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An airplane flying in front of the moon
Image: Peter Nicholls/REUTERS

The moon

At an average distance of 380,000 kilometers from Earth, the moon is the closest object to us in outer space. After a break of 50 years after the last Apollo moon landing, Earthlings now want to go back.

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All Content on this topic

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Ban calls for new UN Syria role

The head of the United Nations has called for changes to the observer mission in Syria. Ban Ki-moon said the focus should move from monitoring a non-existent cease-fire to seeking a political solution.
July 7, 2012

Israel deports African refugees

tens of thousands of african refugees in Israel face deportation.
June 21, 2012
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, left, and Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff.

Rio summit opens

The Rio+20 summit focusing on the world's most urgent environmental problems, has begun in Brazil. Bold talk by world leaders has heightened expectations for results.
June 20, 2012
Free Syrian Army members raise their weapons during a training session on the outskirts of Idlib, Syria

Syrian violence 'intensifying'

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said there has been a "dangerous intensification" of armed violence across Syria. He demanded UN access to the bombarded town of al-Heffah as the US voiced fears of a new massacre.
June 12, 2012
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the UN General Assembly

Syrian civil war 'imminent'

International envoy Kofi Annan has said the intensifying violence in Syria almost constitutes a civil war, saying "all Syrians will lose" unless the fighting stops. Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, spoke of a "breaking point."
June 8, 2012
UN observers are seen ahead of their daily patrols of restive cities at the Dama Rose hotel in Damascus, Syria, 07 June 2012.

UN observers blocked

Numerous diplomats commented on the latest massacre in Syria at a session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, including international envoy Kofi Annan, who expressed his "horror and condemnation."
June 7, 2012
Stammt aber aus unserem DW-eigenen Promo-Material für Learning by Ear. quelle: Katrin Ogunsade 4945

Africalink on Air - 1 June 2012

Killing of German puts spotlight on Nigeria's kidnapping networks+++UN warns of power vaccum in Somalia as transition nears end+++Democracy test as Lesotho scrambles to form first ever coalition government
June 1, 2012

Africalink on Air - 1 June 2012

Killing of German puts spotlight on Nigeria's kidnapping networks+++UN warns of power vaccum in Somalia as transition nears end+++Democracy test as Lesotho scrambles to form first ever coalition government
June 1, 201224:57 min
A Nepali policeman stands guard against the flag of the Communist party of Nepal

UN chief’s Nepal warning

The UN Secretary General has voiced disappointment over the failure of divided parties to meet a deadline to draw up a constitution. Security forces are on high alert amid fears of unrest.
May 29, 2012
The bodies of people whom anti-government protesters say were killed by government security forces lie on the ground

UN condemns Syria massacre

The United Nations has led calls for urgent action in Syria following a deadly massacre. UN observers confirmed that 92 people, including 32 children, were killed in what activists said was a government assault.
May 27, 2012
Police officers wait for news of their colleagues after a bomb exploded, near a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at Damascus hospital April 27, 2012.

Protests in Aleppo

Syria's uprising appears to have intensified in the city of Aleppo after the killing of university students there. Protests are reportedly being staged across the nation in solidarity with the demonstrators in Aleppo.
May 18, 2012
A Syrian security official stands near a crater at the site of the explosion in Damascus

Al Qaeda in Syria?

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said he believes al Qaeda was behind the deadly bomb blasts that rocked Syria last week, killing 55 and wounding hundreds.
May 18, 2012
A man walks past posters of parliamentary candidates on a street in Damascus

Some Syrians vote

Syrians were called on to cast ballots in parliamentary elections. The vote was billed as being part of the country's reform process by President Assad's government, but opposition forces boycotted it.
May 7, 2012
Solar system with Jupiter and orbiting moons

Off to Jupiter

Europe is to launch a billion-euro mission to Jupiter and its moons.
May 3, 2012
Bombed out buildings in Homs

More than 20 killed in Syria

The UN secretary general's latest call for both parties to the Syrian conflict to fully implement a cease-fire has fallen on deaf ears. At least 22 people were reported killed in the latest violence.
May 1, 2012
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon prepare to give a news conference after their meeting at Suu Kyi's home, in Yangon May 1, 2012.

