Author: DW

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled in favor of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in a dispute over a unique archive that meticulously documents the persecution of its adherents in photographs, letters, reports from the Gestapo secret police, arrest warrants and death sentences. The religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses was one of the groups persecuted by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. From 1933 to 1945, around 15,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses were persecuted across Nazi-occupied Europe. Around 4,500 were sent to concentration camps where they were forced to wear purple triangles. Over 1,800 were murdered. Annemarie Kusserow, herself a victim of Nazi…

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week announced a crackdown on the high number of sick days the country takes. The move follows research published in January by the Berlin-based IGES Institute, showing that German workers now take an average of 19.5 working days as sick leave per year. That figure is a noticeable increase from about 13 days in 2018. As part of Merz’s proposals, from January next year, workers will no longer be able to get a sick note over the phone. They must visit a doctor in person and on the first day of illness.  The measure adds a layer of difficulty to taking…

As had been widely expected ever since Germany’s shock exit to Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup, Julian Nagelsmann has left as national team head coach, the German Football Association (DFB) confirmed on Friday. The 38-year-old resigned from the job just three years after arriving and well before the end of his contract, which was to expire after the 2028 European Championship. The renewal of his deal in January 2025 forced the DFB into tricky negotiations, and led to a reported three-hour secret meeting the day before the official announcement. “This decision was anything but easy for me,” Nagelsmann said in a statement. “My top priority…

The bronze statue of the man in 18th-century clothing gazes into the distance. The statue stands in the US capital, Washington, and is a likeness of Thomas Jefferson. His likeness can also be found carved into the rocks of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, alongside those of three other US presidents, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. As the author of the US’s Declaration of Independence, Jefferson is well known as one of the founding fathers of the country. Jefferson was a lawyer, plantation owner and politician. He served as the first secretary of state of the young republic,…

Hannes Loth drives an electric car and wants to install wind turbines in his municipality.  Loth, Germany’s first full-time mayor from the far-right, populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), is promoting the expansion of renewable energy — even though it runs counter to his party’s platform. The farmer has been mayor of Raguhn-Jeßnitz since 2023 and has ambitious plans. In the town of around 8,600 people in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, he wants to build a battery storage facility with a substation, and six new wind turbines. Tilo Hörtzsch, a local councilor for the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Raguhn-Jeßnitz,…

Jürgen Klopp is the overwhelming favorite to be Germany’s new head coach. In recent years, the charismatic 59-year-old was seen as the ideal candidate. In recent weeks, he has been the boss in waiting. With Julian Nagelsmann’s departure now confirmed, Klopp’s arrival looks a formality, especially after the German FA (DFB) announced talks had begun and that Klopp had shown a “willingness” in principle to take up the job. Germany’s last three World Cups have ended in disappointment, with two group-stage exits and the most recent knockout defeat to Paraguay in the round of 32. Euro 2024 was more positive, but generally…

Pop superstar Taylor Swift and American football player Travis Kelce are expected to hold their wedding at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York on Friday, according to media reports and city permit documents. The couple, who are both 36, have not publicly confirmed the plans. Some reports, however, say that the pair has already legally married. Reuters cited the New York Post’s celebrity gossip column Page Six, which said the couple exchanged vows in front of a “tiny group of loved ones,” although the report did not say when or where the ceremony took place.Swift is a 14-time Grammy winner, while Kelce has won 3 Super Bowls…

Hannes Loth drives an electric car and wants to install wind turbines in his municipality.  Loth, Germany’s first full-time mayor from the right-wing, populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), is promoting the expansion of renewable energy — even though it runs counter to his party’s platform. The farmer has been mayor of Raguhn-Jeßnitz since 2023 and has ambitious plans. In the town of around 8,600 people in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, he wants to build a battery storage facility with a substation, and six new wind turbines. Tilo Hörtzsch, a local councilor for the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Raguhn-Jeßnitz,…

Late June brought record-breaking temperatures to France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. The national weather service, DWD, reported that Germany had never experienced such intense heat for such a long stretch so early in the year. Now, large parts of the central and eastern United States are also living under heat warnings heading into the July 4 holiday weekend, with extreme heat expected to push temperatures as high as 100 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8-46.1 C) across much of the region. Outdoor workers are especially at risk during heat wavesImage: Benjamin Westhoff/dpa/picture alliance A heat wave…

The eyes of the world are, once again, glued to the World Cup. Overwhelmingly, they are on Lionel Messi’s goal-scoring record, a Cape Verdean goalkeeper who shot to fame or viral clips of fans. It’s a familiar and understandable diversion of attention from the issues that dominated the buildup. Many Argentine fans were denied visas to attend the tournament and see Messi make history, Vozinha’s mother was only granted a visa bond waiver to the country after her son’s heroics for Cape Verde, and those fans seen on TV are often the lucky few rich enough to afford outrageous ticket prices.…