World News

At the opening, Frank-Walter Steinmeier warns against destructive dynamics. He fears a new arms race between countries.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Munich Security Conference Photo: Tobioas Hase/dpa

The Munich Security Conference began on Friday with a thoughtful speech by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He urgently warned against an increasingly destructive dynamic in world politics. "From the goal of international cooperation to create a more peaceful world, we are moving further away every year," he said.

The mandate of the interim president will not be extended because his predecessor opposes it. A successor is not in sight.

Supporters of the interim president demonstrate in Port-au-Prince Photo: ap

With the expiration of the term of interim President Jocelerme Privert on Tuesday of this week, the political crisis in Haiti has further intensified. Parliamentary supporters of President Michel Martelly, who left office in February, refuse to extend the interim president’s mandate.

A young protester is squeezed with force between two armored police cars. In Chile, this triggers a new wave of anger.

Santiago: The anger of demonstrators in Chile against police violence is growing Photo: reuters

New escalation of police violence against the ongoing protests in Chile: In Santiago on Friday, 20-year-old demonstrator oscar Perez was crushed by two armored police cars. Video of the scene quickly spread on social media.

Republican-led states are trying to undermine vested rights. For them, the ruling is a punishment. But they are not giving up.

Bland aftertaste: Demonstrators in front of the Surpreme Court Photo: dpa

It is an important victory for women’s rights, what the US Supreme Court announced on Monday. By a vote of five to three, the justices declared unconstitutional legislation in Texas that had made it unbearably difficult for women to obtain an abortion.

Author Mohsin Hamid uses fairy-tale elements in "Exit West." He sends his protagonists on a trek across continents.

Hamid at a literary festival in 2014 Photo: imago/Fotoarena

It starts out like a random "boy meets girl" story. Perhaps not so random from a comfortably European perspective, as Saeed and Nadia, the couple who have yet to become one, live in a city preparing for civil war. In a city where customs are so strict that Nadia, who lives alone, has taken to always wearing a voluminous full-body robe to keep quiet from men. Slowly, the two get closer to each other and eventually become a couple.

The Prosanova festival for young literature is also digitally diverse. Social daydrinking is replaced by virtual author tours.

The six-member festival management team is faced with the feat of keeping its audience on the computer for four days Photo: Salma Jaber

When the largest festival for young German-language literature begins in Hildesheim on the afternoon of June 11, no one will be driving there. Like so many cultural events this year, Prosanova 2020 will take place on the web, and for that it comes up with an elaborate transmedia concept.

Hamburg’s Kunsthalle reopens after 17 months of renovation. And presents itself both stately and popular at the same time

And Immanuel Kant is waiting at the center: the Kunsthalle’s sunny yellow Kuupelsaal. Photo: dpa

Spacious, flooded with light, Alster view: Hamburg’s Kunsthalle director Hubertus Gabner uses the vocabulary of the real estate industry to praise his newly renovated building. Indeed, the museum, which is reopening after 17 months of renovation, breathes the spirit of the upper middle class that founded it in 1869 and which now paid for the renovation: Otto-Versand entrepreneur’s son and ECE shopping center boss Alexander Otto and his wife Dorit made the renovation possible with 15 million euros. They want to feel a bit at home there, too.

Right-wing conservative politician Janez Janša was embroiled in corruption scandals. Now he is to form a new center-right government.

Could soon also be EU Council president: Janez Janša Photo: Jure Makovec/afp

Conservative Slovenian politician Janez Janša has the chance to form a new government in Slovenia. President Borut Pahor gave him the green light this week. Now he must form a new coalition government within 14 days. This marks the return of one of southeastern Europe’s most colorful politicians to the European spotlight. The friend and political ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will strengthen the right-wing conservative Eastern European axis in the EU – Slovenia will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2021.