Author: DW

The date on which the monarchy fell in 1918, Adolf Hitler staged his failed coup attempt in 1923, the Nazis and antisemitic mobs attacked synagogues and Jewish homes and businesses in 1938, and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, November 9 is known as the “day of destiny” in Germany. DW surveys some moments that set the course of German history. ‘Be aware the historical significance of this day’ On November 9, 1918, Philipp Scheidemann, a Social Democrat and later the chancellor of the Weimar Republic, proclaimed an end to the monarchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the beginning of a…

The trade deal agreed by India and the EU in January was described by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as “the mother of all trade deals” — buoyant language to hail an economic partnership between the world’s largest trading bloc and its most populous nation. The agreement will reduce or remove tariffs on 96.6% of EU exports to India. While sensitive agricultural products have been left off the table for both sides, many products seen as vital for the EU’s export machine are part of the deal — including cars. India has agreed to give Europe’s carmakers a…

“We now have the information to prevent cancer before it starts,” said Isabelle Soerjomataram, a cancer surveillance specialist at the International Agency on Research on Cancer (IARC).  Speaking to the press last week, Soerjomataram and her colleague Andre Ilbawi were presenting the findings of a study involving 36 cancer types in 185 countries. The two co-authored and published their results in the medical journal Nature Medicine on February 3, 2026.  The study leads with a statistic as striking as Soerjomataram’s opening claim: 7.1 million new cases of cancer were linked to what’s known as modifiable risk factors (MRFs) — such as consuming tobacco or alcohol, as well as…

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it sealed the fate of East Germany. People wasted no time and started hacking away at the monstrosity with hammers and chisels. Those people chipping away at the former border barricade were known as “Mauerspechte,” or wall woodpeckers. By June 1990, most of the Berlin Wall had been taken care of by bulldozers. Only a few sections of it have survived to this day; at the official Berlin Wall Memorial or the East Side Gallery, for example. Still, fragments of the Wall keep turning up in large amounts all over the city. The…

What oil deal have the US, India agreed? After months of pressure over India’s purchases of discounted Russian and sanctioned Iranian crude, New Delhi appears to have bowed to US President Donald Trump’s demand by agreeing to phase out Russian oil imports and shift toward buying more barrels from the United States — and potentially Venezuela. Trump said Monday on his Truth Social platform that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi planned to “stop buying Russian oil,” which the US president said would help end the war in Ukraine. Russia’s energy revenues — which have financed the conflict — fell by a fifth…

When the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) named Harold Kreis as the men’s national team head coach three years ago, many observers saw his appointment as something of a no-brainer. By then, he’d simply seen and done it all in German hockey. But the Winnipeg native’s arrival in the Ice Hockey Bundesliga, the predecessor to Germany’s topflight DEL, was not without controversy. Kreis came at the age of 19 as part of an influx of several Canadian players in 1978, recruited by Mannheim’s general manager to help make his side, newly promoted from division 2, competitive in the top league. The fact…

When US President Donald Trump referred to Greenland as “a piece of ice” during his recent speech at the World Eonomic Forum in Davos, the remark jarred: Greenland has been inhabited for close to five millennia and is home to over 56,000 people, mostly of Inuit descent.  It also echoed a long‑standing pattern by colonial powers to apply their own ideas of land ownership to places that were already inhabited, often overlooking established local systems. It’s a pattern that reveals a deeper divide — two very different ways of understanding the significance and use of land. Greenland’s Inuit hold land to be shared collectively, rather than privately owned,…

What happened to gold and silver prices over the past week? After surging to a record high above $5,580 (€4,705) per ounce on Thursday, gold Suffered its steepest one‑day decline in years on Friday, dropping by around 9%. The sell-off didn’t stop there. By Monday, the slide had deepened, with the metal losing another 3.3% to $4,545 per ounce, before recovering. The new record before the steep decline in the precious metal came as investors piled into safe-haven assets amid stubborn inflation in major economies and geopolitical tensions over US-China trade ties, US President Donald Trump’s Greenland ambitions, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Iran’s role in regional…

Denmark became European men’s handball champions for the first time in over a decade on Sunday night, beating Germany 34-27 in the final on home soil in Herning. The Danes, co-hosts and reigning world champions, went into the final as favorites and lived up to expectations, only falling behind for a single minute in the first half. Superstar Mathias Gidsel led the way for Denmark, the 26-year-old scoring seven times in the final to take his total tally for the tournament to 68 — smashing the European Championship record of 65 set by Norway’s Sander Sagosen in 2020. Otherwise, Germany were…

The start of season four of “Bridgerton” marks the return of one of the most successful series of the streaming era. In this season, Benedict, the third of four sons of the widowed Violet Bridgerton, takes center stage. He would much rather continue living a life as an artist and bohemian than engage in romantic pursuits. And then, at a masquerade ball, Benedict meets a mysterious beauty who captivates him from the very first moment. The mysterious “woman in silver” rushes off just before midnight, leaving behind one of her gloves in her haste — parallels to Cinderella, as told by the…