Author: DW

He was no noble officer like Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the ringleader of the most famous attempt to kill Adolf Hitler. He was no industry titan like Oskar Schindler, who sheltered Jews as essential workers in his factory. Otto Küsel was a convicted felon, a thief, who landed in the middle of the Nazi murder machine and managed to save hundreds of people from certain death. He was “Auschwitz Inmate No. 2.” In Germany, few have heard of him. But Küsel’s story has now been immortalized in a book written by writer and journalist Sebastian Christ, who himself only…

Three-hour queues full of people waiting to smell the odor of rotting flesh seems an unusual tourist attraction, but such is the lure of a rare flower bloom in an Australian greenhouse. A “corpse flower” inside the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney has drawn more than 20,000 curious viewers to a special display for its much-anticipated opening. These flowers are rare bloomers. In the case of this particular specimen, it is the first time it has opened since 2010. Why is it called a ‘corpse flower’? The corpse flower, native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, gets its name from the literal…

Why did Nuri Sahin struggle at Borussia Dortmund? The short answer is because he didn’t win enough games, which is ultimately the metric by which all first-team head coaches are measured in professional football. In his 27 games in charge, Sahin won only one more (12) than he lost (11). Dortmund are 10th in the Bundesliga, seven points off a Champions League spot. Their 25 points from 18 games is their lowest haul at this point since Jürgen Klopp’s final season 10 years ago. Ultimately, Sahin lost his job because of his form in 2025. In 11 days, Borussia Dortmund lost…

A Paris court sentenced a Pakistani man to 30 years in prison on Thursday for a 2020 knife attack outside Charlie Hebdo’s former offices. The court found Zaheer Mahmood, 29, guilty of attempted murder and terrorism in an Islamist-motivated attack in September 2020, which left two people injured. Mahmood believed he was attacking employees of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, not realizing that the satirical magazine had relocated after Islamists gunned down 12 of the magazine’s staff in January 2015. Attack after Charlie republished cartoons of Prophet Mohammed The knife attack came five years after the Al-Qaeda-linked attack on Charlie Hebdo’s Paris…

Italy’s top court upheld the conviction of US citizen Amanda Knox for slander on Thursday, in a case that dates back nearly two decades.. Knox was convicted last year of slandering local bar owner Patrick Lumumba by implicating him in the 2007 murder of her British flatmate, Meredith Kercher. But another man, Rudy Guede, was eventually convicted of Kercher’s murder after DNA evidence linked him to the scene. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison and released early in 2021. What was the reaction to the verdict? Knox, who was not in Italy for Thursday’s verdict, described it as “surreal.””I’ve just…

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Odesa soon became one of the targets. In July 2023, an enemy rocket hit the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the historic center of the southern Ukrainian port city, damaging the magnificent, blue-washed museum. Fortunately, museum director Igor Poronyk had already managed to have all the paintings stored away before the attack, sending the most important works to Lviv, in western Ukraine. Those efforts also launched a remarkable German-Ukrainian cultural project, as it soon became clear that the paintings were not in good hands in their emergency storage. Thousands of…

Newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has wasted no time and signed an executive order that throws the idea of a global corporate minimum tax into chaos. The international agreement, which was conceived and championed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD), was supported by former President Joe Biden and nearly 150 other countries. Trump’s executive order makes it clear that earlier US support and commitments are null and void. “The Global Tax Deal has no force or effect in the United States” without the action of Congress, according to the document. It is an attempt to recapture “our nation’s sovereignty…

Micheal Martin has received the backing of the Irish parliament to become the country’s next premier.The longstanding Fianna Fail leader’s nomination was backed 95 to 76, the day after the Dail was suspended and the process halted due to a chaotic row. He will formally become Ireland’s taoiseach (prime minister) during a ceremony with President Michael D Higgins at his official residence at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin.Mr Higgins will sign the warrant of appointment and hand Mr Martin the Seal of the Taoiseach. Image: Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin leaves Leinster House following his nomination. Pic: PA The nomination…

Researchers have found a new class of antibodies to treat malaria, paving the way for new malarial prevention strategies. The discovery comes at a time when malaria is still a significant global health threat.  Malaria is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases globally, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries.  There were an estimated 263 million cases reported by the World Health Organization in 2023, up from about 248 million cases in 2022. The study, published in Science, highlights the promise of these new antibodies in the fight against malaria. However, more clinical testing is needed before they could become available as…

After the Winter Olympics and the worlds, the Winter X Games is one of the most important dates on the winter sports calendar. It’s a competition that looks to push the limits of disciplines, with riders daring to go bigger. More than that, you have to get invited to take part. For Annika Morgan, Germany’s star snowboarder, that is just one reason why this competition matters so much. “Only eight girls are in slopestyle [a downhill event, usually with a variety of obstacles in which athletes are awarded points for originality and trick quality], and there’s like three alternates, I think…