Author: DW

Decades of successful scientific collaboration could be at risk if political relations between Europe and the US continue to fray over trade and defense issues. For more than 30 years, Arctic nations have worked together across the physical, biological and social sciences to understand one of the world’s fastest-changing regions. Since the late 1970s, the Arctic has lost around 33,000 square miles of sea ice each year — roughly the same area as Czechia. Even during the Cold War, scientists from the US and Russia conducted, shared and often collaborated on research, along with researchers from Canada, Denmark, Norway, Iceland,…

FIFA’s previous president, Sepp Blatter, weighed in on discussions about attending the upcoming World Cup in North America this week, saying he thought it was “right to question” this World Cup.  Blatter made the comments in reference to an interview by Swiss lawyer and anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth, who urged fans to stay away from the US-hosted tournament. “For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: Stay away from the USA!” Pieth told Swiss paper Der Bund. On online post, Blatter quoted Pieth and said “Pieth is right to question this World Cup.”  Pieth also said fans would “get a better view…

A dictator wearing reflective sunglasses, medals arrayed across his chest; a parliament in disarray; a people silenced by impunity. These are images we may envision when we hear the phrase “banana republic.” The term was coined by US writer O. Henry (real name: William Sydney Porter), who’d fled to Honduras in 1896 to escape embezzlement charges by a Texas bank. In the coastal city of Trujillo, he’d observed how the US-owned United Fruit Company dominated the city’s railways and docks and wielded significant political influence. This inspired his novel “Cabbages and Kings” (1904), in which he wrote about the fictional republic of…

The US dollar continues to fall sharply in value against other major currencies, continuing the trend that saw it have its steepest annual drop in almost a decade in 2025. The dollar fell by 1.3% against a basket of currencies on Tuesday (January 27), meaning it has already fallen by 2.6% since the start of 2026. It slumped by 9.5% in 2025. The fall in the dollar has implications for the euro. and other currencies. The single European currency has now hit the $1.2 level for the first time since 2021, while the British pound and Japanese yen have also reached…

Members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US government agency that has been carrying out raids in US cities, will be in Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, ICE said. “At the Winter Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal Organizations,” ICE told news agency AFP in a statement. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead their country’s delegation to the Winter Games, which are due to be held in February. Both US…

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rejected a request from the United States, which called for Katie Uhlaender, the skeleton athlete at the center of an Olympic qualifying controversy, to be given a discretionary place at February’s Winter Games at Milano Cortina, to “preserve” her Olympic dream. Uhlaender, a two-time world champion, says she was unfairly denied the chance to reach her sixth Winter Games during a qualifying event in Lake Placid, New York, earlier this month. She accused Canada’s skeleton coach, Joe Cecchini, of deliberately pulling his female racers out of the event, in a move aimed at depriving her and…

The price of gold continues to reach new heights. On Monday, January 26, the metal broke through the milestone of $5,000 (€4,217) per troy ounce (31.1 grams)  for the first time — a further sign that investors are flocking to what’s generally perceived to be a safe-haven asset amid rising geopolitical tensions. Gold has been on a remarkable surge for the past 12 months, having almost doubled in value since this time last year.  It is on its biggest rally since the 1970s, and while the run has accelerated over the past year, its gains have been notable since 2019, when it was valued…

Australian Open organizers instituted their extreme heat policy as temperatures soared at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.   It prompted the suspension of play on outer courts and the closure of roofs on the main showcourts. The protocol, introduced in 2019, was developed to minimize the risk of heat-related illness and provide consistency for all players. It considers air temperature, radiant heat, wind speed ⁠humidity to assess playing conditions, and sets thresholds for cooling interventions.Australian Open organizers have encouraged spectators to wear hats, apply sunscreen and drink lots of water.Image: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images ‘It was really hot out there’ In the event of…

Leon Weintraub can still remember the day the Nazis marched into his Polish hometown of Lodz on September 9, 1939. “There they came, seemingly endless rows of tall, healthy young soldiers in green Wehrmacht uniforms. The thought of the sound of their hobnail boots on the cobblestones still sends a cold shiver down my spine,” he tells DW. “They exuded so much power and would smash anything that stood in their way.” Weintraub was only 13 then and had no idea what horrors awaited him. He lived in a poor neighborhood with his four sisters and his mother, who ran…

For the past year, countries around the world have been in panic mode as the United States added tariffs or threatened trade wars. The sheer uncertainty of President Donald Trump’s whims has added a real sense of urgency to the situation.  The old global trading order is gone, and the realignment is pushing countries into each other’s arms in new constellations.   China has seen much of the tariff headlines, but the US’s neighbors and biggest trading partners, Mexico and Canada, have not been spared. Across the Atlantic, the European Union has been on the tariff roller coaster, too, and is questioning long-standing…