Author: DW

Since the Iran war began, the surge in oil prices has stirred memories of the dramatic oil shocks of 1973 and 1979.    In 1973, oil-producing Arab countries imposed an embargo against Western nations to punish them for supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Oil prices skyrocketed, forcing many Western governments to implement energy-saving measures such as gasoline rationing. Germany, for instance, declared several car-free days, banning private vehicles from the streets on four consecutive Sundays. Is the world once again on the brink of a similar crisis? Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), gave a stark warning on Monday,…

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday that it would reintroduce genetic gender testing to determine eligibility for female events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. “Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females, determined on the basis of a one time gene screening,” the committee said following an 18-month consultation. “Based on scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the presence ​of the SRY gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced male sex development,”…

Young men who identify with the “manosphere” — an online movement promoting toxic masculinity and misogyny — are being promised a better life and a higher “sexual market value” by becoming more attractive through “looksmaxxing.” The online trend comes with its own lingo, significant costs — and a good dose of pain. Lookmaxxing influencers are promising isolated young incels, or involuntary celibates, that they can get better jobs and attract more sexual partners though a rigorous diet (“starvemaxxing”), plenty of steroids and weights, plastic surgery and a jawline made more angular with a hammer to the face (“bonesmashing”).Looksmaxxing content on social media promotes questionable…

In the hours after the US and Israel began conducting joint strikes on Iran on February 28, air traffic along the normally busy east-west routes was forced into a narrow airspace corridor over the South Caucasus. What is a new development in the skies has been building on the ground for some time. In recent years, the region has gained attention as a key link in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. Also known as the Middle Corridor, it serves to connect Europe and China whilst bypassing Iran and Russia via Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Now, the Iran war has cast…

“People believe all sorts of things about how the world’s going to end,” said Matthew Billet, social psychologist at University of California, Irvine, US, in conversation with Science unscripted hosts, Conor Dillon and Gabriel Borrud. “Some people mean human extinction,” Billet said. “Some people mean the collapse of civilization or some sort of transformation of civilization as we know it, sometimes leading to a utopia, or a revitalization of humanity. And some people mean the complete destruction of Earth [by] a comet or a solar flare or something.” Most of us have had such thoughts about the end of the…

An under-19 football coach at German Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli publicly came out as gay this week and used the opportunity to criticize attitudes towards homosexuality in the game. Christian Dobrick, 29, told German broadcaster RTL and news magazine Stern on Tuesday that gay men are “still treated like extraterrestrials” in professional men’s football. He said he suspected that, while he’s certain he’s not the only one, there are probably fewer gay men in the professional game than in the general population. “The pressure to lead a hetero-normative life is so big that fewer gay footballers make it to the…

Germany and Iran have been connected since long before either country looked like it does today. At first, their ties were mostly cultural; only later were official diplomatic relations established. Here is a brief look at that shared history. Goethe’s enthusiasm for Persian poetry In 1814, at age 65, German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe read a translation of the “Divan of Hafez”— a collection of poems by the Persian poet and mystic Hafez. He was captivated, writing: “And even if the whole world were to sink, Hafez, with you, with you alone do I wish to compete!” Born around 1315, Hafez’s…

Volkswagen (VW) is in talks with the Israeli defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems over a possible collaboration which would see production switch from cars to defense equipment at a key VW plant, according to a report in the Financial Times. The exclusive report in the newspaper, quoting people familiar with the plan, says the companies plan to convert Volkswagen’s struggling Osnabrück plant into a facility which makes components for the Israeli state-owned company’s Iron Dome air defense system. In response to queries from DW, a spokesperson for Volkswagen said “the production of weapons by Volkswagen AG remains ruled out…

NASA will cancel plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, instead focusing on the construction of a roughly $20 billion (about €17.25 billion) base on the moon’s surface over the next seven years.  New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was sworn in at the US space agency in December, made the announcement at the opening of an all-day event at NASA’s Washington headquarters.  He outlined a raft of changes to the agency’s flagship Artemis II moon project, which has encountered a series of setbacks in recent months amid a 21st century race with Russia and China to return…

Soaring World Cup ticket prices have pushed European fans to file a complaint against FIFA. “The cheapest openly available final tickets now start at $4,185,” the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) group said. That’s around €3,400 — and “more than seven times the cost of the cheapest 2022 World Cup final ticket,” the group said in statement. FSE filed the complaint with the European Commission, accusing FIFA of “excessive ticket prices” and “unfair purchasing conditions” and calling it an “abuse of its monopoly position.” “They leave loyal fans with no other choice — pay up or lose out,” FSE’s executive director said. €163,000…