Author: DW

The General Court of the European Union ruled in favor of Google on Wednesday, saying it did not need to pay a €1.49 billion ($1.67 billion) fine. The case stretches back to 2019, when the European Commission said the US tech giant was violating competition regulations by prioritizing its own shopping links in its search results. Google had argued that it had brought its practices into accordance with EU rules years ago. “The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision in its entirety,” the judges said in a statement. The tech firm said that it was “pleased that the court has recognized errors in the…

President Isaac Herzog’s outright denial that Israel was behind the attacks on Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies goes further than the official Israel government response which, so far, has been to say nothing at all.It’s not unusual for Israel to remain silent after major attacks on its enemies, and guilt is generally assumed by the absence of comment, but Herzog was definitive, saying he “rejects out of hand any connection to this or that source of operation”. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:01 ‘Israel is not interested to be at war with Lebanon’ That does not…

Around 6 million revelers from across the globe are expected to cram into the beer halls of Munich during the 2024 Oktoberfest, which starts September 21 and continues for over two weeks. But while the 189th edition of the iconic folk festival will see its boisterous guests drink over 5.6 million liters of beer — sourced from six local brewers — and consume tons of oxen, potato salad and sauerkraut, the event continues to update its image to match the times. Old-school party striving to be clean and green Oktoberfest has long sought to reduce its environmental footprint by embracing clean energy…

We know that pregnancy completely changes a mother’s body, but new research shows changes in the brain are just as dramatic. Based on brain scans of one healthy 38-year-old woman’s brain over two years, scientists have created the first comprehensive map of how the brain changes during pregnancy. The data, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, found a dynamic reorganization in the mother’s brain — the changes unfolded like clockwork over the course of the pregnancy. Almost all parts of the brain showed changes in function and anatomy, including in regions involved in social and emotional processing — some of which lasted…

Emanuela Rusta, the first woman to referee in her native Albania’s top division and the first Albanian international referee, was assigned the match between Sporting Lisbon and Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday, marking her progress to the top of the sport. But the 30-year-old had other things on her mind before the game, deleting her Instagram account after a slew of sexist messages regarding her appearance. Rusta has been labeled the “sexy ref” in various media headlines and received misogynist messages on the social media platform as a result. “They should focus more on my professionalism than on…

A heated debate unfolded earlier this week in Iran over statements by the new reform-oriented president about reining in the morality police. In his first press conference since taking office six weeks ago, President Masoud Pezeshkian said he would work to ensure that authorities no longer harasses women over the wearing of the compulsory hijab. “Are you still being harassed?” he asked a female journalist who was standing behind the microphone wearing a loose headscarf. She reported taking detours and making evasive maneuvers to avoid being stopped by the morality police. The exchange sparked a controversial debate online and in political circles,…

US President Joe Biden was caught telling his Quad summit partners that China was “testing us” with aggressive tactics — comments which overtook a carefully worded joint statement which did not mention Beijing by name. “China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits,” Biden was overheard telling Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. What else did Biden say? The comments were caught on hot mic after the…

Research from international ratings agency Moody’s shows that the Czech Republic — which boasts just 2.4% of the EU population — is home to over one quarter of the 46,000 or so Russian-linked firms operating in the 27-nation bloc. Bulgaria, with 9,500 companies, is the second-most favored residence for Russian businesses. Germany, whose economy and population dwarfs those of the top two, comes in third with 4,200. Russians have long been keen to do business in Czechia. It’s a trend that has even thrived despite the dramatic cooling of relations between Moscow and Prague that began in 2021, and has only deepened since the…

Celebrity endorsements have become par for the course in US elections. It’s not unusual for your favorite athlete to voice support for a presidential candidate, or for actors to show up at party nominating conventions. Sure, politicians are always happy to have someone famous drumming up votes for them, but endorsements are not generally a huge deal. Unless, that is, they come from singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Swift, who is arguably the biggest pop star on the planet right now, shared a statement of support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Instagram the night of last week’s TV debate between…

Over the European summer, the number of COVID-19 infections rose again, with test positivity for SARS-CoV-2 above 20%. Globally, test positivity was about 10%. The US also saw a rise in hospitalizations, apparently after a wave of COVID-19 infections in Singapore. Now, as we in the northern hemisphere move into autumn and winter, there is concern about two new variants. The first one is known as KP.3 and its sub-variant KP.3.1.1. The second is XEC, a “recombinant” variant which is related to KP.3. KP.3 is considered a global Variant of Concern (VOC) in the US by The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because…