This week, municipal authorities in Damascus banned the sale of alcohol in most of the city. Bars and restaurants that have served alcohol there for decades will no longer be allowed to, and it will only be possible to buy alcohol in closed bottles in a handful of Christian-majority neighborhoods, to take away.
Lars Klingbeil, the finance minister from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), who likes to call himself the "Minister of Investment," has more money at his disposal than any of his predecessors before him. In 2025, the Bundestag approved a special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality, allowing €500 billion ($579 million) in additional debt.
First, the good news: According to a recent survey, racism and discrimination in Germany are on a slight decline compared to studies from previous years. But that's where the reassuring findings end. This is because xenophobic and derogatory views remain rampant.
Skip next section Trapped at Sea: Indian Seafarers are caught in the Strait of Hormuz standoff March 21, 2026 Trapped at Sea: Indian Seafarers are caught in the Strait of Hormuz standoff Thousands of Indian seafarers are trapped aboard vessels unable to move through the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world's most volatile
Federal prosecutors in the United States are investigating Colombian President Gustavo Petro for alleged ties to drug traffickers, according to US media reports. Petro has been designated a "priority target" by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Associated Press news agency reported. What do we know about the investigation into Colombia's president?
A civil lawsuit for damages claims against former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was closed on Friday, after three victims of bombings in England by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) dropped their charges against him. Why was the case dropped against Gerry Adams?
German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig on Friday said the government was preparing a new law to criminalize pornographic deepfakes, accelerating efforts to tackle digital violence against women.
Black smoke rises over the Persian Gulf as gas fields, power plants, civilian infrastructure, and military facilities across the region are under attack from Iran.
Same-sex marriages performed in other EU countries will now be recognized in Poland, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Friday. The decision marks a landmark moment for LGBTQ+ rights in one of the bloc's most socially conservative countries. The case involved a Polish couple who married in Germany in 2018.
The European Union (EU) Parliament recently passed a resolution pushing for the release of Niger's former President, Mohamed Bazoum, by April 2, the day his constitutional mandate was meant to conclude. The EU resolution said that it "strongly condemns the continued arbitrary detention of democratically elected President Bazoum and his wife."
Across history, European depictions of the Amazon have typically presented the South American region as a vast, untouched expanse. Over time, a set of tropes took hold: the rainforest as a "virgin" wilderness; Indigenous life cast as belonging to an earlier era; the whole region suspended outside of time.
The long sandy beaches of Turkey's Mediterranean region are very popular with tourists.