Author: DW

Paramount on Tuesday finalized its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, completing a hostile acquisition that was months in the making and almost faltered at several hurdles.  The takeover cost a total of around $81 billion (roughly €72 billion), or almost $111 billion including the Warner Bros. debts passed on as part of the deal.  The merger brings together two of the oldest US filmmaking studios and will form a new giant called Skydance Corporation.  Why Skydance Corp.? Who’s behind the new behemoth? The new name Skydance hails from billionaire investor David Ellison, who first bought out Paramount and its subsidiaries and…

Linus Pauling won not one, but two Nobel Prizes — the first, for chemistry, in 1954 for his research into the nature of the chemical bond, and the Peace Prize in 1962 for his work in the anti-nuclear weapons movement. The American chemist not only won two Nobel Prizes, but won them on his own, a rare feat for any scientist. Such an honor often turns laureates into global superstars overnight, with millions hanging on their every word. Nobel laureates can fall victim to Nobelitis That instant fame can be dangerous, said Nils Hansson, a professor in the Department of…

Lionel Messi made his 208th and final appearance for Argentina on Tuesday night, scoring his 126th and final international goal as the Albiceleste beat Benin 3-0 in a friendly in Buenos Aires. In emotional scenes at a packed El Monumental stadium, Messi stepped up to convert a penalty in the 71st minute, prompting wild celebrations from teammates and fans alike. Earlier, the 39-year-old superstar had already set up goals for teammates Nicolas Otamendi – who was also making his final appearance for the national team – and Nico Paz – the youngster who is widely tipped to inherit Messi’s iconic…

Amelia Earhart’s attempt to become the first woman to fly around the globe at the equator ended in mystery when she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in July 1937. With the 90th anniversary of her disappearance on the horizon, a new expedition is setting out to finally determine what happened over the vast Pacific. This expedition has what it believes is crucial new evidence. The team from Purdue University in Indiana and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) is scheduled to depart for the uninhabited island of Nikumaroro on Saturday to determine if an anomaly in the…

What you need to know about plague There are three forms of plague, all caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.  The three forms of plague are bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. Bubonic plague is the most common form, it does not spread from person to person. If untreated, the bacteria can move through the body and bloodstream, causing septicemic plague, which causes internal bleeding and organ failure. If the the bacteria reach the lungs, they cause pneumonic plague. Pneumonic plague is highly contagious as it can pass from person to person through the air, via coughing, for example. If untreated, bubonic plague kills between…

The euro hit a 17-month low against the dollar in early trading on Monday, as concerns over eurozone debt, particularly in France, compounded existing investor concerns over global government bond yields and rising oil prices. The euro has been sliding against the dollar for much of 2026, down around 5% since the start of the year. It reached $1.12 on Monday, the lowest level since early in 2025. Ricardo Amaro, lead eurozone economist with Oxford Economics, told DW that the general slide can be attributed to a repricing of investor expectations regarding US Federal Reserve policy in terms of higher…

A coalition of welfare groups and unions has urged the German government not to go through with planned cuts to social spending, particularly to the elderly care system. “Social cohesion is a prerequisite for democratic stability,” the coalition of 14 bodies said.  The German Cabinet, which consists of ministers belonging to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right CDU, the Bavarian sister party CSU, and the center-left SPD, approved a bill late last month to reform the care system. The sector has come under increasing pressure due to the aging population.   The reform means that childless employees will pay higher surcharges for long-term care insurance and high-income…

In his first season in charge at Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp lost just one of his first five games.  Germany hopes for a similar run emerges after a shock 1-0 defeat to Greece, a team that hasn’t qualified for a major international tournament in 12 years. The defeat left Klopp with just one point after his first two games in charge of the national team. True to form, the head coach took responsibility for the loss, shielding this new crop of Germany players from criticism. “We have been together for a week now, all mixed together, and that needs time,” Klopp said after the…

The 41-year-old forward left the Portugal camp on Wednesday after coach Jorge Jesus had told reporters at the Matchday-1 press conference that Cristiano Ronaldo would not feature in the starting lineup against Denmark in the Nations League. The move comes amid reports of a rift between the Al-Nassr player and the coach, something that Jesus denied. The 72-year-old coach conceded that his captain had been disappointed to remain on the bench in Portugal’s win over Norway on Sunday, but he insisted that there had been “no incident whatsoever.” Ronaldo didn’t explain why he had taken the decision, but in an Instagram post he…

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned that Germany’s democracy is once again being challenged. The 70-year-old used his final German Unity Day speech as president to reflect on more than three decades of political change. “I thought everyone had learned the lesson from history, and now I see supporters of right-wing extremism seeking to erase the memory of the victims of the Holocaust,” Steinmeier said at the official ceremony in Bremen. “I believed our democracy was secure and now have to experience it being challenged anew.” Steinmeier, whose second and final term as president ends in March, said his expectations…