Author: DW

Walk into a bakery or a bookshop in Bavaria’s Chiemgau region, and you might spot a customer paying with what looks like play money — colorful banknotes printed with grasshoppers, ladybugs and other insects.  “An estimated 10 to 15% of customers pay this way,” one bookseller told DW. The locals call it the “Chiemgauer” — and it’s a currency they invented themselves.  Quirky as it sounds, it underpins a micro financial system that has been running for more than two decades — and has recently evolved into a tool for cutting carbon emissions in this picturesque corner of southeastern Germany.…

This article deals with the topic of depression and suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in this world, at this website: https://befrienders.org/ It’s Sunday morning, sometime between 5 and 6, when I suddenly jolt awake. Instantly, a thousand unfinished tasks crowd my mind. I jump out of bed and start moving. It has been this way for years. I take care of the laundry and the dog and make breakfast. I…

Germany made it nine wins out of nine with a 2-1 win over the USA in their last match before the World Cup. The win, secured by goals from Kai Havertz and Leroy Sane, means they have won four successive friendlies, having also won their last six World Cup qualifiers. But Julian Nagelsmann knows tougher tests than this are not far away. Just as he had for his club, Arsenal, in the Champions League final, Havertz gave Germany an early lead, this time after just two minutes. The striker, who joined the squad later than anyone else after that final, headed…

Good news about the state of the planet might seem to be in short supply, but it’s out there. Each week, DW’s environment desk brings you what went right.

While Germany is trying to make major budget cuts, billions of euros are silently sitting in banks and other financial institutions, unused and unnoticed in so-called forgotten accounts. A 2021 report from the country’s Research Ministry estimated that up to €4.2 billion ($4.9 billion) was in such accounts. Other estimates are much higher, some as high as €9 billion. The banks themselves haven’t released any figures. As people get older, have multiple accounts or die, relatives and heirs have a hard time identifying accounts. Online banking, with no paperwork or printed statements, makes it more difficult because the information is locked up…

Germany 4-0 Finland (1-0) Goals: 1-0 Undav (34′), 2-0 Wirtz (48′), 3-0 Undav (57′), 4:0 Musiala (63′) Attendance: 25,122 A day before Germany depart for America, Julian Nagelsmann’s team comprehensively beat Finland in Mainz thanks to an outstanding performance by striker Deniz Undav. The Stuttgart forward scored twice and assisted one to help deliver the expected result. “We can keep going like this,” Nagelsmann said afterwards. “One of our strengths is that we always look like we can score.” There’s not a lot to make of these games. Less than two weeks out from a World Cup is not the…

Since the beginning of June, everything quiets down in German Ikea stores on Wednesdays between 5 and 7 p.m. — with no music to be heard, dimmer lights and no announcements over the PA system (except in the case of an emergency). All in all, customers and staff are experiencing less of a strain on their senses — and that’s the whole idea behind the Quiet Hour. The concept stems from an initiative by the German association Gemeinsam Zusammen (Together Together). “We want the Quiet Hour to provide relief for people with invisible disabilities. Their nervous systems are often permanently overwhelmed, which is…

As the Iran war approaches 100 days on Sunday, a comforting but flawed assumption has taken hold.  Many policymakers, businesses and investors believe that a rapid reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will quickly bring down energy prices, once stranded oil and gas tankers can finally leave the Gulf. Yet top oil executives, shipping sector leaders and economists are predicting the opposite. They caution that peace will not instantly return energy markets and global supply chains to normal. The fallout, they say, could last for many more months and even years. Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, the Gulf’s largest oil supplier, told investors last month that even if…

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are among the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world. Drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro are used to treat depression and anxiety disorders in millions of people. But some experts believe we have become over reliant on such drugs and that that has led some doctors to treat ordinary human distress as a medical illness. “We have medicalized all emotional distress,” said Allen Frances, professor emeritus of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine in the US.  “Eighty percent of antidepressants in the US are carelessly prescribed by rushed primary doctors as an easy…

1. Three hosts with strained ties This World Cup will be the first to be hosted by three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico – as opposed to the usual single nation. 2002 was an exception, when Japan and South Korea broke new ground by sharing the hosting duties. This year’s cohosts have usually enjoyed good relations, but these have become more difficult since US President Donald Trump began his second term in office. His threats to annex Canada as the “51st” US state and punitive tariffs have soured the mood between two historically close allies. US ties with…