Author: DW

As if the vast scale of artificial intelligence (AI) investments wasn’t scary enough, the head of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund is also sounding the alarm. Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), warned last week that, in an extreme market collapse, a massive loss to its $2.4 trillion (€2.07 trillion) portfolio is “not completely improbable.” The fund, created to invest the Nordic country’s vast oil and gas revenues, delivered a record profit of 1,753 billion Norwegian kroner ($186 billion/€161 billion) in the first six months of the year. Nicolai Tangen, the head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, has presided over record…

The “Bauhaus Manifesto 2026,” published on August 20, was initiated by Germany’s Minister of State for Culture, Wolfram Weimer. “Together, we’re making it clear that we want to strengthen the Bauhaus and its principles while defending them against any form of anti-democratic attack,” the independent politician told the German press agency DPA. A statement accompanying the manifesto said it was intended as a cultural and sociopolitical commitment to the principles that have made the Bauhaus art school, which operated from 1919 to 1933, a global cultural icon. Those principles include freedom of artistic thought, openness to new ideas, the connection…

1. How severe is Germany’s 2026 harvest decline? The German Farmers’ Association (DBV) on Tuesday warned of a “below-average” harvest due to ongoing drought that has left large areas of farmland severely parched. In a statement, DBV President Joachim Rukwied warned that the country’s grain harvest would be 7% lower than last year, blaming an “overly dry spring and a heat wave in the second half of June,” which had “significantly damaged many crops.” Overall grain production was expected to be 41.9 million tons this year, the DBV said, a shortfall of some 3.3 million tons compared with 2025. Rapeseed saw the largest fall, with 3.3 million tons harvested, nearly…

While Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still playing at 39 and 41 respectively, most football fans thought Ronaldinho belonged to another footballing era. That all changed in June, when Italian Serie C club, Ravenna, announced that the former Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan forward would play for them in the upcoming season. On a rainy Thursday in northeastern Italy, the former Ballon d’Or winner was unveiled with a quick press conference and a sense of excitement gripping the city. “I’m very happy to be here with friends, we have a team that can do something good,” said Ronaldinho.…

Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna on Friday said Kyiv had imposed sanctions on the “producers and distributors” of the Russian children’s cartoon series “Masha and the Bear,” or “Masha i Medved” in the original language.  The step will enable Kyiv to seek to remove and demonentize the series on websites like YouTube or streaming services like Netflix in the country.  The cartoon about a mischievous young girl’s unlikely friendship and adventures with a retired circus bear, loosely based on a Russian oral fairytale of the same name, launched in 2009 and quickly became one of Russia’s most successful televisual exports. Masha and the…

The founder of China’s Evergrande group, a liquidated property developer, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday by a Chinese court, which ordered all his personal property confiscated. Hui Ka Yan pleaded guilty in April to several charges, including fraud, corporate bribery, and illegally taking public deposits. Evergrande defaulted in 2021 on most of its $300 billion (roughly EUR255 billion) in liabilities and billions of dollars in wealth management product payments. Hui’s former companies fined a total of $2.3 billion Hui also had his “political rights revoked for life and all his personal property confiscated,” according to the Shenzhen…

Several months after moving to Germany, Bernadette Amani is clearly where she wants to be, having won both the Bundesliga and the German Cup in her first half-season since joining Bayern Munich. “It’s a dream come true for me to be here, and I’m living my dream to the full,” the 28-year-old midfielder told DW in a recent exclusive interview. “Munich is a very, very big club. Beyond just making me happy, it’s a real achievement, a dream come true to be here, to play for such a prestigious club.” Amani, who recently captained Ivory Coast at the Women’s Africa Cup of…

A ridge with sweeping views across Jotunheimen, a mountain region in southern Norway, seemed like the perfect hiking route for tour operator Georg Sichelschmidt to bring visitors. Then locals informed him it was home to nesting eagles. The trail remained open. But Sichelschmidt didn’t want to disturb the apex predators at home in the massive peaks, dotted with turquoise lakes and glaciers. “We decided not to use this trail anymore. We had to find another solution,” said Sichelschmidt, who runs nature-based tourism company JVB travel. Norway’s right-to-roam rules, known as allemannsretten, give people broad access to nature regardless of land…

1. How full are Germany’s gas storage levels right now? Germany’s more than 40 gas storage facilities are barely over half full, mainly due to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz — currently the world’s most critical energy chokepoint — because of the Iran war. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, the industry body for the continent’s gas grid operators, Germany’s underground natural gas stores stood at 50.14% on Wednesday. This is the lowest level for mid-August in several years. Gas storage is around a quarter lower than on the same date last year and more than 45 percentage points lower than in 2023 and 2024, when the country…

Amanal Petros stood in Birmingham’s Victoria Square, the German flag draped over his shoulders and the gold medal resting on his chest. Eleven months after narrowly missing out on a World Championship title in Tokyo, the 31-year-old had just won his first major marathon. After roughly 25 of the 42 kilometers, Petros picked up the pace on an incline, breaking up the lead pack. No one could keep up with him. He was able to savor the victory during the final 2 kilometers. He crossed the finish line in 2:09:11 — a record time for the men’s marathon at the European…