Ban meets Suu Kyi

The UN secretary general has praised Myanmar's opposition leader for defusing a political row, allowing her party to enter parliament. Ban Ki-moon is the latest in a series of senior foreign visitors to Myanmar.
May 1, 2012
Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar oath spat resolved

The dispute over the parliamentary loyalty pledge in Myanmar has been resolved. The opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi has agreed to take the oath and begin work in parliament.
April 30, 2012
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center left, and his wife Yoo Soon-taek, center right

Ban in Myanmar

Myanmar hosted its second major foreign diplomat of the weekend as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon came to the country on the heels of a visit by EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton.
April 29, 2012
Major-General Robert Mood

New head of UN Syria mission

Major General Robert Mood, who has been appointed the new head of the observer mission to Syria, is travelling to Damascus. He faces the daunting task of making the country's peace plan stick.
April 28, 2012
In this Sunday April 22, 2012 photo, two Free Syrian Army fighters aim their guns, at Khalidiyeh neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria.

Cease-fire falters

The Arab League has called on the United Nations to act to protect civilians in Syria as the violence continues. Western states are threatening to up the ante against Damascus if the cease-fire does not hold.
April 27, 2012
Group of UN observers touring Damascus suburbs

UN approves larger Syria mission

The UN Security Council has voted to boost the manpower of its observer mission in Syria in an effort to hold Damascus to its promise to halt attacks on anti-government rebels.
April 22, 2012

Video peace message for Sudan

US President Obama has called on the governments in Khartoum and Juba to cease fighting and start negotiations. South Sudan has started withdrawing its troops from the disputed area.
April 21, 2012
Destruction in old neighborhoods of Homs, Syria.

Expanding observer mission

Two proposals for expanding the United Nations' observer mission in Syria are up for debate at the Security Council, one from Europe and one from Russia, that would increase the maximum number of monitors.
April 20, 2012
Thomas Reiter, Direktor für Bemannte Raumfahrt und Missionsbetrieb und Leiter des ESA-Kontrollzentrums, stellt am Mittwoch (18.01.2012) während einer Pressekonferenz in Darmstadt vor einer Mond-Aufnahme das europäische Raumfahrtprogramm für 2012 vor. Die ESA steht 2012 vor neuen technologischen, strategischen und wirtschaftlichen Herausforderungen. Auf dem Programm stehen Starts neuer Erdbeobachtungs- und Wettersatelliten sowie Planungen für zukünftige Mondmissionen. Foto: Arne Dedert dpa/lhe +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++

Stay in space

Europe's top astronaut says keeping humans in space is important for research.
April 18, 2012
UN observers in Syria

UN: We need help with Syria

The UN is asking the EU to supply aircraft to boost the UN operation in Syria. Meanwhile, reports of government forces violating the cease-fire continue to emerge.
April 17, 2012
Kofi Annan

Annan: Syria calm, more to do

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has told the Security Council that he's "encouraged" by the reports of relative calm in Syria since a cease-fire came into effect Thursday morning, but said there was much work ahead.
April 12, 2012
Syrian refugees and local residents take part in a demonstration against Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad, after Friday prayers outside the Syrian embassy in Amman

Rush to kill as cease-fire looms

Attacks by the Syrian government are killing dozens daily, activists say, as the deadline for an end to military violence quickly approaches. The US Embassy says in some areas, troops are just moving, not withdrawing.
April 7, 2012
Chadian gendarmerie in Chad

Sudanese flare-up

According to officials in South Sudan, troops from neighboring Sudan have engaged in two days of air and ground attacks near the border between the two countries.
March 27, 2012
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) visits the Korean People's Army unit on Cho Islet defending a forward post on the west coast in an undisclosed location in this undated picture released by the North's KCNA in Pyongyang March 10, 2012.

