World

Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency confirmed on Sunday the death of the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli air force attack on Saturday. The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said in a social media message that Khamenei, "one of the most evil people in history," had been killed. Khamenei, who was appointed supreme leader in 1989 after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founder, ruled the country with an iron fist, leaving no room for dissent or political freedom. The news of Khamenei's death was received with joy and grief in different quarters of Iran, with those opposed to the hardline regime seen celebrating on the streets, while others mourned the demise of their leader. DW spoke to some Iranians, who had mi...

The US-Israel attack on Iran and Iran's aggressive response have unnerved oil markets, with many analysts predicting a massive rise in oil prices.While Iran is responsible for just 3-4% of global oil output, its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, considered the most critical oil chokepoint in the world, is prompting oil analysts to raise their forecasts for future oil prices. A prolonged disruption to traffic in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil production is transported, could see oil prices breach the $100-a-barrel threshold, a prospect that would hurt the global economy and push up prices that are already proving difficult to rein in. Oil prices had already risen to their highest levels in months ahead of the latest war in the oil-rich region as traders worried abou...

For four days, Grace Garganta sat inside the public gallery of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. She listened as ICC prosecutors read aloud the words of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is standing trial accused of unleashing a "drug war" in the Philippines that killed thousands, including Garganta's brother and father.  At times, Garganta sat silently with the other family members of victims. Tears streamed down her face as lawyers recounted harrowing details of police clampdowns and streets littered with bodies, some with their heads bound in packing tape. At other moments, she could barely contain her rage as Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte's lawyer, countered that relying on Duterte's former speeches to prove criminal intent is impossible.  "That is why it is...

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, tensions have simmered with neighboring Pakistan. On Friday, those tensions again reached a boiling point, with both sides exchanging strikes in the worst escalation in fighting since the Taliban controlled much of southern Afghanistan in the 1990s. The last large-scale outbreak of violence killed 70 people on both sides in October 2025. Several rounds of talks at the time followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but no lasting agreement materialized. On Friday, Pakistan's defense minister clearly spelled out a new level of escalation, declaring "open war" between Islamabad's forces and the Afghan Taliban. Escalating conflict between Pakistan and AfghanistanTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and cons...

Tensions are rising shortly before renewed talks between the US and Iran, with representatives from Tehran and Washington set to negotiate on Thursday in Geneva over Iran's nuclear program. In political and security policy circles, there is increasing talk of a "military countdown" should no agreement be reached. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump is considering limited military strikes against Iran as a first step to exert pressure on Tehran to accept his demands on a nuclear deal, while trying to avoid a spiral of escalation that could lead to all-out war. At the same time, it is said that if Iran continues to refuse to comply with US demands, the Trump administration could also consider a much broader military campaign aiming to weaken or overt...