Author: DW

With a population of just over 2,000, Ulefoss might not seem like the answer to one of Europe’s current economic problems. But this dot on the southern Norwegian landscape happens to perch directly above the continent’s largest deposit of rare earth elements. These hard-to-acquire metals are crucial components of many modern technologies and appliances, from fighter jets to electric vehicles, flat-screen TVs to digital cameras.  They’re so important, in fact, that having a secure supply of them has become a part of European Union law. Because, right now, the EU has no internal supply of its own, Ulefoss holds promise.…

The United States announced Tuesday it will again pull out of the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural agency (UNESCO) because of what Washington perceives as its anti-Israel bias. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the withdrawal was linked to UNESCO’s perceived agenda to “advance divisive social and cultural causes.” Bruce said in a statement that UNESCO’s decision “to admit the ‘State of Palestine’ as a Member State is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization.” Has the US withdrawn from UNESCO before? UNESCO has become one of several battlegrounds between Israel and the…

Memory lapses, disorientation, confusion about numbers and colors: These are just some of the issues that Vasyl, a 28-year-old from central Ukraine, deals with on a daily basis. In fact, he’s been receiving psychiatric care for a personality disorder since 2015. But none of that prevented the man — whose real name is being withheld for privacy reasons — being drafted into the Ukrainian military. According to his partner Olena, Vasyl never really acknowledges his problems and he may well have failed to do so during the physical examination he was given before joining the military. Vasyl was found to be fit for…

“This is more than a tournament. It’s a movement, and the response from across Europe and beyond proves that women’s football is not only here to stay – it is setting the new standard.” Those were the words of Nadine Kessler, a former Germany international who is now UEFA’s women’s football director during Euro 2025. Much of that appears undeniable: UEFA says they sold more tickets before the group stage even began than it had in the whole of Euro 2022. Social media engagements are up 55% since then and the prize pot has increased by 156% to €41 million ($47.5 million). But,…

US President Donald Trump’s reliance on tariffs rather than sanctions has been described as both the “world’s worst bet” and “a powerful proven source of leverage” to protect the national interests of the United States.  While tariffs essentially are taxes on imports to protect domestic industries, sanctions are penalties imposed on other countries to punish or influence their governments. Sanctions typically restrict trade or finance. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump’s tariff threats against dozens of countries have created great uncertainty among US businesses and global trading partners.  What’s become known as “tariff tango” — bold pledges of steep duties on foreign goods, followed…

US President Donald Trump’s reliance on tariffs rather than sanctions has been described as both the “world’s worst bet” and “a powerful proven source of leverage” to protect the national interests of the United States.  While tariffs essentially are taxes on imports to protect domestic industries, sanctions are penalties imposed on other countries to punish or influence their governments. Sanctions typically put restrictions on trade or finance. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump’s tariff threats against dozens of countries have created great uncertainty among US businesses and global trading partners.  What’s become known as “tariff tango” — bold pledges of steep duties on foreign…

Productions of Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” divide audiences. Should emphasis be placed on the opera’s comical elements, or is it to be seen as more of a serious play about German virtues with antisemitic undertones? In this year’s new production at the Bayreuth Festival, director Matthias Davids aims to highlight the opera’s comical side. Nevertheless, the fact that the Nazis included the piece in their Reich Party Congresses continues to cast a shadow over the production. Richard Wagner was Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer, long before coming to power in 1933. The dictator saw Wagner as a kindred spirit…

A vital piece of a 300-year-old mystery surrounding a pirate’s treasure in the Indian Ocean may have been discovered. Archaeologists believe that they have identified the wreck of the Nossa Senhora do Cabo (Our Lady of the Cape), a Portuguese warship that was captured off the island of Reunion in 1721. The ship had been en route to Lisbon, fully laden with treasures from Goa and the Portuguese colonies on the west coast of India. On the way, the warship, weighing more than 700 tons, was badly damaged in a storm. To avoid capsizing, the crew jettisoned some of the ship’s…

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition has failed to secure a majority in Sunday’s election for the 248-seat upper house of parliament, Japan’s public NHK TV outlet said. Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), already in a minority in the lower house since last October’s snap election, faced mounting public discontent over inflation, political scandals and a surge in anti-immigration sentiment. Why Ishiba won’t resign as prime minister The LDP and its junior partner Komeito needed to win 50 of the 125 contested seats in addition to the 75 they already have. They fell short, winning only 46 of the seats.  In recent years,…

Pakistani authorities on Sunday arrested a suspect after a viral video on social media showed a man and a woman being shot and killed for marrying against their family’s wishes. The practice, known as “honor killing,” is a fairly prevalent one in Pakistan and some neighboring countries where eloped couples are killed to “restore” the family’s social standing and reputation. Honor killings also occur in other situations where the partiarch deems the family’s honor has been affected by women’s actions. In this instance, the unidentified couple was shot on the orders of a local tribe council in the southwestern Balochistan province, local…