Heavy rains lashed Sri Lanka on Friday, hampering a major clean-up operation after severe flooding and landslides last week killed nearly 500 people, officials said. Authorities reported up to 132 millimetres of rainfall in southern Sri Lanka over a 15-hour period ending Thursday night. But while the deluge was intense, they said the large-scale flooding […]
Read More
Cherished Christmas tradition for some, profoundly insulting for others, the Dutch character “Black Pete”, a servant who helps Santa Claus distribute presents, has divided opinion in The Netherlands for decades. Until recently, Santa’s arrival on the eve of Saint Nicolas Day (December 5) — a major Yuletide celebration for the Dutch — was marked by […]
Read More
Tewolde has fought multiple times for Eritrea, one of the most closed societies on Earth, and is now praying another war is not about to break out with neighbouring Ethiopia.”If the war starts, many people will go to the front and, as before, many children will lose their fathers, mothers will lose their husbands, parents will […]
Read MoreCarrying her sore-pocked daughter across her decaying field, Helene Mvubu says she is one of thousands to have fallen victim to the toxic waste defiling the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining capital. Global powers, notably China and the United States, are in a race to extract strategic minerals in the DRC, which supplies more than […]
Read More
The scent of marzipan wafts through the air as confectioners from a century-old company in southern France prepare calissons, one of Provence’s famed sweets made of candied melon and crushed almonds. French producers have over the past decade sought to revive almond production, and the traditional gourmet treat first introduced in Provence under King Rene […]
Read MoreBundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier hat in einer Rede vor dem britischen Parlament zur gemeinsamen Verteidigung von Freiheit und Demokratie aufgerufen. Die Demokratie sei heute “an vielen Orten weltweit” in Gefahr, warnte Steinmeier in seiner Rede am Donnerstag in London. Autokraten würden stärker und nutzten Desinformation als Waffe, um “unsere Gesellschaften zu spalten”, Zweifel zu säen und […]
Read MoreAs relentless harassment from Israeli settlers drove his brothers from their Bedouin community in the central occupied West Bank, Ahmed Kaabneh remained determined to stay on the land his family had lived on for generations. But when a handful of young settlers constructed a shack around 100 metres above his home and started intimidating his […]
Read More
In the sun-scorched lands bordering Zimbabwe’s largest wildlife sanctuary, Takesure Moyo pedals through his village each morning on a mission to help his community coexist with the elephants and predators that roam nearby. The 49-year-old is among several locals trained as community monitors under an initiative by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and […]
Read MoreA right-wing Honduran presidential candidate backed by Donald Trump reclaimed a narrow lead over his rival Thursday on the fourth day of a plodding vote count. With over 86 percent of the votes counted, the race was still too early to call. Trump-backed businessman Nasry Asfura was leading with 40.25 percent compared to 39.40 percent […]
Read More