Author: Spiegel.de

Thousands of people died in the Northern Ireland conflict. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson now wants to put a stop to all court proceedings related to the violence. The families of the dead are appalled.

More and more vaccination centers and doctors offices are struggling to use their vaccine supplies before they expire. Now, federal authorities in Germany are desperately looking for storage options and exploring ways to donate doses abroad.

The aggressive Delta variant of the coronavirus is driving up infections in Germany, with vaccinated people also at risk of being infected. Stricter rules are now being put in place for people returning from travel abroad, but they will be difficult to enforce. Is this the start of the fourth wave?

Floods, storms, forest fires – events that used to be extreme have become the new normal. Now German officials are building dikes, underground storage tanks and green roofs to avert disaster. Will it be enough?

In many countries, the number of new COVID-19 infections is skyrocketing. Did governments move too quickly to loosen the lockdowns? And what is the role of the Delta variant? In interview, British researcher Devi Sridhar warns of the dangers of the new wave and argues that vaccination is our only way out.

The recent floods in western Germany show how poorly prepared the federal and state governments are for major natural events. The country’s efforts at disaster management have been highly convoluted, but pressure is growing following last week’s flooding catastrophe.

Silently and strategically, the Taliban are gaining ground in eastern Afghanistan – and without even firing shots. As they advance, they are forming grotesque alliances against forces even more radical than themselves.

Faced with declining vaccination rates and persistent skepticism, Germany is now preparing for another autumn of living with COVID-19. Politicians are looking at several measures, including air purifiers for schools, compulsory testing for travelers and a pro-vaccine ad blitz.

As prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu was one of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s closest allies. In an interview, he now accuses the Turkish president of driving his country into the ground.

Former foreign correspondent Roula Khalaf has served as the top editor of the Financial Times since 2020. In an interview, she discusses the newspaper’s reputation as the bible of capitalism, her efforts to attract more female readers and the publication’s reporting on the massive Wirecard scandal in Germany.

This week’s devastating floods in western Germany could very well bring climate change to the forefront of the country’s national election. A similar weather disaster in 2002 tipped the ballots.

In recent days, both the American and German forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan. The government in Kabul is now on its own, with the Taliban conquering one district after the other. Could they soon lay siege on the capital city?

Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to meet the new U.S. president on Thursday, and one issue in particular is weighing on the visit: a new gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea that will deliver Russian gas to Germany. Berlin is seeking to make concessions in Washington to relieve tensions over the project.

During the reporting of his latest book on the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, “Fire and Fury” author Michael Wolff says he got an invitation to meet the former president at Mar-a-Lago. In an interview, he tells DER SPIEGEL what ensued.

Hungarian President Viktor Orbán and other like-minded populists are trampling on the EU’s values with growing disregard. Europe has an effective option for taking action and it is time to use it: We need to cut Hungary’s EU funds.

Did “cocaine baron” Ridouan Taghi commission a hit job on Dutch star reporter Peter R. de Vries? The assassination attempt casts new light on the power of drug gangs in the Netherlands.

As the availability of vaccines against COVID-19 increases, authorities in Germany are facing a new obstacle: hesitancy among the population. Now leaders are betting on everything from mobile vaccine buses to concert vouchers and a bicycle lottery to convince people to get their jabs.

The disintegration of the socialist multiethnic state of Yugoslavia began 30 years ago. Today, its successors still lack stability, and nationalists are increasingly setting the tone. Are the young democracies drifting away from Europe? A journey through a torn region.

Can we lift the coronavirus containment measures for the fully vaccinated? Berlin-based vaccine researcher Leif Erik Sander thinks it would be unwise to do so given the arrival of the delta variant, which is causing infections even in people who have been given both their jabs.

Germany’s political leaders want to avoid further lockdowns and school closures this fall. But they are also warning that their may be fresh outbreaks with the spread of the delta variant. It seems almost inevitable that some measures will need to be taken.

Early this year, Germans were frustrated and angry at the slow pace of vaccination in the country. Now? The rate has vastly sped up and the country is awash in vaccine. The problem has now become finding enough people willing to get their jab.

Germany’s armed forces officially pulled out of Afghanistan this week. They left behind many Afghan workers who could face persecution or even death at the hands of the Taliban for the help they provided the Germans, despite political pledges to provide protection.

The troops of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his allies are deploying rape and famine in their war in the Tigray region. The violence is horrific, and women are bearing the brunt of it.

Domestic violence has risen during the coronavirus pandemic, and lockdowns have made it more difficult for women to get help. Activists around the world are deploying fake online shops and codewords in response.

