Author: DW

Most of the news about Germany’s World Cup squad was around the return of Manuel Neuer. But beyond the headlines lies another story. Eight of the 26 players representing Germany this summer have roots in Africa: Jonathan Tah (Ivorian father), Antonio Rüdiger (Sierra Leonean mother), Leroy Sane (Senegalese father), Felix Nmecha and Jamal Musiala (both Nigerian fathers), Assan Ouedraogo (both parents from Burkina Faso), Malick Thiaw (Senegalese father) and Jamie Leweling (Ghanaian father). In fact, if you look at the last year of Germany’s squad selections, there have been a total of 17 players with African roots called up. The connection Germany’s footballers have with…

Can the music of Johann Sebastian Bach encourage dialogue? Absolutely, says Burkhard Jung, lord mayor of Leipzig and former president of Eurocities, a network of major European cities. In his opening address at the 2026 Leipzig Bachfest, he cited the fast-paced nature of our modern lives, where so much happens simultaneously. “The world is full of voices, but they don’t really talk to one another,” Jung emphasized. Bach’s music is polyphonic; layers of distinct voices with their own melodies, all given equal importance as part of the piece as a whole. Sometime these voices take turns in a kind of…

Access to artificial intelligence (AI) models is not only a matter of economic autonomy but also of national security. For any doubters, this was made clear in mid-June when Anthropic announced that, on US government orders, it would deny all foreign users access to its top AI software, citing national security concerns. These AI models — Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — are considered particularly effective at identifying vulnerabilities in software. Germany, for one, must urgently catch up in artificial intelligence, says German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. In the current situation, it is essential to help shape technological innovation, he…

Annalena Baerbock is a football fan and is often found cheering on Germany’s national teams at major tournaments. Last year, she was on the edge of her seat rooting for the country’s women’s team at the Euros in Switzerland. And now, her fingers are crossed for the men’s team at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. She’s right in the thick of it because since 2025, Baerbock has been president of the United Nations General Assembly, which is based in New York. Baerbock attended an award ceremony at the recently opened German House of Soccer, where…

German is not the first language you’d expect to find behind a global TikTok hit, which is why the success of “Gut genug” is so surprising. The track was a collaboration between Berlin-based producers KitschKrieg, indie duo Blumengarten and rapper Shirin David. Now, millions of social media users worldwide have featured the song in their videos — although many of them don’t understand a word of German. Despite that fact — or perhaps because of it — the song has become a hit. The hook sticks in your head and is easy to sing along to. Blumengarten singer Rayan croons…

Outside the majestic Wittenbergplatz subway station in Berlin, activist Hedda tells people passing by that the majority of the superrich in Germany inherited their wealth. Striding back and forth in front of a massive banner accompanied by other protesters and a big polar bear in a pink cape, she cites an analysis that found only one in four billionaires is self-made in the country. “Which tax can the government use to fairly redistribute this excessive wealth generated by genetic lottery?” Hedda shouted. “Inheritance tax!” someone yelled back. The activists, who are part of a group that calls itself NoSuperReturn, cheer…

“It was heartbreaking to see what was going on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, at the same time, to see how many resources can be mobilized to get this one patient from the DRC to Germany,” said Thomas Cronen, a senior physician and infectious diseases expert in intensive care at the Charité — Berlin University Hospital. Cronen and his colleague Maximilian Gertler were in Nairobi, Kenya, when we spoke. They were there to exchange knowledge about treating Ebola with 50 clinicians from the eight member states of the East African Community (EAC). We had got onto the topic…

Almost a week into the tournament, World Cup fever has very much taken hold in Germany, with the Nationalmannschaft’s 7-1 thumping of minnows Curacao on Sunday looking all the more impressive in light of Spain’s goalless draw with Cape Verde on Monday. You see, these group-stage games against smaller nations aren’t as easy as you might think! Strikers Deniz Undav and Kai Havertz both scored against Curacao, but there’s been some bad news for any Germany fans wanting to have those names printed on the backs of their replica shirts after the official kit provider ran out of letter Vs…

Anish Kapoor can demand quite a lot from his audience. For some, gazing into dark whirlpools, into the blackest of black, may be unsettling, depending on one’s state of mind. Added to that is dark red wax, one of his favorite materials: It symbolizes flesh and blood. Associations that cut straight to the core. And yet, the artist seems cheerful and relaxed talking about his work. At times, however, it makes even him feel a little uneasy. Take, for example, the major exhibition of his work currently on view at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, Germany. In an interview with ARD, he…

The European Parliament is expected to approve new rules to make it easier for farmers to grow crops, genetically edited using new genomic techniques (NGTs). The vote on NGTs is scheduled for June 17. If the EU gives the green light, it would mark a big policy shift. Brussels has maintained a cautious stance on genetically modified organisms since its regulation of GMOs began in the 1990s. From ‘Frankenfoods’ to CRISPR crops Thirty years ago, GMO agricultural products were often dubbed “Frankenstein foods” or “Frankenfoods.” Environmentalists and certain members of the media warned that GMOs could cause allergic reactions, lead to antibiotic resistance, and other long-term…