Author: DW

Travelling England and Scotland football fans have been warned of the strength of German beer ahead of Euro 2024.Official guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has urged people to “drink responsibly” during their time on the continent for this summer’s tournament. It warned that drunk and rowdy football fans could face being barred from stadiums, as England’s hopes of winning the competition are almost as high as they’ve ever been.The FCDO advised: “Beer can be stronger than in the UK, so drink responsibly, know your limits and respect local laws. You may not be let into the…

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine over two years ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed for military aid from the USA and Ukraine’s allies in the EU. At the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in Tirana, Albania, in late February he went one step further and suggested co-producing arms with the countries of the Western Balkans. “I propose a joint forum for the defense industry between Ukraine, the Balkans and our partners,” he said. This begs the question as to whether the Western Balkan region is technically capable of fulfilling Zelenskyy’s wish. And if it is, will Serbia, which is known…

France’s state-owned energy company EDF announced on Wednesday evening that the nuclear supervisory authority had approved final preparatory steps for putting a new reactor into operation. The plant is now meant to be loaded with nuclear fuel in the coming weeks.  The reactor, in Flamanville on the English Channel, is scheduled to be connected to the grid in mid-2024 — 12 years later than initially planned — and will be the first to be commissioned by France in more than two decades. Massively over-budget Construction of the Flamanville reactor started in 2007. The facility was originally planned to cost €3.3 billion ($3.6…

A picnic area at a tourist attraction in Arizona has been closed to visitors because of the presence of a pungent plant called stinknet – which smells as lovely as it sounds.Officials at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument announced on Wednesday the area will be shut until 30 April due to the density of the invasive and noxious winter weed. Stinknet has pretty yellow blossoms on narrow green stems and can grow more than 0.6m (2ft) tall – but has a potent smell similar to nail polish remover or burnt rubber.It can cause serious breathing problems as well as severe…

It starts in a child’s first months of life, and it’s well-documented: A landmark study in 2005, for instance, showed that babies perceived differences in race and exhibited preferences for their own race as early as at three months of age. In a 2017 study, children associated adults of their own race with happy music, and adults of a different one with sad music — when the kids were aged just six to nine months old. While children showed a “weak racial bias” at seven years old, by the age of 10, their bias had become “strong and reliable” in a 2014 study. White…

Germany and Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger and the German Football Association (DFB) have launched legal proceedings against a former newspaper editor who accused the player of making a gesture of support for Islamic extremism in a Ramadan-related social media post. On March 11, at the start of the Muslim month for fasting, prayer, community and reflection, Rüdiger posted an image of himself kneeling on a prayer map in a white robe with his right index finger pointing upwards, along with the caption: “Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims around the world. May the almighty accept our fasting and prayers.” Two…

03/28/2024March 28, 2024Germany to provide Ukraine with over 10,000 artillery shells, military official saysThe German Bundeswehr (armed forces) will hand over 10,000 artillery shells from its own stocks to Ukraine in the coming days, Major General Christian Freuding told DW.  Speaking to DW on Wednesday, Freuding said the handover is the first part of a German three-stage plan for ammunition deliveries. The Czech Republic has pushed through the purchase of up to 800,000 pieces of artillery ammunition for Ukraine. The initiative began at the end of February. Since then, 20 EU and NATO states have joined the campaign, including Germany,…

China’s and Australia’s ties as trade partners look to be improving after China announced on Thursday it would lift punitive tariffs on Australian wines.  A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce He Yadong called the two countries “each other’s important trade partners.” Before the tariffs were introduced, China was Australia’s top wine export destination. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, before China made the announcement, that he expected trade to resume soon and that he anticipated higher volumes of trade, as seen with other reintroduced products. “China wants good high-quality wine and Australia produces it,” Albanese said in the visit to a winery located…

Politicians in France are debating on a bill that would ban hair discrimination.The draft law would extend pre-existing measures to explicitly outlaw discrimination over texture, length, colour or style – particularly those with curly, coiled or no hair at all. If passed, it would make France the first country in the world to recognise hair discrimination at a national level, according to Olivier Serva, a politician from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.”This is not a community whim but a real injustice that certain populations experience,” Mr Serva, who proposed the bill, wrote on X.”Let us not minimise this suffering…

“Somebody tells you ‘God, you look terrible, are you going to be sick?’ and then suddenly you are,” said Charlotte Blease, recalling a recent bus trip in Ireland, from Belfast to Dublin. “You have this expectancy and it ramps up the symptoms.” Blease ― a health researcher at Uppsala University, Sweden, and one of the authors of “The Nocebo Effect: When Words Make You Sick” ― was feeling nauseous with motion sickness.  She was trying to distract herself with any other thought, and knew that if someone interrupted her, it would trigger the nocebo effect.  “The nocebo effect [is] negative health outcomes that arise from negative expectations,”…