War Benjamin Netanjahu in schmutzige Geschäfte um U-Boote von Thyssenkrupp verwickelt? Und wie lief der Deal? Der Jurist Eliad Shraga wirft der deutschen Justiz und Politik vor, nicht bei der Aufklärung zu helfen.

Research conducted by DER SPIEGEL together with other media partners shows that Croatian border officials are brutally pushing back asylum-seekers, including babies, pregnant women and children with disabilities.

In an interview with DER SPIEGEL, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discusses the simmering dispute with Germany over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, provocations from Moscow, the trade dispute with Beijing and America’s role in the fight against autocrats.

The vaccine success stories at BioNTech and Moderna may only be the beginning. Doctors and researchers want to use the revolutionary mRNA technology to fight the world’s worst scourges: from cancer to dementia.

In an interview, BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin predicts a boom in new kinds of mRNA drugs that can be used to fight cancer and other diseases. His company chalked up a major success with its coronavirus vaccine, but will it be able to maintain its advantage over the competition?

Boating has been a pastime for men for hundreds of years in Venice. But during the pandemic, the lagoon surrounding the city has grown quiet. Many women who might have been discouraged in the past are now learning to pilot boats.

In an interview with DER SPIEGEL, physicist Michael Meyer-Hermann discusses the successes and mistakes made by scientists during the coronavirus pandemic. He also warns of a new wave of infections as the Delta variant reaches Germany.

Their sons moved from Cologne to the war in Syria. They kept slaves and rose up the ranks of Islamic State leadership. Their parents would send them care packages with popcorn and Kalashnikov magazines.

Carla Del Ponte prosecuted some of the worst war criminals of the 20th century at The Hague. These days, though, the international justice system seems to have lost its teeth. What went wrong?

Belarus may have receded from the headlines, but the opposition’s fight continues. Five women discuss their struggle in a forest near Minsk – a site chosen to evade Lukashenko’s thugs.

Telegram is one of the world’s most popular chat apps – and possibly the most dangerous. There is little regulation of the platform, which is popular with criminals and terrorists. Who is the mastermind behind it?

A company called Clearview AI secretly scrapes the internet for photos, thus producing a gigantic database for government agencies and police. Is it possible to remove yourself from the collection?

France initially deployed its military to Mali to hunt down jihadists. But reporting by DER SPIEGEL shows that its soldiers have repeatedly killed civilians there. Is the country turning into France’s Afghanistan?

Håvard Grip has recently flown the NASA helicopter Ingenuity as its chief pilot a half-dozen times on Mars. In an interview, he reveals the greatest dangers facing the aircraft and what we can learn from its flights.

With just a few months to go before the German general election, the conservatives took a big step in the right direction by winning the state vote in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday. The right-wing populist AfD failed to live up to expectations.

Cases of attention deficit disorder ADHD have increased during the pandemic. Doctors say the closure of daycare centers and schools is part of the problem. And they have some solutions that go beyond just popping pills.

Hank Azaria has done the voice of an Indian convenience market operator for more than 30 years. In an interview, he explains why he is giving up the role.

The BBC is the mother of all public broadcasters, but it is facing the greatest challenge of its existence. The government has taken aim at the BBC on the eve of its 100th birthday, and it is unclear what the future holds.

Every day, more than 4,000 people in India die of COVID-19. Pratap Bhanu Mehta believes that Prime Minister Modi is to blame – and accuses him of destroying India’s democracy.

German federal and state governments want to vaccinate children and adolescents against COVID-19 as quickly as possible. But does that make sense from a medical perspective? Experience in Israel has shown that infection numbers, even with the B.1.1.7 mutant circulating, can be lowered without vaccinating kids.

The European Union seems strongly determined to sanction Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko after his country forced a Ryanair jet to land so it could arrest an exiled dissident. But leading diplomats fear the moves could exacerbate an already bad situation.

The hijacking of a passenger plane shows the extremes to which Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is willing to go in his efforts to persecute his opponents abroad. Members of the opposition fear further shocking acts of repression.

The general election in Germany is just four months away and little time is left for Chancellor Angela Merkel to complete important projects. Acrimony is intensifying in Berlin.

The Argentinian province of Formosa is pursuing an authoritarian approach to the coronavirus pandemic. Those suspected of infection were being seized and locked away in overcrowded quarantine centers. Meanwhile, the province’s official infection numbers are likely untrustworthy.

Western countries have accused China of genocide for its treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang. Beijing claims that everything is just fine in the homeland of the Muslim minority. We went there to take a look for ourselves.

Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, 63, on his empathy for the Taliban, his bitter disappointment with the former protective power, the United States, and why he considers the EU as his role model. He says the key to war and peace for his country, however, lies with Pakistan.