Author: DW

How did Musk and Trump get so close? Once a vocal critic of Donald Trump during his 2016 United States election campaign, Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, pivoted from his Democratic Party roots to embrace Trump’s policies during the Republican’s second term. Frustrated by Obama-era regulations stifling his ventures, Musk embraced Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and deregulation. Their bond grew from mutual respect to a robust political alliance, which saw Musk last year back Trump’s reelection campaign to the tune of nearly $300 billion (€263 billion). When Trump returned to the White House in January, the…

Anyone who was in Berlin in the summer of 1995 will probably remember it for the rest of their lives: how the Reichstag — the seat of the German parliament — disappeared. Not blown up, not demolished, but completely wrapped in silver fabric and tied up with thick ropes, almost like a gift. A crazy idea? Perhaps. But also one that made history. Behind this spectacular action was a pair of artists who have repeatedly surprised the world with their ephemeral mega works of art: Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Their vision of a wrapped Reichstag was big, bold — and took 23 years…

Japan’sprivate moon mission was aborted on Friday after it was presumed that the unmanned Resilience spacecraft had crashed. Tokyo-based startup ispace had launched the mission in hopes of becoming the first private company outside the United States to achieve a controlled lunar landing. Lunar lander crashed into moon The Resilience spacecraft had begun its final descent, successfully firing its main engine “as planned to begin deceleration,” ispace said. Mission control reported that the craft’s position was “nearly vertical,” but contact was then lost. ispace stated that the spacecraft had likely failed to decelerate sufficiently to reach the speed required for a soft lunar landing. “Based on…

Marco Sturm has finally reached his goal since retiring as a player in 2013 — becoming head coach of a team in the National Hockey League, the sport’s top league. It’s not just another team in the NHL either; the Bruins are an Original Six team and the winner of six Stanley Cups, the last having come in 2011.  These factors make it a particularly coveted job and the Bruins interviewed several candidates before settling on Sturm. ‘Preparation and passion’ “Marco impressed us at every step with his preparation, clarity, and passion,” Bruins GM Don Sweeney said in a statement. “His…

A NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Thursday showed “broad support” for signing off a historic hike in defense spending at a crunch summit later this month. This was their response to the growing threat from Russia and a “more dangerous world” in general, the military alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters. “I will propose an overall investment plan that would total 5% of gross domestic product in defense investment,” Rutte announced, following months of pressure from US President Donald Trump for allies to more than double the present target. Current NATO guidelines encourage states to spend 2% of their economic…

US President Donald Trump and his former adviser, Elon Musk are having a very public falling out. As Trump hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the White House, the US president expressed his “disappointment” with Musk over his public criticism of Trump’s tax and spending bill that is up for approval by the Senate.  Trump-Musk relationship unravels Trump said he didn’t know if his “great relationship” with Musk would remain the same after the billionaire slammed the bill on social media as “a disgusting abomination.” “Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore. I…

The world exhaled when the United States and China unveiled a 90-day tariff truce last month, pausing the escalating trade war between the globe’s largest and second-largest economies, which had rattled businesses and investors. The deal, after tense negotiations in Geneva, slashed US tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% and China’s retaliatory levies on US goods from 125% to 10%. Just three weeks later, however, US President Donald Trump reignited tensions, saying that China had “totally violated” the truce deal, without providing further details. Trump later said his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was “extremely hard to make a deal with.” China swiftly countered, asserting that Washington had imposed…

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” Wise statements like this can be found in the “Meditations” of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 C.E.). He had never intended these reflections for publication, having written them purely for himself, but they have become some of the most widely read writings after the Bible and the Quran. A bestseller, so to speak, which has been translated into numerous languages worldwide. Known today as a philosopher-king, Marcus Aurelius ruled at a time marked by crises and catastrophes. He ascended to the…

What you need to know: Synthetic stimulants like cathinones continue to rise in Europe Researchers lack knowledge about the long-term health risks of synthetic drug use Cocaine remains Europe’s illicit drug of choice, and it’s moving from big cities to small towns Fentanyl and nitazene use are increasing, driven by a ban on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan   The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) monitored 1,000 new psychoactive substances at the end of 2024 and found that local drug users were increasingly consuming new forms of synthetic drugs.  This has been the dominant trend in Europe over the past 5-10 years. …

The evening started with a weather warning: a stubborn storm was approaching, delaying the start to the game and perhaps also delaying the goals. This was supposed to be Joshua Kimmich’s night. Not only did the Germany captain make his 100th appearance with the national team. He also assisted the first goal of the match and did so at his home stadium, Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.Germany captain Joshua Kimmich made his 100th appearence with the teamImage: Wunderl/Beautiful Sports/IMAGO But opponents Portugal had other plans and ended up stealing the show with a 2-1 away win to reach the Nations League final,…