Author: DW

In a major interview with German sports magazine kicker at the start of March, Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann had said a team’s belief can emerge in the space of just two games. Those two games this month were against Switzerland and Ghana — and they won both, delivering plenty of evidence that confidence is not something this group is short of. Against Switzerland on Friday, Germany proved that, if nothing else, they are an entertaining side that can win a high-scoring game. The defensive issues are familiar, but with players like Florian Wirtz in attack, conceding a couple appears something this team…

While wars and revolutions have long threatened national cultural heritage sites — most recently in Iran and Ukraine — a new danger has emerged in the form of climate change. UNESCO World Heritage sites from the 4,000 year-old pyramid temples in Iraq to the ancient statues of Easter Island are facing extreme erosion and deterioration as temperatures rise and storms and droughts intensify. A 2025 study showed that 80% of World Heritage sites are facing climate stress as materials such as wood and stone struggle to adapt to a hotter world. Here are a few of the world’s most climate-vulnerable UNESCO-listed cultural sites. ‘Cradle of civilization’: Ziggurat of Ur Thousands of years of history…

Hungary has dramatically increased its dependence on Russian crude oil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine over four years ago, despite EU efforts to limit the import of Russian fossil fuels into the bloc. A new report from the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), a European public policy institute, states that in 2025, Russian crude accounted for as much as 93% of Hungary’s oil imports, up from a 61% share in 2021. The report has been shared exclusively with DW. It also points to Budapest’s deepening reliance on Russian gas and nuclear energy. Describing Hungary as “the most significant…

While the impact of last week’s new “Policy on the Protection of the Female (women’s) Category in Olympic Sport” has focused largely on trans athletes, medical experts and Olympians say the impact of the ban will be felt more keenly by those with Differences in Sexual Development (DSD).  New Zealander Laurel Hubbard is the only recorded trans athlete in Olympic history. The weightlifter failed to record a successful lift in the women’s +87 kilograms weightlifting in the delayed 2020 Olympics and crashed out early. South Africa’s Caster Semenya was not at those Games in Tokyo to defend her 800 meters title…

Lufthansa is marking its anniversary with major celebrations while facing new economic and geopolitical pressures. Company CEO Carsten Spohr has prepared events in Frankfurt and beyond, even as rising fuel costs linked to the Iran war weigh on the airline’s outlook. The company is celebrating the origins of Deutsche Luft Hansa AG, whose first scheduled flight departed Berlin Tempelhof Airport for Zurich on April 6, 1926. The anniversary includes the opening of a new visitor center, “Hangar One,” at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt headquarters, showcasing early aviation history. The modern Lufthansa has also acknowledged its full historical legacy, including ties to the Nazi…

Not many people enjoy paying taxes. But many voters don’t see a problem taxing the superrich and making them pay their “fair share.” One way is to increase income taxes. There’s also the option for an annual or one-off wealth tax on everything someone has above a certain mark. A few governments want to tax extreme wealth to lower taxes on a stagnating middle class or to make up for social inequality. Others want to fill budget holes.Still others argue philosophically that excessive wealth should be limited since it no longer adds to the well-being of those individuals.  Calls to raise US income…

After 23 matches, a 25-hour journey, a rejected request for postponement and the complications of playing amid a war that has taken its toll, Iraq have made the World Cup for the first time since 1986. A 2-1 playoff win over Bolivia in Monterrey Stadium in Mexico on Tuesday saw wild celebrations in Iraq. The Iraq team, led by Australian coach Graham Arnold, arrived in Mexico last week after an arduous three-day journey, with some players forced to make parts of the journey overland thanks to the shutdown of air traffic in the region as a result of the US-Israel war…

Filling stations responded to the new limit of one daily price hike with a hefty 7.5 cent average increase. Meanwhile, the BND spy agency confused workers by announcing an extra holiday on April Fool’s day. DW has more.

After nearly a decade of stop-start negotiations, the EU-Australia free trade deal has finally crossed the finish line.   “Australia used to have Europhobia — now we have at least some Eurovision,” Tim Harcourt, of the University of Technology Sydney, told DW. As recently as 2023, talks collapsed at the last hurdle, derailed by fierce opposition from Australian farmers over beef quotas. So what changed? Not so much the fine print of the agreement, experts say, but the shifting pressures of a far more combative global trade landscape. New deals in a new trade order Rising tariffs from the United States have squeezed…

As Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visits Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz says about 80% of Syrians living in Germany are expected to return home. Meanwhile, fears are mounting about inflation. DW has the latest.