Author: DW

Jennifer Herb spends a lot of time alongside railway tracks in all kinds of weather. As a shunting attendant at DB Cargo, a subsidiary of German railway giant Deutsche Bahn, she checks brakes, inspects undercarriages and couples and uncouples freight cars. Her work clothes have to move with her every step: bending, climbing, turning and walking kilometers on uneven ground. They must be visible day and night and protect her from snow, wind, sun and rain. Herb usually wears a high-visibility jacket and trousers in bright orange with reflective stripes. They were made specifically for women and have a high…

A little tired but with a smile on her face, Kathrin Marchand arrives for her first training session of the day. Together with her rowing partner Valentin Luz, the para-athlete will spend the first few hours of the day on the water in a double scull. A few quick stretches, and then they’re off. “Five years ago, I never would have thought I’d be rowing this much again,” Marchand told DW. “I consider it a privilege that I can still compete at the elite level.” Now 35, Marchand made her Olympic debut in 2012 in London as part of the…

Berlin is cutting fuel tax and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is preparing to build missiles in a new venture. Elsewhere, a fisherman triggered a massive search before being found drunk and asleep in a car. DW has more.

Most Germans think people’s manners are getting worse, although most rate themselves as polite. Meawhile, there’s trouble at the top of Europe’s largest economy amid a dispute over fuel price relief. DW has more.

Pilots with Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and subsidiary Eurowings began a 48-hour strike on Monday morning.  Hundreds of flights are set to be canceled, with the major hubs of Frankfurt and Munich hit hardest, in the fourth strike of 2026 to hit the airline. Lufthansa is struggling to negotiate terms both with the pilots’ trade union Vereinigung Cockpit and the UFO cabin crew union that called on members to strike just last week.  Which flights and services were set to be affected by the strike?  The homepage of Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s busiest, showed the majority of Lufthansa departures within Europe as…

A yearlong international investigation into one of the world’s most important cancer drugs shows how a medical breakthrough has also become a fault line in global health, exposing how pricing systems, patent protections and regulatory frameworks determine who can access life-saving treatment and who cannot. The Cancer Calculus, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with Deutsche Welle and 46 media partners, brought together 124 journalists in 37 countries. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with oncologists, patients and their families, lawyers, regulators, pharmacists, pharmaceutical industry insiders and others as well as exclusive pricing data and patent analyses, the project examines how Merck’s…

Marie-Louise Eta has been appointed as the head coach of German football club Union Berlin, becoming the first woman to hold the role in any of European football’s top professional men’s leagues. Eta will lead the Bundesliga side until the end of the season after former coach Steffen Baumgart was sacked. Union parted ways with Baumgart late on Saturday night following a 1-3 defeat away at bottom-of-the-table Heidenheim, a result which left the Berlin side with only two wins in 2026 and in danger of slipping towards the relegation zone. Eta, who currently coaches Union’s under-19 men’s side, will now take charge of the senior team on an…

Veteran Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle died in Mumbai on Sunday, a day after being hospitalized for a chest infection. She was 92 years old. Bhosle’s granddaughter Zanai Bhosle took to social media on Saturday to let her grandmother’s fans know about her situation, amid rumors of a cardiac arrest. “My grandmother, Asha Bhosle, due to extreme exhaustion and suffering a chest infection, has been admitted to hospital, and we request you to value our privacy. Treatment is ongoing and hopefully everything will be well, and we shall update you positively,” she had said on X. While Zanai is yet…

Anyone in Germany who thinks they have seen an unidentified flying object, or UFO, can notify the Central Research Network for Anomalous Phenomena, better known as CENAP — a UFO research network. One of CENAP’s hotlines, run by Hansjürgen Köhler and a five-person team of volunteers, is based in Germany’s southwestern Odenwald region. Köhler is friendly and chatty man in his late 60s. He became a salesman early in life because he was not allowed to become an astronomer. At the time, his father advised him to “do something respectable.” That meant that Köhler’s love of space would have to…

The train to the German city of Stuttgart is pretty full. At each stop, people wearing Germany kits get on. There’s a buzz of conversation about the German national football team and the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. On one of the last days of March, Germany play Ghana in the final international break before World Cup preparations begin. Many fans started their journey first thing in the morning, including Dennis and Kai. The two friends from the north of Germany put on their kits and boarded the train early, keen to support the team in person that evening in Stuttgart.…