Author: DW

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt reiterated his statements about the groups responsible for the riots that followed nationwide protests led by young people on October 31. “There were violent left-wing extremists, and there were troublemakers from migrant communities,” he said on Wednesday during a special debate in parliament.   Opposition parties like the Greens and The Left criticized the minister’s comments. Irene Mihalic, the parliamentary secretary of the Green Party, even accused Dobrindt of using “racist remarks” to divert attention from the legitimate demands of young protesters. Some members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) defended their coalition partner. “We can only solve the problem if…

Fresh questions have emerged over Russia’s return to world sport after figures reviewed by DW showed that only four of the 16 Russian weightlifters competing at this year’s world championships underwent out-of-competition testing by the International Testing Agency (ITA). Two-time European champion Anastasiia Romanova, who previously served a two-year doping ban, was among those not tested by the ITA during the first nine months of 2026, according to its quarterly anti-doping reports. By comparison, all 13 members of the North Korean team underwent at least one ITA test during the same period. North Korea, like Russia, has a history of…

German carmaker BMW reported a nearly 15% drop in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as competition from China shakes the global car industry. Net profit for the third quarter fell to 1.45 billion euros ($1.61 billion), while sales fell nearly 6% to 30.45 billion euros, BMW said. The main cause of the decline was BMW’s poor business in China. Although the company sold more cars in the US and Europe compared to the same period last year, this could only partially offset the decline in China. BMW’s car deliveries in China, which were already at their lowest level since 2017 last year, fell…

On November 4, 2001, London’s Leicester Square became a world of witches and wizards. The occasion was the world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (released in the US and India as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”). “Thousands of excited fans, some dressed up in wizard hats and cloaks, gathered to catch a glimpse of arriving celebrities,” the BBC reported at the time. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, was just 12 years old and clearly impressed by the spectacle. The BBC quoted him as saying, “It is so cool. I have never heard my name shouted…

“After the referee lifted my hand to show I’m now a two-time world champion, it was a very overwhelming feeling,” Mariam Bsharat said. “Making history once is something, but making it twice is really something else. I felt very happy and I felt a big relief. Only I know how many sacrifices I made and how many hardships I needed to overcome.” Themes of relief, joy and sacrifice are commonplace in the reflections of athletes after a big win. In Mariam Bsharat’s case, it’s about more than just dedication to training and taking care of the body. The 17-year-old won her second under-21…

For the millions who cast their ballots in the US midterm elections, one issue ranked above all others: the economy. So what does the Democrats’ stunning capture of both the US Senate and House of Representatives mean for the economy and economic policy, given that President Donald Trump still has two years of his term to run? Market reaction: Is it all about AI and data centers? Initial market reaction has been muted but trending negative. Global stocks fell slightly, while the dollar followed suit. With Democrats now holding comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump still in the…

Janosch, the pen name of German author and illustrator Horst Eckert, won hearts around the world with his warm and simple sense of humor. He charmed children and adults alike with his iconic Tiger, Bear, Tiger-Duck and other animals.  Janosch created more than 150 books, which have been translated into over 30 languages. His best-selling children’s book, “Oh, wie schön ist Panama,” translated into English as “The Trip to Panama,” was so lucrative that Janosch was able to settle down on the Canary Island of Tenerife in 1980, where he lived together with his wife Ines. The writer and illustrator died peacefully at…

“Heartbroken with pain, with a lump in our throat and unable to believe this is real.” Those were the words with which Spanish second division football club Tenerife confirmed the death of 30-year-old Jesus de Miguel on Tuesday. De Miguel was involved in a clash in the middle of the pitch with FC Andorra’s Equatorial Guinea international goalkeeper Jesus Owono, who had raced out of his goal to try and clear the ball with the score 2-2 late in the game. Owono was sent off and the match was abandoned. Spanish media reported that De Miguel suffered a cardiac arrest and was…

With more than $1 trillion (€900 billion) pouring into the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out, US tech giants are now competing with governments and companies in Europe for the same investment capital. Four of the Big Five hyperscalers — Amazon, Google-owner Alphabet, Meta and Oracle — have issued around $250 billion in bonds in dollars since the beginning of 2025, according to a tally of filings to US financial regulators by AI Industry Reviews, an independent platform that evaluates AI tools. They have sold a further €37 billion ($41 billion) of bonds in euros. Recently, Microsoft, the last of the Big Five to hold back, joined the…

The president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Franz Reindl, announced shortly after the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday, that he had called a meeting of its main decision-making body for Monday and Tuesday. The Lausanne-based court had ruled that the IIHF must allow Russian national teams to take part in ice hockey world championships again. They had been barred from doing so since shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “Our task now is to implement this ruling responsibly,” said Germany’s Reindl, who was elected IIHF president just…