By Christoph Hasselbach (RDW) – While the German and French leaders celebrated the close ties between their countries during this week’s EU summit, divisions between western and eastern European leaders grew. Christoph Hasselbach reports from Brussels.   The summit was intended to spread a bit of optimism. The professionals, it was announced, would…

By Sabrina Pabst (Radio Deutsche Welle) - Men and women pray side-by-side, and there’s a female imam who doesn’t even wear a headscarf. For many in the Islamic world, these things are inconceivable. A new liberal mosque in Berlin has been causing a stir. Sunnis, Shiites, Alevis, members of the LGTBQ…

(WEBPUBLICAPRESS) NEW YORK –UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the administration of US President Donald Trump that retreating from global issues won’t be good for America or the rest of the world, Radio Deutsche Welle (RDW) reported. “I believe if the US disengages in many aspects of foreign policy it will be…

By Thalif Deen | UNITED NATIONS – As UN staffers in Geneva threaten a strike, protesting a proposed salary cut of over 7.5 percent, a token two-hour “work stoppage” last week forced the Human Rights Council to suspend its meeting. But there is more to come, warned Ian Richards, President of the 60,000-strong…

By Lisa Schlein (VOA News) GENEVA — A new report has found that more people than ever before have become refugees or are internally displaced worldwide because of war, violence, and persecution. The U.N. refugee agency’s “Global Trends Report,” released on the eve of World Refugee Day, June 20, shows an unprecedented 65.6 million…

By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Thirty years ago this week in 1987, President Ronald Reagan visiting Berlin, made his famous challenge, “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.” Alongside the American President stood German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. A few years earlier I met Helmut Kohl campaigning in his native Rheinland. Kohl, a towering…

By Anita Powell  (VOA NEWS) JOHANNESBURG — Mpho Mashele’s eight donkeys are her most precious possessions, and her family’s lifeline. They use them to transport goods in this small, rural village north of South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. “We love our donkeys because they’re the only source of income,” she said. “Without them, we…