media there was no ceasefire in place. Anutin wrote on Facebook that Thailand would "continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people," after telling reporters it was Cambodia that should first stop its attacks. "I want to make it clear. Our actions this morning already spoke," he said. The recent cross-border clashes, which come after a long-running territorial dispute reignited this year, have displaced more than 500,000 people and killed more than 20 people, including several civilians, with hundreds more wounded, officials say. Anutin's statements c...

Elections under martial law, but only if it’s safe – DW – 12/11/2025

12Dec

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World

Elections under martial law, but only if it’s safe – DW – 12/11/2025

Presidential elections in Ukraine have once again become a much discussed topic since US President Donald Trump reproached his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not holding the vote. "They're using war not to hold an election, but I would think the Ukrainian people... should have that choice. And maybe Zelenskyy would win,” Trump said in a recent interview with the media outlet Politico, adding it was time for Ukraine to hold a vote since "they haven't had an election in a long time." He said it was even getting to a "point where it's not a democracy anymore." Russia's missile and drone strikes on Ukraine have not let up despite peace talksImage: Valentyn Ogirenko/REUTERS Zelenskyy: Ukraine will hold elections if conditions are safe Zelenskyy responded to Trump's remarks by...

Why Russian attacks on Ukraine harm Moldova’s power grid – DW – 12/12/2025

12Dec

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World

Why Russian attacks on Ukraine harm Moldova’s power grid – DW – 12/12/2025

Russia's war against Ukraine is increasingly affecting the countries of central and southeast Europe. Russian drones and missiles violating the continent's airspace have become commonplace, especially in Poland, the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Drones have exploded several times in southeastern Romania, forcing some villagers to be evacuated. It appears Russia is deliberately directing drones at Ukraine's neighbors, as recent incidents in Moldova and Romania have shown. Now, for the first time, Moldova's energy grid has been impacted by a massive Russian attack on energy facilities in Ukraine. In the early hours of last Saturday (December 6), Russia struck Ukraine with more than 700 drones and missiles, damaging and destroying power plants throughout the country, among other things, a...

Thousands told to evacuate amid floods in Washington – DW – 12/12/2025

12Dec

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World

Thousands told to evacuate amid floods in Washington – DW – 12/12/2025

Tens of thousands of people in the US state of Washington were ordered to evacuate on Thursday evening amid surging floodwaters that have inundated farmland. At least 78,000 people in the state's agricultural region were told to flee the floodplain, one day after the state declared a state of emergency. Over 12,000 homes were without electricity on Thursday night, according to PowerOutage.us. The northwest of the United States has seen torrential rainfall in the past few days due to a weather phenomenon called atmospheric river, in which a band of extremely moist air delivers intense rainfall for days. A state of emergency has been declared in Washington stateImage: M. Scott Brauer/ZUMA/IMAGO Washington governor warns of 'potentially historic' floods "The flooding levels we're lookin...

Solidarity amid Gaza criticism – DW – 12/07/2025

8Dec

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World

Solidarity amid Gaza criticism – DW – 12/07/2025

Seven months into his chancellorship, Friedrich Merz travelled for his first official visit to Israel, a trip that lasted less than 24 hours. The visit drew intense scrutiny — particularly in Germany— over whether it would send the wrong signal amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza and escalating violence in the West Bank. Among the Israeli public, Merz remains relatively unknown, historian Moshe Zimmermann told DW. "If you asked people in a survey, 'Who is the current Chancellor of Germany?', no more than 10% of Israelis would know that his name is Friedrich Merz," Zimmerman said. "For the vast majority, Angela Merkel is still the Chancellor — and she was very popular here." Lately, however, there have been increasingly critical voices coming from Germany regarding Israel's military conduc...

100 abducted schoolchildren released — reports – DW – 12/08/2025

8Dec

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World

100 abducted schoolchildren released — reports – DW – 12/08/2025

Authorities in Nigeria said Sunday that they have secured the release of 100 schoolchildren who were kidnapped from a Catholic school last month. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said 315 pupils and staff were abducted by gunmen on November 21 from St. Mary's co-educational boarding school in the north-central Niger state. Fifty students were able to escape in the following hours. The fate of another 165 students and school staff, who are believed to still be in captivity, remains unclear.Twelve teachers and 303 children were kidnapped from St. Mary's in Papiri, Niger state [FILE: November 23, 2025]Image: Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye/AFP What do we know about the 100 children who have been released? The 100 schoolchildren who were released have arrived in the capital Abuja, a U...

Trump casts doubt on Netflix-Warner Bros. deal – DW – 12/08/2025

8Dec

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World

Trump casts doubt on Netflix-Warner Bros. deal – DW – 12/08/2025

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would be involved in the review by federal regulators of a proposed consolidation deal between streaming platform Netflix and Hollywood studio Warner Bros. The companies announced the agreement on Friday. Netflix would acquire parts of Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion (€84 billion) if the sale is completed. If regulators approve, the deal would unite two of the biggest names in entertainment, Netflix and Warner Bros., the studio behind "Harry Potter," "Game of Thrones," and the DC films. What did Trump say about the deal between Netflix and Warner Bros.? "I'll be involved in that decision," Trump told reporters as he arrived at the Kennedy Center for its annual awards show. The US president was referring to federal regulators reviewi...