Author: DW

Venus Williams has consistently broken records and barriers across a 32-year tennis career decorated by five Olympic medals, seven Grand Slam singles titles and 14 doubles Grand Slams with her sister, Serena. This month, she’ll add another record and break another barrier, becoming the oldest woman to play singles at the Australian Open. At 45, Williams, handed a wildcard for the tournament, is 27 years older than the youngest player in the women’s draw, fellow American Iva Jovic. By the time Jovic, 18, was born in 2007, Williams had already won four singles grand slams. The older Williams sister has said her love for…

All it takes is one night’s sleep in a laboratory, during which physiological signals are recorded, for a new artificial intelligence model to be able estimate a person’s risk for about 130 diseases later in life. That includes risks for Parkinson’s disease, dementia, heart disease, and cancers of the prostate and breast. SleepFM can make these predictions years before the first symptoms become evident, said James Zou, a Stanford University professor of biomedical data science and a co-senior author of the the SleepFM study, published in early January in the journal Nature Medicine. SleepFM was fed nearly 600,000 hours of sleep data collected…

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran “effectively immediately.” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” while giving few other details. The move comes as the Iran faces its largest and most sustained anti‑government protests in years, triggering a brutal crackdown that has killed hundreds and led to the arrest of more than 10,000 people. The tariffs appear to signal Washington’s response to the unrest, coming after the Trump…

Even just a few joints a week can make a difference ― measured in milligrams of THC. A new study by researcher Rachel L. Thorne and her team provides the first concrete thresholds for the weekly dose at which the risk of cannabis use disorder increases significantly. Thorne is a research associate in the psychology department at the University of Bath, UK, whose areas of expertise include cannabis use and its consequences for youth and adult health. The study was published on Monday in the journal Addiction. How much THC per week poses a health risk? The researchers used data from the CannTeen…

Katie Uhlaender, of the United States, has told DW that the head coach of Canada’s skeleton team manipulated a weekend qualifying event for February’s Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. According to Uhlaender, a five-time Winter Olympian, Joe Cecchini admitted to the scheme in a telephone call with her. She said Cecchini’s actions had dashed her hopes of making it to Italy for a sixth Winter Games. “I cried when I found out he went through with this plan,” said Uhlaender, who has represented the United States at five Olympic Games, beginning in Torino 2006.  “I didn’t know if it hurt more that my…

Born in San Francisco as John Griffith Chaney on January 12, 1876, Jack London lived a life even more dramatic than those portrayed in many of his novels. His biological father never acknowledged paternity, shunning his mother while she was still pregnant. She would later marry Civil War veteran John London, who took him in as his stepson and gave him his surname. London grew up in severe financial hardship. From an early age, he left school and took up multiple jobs to help support his family. He earned money as a paper boy and worked in saloons and factories. As…

For a short time during and after COVID, Europe’s workers enjoyed rare leverage over their employers. Generous furlough and reduced working-hour programs, like Germany’s Kurzarbeit, helped companies offset staffing costs. Offices became optional thanks to remote work. Coming out of the pandemic, headlines about the so-called Great Resignation reflected a global labor shortage that sharply increased demand for talent. Workplace burnout gave rise to another new phrase, Quiet Quitting, as employees rejected overdelivering in pursuit of a healthier work-life balance. Research by McKinsey, a New York-based consulting firm, in 2022 found that a third of European workers were considering quitting their jobs within three to six months, which Angelika Reich,…

In the early hours of January 3, US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transferred to the US, where Maduro, now deposed, faces charges of narcoterrorism.    The operation, illegal according to international law, marks the latest in a long history of US interventions in Latin America, often justified by Washington with claims of regional security.  Many of these interventions can be traced back to the Monroe Doctrine, a foreign policy principle which despite its 19th century origins has continued to influence US foreign policy over the past 200 years.   What is the Monroe Doctrine?  The Monroe Doctrine dates back to 1823, when President James Monroe warned European powers against meddling in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.   The doctrine was later expanded by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, in what’s known as the…

The Nürburgring in the Western hills of Germany is the world’s longest permanent race track. It’s almost a century old and was the site of many Formula One Grand Prix races. The track’s main part is called the Nordschleife, or the Northern Loop. The 20.8-kilometer (12.9-mile) track is nicknamed the “Green Hell” — because of the surrounding forests of the Eifel region, and its punishing layout. German carmakers test their vehicles to the maximum at NürburgringImage: Thomas Frey/imageBROKER/picture alliance To understand the importance of engineering and performance in German carmaking, the Nordschleife is a good place to start, said Misha Charoudin, car…

On January 5, the leader of Spain’s Andalusia region, Juanma Moreno, painted his face black to portray Balthazar, one of the Three Wise Men, during a parade in Seville as part of Spain’s traditional Epiphany celebrations — prompting activists and online commentators to call attention to racism. Historically, blackface — when a white person paints their face black in a racist caricature of a Black person — has been used to mock, stereotype and dehumanize Black people. Moreno said in a post on X that it was an “honor” to represent the biblical character during the procession. Each year, floats pass through…