Author: DW

The mayor of Paris has swum in the Seine in an effort to prove its cleanliness for the Olympics outdoor swimming events – but questions remain about its quality.After months of anticipation, Anne Hidalgo took the plunge ahead of the Games starting next week. The mayor had originally planned to swim in the river last month but was forced to delay after tests indicated the presence of faecal matter was 10 times higher than authorised limits. Image: Pic: Reuters A century after swimming in the Seine was banned, French officials have been keen to prove their investment of €1.4bn to…

The Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance, on Wednesday lost its appeal against its categorization by the European Commission as a “digital gatekeeper.” The EU General Court in Luxembourg ruled that the designation was warranted under the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) because short video app TikTok exceeded relevant thresholds including global market value and the number of EU users. Labeled companies are prevented from forcing users in the bloc to consent to have access to a service or certain functionalities. What did the EU court find? ByteDance had argued that its global market value largely came from China,…

When Usha Chilukuri Vance, met her husband, JD Vance, at Yale Law School, the now US vice-presidential candidate described her as his “spirit guide” at the prestigious institution. “She instinctively understood the questions I didn’t even know to ask, and she always encouraged me to seek opportunities that I didn’t know existed,” wrote Vance in his best-selling 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” Born in 1986 to Indian immigrants from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Chilukuri Vance grew up in an ethnically diverse San Diego suburb. Her father, Krish Chilukuri, is an aerospace engineer and university lecturer. Her mother, Lakshmi, is a professor of…

Adele has announced she will be taking a “big break” from music after her upcoming concerts, saying: “I don’t have any plans for new music at all.”The British singer, who has spent the past two years playing a weekend residency in Las Vegas, is performing in Europe next month for the first time since 2016. She has a 10-date string of gigs booked in Germany for August at Munich’s Messe exhibition centre, which boasts a capacity of 80,000.At the weekend, she posted images on Instagram of the set-up there, writing: “It’s all a bit bloody exciting.”Weekends With Adele launched at…

Is victory now inevitable? Following the assassination attempt, former US President Donald Trump has officially been selected as the Republican presidential nominee at the party’s national convention. Has the shooting made him more likely to triumph in the US general election in November? “It’s certainly the case that the attack will garner him additional sympathy,” political scientist and Latin America expert Günther Maihold told DW. “As a consequence, the individual moves into a different realm. The population sees them as both particularly vulnerable, and, at the same time, as a savior. This also applies to Trump.” Maihold compared the situation with the…

On July 11, the German Interior Ministry (BMI) announced that by the end of 2026 components made by Chinese technology companies Huawei and ZTE “must no longer be used” in building up the country’s next-generation 5G mobile networks. Already existing components, the BMI decided, “must be replaced by the end of 2029.” The German government considers 5G networks “critical infrastructure” because they are crucial for the energy sector, transportation, health care and financial services. The ban comes as Chinese technology firms are increasingly viewed with suspicions for their allegedly too close ties to the government in Beijing. Especially Beijing’s drive to make companies like…

Italy’s Armani Group as well as France’s Dior were placed under investigation for the second time this year by the Italian competition watchdog AGCM and the Guardia di Finanza financial police, authorities confirmed on Wednesday. Officials said inspections were carried out on Tuesday at both companies’ Italian headquarters. Armani has come under fire from authorities for allegedly lying to consumers about its social commitments as well as the craftsmanship of its pieces. Armani pieces often retail for many thousands of euros, partly on the understanding that they are made by skilled artisans working by hand. Labor practices under review Both companies…

Itching, rashes, patches and baldness. These are just some symptoms of ringworm, a fungal infection that appears to be spreading among young people in Germany. While reports are largely anecdotal, some dermatologist say they are seeing a growing number of cases of ringworm in their clinics, especially among male patients. And the reason could be two fashionable hair cuts: the “low fade” and the “undercut” — both involve shaving hair very close to the scalp. You may have seen these styles worn by sportspeople, including players in the German EURO 2024 team. What is ringworm? Ringworm is fungal infection that affects the skin. It…

Ukrainian gymnast Igor Radivilov wakes up every day with pain in his shoulders. Years of training on the rings, one of his two favorite disciplines, have taken their toll. And yet Radivilov keeps going, trying to forget about the pain, because he knows — with Russia’s invasion of his country well into its third year — that his aching shoulders will be carrying the hopes of a nation at this summer’s Paris Olympics. “Since the beginning of the war, the whole world has seen how Ukrainians, and in particular the athletes, these strong people, have continued with their work, no…

Iran on Wednesday strongly denied reports in the US media implicating Tehran in a plot to assassinate former US President Donald Trump. US broadcasters CNN and NBC reported on Tuesday that the US Secret Service had recently boosted security around Trump after receiving intelligence from an unnamed “human source” that the current Republican Presidential Candidate was the target of a potential Iranian plot. CNN said there was “no indication” the alleged plot was linked to Saturday’s shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania, in which the former president was shot in the ear. How did Tehran react? Nevertheless, Iranian foreign…