Author: DW

A potentially record-strength El Nino is now intensifying across the Pacific, bringing either drought or flooding to the world’s key farming regions. Earlier this month, the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a 63% chance that the unusual weather pattern could be “very strong” this year. JP Morgan, meanwhile, warned last week that El Nino, combined with $100 (€88) oil prices, could spike food inflation by up to 1.5%. The arrival of El Nino follows two major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, during which global food supplies have held up remarkably well. So, could this third crisis bring the perfect storm that tips the…

FIFA plans to create a new commercial subsidiary valued at $20 billion (roughly €17.5 billion) and sell non-controlling minority stakes to investors, world football’s governing body announced on Tuesday.  It called on its 211 member federations to back the plan, saying that if they voted in favor they “would benefit immediately from increased funding.”  As soon as the news emerged, European football federation UEFA issued fierce criticism of the plan, saying it “crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross.”  The push comes immediately after this summer’s World Cup hosted primarily in the US, with FIFA listing a…

Bookings for tourist accommodation in Germany through major online platforms have reached a record high. The figure rose sharply above both last year’s level and figures seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Why are tourist rental bookings rising in Germany? Travellers booked 68.3 million overnight stays through Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia in 2025, the Federal Statistical Office said on Tuesday, citing data from EU statistics agency Eurostat. That was an increase of 13% compared with 2024 and more than 83% above the level recorded in 2019. The rise came despite TripAdvisor no longer being included in the data after it left the…

The Strait of Hormuz has become one of the world’s most dangerous waterways since March, when Iran began attacking shipping vessels as a pressure tactic in its ceasefire talks with the United States. Still, though a significant proportion of the global oil trade bottlenecks at the strait, shipping traffic never completely halted. With the United States and Iran issuing conflicting statements as to whether the Strait of Hormuz is open, DW analyzed public data sources to track how shipping traffic has changed during the course of the war and which vessels are still taking the risk of transiting the maritime choke…

Behind the familiar symptoms of fever and spots is an extremely contagious virus that can cause lasting harm or death. That’s the reality of measles. But many people in the US appear to have forgotten the seriousness of a measles infection, with outbreaks mainly in under-vaccinated communities.  In fact, infections have hit a 35-year high as declining vaccination rates have created growing pockets of susceptible people. Experts warn that the fading memories of the once-common disease have left too many people unaware of its dangers. The number of measles cases in the United States up to mid-July 2026 surpassed the total number of…

Football didn’t have it easy at the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.  There were questionable decisions by FIFA, the sport’s governing body, as well as a lot of spectacle and a final in which only one team actually played football. After a total of 104 games in this biggest-ever World Cup, Spain were deservedly crowned champions, and, for the first time, a country’s men’s and women’s teams are simultaneously world champions. FIFA President Gianni Infantino described the tournament as the “greatest sporting, social and cultural event in humanity.”  US President Donald Trump congratulated FIFA on what he called “one…

Gianni Infantino is not a man used to apologizing. And even though he said sorry three times on the second slide of a 15-page Instagram post, that remains the case. “To everyone who missed our beautiful game, the emotions, the celebrations, the laughter, the crying, the deception, and the joy. To all of you who missed watching kids, babies, grandparents, and parents come together for the beautiful game, I say sorry that the matches are now over and sorry that you missed all that joy and togetherness. Sorry that you were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed…

Since the pandemic, Indonesia has delivered steady annual growth of 5%. Then, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. As Southeast Asia’s largest economy still heavily relies on imported fuel despite having its own oil reserves, the Indonesian government took an immediate hit. The cost of fuel subsidies, for which ministers had budgeted around $22 billion (€19.2 billion), rocketed. Reuters news agency reported in March that policymakers would need an extra $6 billion or more to keep prices stable. The national currency, the rupiah, plunged 8% to record lows near 18,000 to the dollar. The Jakarta stock market, which had been heading for a record above 9,000, fell…

Several posts have been circulating online claiming that US President Donald Trump was edited out of a photo postedby the Spanish Football Federation on its social media accounts. Claim: One post on the social media platform X gained more than 11 million views while making the same claim. “Lol Spain edited Trump out of the photo,” the caption read. DW Fact-check: False Fans waited for the arrival of players from Spain’s national soccer team during celebrations in Madrid on Monday, July 20, 2026Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance The claim is false. The image is neither AI-generated nor altered. We found multiple pieces of evidence online debunking the claim.…

Vanilla is almost everywhere — in ice creams, cough syrups, cleaning products and perfumes. Its ubiquity, thanks to the cheaper and widely available synthetic vanillin, has over time earned it synonymity with “ordinary” or “plain” in the English language. Yet natural vanilla is one of the most labor‑intensive crops on Earth and one of the most chemically complex, containing more than 200 aromatic compounds. As the world’s second-most expensive spice after saffron, it sells between $100 and $600 (€90 to €550) per kilogram. And its history is anything but “vanilla.” It involves, among others, a stingless bee and colonial machinations, as well…