Author: DW

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival, it seems, has war on its mind. An extraordinary number of movies at this year’s festival, which concludes on May 23, deal with the experience of life in wartime. In Lukas Dhont’s Belgian World War I drama “Coward,” young soldiers in the trenches confront ideas of heroism and masculinity. “Visitation,” the latest film from Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum”), continues the German director’s obsession with World War II and its aftermath, tracing the fate of three families living on a lake near Berlin through decades of turbulent history, from the rise of Adolf Hitler until the fall of…

Deadlocked, dysfunctional and dangerous: That is how the Strait of Hormuz standoff is increasingly being described. Now approaching its fourth month, the crisis off the coast of Iran is marked by mutual blockades. Tehran has been charging ships up to $2 million (€1.73 million) for safe passage through the strait, while the United States has imposed a naval embargo, turning back vessels carrying Iranian oil exports. These competing blockades have failed to deliver decisive results. Some Iranian ships continue to slip through, while several Asian shipping firms have agreed to pay tolls, despite such fees violating international maritime law. Fragile negotiations between the US and Iran to reopen Hormuz have, meanwhile, stalled several times,…

Where is Elversberg? Elversberg is a small town northeast of Saarbrücken in the small state of Saarland, in southwestern Germany. As part of Spiesen-Elversberg, the town has a population of around 13,000 but Elversberg alone has just 7,000 people living in it. There is no train station and just three bakeries.  What is Elversberg’s back story? The club was formed in 1907, although folded during World War I before reforming in 1918. In 2013, the club reached the third division alongside RB Leipzig, but they were promptly relegated. After two playoff defeats in 2016 and 2017, the club finally returned to…

India is the biggest whiskey-drinking nation in the world. Roughly 230 million cases are consumed here annually, accounting for nearly half of global whiskey sales, according to the International Wine and Spirits Research, the global authority on beverage alcohol data. But US-made bourbon brands, such as Maker’s Mark, have long remained a niche product in India, where whiskey drinkers have traditionally preferred Scotch and domestic brands. In 2024, India imported just $8.8 million (€8.1 million) worth of US-produced whiskey, a relative drop in the barrel for India. But that could finally be changing. For years, a 150% import tariff meant bourbon…

New Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh promised to preserve the Fed’s independence as he was sworn in at the White House on Friday. It was an unusual step, since Fed chairs are not normally sworn in at the White House, and presidents usually don’t attend, given that the Fed is meant to be politically independent. At Warsh’s confirmation hearing, US President Donald Trump insisted the incoming central bank chief would be “totally independent.” But some, particularly Democrats, have questioned how independent Warsh will be as head of the world’s most powerful central bank. Among them is Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who…

Florence sits at the kitchen table. Her husband is there, her daughter, too. They laugh together, share a meal — just as they used to. But there is one difference: both her husband and daughter have been dead for years. “As if we have never been separated,” she says. Florence has never experienced dreams with such intensity before. She feels no fear — instead, a deep sense of calm, a certainty that she will see her loved ones again. Five days later, Florence dies. This was no ordinary dream, but an encounter. Many people have reported similar experiences in the final days of their…

Doping in sports is nothing new. Athletes at the Enhanced Games will know the risks — severe injury, even paralysis. But bioethicists are also concerned we’re opening the gates to altering our fundamental human biology.

In Germany, spring is dotted with public holidays with their origins in Christian tradition: Good Friday and Easter, which celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; Ascension, commemorating the Christ’s ascent into heaven; and Pentecost, considered the birthday of the Christian Church. Also known as Whitsun or Trinity Sunday by some religious traditions, it marks when the Holy Spirit is believed to have descended upon the Apostles of Jesus, Mary and other followers of Christ, 50 days after Easter — hence the name, which comes from a Hellenistic Greek word meaning “fiftieth.” Though the holiday is important for Christians, it has its…

German lawmakers in the Bundestag on Thursday voted in favor of a proposal to cut aviation tax, raising hopes the move could make flying slightly cheaper in the country. If it’s approved by the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, the tax will be lowered from July 1 to the level it was at before the last increase in May 2024. Depending on the length of the flight, the tax will drop between €2.50 and €11.40 ($2.90 to $13.25) per flight. The measure is expected to reduce federal tax revenues by approximately €350 million per year. “We are, of course, grateful for this…

A US doctor infected with the Ebola virus is being treated in a high-level isolation unit at Berlin’s Charite university hospital. The patient contracted the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. US authorities had asked Germany for assistance due to the shorter flight distance to Europe compared with the United States. Several family members were also flown to Germany and are considered close contacts, in terms of the infection, according to the German Health Ministry. “A patient suffering from Ebola disease can be in a precarious condition. And on an evacuation airplane your means are limited. So, you want to have…