Author: DW

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it sealed the fate of East Germany. People wasted no time and started hacking away at the monstrosity with hammers and chisels. Those people chipping away at the former border barricade were known as “Mauerspechte,” or wall woodpeckers. By June 1990, most of the Berlin Wall had been taken care of by bulldozers. Only a few sections of it have survived to this day; at the official Berlin Wall Memorial or the East Side Gallery, for example. Still, fragments of the Wall keep turning up in large amounts all over the city. The…

What oil deal have the US, India agreed? After months of pressure over India’s purchases of discounted Russian and sanctioned Iranian crude, New Delhi appears to have bowed to US President Donald Trump’s demand by agreeing to phase out Russian oil imports and shift toward buying more barrels from the United States — and potentially Venezuela. Trump said Monday on his Truth Social platform that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi planned to “stop buying Russian oil,” which the US president said would help end the war in Ukraine. Russia’s energy revenues — which have financed the conflict — fell by a fifth…

When the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) named Harold Kreis as the men’s national team head coach three years ago, many observers saw his appointment as something of a no-brainer. By then, he’d simply seen and done it all in German hockey. But the Winnipeg native’s arrival in the Ice Hockey Bundesliga, the predecessor to Germany’s topflight DEL, was not without controversy. Kreis came at the age of 19 as part of an influx of several Canadian players in 1978, recruited by Mannheim’s general manager to help make his side, newly promoted from division 2, competitive in the top league. The fact…

When US President Donald Trump referred to Greenland as “a piece of ice” during his recent speech at the World Eonomic Forum in Davos, the remark jarred: Greenland has been inhabited for close to five millennia and is home to over 56,000 people, mostly of Inuit descent.  It also echoed a long‑standing pattern by colonial powers to apply their own ideas of land ownership to places that were already inhabited, often overlooking established local systems. It’s a pattern that reveals a deeper divide — two very different ways of understanding the significance and use of land. Greenland’s Inuit hold land to be shared collectively, rather than privately owned,…

What happened to gold and silver prices over the past week? After surging to a record high above $5,580 (€4,705) per ounce on Thursday, gold Suffered its steepest one‑day decline in years on Friday, dropping by around 9%. The sell-off didn’t stop there. By Monday, the slide had deepened, with the metal losing another 3.3% to $4,545 per ounce, before recovering. The new record before the steep decline in the precious metal came as investors piled into safe-haven assets amid stubborn inflation in major economies and geopolitical tensions over US-China trade ties, US President Donald Trump’s Greenland ambitions, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Iran’s role in regional…

Denmark became European men’s handball champions for the first time in over a decade on Sunday night, beating Germany 34-27 in the final on home soil in Herning. The Danes, co-hosts and reigning world champions, went into the final as favorites and lived up to expectations, only falling behind for a single minute in the first half. Superstar Mathias Gidsel led the way for Denmark, the 26-year-old scoring seven times in the final to take his total tally for the tournament to 68 — smashing the European Championship record of 65 set by Norway’s Sander Sagosen in 2020. Otherwise, Germany were…

The start of season four of “Bridgerton” marks the return of one of the most successful series of the streaming era. In this season, Benedict, the third of four sons of the widowed Violet Bridgerton, takes center stage. He would much rather continue living a life as an artist and bohemian than engage in romantic pursuits. And then, at a masquerade ball, Benedict meets a mysterious beauty who captivates him from the very first moment. The mysterious “woman in silver” rushes off just before midnight, leaving behind one of her gloves in her haste — parallels to Cinderella, as told by the…

Amazon confirmed a further 16,000 job cuts in its corporate sector in a blog post to employees on Wednesday, completing a move to cut around 30,000 corporate jobs that began last October.  The job cuts aimed to strengthen the company by “reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy” at the online retail giant, top human resources official Beth Galetti wrote.  The 30,000 jobs are a small portion of the more than 1.5 million Amazon employees worldwide, most of whom work in warehouses or distribution centers, but they represent almost 10% of the company’s corporate workforce. The written announcement came shortly after…

In the face of thousands of killings, leading figures in Iranian sport have been vocal about the need for help and action. Former Iran and Bayern Munich star Ali Karimi signed an open letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, calling on him to “publicly condemn the mass killing of civilians in Iran, including members of the football community.” Karimi, along with 20 other signatories that include other former internationals, a coach, a referee and sports journalists, also asks FIFA to act in the face of human rights being violated. In the letter, the other two formal demands are to publicly acknowledge that the…

Canadian-born actress Catherine O’Hara has died at the age of 71, her management agency said on Friday.  O’Hara was an Emmy-winner who starred in the series “Schitt’s Creek” and the movie “Home Alone.” She also starred in the movie “Beetlejuice” and the Hollywood satire show “The Studio.” The management agency said O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles “following a brief illness.” According to US entertainment news outlet Page Six, O’Hara was rushed to a hospital before dawn from her home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. The cause of death remains unknown. “I join Canadians and fans…