Casualties in war are often disputed by opposing sides and counting true numbers is challenging. Yet after years of disputing the number of casualties reported by the Gaza health authorities since the outbreak of hostilities in October 2023, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have now reportedly concurred with estimates that 71,000 Palestinians have been killed.
After months of mounting pressure on independent media, academic institutions and NGOs, Serbia's ruling majority has turned its attention to the judiciary.
Massive Russian drone and missile attacks on infrastructure and cities, 20 hours or more each day without water, electricity, and at times even heat, and outside temperatures of -15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit): This is what many Ukrainians are being forced to endure this winter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in the blood of Ukraine, while US President Donald Trump tears up the climate protection agreement like an angry child: These Dusseldorf Carnival floats made by German artist and float builder Jacques Tilly are meant to provoke.
Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is currently on a spending spree: it has more than €108 billion ($129 billion) at its disposal this year — a gigantic, unprecedented sum. This is being financed both by the official federal budget and special funds, for which the state is taking out loans.
Videos of Germans who have moved to Russia seeking "traditional values" garner hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and YouTube. These new residents are regularly invited to appear on state television, while the Kremlin speaks of mass immigration from the West.
Just over 10 days after one of the most chaotic Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in history, the continent's football governing body (CAF) has issued fines worth more than $1m (€835,000) and banned players from both finalists.
The rule of the strongest is back: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke of a "new world of great powers" at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. There was much talk of armament, economic might, power plays — and of course US President Donald Trump.
"With a four-day week and an exaggerated work-life balance, prosperity cannot be maintained," Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in early January, despite OECD data that shows Germans work even more than they did in previous years.
Iranians are running out of water and choking on some of the world's worst air pollution, environmental crises that critics say exemplify the failures fueling anger at the country's theocratic regime.
In a classroom in Chennai, India, around 20 nurses are learning German at breakneck speed. They have six months to become fluent enough to work in Germany. Ramalakshi, one of the nurses, says her family struggled financially, but still managed to pay the equivalent of several thousand euros for her nursing college.
A dictator wearing reflective sunglasses, medals arrayed across his chest; a parliament in disarray; a people silenced by impunity. These are images we may envision when we hear the phrase "banana republic." The term was coined by US writer O.