Author: DW

Three travelers have died aboard a cruise ship sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde. There is a suspected hantavirus infection. Another traveler has tested positive for the virus. According to media reports, the 69-year-old is receiving intensive care treatment in South Africa. Two crew members have also fallen seriously ill. How and where exactly the travelers were infected remains unclear. “The risk to the general public remains low,” the WHO’s European regional office said in a press release Monday. “There is no reason for panic or travel restrictions.” The ship involved is the “Hondius,” operated by Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions. There…

Midfielder ​Alexia Putellas scored a brace to lead Barcelona to a 4-2 win over Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal tie on Sunday. It completed a 5-3 aggregate victory to set up a final against OL Lyonnes. The French side had finished off holders Arsenal in the other semifinal on Saturday. “I’m really happy for the team, they’ve had a great season and now we just need to put the cherry on top,” three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati told streaming service Disney+. “(Lyon) are a historic club in the Champions League, they’ve got an…

The Venice Art Biennale’s official awards ceremony usually marks the event’s opening, and the Golden and Silver Lion prizes typically contribute to launching artists’ international careers. But this year’s Biennale — often described as the “Olympics of the art world” — is embroiled in controversy, and the traditional awarding of the coveted accolades at the start of the event on May 9 has been canceled after the entire jury in charge of selecting the prizewinners resigned, just days before the event. Jury resigns over Israel and Russia debate The five-member jury had previously announced in a statement that they would not consider any countries whose leaders are currently being charged by the International Criminal…

Dubai has built a reputation as an oasis of stability in the volatile Middle East region.  The United Arab Emirates’ second-richest emirate positioned itself as a secure financial hub where high-net-worth individuals could park capital, run businesses and plan for the long term with confidence. That carefully built image, however, has been shattered by the Iran war. Iranian missile and drone attacks on Gulf targets triggered a sharp economic shock, with the stock markets in Dubai and neighboring Abu Dhabi initially losing $120 billion (€103 billion) in value.Dubai’s stock market is rebounding after big initial loses in market value when the war in Iran…

Saudi Arabia’s enormous investment in everything from football to snowboarding has been one of sport’s major themes in the last decade. The oil-rich Gulf state offered astronomical wages to footballers in the twilight of their careers, won the right to host football’s World Cup after developing strong ties with FIFA, bought a Premier League club, split the golf world and sought to host all manner of events, from snooker, through women’s tennis to wrestling. The splurge was tied to the country’s recently adjusted Vision 2030, a strategy to diversify its interests away from oil, and is widely considered to be…

Throughout his life, the internationally famous East German-born artist defied convention: Georg Baselitz, renowned for his expressive, figurative paintings and sculptures, has died on April 30 at the age of 88. When a young and up-and-coming artist is kicked out of an art academy, that could either mean an early end to their career or the beginning of a life on the world stage. The latter happened to Georg Baselitz. In 1956, Hans-Georg Bruno Kern moved from his hometown, Deutschbaselitz in the state of Saxony, to East Berlin to study art. But his career as an art student was short-lived as the 18-year-old refused to…

Four years ago, the United States tightened the screws on China’s technological ambitions, rolling out export curbs on advanced chips, commonly known as semiconductors, used in artificial intelligence (AI), data centers and national defense. The Biden administration aimed to limit Beijing’s ability to develop technologies that could boost its military and financial strength, further narrowing the gap between the world’s two largest economies. The restrictions pushed Beijing to accelerate its push for chip self‑reliance, a goal laid out years earlier in its Made in China 2025 plan. The Chinese government has since poured hundreds of billions of dollars into building up domestic semiconductor production. Chips as a national security issue Beijing…

A North Korean women’s soccer club will visit South Korea for a face-off between the rival neighbors, making it the first sports team since 2018 to play on the South’s soil, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said on Monday. North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC is set to play against the South Korean Suwon FC ​Women ‌on May 20 in the semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions ⁠League. What do we know about the rare game? Pyongyang has sent ​a list of a delegation of 27 players ⁠and ​12 staff ​who would visit ​South Korea ‌for the semi-final ​of ⁠Asia’s…

International superstar and Latin icon Shakira performed in front of 2 million fans at a free concert on Copacabana Beach on Saturday, city officials said, marking one of the largest shows of her career. “Brazil, I love you! It’s magical to think that here we are, millions of souls together, ready to sing, dance, be moved and remind the world what really matters,” Shakira told the crowd in Portuguese. The 49-year-old Colombian singer said she had always dreamed of singing on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. “And now look at this. Life is magical.” The performance was part of…

Apple announced on Monday that after more than a decade as chief executive, Tim Cook will step down in September. Cook will hand leadership to company veteran John Ternus, currently Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, marking Apple’s first CEO transition since the death of founder Steve Jobs. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor,” Ternus said. “It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with…