Author: DW

The latest US-Russia prisoner swap is a further sign of the thawing relations between Moscow and Washington, but I think it’s also an indication of how slow things are moving.Rewind two months to 11 February and you might remember there was another prisoner swap. Out of the blue, 63-year-old American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been imprisoned in Russia on drug smuggling charges, was suddenly released and on his way home to the US.Ukraine war latest: Kremlin rejects Zelenskyy’s China claimIt was part of a deal that had been secured following a secret trip to Moscow by US envoy Steve…

“Derisk, diversify, and redirect trade” — a mantra once aimed at China’s expanding grip on global trade — is now being applied to the United States. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, currently totalling a staggering 125% on Chinese-made goods, have sent shockwaves through financial markets from Sydney to Sao Paolo. As many Chinese goods are made specifically for the American market, economists worry that China will struggle to redirect those products to domestic consumers. Beijing is, instead, rethinking its export strategy to prioritize other global trade partners to help soften the blow of diminishing exports to the US. Diana Choyleva, founder and chief economist at Enodo Economics, a London-based research…

Whether adding bling to Taylor Swift’s cheekbones, pelted by protesters making political statements or stubbornly sticking to your face three days after a music festival, glitter has a magical — and messy — presence in our lives. It features in holiday greeting cards and ornaments, nail polish, fashion accessories, sports events makeup and even food. In marketing and product design, it has been used to convey “premium” or “celebratory” vibes. Think shiny gift wrap, sparkling champagne labels, and limited-edition product packaging — if it glitters, we’re more likely to stop and stare. “My love affair with glitter started over a decade ago…

US President Donald Trump wants other countries to import more American beef and poultry. Several countries have restricted importing these products for decades because they don’t meet their food safety regulations. In an announcement on April 2, Trump called out Australian restrictions on US beef, saying: “We imported $3 billion [€2.7 billion] of Australian beef from them just last year alone. They won’t take any of our beef.”  His administration also singled out the UK and EU for “non-science-based” restrictions on importing US beef, and Argentina for its ban of live US cattle exports. Trump has used these import bans as…

Donald Trump’s suite of so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs may be on hold for now, and somewhat watered down, but consumers outside of America maintain boycotts against products from the United States.  From Canada to Europe — traditional US allies are among the hardest hit — people are rallying behind “buy local” initiatives organized on social media and within bricks-and-mortar shops.   Trump imposed a blanket 10% duty on all imports into the US on April 2. A “reciprocal” tariff began at 12:01 a.m. on April 9 on select nations before the US President announced later the same day that he would now…

Less than a year after Hansi Flick suffered the ignominy of becoming the first Germany head coach to be sacked, the 60-year-old German has restored his reputation at Barcelona and turned a fractured squad into one of Europe’s most exciting teams. Why was Flick’s appointment at Barcelona a surprise?  Germany’s disastrous 2022 World Cup in Qatar was a hit to the reputation of a coach who had previously had so much success at club level with Bayern Munich. Flick’s squad selection drew criticism, and his previously successful pressing game didn’t translate at the international level. Though Germany went undefeated in his…

The top US spy’s chief of staff on Wednesday said intelligence was looking into whether the FBI was involved in the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol by backers of President Donald Trump. “We’re looking into it right now,” Joseph Kent, chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said during a Senate intelligence committee hearing on his nomination to lead the US National Counterterrorism Center. He did not elaborate on which of the 18 intelligence agencies is conducting the probe. A US Justice Department watchdog report released in December rejected claims by far-right conspiracy theorists, who falsely claim that FBI operatives were secretly involved in the riots.…

Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre has reportedly left hospital after recently saying she had “four days to live”.Her representative said she was discharged on Monday, according to US celebrity website People. Photos in Australian media on Wednesday are said to show Ms Giuffre being driven in a vehicle north of Perth.The 41-year-old appeared with a bruised face last week when she posted an Instagram video saying her car had been hit by a speeding school bus as she slowed for a turn.She said: “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a…

When the list of the first regional winners of the World Press Photo Award (WPPA) 2025 was published on March 27, there was a huge outcry. The reason: Mikhail Tereshchenko, a reporter at Russia’s state news agency TASS since 2017, was among the winners of what is probably the most prestigious prize in the field of photojournalism. Tereshchenko had photographed mass protests in Georgia against the pro-Russian government. The protesters were reacting to alleged electoral fraud and calling for a pro-European course. Critics questioned the WPPA’s decision to honor a TASS photographer, while photographers from Georgia suffer from repression. Tereshchenko openly shares…

When you look at an abstract painting, study it in a museum for example, what do you see and what do you feel? Does it conjure an old memory, a sense of spirituality, or confusion?  Artists and philosophers have long tried to answer such questions, including what art means. Now, scientists are having a go. A new study has analyzed what happens in people’s brains when they look at abstract art. Published in the journal PNAS, the study provides insight into how the brain engages with different forms of art and constructs subjective experiences. The researchers say their findings support the concept of…