Author: DW

Since the pandemic, Indonesia has delivered steady annual growth of 5%. Then, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. As Southeast Asia’s largest economy still heavily relies on imported fuel despite having its own oil reserves, the Indonesian government took an immediate hit. The cost of fuel subsidies, for which ministers had budgeted around $22 billion (€19.2 billion), rocketed. Reuters news agency reported in March that policymakers would need an extra $6 billion or more to keep prices stable. The national currency, the rupiah, plunged 8% to record lows near 18,000 to the dollar. The Jakarta stock market, which had been heading for a record above 9,000, fell…

Several posts have been circulating online claiming that US President Donald Trump was edited out of a photo postedby the Spanish Football Federation on its social media accounts. Claim: One post on the social media platform X gained more than 11 million views while making the same claim. “Lol Spain edited Trump out of the photo,” the caption read. DW Fact-check: False Fans waited for the arrival of players from Spain’s national soccer team during celebrations in Madrid on Monday, July 20, 2026Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance The claim is false. The image is neither AI-generated nor altered. We found multiple pieces of evidence online debunking the claim.…

Vanilla is almost everywhere — in ice creams, cough syrups, cleaning products and perfumes. Its ubiquity, thanks to the cheaper and widely available synthetic vanillin, has over time earned it synonymity with “ordinary” or “plain” in the English language. Yet natural vanilla is one of the most labor‑intensive crops on Earth and one of the most chemically complex, containing more than 200 aromatic compounds. As the world’s second-most expensive spice after saffron, it sells between $100 and $600 (€90 to €550) per kilogram. And its history is anything but “vanilla.” It involves, among others, a stingless bee and colonial machinations, as well…

In what seems like the blink of an eye, China has gone from being up to five years behind the United States in top-tier artificial intelligence (AI) to lagging by just a few months. While US players, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have spent hundreds of billions of dollars to push the frontier of AI, China has pursued a very different path. Faced with US curbs on high-end chips that help AI to do its most advanced thinking, Chinese tech firms have prioritized dozens of open-source AI models built on “good enough” technology. These platforms, including DeepSeek, Alibaba’s Qwen and Xiaomi’s MiMo, are now widely deployed across…

Sunday’s final stage of the Tour de France will be shorter than planned because security forces have been redirected to help fight wildfires near Bordeaux, organizers and police said Saturday. “In a spirit of national solidarity with the areas and communities affected, it was decided to adapt the route for the final stage from Thoiry to Paris,” the Paris police and the event’s organizers said in a joint statement. Slovenian four-time champion Tadej Pogacar has all but sealed victory in the world-famous cycling race and only needs to finish Saturday’s stage to secure a fifth Tour title in seven years.…

The last weekend in July marks the beginning of the Bayreuth Festival, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The event regularly attracts international opera fans and distinguished guests, especially German politicians. This year, attendees include the current chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and his predecessor, Angela Merkel, who regularly attends. The first Bayreuth Festival opened on August 13, 1876, after years of disputes over funding Richard Wagner’s ambitious project. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a friend of Wagner who was also a guest at the festival, praised the event, calling it “the first circumnavigation of the world in the realm of art.” In August…

Why are oil prices rising again? Around two weeks after the resumption of US and Iranian attacks in the Gulf region, the price of Brent crude broke above $100 a barrel (€87.8) on July 24. This marked a nearly one-third increase from last month’s low but is still below the $126 peak reached in April at the height of the conflict. The latest oil price surge was fueled by a major escalation in the Red Sea that could further set back efforts to export Gulf oil through alternative southern routes as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen entered the conflict on Wednesday…

The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Jürgen Klopp as the new head coach of the national team on Friday, ending speculation about who would succeed Julian Nagelsmann. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said the association’s governing bodies had unanimously approved Klopp’s appointment, describing him as the “ideal choice” for the role. “It is a great honor to sit here today,” Klopp said at the press conference announcing his appointment, adding he was “delighted.” What else do we know about Klopp’s appointment as Germany head coach? Klopp emerged as the federation’s preferred candidate after Nagelsmann stepped down following Germany’s penalty shootout defeat to…

The United Nations cultural agency on Friday updated its list of World Heritage in Danger, with locations including a Lebanese castle that Israeli forces recently captured as well as an archaeological site in the occupied West Bank, amid Israeli objections. The decision was made during a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting in South Korea’s Busan. Members agreed that five castles in Lebanon’s Mount Amel, including Beaufort Castle, and the West Bank’s Sebastia would both go on the agency’s World Heritage List and List of World Heritage in Danger. The decision came after reviewing the nominations on an emergency…

Which countries will face Trump’s new tariffs? The Trump administration on Thursday announced new tariffs on 60 economies, including the European Union, citing their handling of imported goods made with forced labor. In a statement, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said it had investigated major trading partners and found that they failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods made through modern slavery. The tariffs cover more than 99% of US imports and replace a temporary 10% global tariff that was due to expire. A 10% tariff will apply to countries like Argentina, India, Pakistan and…