Author: DW

Words have meaning. They shape how people feel about an issue, remember events and respond to developments that affect their lives. For decades, people in Germany have referred to the anti-Jewish violence that cascaded across the country on November 9, 1938, as the “Kristallnacht” or “Reichskristallnacht.” The translation “Night of Broken Glass” is widely used in English. In Germany, that has begun to change. Historians debate the origins of the term “Kristallnacht,” but it has nevertheless entered the lexicon of German history as such, “owing its name to the shards of shattered glass that lined German streets,” according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington,…

The U-17 Men’s World Cup is usually followed by football scouts and keen fans all searching for the next Lionel Messi — but the 2025 edition has taken on greater significance. The tournament has become FIFA’s testing ground for the 48-team format, the one that will be on show at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026. It’s also the start of an annual cycle of these under-17 tournaments, and the first of five consecutive tournaments to be played in Qatar. FIFA expert and former player Pascal Zuberbühler says it’s the “beginning of a new global rhythm…

Pope Leo XIV met on Saturday with a group of people who were sexually abused by members of the clergy in Belgium. The group of fifteen were victims of abuse when they were minors, the Holy See Press Office said.  Many of the survivors had previously met with the late Pope Francis during his 2024 visit to Belgium, the Vatican said, adding that the late pontiff had heard their story “with a sense of shame for the suffering they endured as children.” Belgium is a largely Roman Catholic country, where the Belgian Catholic Church has been plagued by a series of abuse scandals in recent years.…

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for an official visit that includes a scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump next week, a diplomatic gesture that was previously unimaginable. Al-Sharaa arrived a day after the US removed the Syrian president from a terrorism sanctions list, just one day after the United Nations Security Council lifted similar sanctions. Al-Sharaa led the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group, previously affiliated with the US-designated terror group al-Qaeda, that overthrew the regime of Bashar Assad last year. Shortly after Assad’s ouster in December 2024, the US lifted a $10 million (€8.6 million) reward it had earlier put in place for al-Sharaa’s arrest. In May, Trump…

“Nuremberg” is what used to be called an Oscar movie. Or, less charitably, “Oscar bait”: The new film from director James Vanderbilt, which opens Friday, takes a subject of immense historical weight, the trial of Nazi leader Hermann Göring at Nuremberg; casts Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, who deliver big, showy performances; and throws money at the screen to create a slick and respectable piece of cinema. Unlike previous films about the high-stakes trial, Vanderbilt’s film is not a courtroom drama, but rather a psychological thriller based on Jack El-Hai’s nonfiction book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.” “Nuremberg” focuses on the interviews between Göring (Crowe) —…

It is not just superstars, royal families or oligarchs skipping long security lines and sitting in the cushy leather seats anymore.  Today, there are more options than ever to take to the skies in a private jet without being head of state, CEO or owning a plane outright. Private jet deliveries are up Since the COVID-19 pandemic travel slump, planemakers have made a steady recovery driven by strong customer demand. Currently, there are around 23,500 private jets in service globally, according to Denesz Thiyagarajan, head of the general aviation team at IBA Insight, an aviation advisory company. North America accounts for…

Several referees, assistant referees and the chairman of an unnamed Super Lig club have had arrest orders issued against them by Turkish prosecutors following an investigation into alleged betting on top-level football matches. At least 18 of the 21 suspects have been detained following coordinated early morning raids, according to state-owned Anadolu news agency. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said the 17 referees, who were arrested in Istanbul and 11 other provinces, are being investigated for a possible charge of “influencing the outcome of a match,” among others. The arrests and warrants come only a week after the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees and assistant referees following an investigation…

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that no US officials would attend the Group of 20 summit in South Africa later this month, citing the country’s treatment of white farmers. “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network. The Trump administration has long accused the South African government of discriminating against its white minority, citing alleged land seizures and violence. The South African government has denied that Afrikaners and other white South Africans are being persecuted. “No US government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses…

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday his country received an exemption from US sanctions on imports of Russian oil. Orban was speaking with reporters from Hungarian media outlets following his talks with US President Donald Trump. Trump was hosting Orban at the White House, with much of the visit having centered around Orban’s request that Trump provide Hungary with an exemption from US sanctions on purchases of Russian oil.  Hungary “received full exemption from sanctions” for Russian oil and gas delivered to Hungary from the Druzhba and TurkStream pipelines, Orban said. “We asked the president to lift the sanctions,”…

For more than two centuries, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” has been the monster that won’t die — endlessly revived, re-stitched, and sent staggering back into the culture. The basic parable is evergreen: a gifted but blinkered scientist plays God, creating life out of reanimated body parts. Horrified by his own creation, he abandons it, and the rejected “creature” becomes the monster society fears it to be. That core has proved elastic enough to survive everything, from the cult classic 1930s monster movies starring Boris Karloff to sitcoms and kids’ cartoons. But most of what audiences think they know about “Frankenstein” comes from the movies, not Mary…