Author: DW

California celebrated the return of giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo on Thursda, in a ceremony that attracted large crowds, dignitaries and the media. Yun Chuan and Xin Bao are the first giant pandas to enter the US in over two decades, quelling fears that thawing US-China relations had put an end to “panda diplomacy.” “This is about something much deeper, much richer, than just the two beautiful pandas we celebrate,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said at the opening ceremony. “It’s about celebrating our common humanity. It’s about celebrating the things that bind us together.” The welcome ceremony included…

For a retiree to Florida, Robert “Kelly” Ortberg looks youngish and energetic on the official portrait Boeing distributed with news of his pick to take over the top post from August 8. The 64-year-old aerospace veteran — whom everyone in the industry calls just Kelly — was a former CEO of aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins and a late entry into the race to replace current Boeing chief Dave Calhoun, after it had been dragging on without a clear favorite emerging. Calhoun had intended to stay in office until the end of the year but clearly had become what Americans call a lame-duck executive, meaning he…

People in Russia are unable to access YouTube amid an alleged crackdown on the video hosting site.Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said there had been reports of thousands of glitches with the Google-owned video service. Users said the site was only accessible via virtual private networks (VPNs), which give users access to remote servers -often in a different country – and lets them sidestep website blocks and firewalls on the internet.Sky’s Moscow correspondent, Ivor Bennett, also reported that he was unable to access the site. It is unknown if the glitch is permanent or not.The website remained available via some…

Taylor Swift’s promoter called off her concerts in Vienna this week after law enforcement in Austria announced the arrests thee people over a suspected plot to attack the venue. “With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” Barracuda Music said on Instagram late on Wednesday, adding that all would-be concert-goers would have their tickets refunded. On Thursday, police said one suspect had made a full confession. “He said he intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the…

New limits to a person’s daily exposure to silica dust in the construction, mining, dentistry and other industries could save about 13,000 lives worldwide. That’s what researchers in the UK recommend, having found that a worker’s lifetime exposure to current, “acceptable” limits can result in serious risk of developing silicosis, a potentially fatal lung disease. They warn that silicosis could become as big a health problem as exposure to asbestos. “Our research supports the reduction of exposure to silica dust from 0.1 mg/m3 to 0.05 mg/m3 over a working day,” said study author Patrick Howlett from London’s Imperial College. The study was published in the British…

It’s not just the four gold medals. Or the enduring emotion of a partisan Parisian crowd. It’s also because Leon Marchand managed to achieve something almost everyone thought impossible, and that he will be remembered as the defining figure of the 2024 Olympics. Victory in the 200-meter butterfly then 200-meter breaststroke on the same Wednesday evening was a feat even his coach, Bob Bowman, thought beyond the limits. “My coach didn’t really want me to do that because it was impossible to do and had never been done before,” Marchand told DW. “It was really big chance for me and I…

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunus was expected to return to Bangladesh on Thursday to take office as the head of an interim government after a student-led uprising forced Sheikh Hasina to end her more than 15-year rule. Yunus, 84, could be sworn in as soon as Thursday evening — marking the beginning of what the army chief pledged would be a “beautiful democratic process.”  Just a week ago, the Bangladeshi military was shooting at students protesting against Hasina’s government, killing at least 300 people. Yunus — ‘the name of confidence’ The lauded professor is currently the only name that instills confidence…

When Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel ended her political career three years ago, I was supposed to interview her counterpart, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, for a documentary. Other heads of state and government who had worked with Merkel during her time in office were also to feature in the program, a retrospective of the German leader and her career. But the Kremlin said no. The reason it gave was that all the other interview partners were former leaders, whereas the Russian president was still in office. The project was therefore deemed unworthy of him. I was, at least, allowed…

Germany’s railway system was once a source of national pride. But the network and its operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), have become a major source of frustration for train travelers in recent years. Passengers are increasingly confronted with overcrowding, delays and cancellations, as well as regular closures of large sections of track for maintenance and repair works. DB’s problems also grabbed attention abroad during the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, which took place in Germany between June 14 and July 14. Train breakdowns and overcrowded platforms made international news and caused acute embarrassment in a country that has a reputation for efficiency, punctuality and top-quality…

Temperatures on the Great Barrier Reef have soared to their highest in 400 years, a new study has found.It said the “unprecedented” heat on the sea surface around the natural wonder is driving increasingly frequent mass bleaching events that are putting it in danger. Without stronger and faster action to tackle climate change, our generation will “likely be witness to the demise of one of Earth’s great natural wonders”, according to the paper, published today in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system and gives life to diverse species, from whales and dolphins…