Author: DW

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey announced Saturday that he is deploying 300 to 400 National Guard troops to Washington, DC. “West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” Morrisey said in a statement.  The deployment is part of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on crime and homelessness. Maj. Gen. James Seward, West Virginia’s adjutant general, said that members of the state’s National Guard “stand ready to support our partners in the National Capital Region and contribute to the collective effort of making our nation’s capital…

The United States has canceled trade negotiations with India, which were scheduled to take place in New Delhi between August 25 and 29, according to media reports. The India-US negotiations for a trade deal, which had been going on since February, have been paused, Indian newspaper The Indian Express reported on Sunday, citing sources privy to the matter. The upcoming round of talks, which was slated to take place in the last week of August, will now be held at a later date, according to Indian news channel NDTV. India is subject to the highest US tariffs The bilateral talks on…

In August 2021, when the Taliban once again seized power in Afghanistan, the entire Afghan Youth Orchestra managed to flee to Europe. For the past four years, the young musicians of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) have found a new home in Portugal and are now guests at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin. “Making instruments and playing music is completely forbidden in Afghanistan,” said Ahmad Sarmast, founder and director of ANIM. He said he was able to help 273 people associated with his music school flee Afghanistan. His Kabul school was then closed and the instruments were destroyed.…

We’ve grown accustomed to supermarket shortages, from toilet paper during COVID-19 to sunflower oil amid the Ukraine war and eggs during bird flu outbreaks. The latest casualty is the hazelnut, due to a rare and devastating frost in April in Turkey, the world’s largest supplier, and ongoing climate change pressures. Since April, hazelnut prices have jumped over 35%, as exporters rushed to buy up the more limited supply. At one point, Turkish hazelnut futures prices exceeded 200 lira ($4.91, €4.22) per kilogram, with predictions of $10 per kilo internationally. This shortfall is set to hit sweet tooths hard, as the cost of Nutella, the…

Lara Schenk has never been one to be afraid of upping roots to pursue a new challenge in a foreign land. So perhaps it is not that surprising that the 25-year-old German took a leap of faith earlier this year, signing on to play in the world’s newest women’s professional soccer league, the Northern Super League (NSL). Since crossing the pond in April, Schenk has established herself in the starting 11 of the Montreal Roses, one of the NSL’s six founding clubs. For the only German player in Canada’s topflight, who describes herself as a “two-footed and aggressive defender,” the…

Wildfires continue to burn across the south of Europe amid record-breaking summer heatwaves in many fire-prone regions.  In some places, these fires have been exacerbated by wet spring months, which have helped vegetation growth capable of catching alight with ease during a dry summer. Already, an area equivalent to 1.5 times the size of Luxembourg — roughly 438,568 hectares — has burned across Europe in 2025. That figure is almost three times the size of fire damaged caused up to the same point in 2024. It comes as some parts of southern Europe suffer through multiple 40-degree (104 Fahrenheit) days, and…

The US President Donald Trump administration on Friday retracted its previous decision and agreed to let the Washington, DC, police chief remain in charge of the police force after a federal court’s order. The decision to keep DC Police Chief Pamela Smith, who was appointed by the mayor, in command of the Metropolitan Police Department came after officials in the nation’s capital sued to block Trump’s takeover of the Washington police. On Friday, US District Judge Ana Reyes observed that the Trump administration cannot legally take over the city police, but the law probably gives the president more power than the city might like.…

August 15th marks the 80th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender and the end of World War II, putting focus once again on reckoning with the country’s past. The domestic debate in Japan on shaping narratives about World War II is so tense that it is often referred to as “history wars.” Japan’s actions during the war are also a sore spot in international diplomacy. China and both North and South Korea have bitter memories of life under Japanese occupation and rarely miss an opportunity to remind their neighbor of the past. Inside Japan, what were once far-right fringe voices have grown more prominent…

In August 2024, internet behemoth Alphabet lost the biggest antitrust challenge it has ever faced when a US judge found that its subsidiary Google illegally monopolized the search market. US Federal Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that $26.3 billion (€22.4 billion) in payments that Google made to other companies to make its internet search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers effectively blocked any other competitor from succeeding in the market. As a result of the ruling, the US Department of Justice is proposing that Google be forced to sell off its Chrome browser. Apart from selling off Chrome, antitrust regulators…

One in three adults report some sort of insomnia and around half of those say it disrupts their functioning during the day. It only gets worse in summer. Heatwaves substantially disrupt sleep quality — studies show that even short heatwaves lasting one or two days can reduce sleep duration by more than an hour each night. Heat reduces sleep quality and duration by interfering with the body’s natural cooling process, which is crucial for initiating and maintaining sleep. That’s why keeping your bedroom cool during the day with shades and fans can do wonders for sleep quality. That, and having a…