Author: DW

Berlin’s world-famous club scene has remained in high demand, but venues are increasingly struggling to turn packed dancefloors into sustainable businesses. A major survey released on Friday found that club revenue has shifted dramatically away from drinks and toward admission fees. What’s happened to Berlin’s clubs? The shift reflects changing nightlife habits since 2017, when around 60% of revenue came from food and drink sales and just 21% from entry fees. Today, ticket sales account for 59% of revenue, while food and drink generate just 20%. “People are planning their club nights more consciously, staying for shorter periods, and drinking…

Making sperm is, in large part, what testosterone is for. Which is why it is ironic when a man who doesn’t need it starts taking it anyway: His brain registers an unusually high level of the hormone in his blood, concludes his body has made too much, and sends the order to stop. The testes go silent and sperm production declines. Testosterone is having a moment. It is all over social media, gym culture and wellness forums, sold by online labs, gym contacts and telehealth services. The information surrounding it ranges from oversimplified to outright dangerous. Men are taking more of it…

Despite strong pressure for him to resign, particularly from UEFA, Gianni Infantino convinced FIFA’s Board of Management to express their full support for him following a crisis meeting in Rabat on Wednesday. It was the latest development in a crisis that began with news last week of a FIFA plan to create a subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the men’s World Cup and its other events, with a stake of up to 20% to be offered to external investors. Where did Gianni Infantino come from? Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino was born on March 23, 1970, in the southwestern Swiss town of Brig…

Mata Hari was already a legend in her own lifetime. When she stepped into the Parisian limelight in 1905, she swept high society off its feet.  “She danced with veils and jewel-encrusted bustiers and almost nothing else,” the Parisian press reported. “Never had anyone dared to appear unveiled before the gods with such trembling ecstasy. And what wonderful movements she made — both daring and demure at the same time.”  Mata Hari had convinced audiences and the press that she was an exotic temple dancer — but the dark-haired performer was actually Dutch. One of the hallmarks of the Belle…

Russia has sold significant volumes of its gold reserves so far in 2026 as the Kremlin seeks to raise cash to offset a big budget deficit. The Russian Central Bank announced recently that its gold reserves stood at 73.4 million troy ounces, or 2,282 metric tons, as of the start of July. That represents a decline of around 43.5 metric tonnes since the start of 2026. It means Russia’s gold reserves are now at their lowest level since before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Gold prices hit record levels earlier this year, with prices averaging around $4,800 (€4,210) per…

I’ve been having trouble sleeping — for as long as forever. Sometimes it’s just a feeling. Other times, it’s a fact (I know because my watch tells me). But then my watch may be part of the problem. It’s constantly reminding me to get to bed on time and accosting me with poor sleep scores. It drives my anxiety through the roof, my heart races and I feel like I can’t sleep. But then I still feel fine the next day. Weird. “When you’re sleep deprived, you have poor judgment,” said Catia Reis, a sleep researcher at the University of…

FIFA’s leadership on Wednesday apologized for President Gianni Infantino’s plan to open the World Cup to private investment, in a crisis meeting held after growing outrage at the plan and Infantino. In a statement, the FIFA management board acknowledged “that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.” Infantino has since scrapped the plan. The football body stressed it supported Infantino in staying on as president.FIFA accused of blackmail in exchange for Infantino supportTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What did FIFA say? “Following a meeting…

08/05/2026August 5, 2026Interior Minister says armed drone is ‘new threat scenario’Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters that finding an armed drone at a German airport was a new threat situation. “Drone sightings, drone threats including in a hybrid context, are something we know from the past,” Dobrindt said. “That a drone armed with explosives is at an airport is a new threat scenario,” he added. “All the speculation that is currently going on about the explosives, the construction, the question of the drone, the origin and, of course, who is behind it, is now part of the investigation,” Dobrindt said. The interior…

Reports that Nvidia is in talks to give financial guarantees of almost $250 billion (€217 billion) to OpenAI for a massive data center project show two sides of the artificial intelligence boom. On one level, it shows the monumental scale of AI’s financial muscle and potential. On another, it shows the risks of a so-called “circular” financing system at the core of the AI ecosystem. If one domino falls, would others fall with it? “The interconnected nature of the AI ecosystem is real,” Gary Tan, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, told DW. “But near term risks are mitigated by…

I feel it. You probably do, too. Someone posts a crying selfie, proposes at a wedding, or confidently sings off-key at karaoke and we cringe. We cringe when we see something so awkward, embarrassing, or painfully lacking in self-awareness that it makes us recoil. But we’re attracted to it at the same time because — perhaps — we’ve experienced similar situations ourselves or we know and care about people who have embarrassed themselves and we felt empathy. And that’s why cringe is also known in psychology as secondhand or vicarious embarrassment. We feel it on behalf of other people as…