Author: DW

What does the new format look like? A little more like a league than a cup, at least initially. The new format was already evident at last month’s draw, which was to determine the fixtures of the new league phase, as opposed to placing teams into groups, as had previously been the case. The 36 qualifying teams were divided in to four seeded pots of nine. Real Madrid, winners of last season’s competition and the teams with the eight best coefficient rankings (based on previous European performance) were placed in Pot 1, the teams with the next nine best coefficient rankings formed Pot 2, and so…

Highest flood warnings have been declared at some 100 places in the Czech Republic, with most regions in the country affected. Austria, Poland and Romania have also been hard-hit. DW has the latest.

A shrinking voter turnout globally and increasingly contested election results are posing a risk to the credibility of democracy, a new report revealed on Tuesday. The report published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said that global voter turnout between 2008 and 2023 plunged by 10 percentage points, going from 65.2 to 55.5. What does the report say? The annual report, which has been measuring democratic performance in 158 countries since 1975, revealed that 47% of nations witnessed a decline in crucial indicators over the past five years, making it the eighth consecutive year of global democratic decline. The international watchdog…

One of the final messages from the Titan submersible crew said they were “all good here” before it imploded, killing all five on board.British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive Stockton Rush and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet. The five of them had been communicating with support staff aboard the Polar Prince by text messages, according to an animation presented by the US Coast Guard, shown on the first day of the hearing looking into the causes of the implosion.Titanic sub hearing latest: Moment remains of imploded submersible foundThe crew began…

Why has UniCredit bought a stake in Commerzbank? Germany’s government, which bailed out Commerzbank after the 2008/09 financial crisis by taking a 16.5% stake, tipped off potential buyers last week that it wanted to sell part of its holdings in the country’s second-biggest lender.  On Wednesday, Berlin confirmed that UniCredit had outbid other hopefuls to land a nearly 4.5% stake in Commerzbank for about €700 million ($771.3 million). Germany’s Federal Finance Agency said UniCredit had “significantly outbid” all other offers. The Italian lender also quietly bought up another 4.5% of Commerzbank shares on the open market in recent weeks, bringing its total acquisitions to around €1.4…

“Shogun” — a period drama set in feudal Japan — reigned at the 76th Emmy Awards on Sunday, bagging an epic 18 wins in a single season. The FX show won best drama series and also won acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, who made history by becoming the first Japanese actors to win their categories. Sanada called “Shogun” an “East meets West dream project” as he accepted his award at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. “‘Shogun’ taught me [that] when we work together, we can make miracles,” the actor said. Shogun’s 18-award streak is a record at the…

American Football has been rocked by stories about concussion and serious brain injuries for years. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, for example, has now suffered three concussions in his NFL career.  Now the outcome of significant research is beginning to be seen on the field in NFL regular season games, with the introduction of so-called guardian caps, which go over the helmet and offer more protection to the head from big hits. “I am considering [wearing one in games] for sure,” New York Giants fullback Jakob Johnson told DW. “From what I understand the best protection comes from guardian cap to guardian cap collisions.…

Typhoon Bebinca landed in Shanghai on Monday as a Category 1 storm, making it the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Chinese financial center in over 70 years. Bebinca packed top wind speeds of 151 kilometers per hour (roughly 94 miles per hour) near its eye as it landed in the coastal Pudong district of Shanghai around 7:30 am (1:30 am CET). How has Bebinca impacted Shanghai? A red alert was issued and some coastal areas have been evacuated, city authorities reported.  All flights at Shanghai’s two main airports were grounded as the typhoon dumped torrential rains on the city.…

German police will be monitoring all of the country’s land borders starting on Monday, September 16. Until then, only travelers entering the country at the eastern and southern land borders were checked. Now, for at least the next six months, northern and western borders will also be monitored. This would include border crossings with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Germany is located in the center of the Schengen Area, which comprises 29 European countries that have abolished internal border controls, with passports only required at external borders and airports. The new border controls could lead to disruptions in the movement of…

Prosecutors have asked judges to jail Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini over his 2019 decision to stop a ship carrying more than 100 migrants from landing in the country.Prosecutors in the city of Palermo have requested a six-year sentence for alleged kidnapping over the incident, which happened when Mr Salvini was interior minister. Image: Matteo Salvini. Pic: AP The vessel, operated by the charity Open Arms, was stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 19 days due to his refusal, with some passengers throwing themselves into the sea in desperation amid an “extreme humanitarian emergency” on board.The remaining 89 people…