Author: DW

Oliver Blume is to step down as the CEO of German sports carmaker Porsche, the firm said on Friday. He also serves in the same role in Volkswagen Group, Porsche’s parent company, a dual position that has attracted significant criticism amid years of struggles for the German car industry. Blume will remain at the helm of Volkswagen, Porsche’s supervisory board said in a statement. He has been CEO of Porsche since 2015 and took over at Volkswagen in 2022 after the resignation of Herbert Diess. Porsche said that Blume’s likely replacement is Michael Leiters, who had previously served as the…

Worldwide, 44 million deaths — that is the sad toll of HIV/AIDS since it was first detected in 1981; it was officially discovered in 1983. AIDS is considered one of the worst epidemics in human history. The number of AIDS-related deaths has steadily decreased over the years, thanks to awareness campaigns, education and prevention, but people are still dying. In 2024, UNAIDS reported the number of AIDS-related deaths a year was about 630,000 people worldwide. The new discovery of an antibody against HIV by the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, has raised hopes that another weapon in the fight against the virus may…

On October 15, 2025, at the highest point on Earth, the summit of Mount Everest at 8,849 meters, American ski mountaineer Jim Morrison scattered the ashes of his partner, Hilaree Nelson, who died in a fatal accident three years ago. While attempting a ski descent from the 8,163 meter Manaslu in Nepal, she was caught in a small avalanche near the summit and fell to her death. After taking a moment at the summit of Everest, Morrison strapped on his skis and began his descent through the “Supercouloir” of the North Face, a combination of two approximately 50-degree steep rock…

Ace Frehley, founder member and lead guitarist of the American rock band KISS, has passed away aged 74, his family said on Thursday. The rock legend reportedly died at home, surrounded by relatives, following a recent fall at his recording studio in September. “In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth,” Frehley’s family said in a statement. They nevertheless said they were “devastated and heartbroken” but added: “Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue…

Supporters of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv have been banned from attending their team’s Europa League game away at English Premier League side Aston Villa next month. In a statement, Birmingham-based club Villa said they had been informed that local police had “public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night.” West Midlands Police said they had classified the November 6 fixture as “high risk” following a “thorough assessment.” “This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during…

The announcement turned heads: US art collector Thomas Kaplan, owner of the Leiden Collection — the world’s largest private collection of 17th-century Dutch art — plans to sell portions of his collection. Not the paintings themselves, however, but virtual shares in them. In Rembrandt’s case, there are to be enough shares that even people with modest budgets could buy in. “To my mind the best way to evangelize for Rembrandt is by giving millions, maybe tens of millions, of ordinary people the opportunity to own a Rembrandt,” Kaplan told The Art Newspaper. That raises the question: What does “ownership” really mean…

Never has state support been more critical to the survival of Germany’s auto industry . Thursday’s Autogipfel (“auto summit,” in English) — a high-stakes meeting in Berlin of political leaders, automotive executives and unions — came at a moment of deep crisis as the sector faces stagnation, mass layoffs and a rocky transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Once dominant in engineering and brand prestige, the likes of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz now lag behind Chinese rivals in software innovation and adopting EVs. China’s BYD, Nio and others are expanding aggressively into the European market, offering cheaper, tech-savvy EVs. US President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies have also dealt a…

Sleep is often seen as a universal human need. But research suggests that women not only sleep differently from men but also need more of it. DW spoke to women in various regions of the world. They all shared stories of needing more rest than they were getting and told us of the toll when they ran into what’s known as sleep debt. Take Sana Akhand, for example: Akhand headed a Human Resources department in New York’s tech industry when she hit a wall of exhaustion, realized it was affecting her mental health, and felt forced to leave the job.…

A FIFPRO report on the 2024-25 football season highlights concerns over the amount of football players in the men’s game are playing. Key findings cover several areas of concern, perhaps most notably continued calendar congestion and extreme heat. The 32-team Club World Cup put an enormous strain on the players, with some, such as Achraf Hakimi, having their seasons stretch over almost an entire year as a result. The report notes that Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich all had their off-seasons and preseasons for the current campaign severely shortened because of the competition. Without improved safeguarding and better load…

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The remarks represented a new escalation in the political conflict between the US and Venezuela, as the US has continued to strike boats on international waters, which have originated from the South American nation. Trump accused the government of Venezuela of trafficking drugs to the US by sea. “We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump said, in reference to the strikes on vessels in Caribbean waters. “I think Venezuela is feeling heat.”Venezuela: How…