Author: DW

Rainbow flags in the stands, Pride events across the city, colorful parties in the streets. And right in the middle of it all: a football match between two nations united in their hostility toward the LGBTQ+ community. Saturday’s World Cup Group G clash between Iran and Egypt in the northwestern US city of Seattle won’t just determine who will progress to the knock-out round; it is also generating significant political controversy in the buildup. In the first official “Pride Match” in World Cup history, the two competing teams hail from Muslim-majority nations where the LGBTQ+ community faces immense hardship and…

Miscanthus grows up to 4 meters (13 feet) tall, tolerates heat and drought, and can be harvested for decades. In France and Germany, the Asian grass is now being grown for heating, building materials and water protection. But why is Europe growing so little of it? The supergrass that heats towns and builds homesTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In Bamako, Mali, a painter is transforming a public minibus into a colorful rolling message on the need to protect the environment and address rising temperatures. Drissa Konate uses bold murals to contrast…

For decades after the end of the Cold War in 1989, defense was not a high priority for European leaders. Military spending was slashed, armed forces were downsized, and equipment stockpiles depleted, resulting in diminished combat readiness. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, however, served as a wake-up call and prompted European governments to reverse course and focus on defense. Growing uncertainty about US security commitments under President Donald Trump accelerated the trend. Germany even amended its constitution to remove borrowing limits for defense, giving Berlin free rein over military spending. Last year, the 29 European members of the North…

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke knew exactly what to expect from Ismael Saibari. “He’s fast, he’s powerful and he showed against Brazil that he knows how to take chances,” he told reporters ahead of the World Cup Group C meeting between Scotland and Morocco in Boston last week. A week earlier, Saibari had put Morocco, the Atlas Lions, ahead against Brazil with a brilliant chip over goalkeeper, Alisson. Scotland were warned but it didn’t make any difference as, less than two minutes into the game, Saibari again raced clear of the defense and fired an unstoppable shot into the roof of…

It’s often easier in retrospect to see how an artist has paved the way for others. Nowadays, making fun of anything and everything is commonplace and even Nazi parodies are a dime a dozen. But it hasn’t always been that way, as a look at the work of director and actor Mel Brooks shows. Born 100 years ago on June 28, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, the entertainer was clearly a pioneer of satire. The taboo-breaker Though they may have become more common than in the decades following World War II, taking a humorous look at the Nazis may not be…

Bayer is still grappling with tens of thousands of lawsuits over its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup, which plaintiffs claim causes cancer, primarily non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Germany’s agrochemicals giant inherited the legal mess after taking over Monsanto, the company that produced Roundup, in 2018. Farmers, landscapers and gardeners — mostly based in the United States — argue that Monsanto knew, or should have known, about the risks but failed to provide adequate warnings on product labels. According to the Lawsuit Information Center, Bayer has so far paid out around $11 billion (€9.65 billion) to settle roughly 100,000 cases. Around 61,000 to 65,000 claims remain active. The company has…

Two major earthquakes struck central Venezuela seconds apart on Wednesday, one with a magnitude 7.2 and the other with a magnitude 7.5. At least 164 people have been killed, and hundreds injured. Extensive damage was reported in the capital, Caracas, and the nearby state of La Guaira. Strong earthquakes are unusual in Venezuela, even though it sits near multiple fault lines along the South American and Caribbean tectonic plates. Other countries on the Pacific coast, including Mexico, Chile and the western edge of the United States, are positioned along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the Ring of Fire, responsible for about 90% of…

What to do with one more World Cup group stage game when you’ve already won the group? The answer is score two minutes into the game and don’t look back. Germany did the first part, but then faded as momentum was replaced by a messy loss that exposes this team’s limitations. There is a way to spin this as a defeat that can sharpen the minds, that can blow away any complacency ahead of the knockouts.  Germany captain Joshua Kimmich was certainly bullish in defeat. “We keep inviting the opponent to attack by turning the ball over, which makes them…

The 2026 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, a prestigious award that honors individuals who contribute to the realization of peace through their work, goes to French-British lawyer and author Philippe Sands, the prize’s board of trustees announced on Thursday. “In his literary work, which is distinguished both by narrative brilliance and historical depth, Philippe Sands devotes as much attention to the motives of the perpetrators as to the suffering and lives of the victims,” the jury noted in its statement. “At the heart of his legal work is a commitment to the universal rights of every human being, evidenced in his advocacy for victims…

The German government will buy a 40% stake in European tankmaker KNDS from the families which own it, with a plan to bring its share to the same level as that held by the French government. It sets the stage for a long-awaited IPO (initial public offering) for KNDS on the stock exchange. Berlin had been keen to have an equal share to France before the listing. The stake is expected to be worth around €6 billion ($6.8 billion), depending on the valuation of the company. The plan still requires approval from the German Bundestag’s budget committee. France currently owns…