North Korea rocket plan under fire

The UN secretary general and South Korean president condemn the communist North's planned rocket launch as illegal. The UN chief is in Seoul ahead of a security summit as tensions rise in northeast Asia.
March 24, 2012
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flank UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Condemnation, division at UN

Western powers have joined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in maintaining their harsh rhetoric against Syria whilst praising other Arab states for political and democratic changes since the Arab Spring uprisings.
March 12, 2012
The entrance to the UN in Geneva

Walkout at UN over gay rights

Representatives of African and Arab states have walked out of a UN Human Rights Council meeting on gay rights. The protest followed an appeal to tackle persecution of the gay community worldwide.
March 7, 2012
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

'Grisly reports' from Syria

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said he has received "grisly reports" of attacks committed by Syrian government forces. The claims have been vehemently denied by Syria's UN envoy, who accused Ban of slander.
March 3, 2012
Senegalese line up to vote in central Dakar February 26, 2012.

Senegal heads to the polls

Voters in Senegal are casting their ballots in a presidential election after a campaign that was marred by violence. Incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade sparked controversy by running for a third term.
February 26, 2012
Syrian rebels are seen in Homs, Syria.

Secret UN Syria report

United Nations investigators have compiled a secret list of members of the Syrian regime it says may face prosecution for crimes against humanity. The list, they indicated, goes as high as President Bashar al-Assad.
February 23, 2012
An handout photograph made available by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria on 09 February 2012 shows killed rebel fighters in the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs being transferred to the cemetery. Photo: LOCAL COORDINATION COMMITTEES LCC/HANDOUT BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. DPA IS USING AN IMAGE FOM AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE, THEREFORE DPA COULD NOT CONFIRM THE EXACT DATE AND SOURCE OF THE IMAGE. HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++

UN chief slams Syria regime

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has accused the Syrian regime of "almost certain" crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, forces loyal to the government launched fresh attacks on the cities that cradled the revolt.
February 16, 2012
Member states vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab League call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step dow

Syria veto backlash

Russia and China draw the ire of the international community after vetoing a UN resolution on Syria.
February 5, 2012
Relatives of Palestinian prisoners attack the UN chief's convoy

Palestinian protesters

UN chief Ban Ki-moon's convoy is pelted with shoes and sticks by protesters in the Gaza Strip.
February 2, 2012
The Security Council

Call for help

A swift vote on a UN resolution on violence in Syria is unlikely in light of Russian resistance.
February 1, 2012
Guido Westerwelle

Peace talks

Germany's foreign minister arrives in Israel to breathe life into Israeli-Palestinian talks.
January 31, 2012
South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

AU deadlock

AU election deadlock
January 30, 2012

Man on the Moon: Sustainable research in outer space

Scientists, politicians and businesspeople are all fascinated by the moon. They want to build manned stations on the moon and extract its raw materials. Perhaps one day soon, this vision will become a reality.
ScienceJanuary 16, 201204:25 min
Syrians protesting against the Assad regime

General amnesty

Syria issues a general amnesty for crimes committed during the past 10 months of unrest.
January 15, 2012
Ban Ki-moon

Second term

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon is in the spotlight as his second term gets underway.
December 30, 2011
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Climate Vulnerable Conference

Ban Ki-moon urges world leaders to fight against the threats of climate change.
November 14, 2011
Meeting chamber of the UNESCO general assembly

Funds cut

The US has announced cuts to UNESCO's funding after the body granted Palestinian membership.
November 1, 2011
Libyans celebrate the fall of Sirte and death of fugitive former Leader Moammar Gadhafi

New beginning

As Libya celebrates, world leaders hail the death of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
October 21, 2011
An illustration of a moon station

Intelligent robots

Frank Kirchner develops machines that will make their way to the moon - or Mars.
October 15, 2011
the Andromeda Galaxy

Extraterrestrial resources

Researchers turn to the moon, Mars and space for new mining opportunities.
October 1, 2011
Tiangong-1 space module

Technology

China took its first step towards building a space station.
September 30, 2011
Enceladus

Space shower

The ESA's Herschel spacecraft has identified water falling onto Saturn from its moon, Enceladus.
July 27, 2011