World

Days before the vote, Ethiopia's electoral body, the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), announced that elections would not take place in 46 electoral districts in the conflict-affected Amhara and Tigray regions, citing insecurity and political tensions. The NEBE said voting would not take place in eight of the 138 electoral districts in the northwestern Amhara region because of what it described as "unfavorable conditions" amid clashes between militia groups and the army. The board also suspended voting in 38 districts in Tigray, where tensions remain high between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).The war in Tigray killed hundreds of thousands of people and despite a peace deal, the situation remains volatile Image: Ethiopian News Agency/AP/pi...

Days before the vote, Ethiopia's electoral body, the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), announced that elections would not take place in 46 electoral districts in the conflict-affected Amhara and Tigray regions, citing insecurity and political tensions. The NEBE said voting would not take place in eight of the 138 electoral districts in the northwestern Amhara region because of what it described as "unfavorable conditions" amid clashes between militia groups and the army. The board also suspended voting in 38 districts in Tigray, where tensions remain high between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).The war in Tigray killed hundreds of thousands of people and despite a peace deal, the situation remains volatile Image: Ethiopian News Agency/AP/pi...

Federal court filings in Virginia, home to the Langley headquarters of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), show a former official is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars and other valuables from the government.  The man was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to the court documents, the Associated Press reported. What is the case about?  Between November 2025 and March this year, the man requested and received a "significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses," an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the case alleges.  It says it's unclear what he intended to use the funds for, but that a portion of it was found in a storage space near his office.  When federal of...

Every weekday morning, Blessing Ade leaves her house in Lagos, Nigeria, carrying her baby in a wrap. The first-time mother, who lives in a two-story building, only steps outside when her ride is already waiting at the gate. "I book my ride before I step out of the house," she told DW. "The ride has to be in front of my gate, not that I'm outside and then standing under the sun." For her, public buses are not an option. "Right now, I'm not thinking bus. I don't even see it as an option. I've canceled it." Rising fuel prices and fare surges are changing how ride‑hailing is used in Lagos. Some commuters say they rely on ride‑hailing more than ever, while others are cutting back, switching between apps or abandoning trips when prices rise. Fuel prices in Nigeria began rising sharply after P...

The EU, Germany, several UN members and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres all rebuked Russia on Tuesday for Sunday's bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Moscow's call for foreign diplomats to leave the city for their own safety.  Sunday's attack was one of the larger bombardments of Kyiv in the four-year Russian invasion. And on Monday, the Kremlin announced that it planned more such attacks that would "systematically" target what it said were defense companies and other military targets in the city.  Russia had first raised the prospect of widespread attacks on Kyiv earlier in May, amid the two sides' bickering over a possible ceasefire to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe in 1945. Both times it said it was responding to Ukrainian long-range drone stri...

During his summit with China's Xi Jinping this month , US President Donald Trump said that he brought up two prisoners — Christian pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai. Mingri is the founder of the Zion Protestant Church, one of China's largest underground churches, who was arrested in 2025. Lai, meanwhile, was sentenced in February to 20 years for foreign collusion and sedition over his ownership of the now-defunct, pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper. In remarks to reporters on May 15, Trump said Xi had said he would "strongly consider the pastor." But the US president pointed out that his Chinese counterpart had described Lai's case as "a tough one," with Trump admitting he "didn't feel optimistic" about it.Jimmy Lai: A life that rose and fell with Hong KongTo v...

The severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where nearly half of the population requires assistance, has pushed many families into survival mode. Hunger, joblessness and collapsing services have tightened dependence within Afghan households. At the same time, wide-ranging restrictions imposed by the Taliban rulers since their return to power in 2021 have narrowed women's options in public life, limiting access to work, education and mobility. Together, these pressures make violence against women in the private sphere harder to escape, more difficult to report and easier to conceal. Forced marriage and dependency Women's rights advocates and local journalists describe a pattern: Economic desperation drives forced and early marriages, increases women's dependence on husbands or in-law...

Thousands of people marched through Spain's capital, Madrid, on Sunday, protesting soaring rents, high home prices and a growing housing shortage. Organizers said more than 100,000 people joined the march, while authorities put the figure at about 23,000. The demonstration, organized by the Madrid Tenants' Union and backed by Spain's two main trade unions, comes despite recent action by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government to tackle the housing crisis. "Housing measures, although some are moving in the right direction, are advancing at a snail's pace, while the housing crisis is escalating rapidly," Unai Sordo, secretary general of the CCOO union, said. Housing shortage worsening Spain's central bank says that between 2021 and 2025, the number of new households grew faster than t...