Author: DW

Does the cradle of modern European humanity lie in southwestern Germany’s Swabian Jura? That’s the conclusion drawn by archaeologists in light of discoveries made there of several 40,000-year-old figurines carved from mammoth ivory. Now, a further discovery in the Hohle Fels cave near Blaubeuren has confirmed this hypothesis about early humans. During excavations there, a Danish student found an animal figurine. It’s only six centimeters (2.4 inches) long and has no head, but researchers are certain it is a representation of an otter. For archaeology professor Nicholas Conard from the University of Tübingen, the small animal is the “find of the year.”…

The discovery of 700,000-year-old bone fragments on the volcanic Indonesian island Flores suggests that the smallest known human species was even smaller than previously thought. An analysis of fossilized remains of two teeth and an upper arm bone — called the humerus — of an extinct hominin species called Homo floresiensis has been published in the journal Nature Communications. These pint-sized cousins of our own Homo sapiens species lived on the Indonesian archipelago until around 50,000 years ago, when they became extinct. When the first Homo floresiensis specimen was unearthed in Flores’ Liang Bua cave in 2003, archaeologists were struck by how…

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday pledged swift action toward far-right rioters who stirred unrest across the country in recent days.  What did Starmer say? “Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest. It is pure violence, and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said. “The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities.”Far-right riots unsettle UK’s Muslim communityTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The rioters have been influenced by…

Former Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Tuesday denied allegations that he was violent towards his ex-partner and former first lady Fabiola Yanez. In a post on X, the former president and judge said he learned of the accusations from media reports and planned to prove his innocence to the court with evidence. “I will just say that it is false and what she is accusing me of never happened,” Fernandez said. “I will provide evidence and testimonies before the courts to show what really happened.” Yanez, an actress and journalist who now lives in Madrid with their two-year-old son, earlier…

What a difference a month makes. In July, stock indices in the United States hit all-time highs, led by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom that steered technology giants like Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia to historic levels. Investors had earlier brushed off some signs that the US economy was slowing down but did an about-face when a disappointing job markets report, released Friday, showed that US firms hired nearly a third fewer workers than expected in July — 114,000 vs. 175,000 that were forecast. US unemployment also ticked up to 4.3% from 4.1% the previous month, forewarning the heightened risk of a recession. On the other…

A whale has breached the ocean in spectacular fashion as surfers competed in the Olympic competition in Tahiti.The surprise ‘photobomb’ came as Tatiana Weston-Webb from Brazil and Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica took part in the semi-final. Luckily, the whale was a long way behind the pair as it launched itself into the air.It’s not unusual for seals and whales to be seen during surfing events – with a shark attack on Australian pro Mick Fanning famously caught on camera in 2015.The whale picture is also the second eye-catching image from this year’s Olympic surfing event. Last week, a photo…

Water contamination in the Seine River was a controversial topic right up to the opening ceremonies at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was deemed safe on July 17, 2024, and opened for swimming for the first time in about a century. A women’s swimming event went ahead, but was followed by the news that a men’s event was to postponed and rescheduled. Then, Olympic swimmers started to get sick.  #JeChieDansLaSeine Pollution in the Seine is no new controversy — swimming in the river has been illegal for more than 100 years due to health concerns. The first ban came into effect in 1923,…

In one corner, you have the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most powerful institution in world sport. In the other, you have the International Boxing Association (IBA), amateur boxing’s global governing body, which is no longer officially recognized by the IOC. The cases of two female boxers competing at the Paris Olympics have been thrust into the public spotlight in recent days, exposing a yearslong feud between the two organizations and reigniting a debate over fairness, safety and inclusion in women’s sport. Why exactly is boxing in the spotlight? Unwittingly caught in the middle of this, through no fault of their own, are…

On Monday, following massive week-long protests, Sheikh Hasina resigned from her office as Bangladesh’s prime minister and boarded a helicopter to India. It was the second time that a trip abroad altered the course of the country’s history. Hasina was the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh and the longest-serving female head of government in modern history. Her role at the helm of a 170-million-strong country had been uninterrupted for 15 years. Under her rule, the country’s economy flourished, while political opponents increasingly suffered under her strict leadership. A stroke of fate and a happy coincidence A key moment…

Many superheroes were created by Jewish cartoonists who soon used their characters to invoke the horrors of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime. In 1940, a comic titled “How Superman Would End the War” showed Superman saying to Hitler: “I’d like to land a strictly non-Aryan sock on your jaw.” According to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, Josef Goebbels, Nazi minister of propaganda, denounced Superman as a Jew soon after. Superheros take on the Nazis Captain America was already hitting menacing Hitler-esque Nazi characters in comics from the early 1940s. Such fascist villains also featured in animated books like Dr. Seuss during the war years.…