Author: DW

“It should be within my comfort zone,” Alex Honnold said in on a recent edition of The Jay Shetty podcast. “So it’s not so much about ‘what if I die?'” The 40-year-old American is one of the world’s best climbers, specifically rock and vertical climbing. Weather permitting, Honnold will be venturing onto unfamiliar terrain in Taiwan on Saturday morning (January 24), local time. He intends to climb the facade of the Taipei 101 skyscraper “free solo,” meaning alone and without any safety equipment. Netflix, the world’s largest streaming service with more than 300 million subscribers, is planning to broadcast Honnold’s ascent live. In…

Fewer people in Germany are drinking alcohol, with the number significantly down over the last decade — although alcohol drinkers are still strongly in the majority. In 2024, 68% of consumers said they drank alcohol, down from 78% in 2015, according to data released Wednesday by the polling institute YouGov. Younger respondents especially are drinking less often. Among Generation Z, defined as those born in or after 1997, 61% said they drink alcohol. The figure rises to 71% among millennials, born between 1981 and 1996. “Alcohol is increasingly losing its everyday role,” said YouGov expert Anouk Buskens. Health concerns were cited…

Skip next section Trump again questions NATO’s commitment to defend US01/21/2026January 21, 2026Trump again questions NATO’s commitment to defend USEuropean NATO allies have voiced solidarity with Denmark and Greenland, but Trump said he would impose punitive tariffs from February 1 to pressure opponents of a sale of the Arctic island to the USImage: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump questioned whether NATO would back the United States if it called on the military alliance. “We will be there for them a 100%, but I am not sure that they’d be there for us,” he said in his speech at the WEF. “With all the…

Some 182,000 Kurds living in Iraqi Kurdistan were killed in 1988 by chemical weapons launched by Saddam Hussein’s regime in a series of attacks known as the “Anfal campaign”. That campaign included chemical attacks on Halabja, a village on the Iraq-Iran border, and other communities. Five thousand people are estimated to have died in Halabja. They were the victims of sarin and VX nerve agents, and mustard gas. The scars of that atrocity, now known as the Halabja Massacre, are still felt today — by about 6,000 people who survived and other Kurds living in the region.  Clinical psychologist Ibrahim Mohammed studied the…

As soaked Senegal fans celebrated winning the Africa Cup of Nations in a Moroccan rainstorm on Sunday, thoughts and talk would likely have soon turned to a World Cup opener against France less than six months away. The June 16 clash against their former colonial rulers, who Senegal memorably beat in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, is in the New Jersey Stadium which will host the World Cup final. While the 300,000 strong Senegalese diaspora in France should ensure some fans are backing the African champions, those who hold only Senegalese passports will not be allowed in the…

Around 4 million kilograms of potatoes, neatly sorted and stored in a cool, dry place — in perfect condition for consumption, and yet threatened with destruction. A farm in Saxony, Germany, ended up stuck with a harvest of potatoes that had been ordered by a trader. Due to this year’s unusually high supply that affected the market price of potatoes, selling them was no longer profitable for the trader. The order was financially settled, but the potatoes were left in storage. What could be done to save all this produce from going to waste? Search engine Ecosia and the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper organized a collaborative…

01/20/2026January 20, 2026New US tariffs on the EU would be a ‘mistake,’ von der Leyen saysVon der Leyen spoke on several topics, but Trump’s threats against Greenland stole the limelightImage: Gian Ehrenzeller/KEYSTONE/dpa/picture allianceEuropean Commmission President Ursula von der Leyen has told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the world is changing and called for Europe to adapt accordingly. During her speech, von der Leyen also addressed issues like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, economic upheaval and the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).  She confessed, while concluding the speech with a focus on Greenland, that “when I started preparing for this address,…

Meet Veronika. The 13-year-old Swiss Brown cow lives in the village of Nötsch at the foot of the Carinthia mountains in southern Austria. She’s kept as a pet by a local farmer, and can roam her meadow to her heart’s delight. Like many other pets, she likes to have her back scratched. If no friendly humans are around to do the job, that’s not a problem ― Veronika uses a brush or stick to do it herself. She picks up objects like sticks, rakes, or brushes with her mouth and then uses them to reach and scratch various body areas. That makes Veronika the first cow…

The German national team’s sporting director, Rudi Völler, stressed in a  weekly sports talk show recently, that while no gag order would be imposed on anyone, “it cannot be that it’s being talked about, practically on a matchday like with this disaster in Qatar.” Völler was referring to the One Love armband debate in Qatar, which Germany – and several other nations – dropped at the last minute after FIFA threatened sanctions. Germany then protested ahead of the Japan game by posing for the team photo with their mouths covered. Germany were met with a lot of criticism for their gesture in Qatar, but Jürgen Mittag, a…

Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani has died, his foundation announced on Monday. Numerous Italian media outlets reported that the Italian great died at his home in Rome.  Valentino, who is typically known by his first name, was 93 years old. “Valentino ‌Garavani ⁠passed away today at his Roman residence, ‍surrounded by ​his loved ​ones,” his foundation said on Instagram. His lying in state will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.  A funeral is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Friday in Rome. Italian prime minister among first to pay tribute Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among the first to pay…