World

Three weeks since the start of the latest Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the facts are: 397 confirmed cases, including 63 confirmed deaths, according to the latest figures reported by the African Union's Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. And yet: "The community does not believe in this disease. Despite the deaths, people don't believe in it," said John Tumujimbe, head of a team for dignified and safe burials in the small town of Mongbwalu. It's one of the epicenters of the Ebola epidemic in the Congo's northeastern Ituri province. "We initially thought of malaria, typhoid or diarrheal diseases. But after so many deaths, we sent samples to the INRB," Tumujimbe told DW. The INRB — Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research in the capital, Kins...

The European Union needs to find ways of speeding up the membership process for six Western Balkan candidate countries, European Council President Antonio Costa said on Thursday. "For us, the enlargement, namely to the Western Balkans, is the most important geopolitical investment that the European Union is doing," Costa said during a joint press briefing with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro have been seeking to join the bloc for some time now but have yet to complete the stringent process. EU leaders meeting to find ways of making process 'faster and better' "Tomorrow the European leaders will discuss with the leaders of the Western Balkans how we can improve our methodology to move forward fas...

What does a human being need to survive with dignity while they await asylum and to be transferred from one European country to another? That was the question before the judges of European Court of justice (ECJ) as they delivered a ruling on whether benefits provided by Germany fell short of the EU's expectations. The ECJ was asked to interpret the rights of an Afghan asylum-seeker, identified as FB, whose asylum application had been rejected by Germany and who was due to be deported to Romania, where he first claimed asylum in 2021. While FB waited to be transferred he was provided food, heated accommodation, and hygiene and healthcare, but received no assistance for clothing and other household items. A law in Germany slashed benefits for rejected asylum-seekers in what activists desc...

The current election campaign in Kosovo is marked not only by the usual competition between rival political parties, but also by the disintegration of one of the most important political alliances in the country in recent years, namely that of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who has led the government for the past six years, and former President Vjosa Osmani. Osmani was already a political ally of Albin Kurti and had the prime minister's support when she was elected president by the parliament of Kosovo in 2021. At the time, the two were seen as a motor for change and the fight against corruption in Kosovo. Now, they are rivals. No consensus in parliament When Osmani's term came to an end earlier this year, Kurti did not back her for a second term. Kurti has said that "the president shoul...

The UN weather agency on Tuesday issued an update predicting an 80% likelihood of an El Nino event between June and August of this year.  El Nino is a periodic warming of sea temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, which typically lasts between nine and 12 months, according to the WMO.  The weather pattern can lead to increased temperatures worldwide, increasing rainfall to some parts of the world and prompting droughts in others, while also spurring hurricane formation in the central and eastern Pacific.  India is grappling with a typically scorching season, making water a precious resource in New DelhiImage: Amit Shukla/Avalon/Photoshot/picture alliance What did the WMO say about the chances and effects of El Nino?  The WMO said that as well as the 80% chance of El Ni...

The "Global Refugee Crisis 2026" report, published Monday in Berlin, is intended to be a wake-up call, according to its co-editor Petra Bendel from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Bavaria). At its presentation, she expressed concern about the impact of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), a legal framework adopted in 2024 that will become legally binding across all EU member states on June 12: "We fear a further expansion of detention-like accommodation for asylum seekers at the external borders," Bendel said. She was especially critical of the plan to concentrate refugees found to have no prospect of asylum in "return hubs," repatriation centers located in third countries outside of the European Union (EU). These are a central feature of tougher migration policy, that Germany'...

Imagine rockets being launched from the Azores, an archipelago out in the Atlantic Ocean, carrying Portuguese-built satellites into space — and then picture reusable space capsules returning to base. While this may sound like a rather futuristic scenario, elements of it could soon become reality. Portugal, after all, is working hard to become a spacefaring nation, with the help of its many highly skilled engineers and EU cooperation. "Portugal has modernized considerably over the past 20 years," Portuguese Space Agency President Ricardo Conde tells DW. "Our universities produce outstanding engineers. We have created human capital that we can build on." Conde, whose agency was founded in 2019, says about 80 different companies now employ some 2,000 highly qualified workers across Portuga...

Defense ministers, military officials and security experts from around the world gathered at the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in Singapore this week to discuss the security situation in the Asia-Pacific. The conference has been hosted annually since 2002 by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). What are the key takeaways from this year's conference? 1. Security situation in the Asia-Pacific is deteriorating A week before the Shangri-La Dialogue 2026 began in Singapore, city-state Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said: "The reality in this changed world is that there will be more volatility — we will be facing storm after storm." Indeed, several conflicts in the Asia-Pacific have escalated recently. In May 2025, there was a brief war between India and Pakistan....

The Iranian regime has been accused of extortion and threats to global energy security after reports emerged that Tehran has begun charging up to $2 million (€1.7 million) per vessel for "safe passage" through the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is the world's most indispensable energy corridor, squeezed between Iran and Oman. Before the Iran war, it carried one-fifth of all the oil and gas consumed worldwide. Iran's government has justified the fees as war reparations for damage suffered caused during US-Israeli attacks on the country, as well as payment for "navigational services," environmental protection and enhanced security.  The government announced that it was drafting a joint protocol with Oman to require ships to obtain permits before transiting the strait. While some Asian ship...

French lawmakers on Thursday voted to formally repeal slavery-era laws that defined the legal status of enslaved people as "movable property" and justified abuse and corporal punishment.  While slavery was outlawed more than 170 years ago in France, making Thursday's motion a symoblic move to formally repeal an old royal decree that was superseded not overturned, the vote comes as the country continues to grapple with its colonial legacy.  France was the third-most prolific European trader of enslaved people in the colonial era, after Britain and Portugal. Expert estimates suggest ships departing French ports trafficked more than a million men, women and children from Africa, often to toil in Caribbean colonies. Max Mathiasin, a lawmaker from Guadeloupe, presented the bill to parliamentI...