Author: DW

Left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, condemned US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and criticism of the Brazilian judiciary in a televised address on Thursday.  Trump has threatened 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods starting from August 1. The US president has said the tariffs would stay in place until legal charges were dropped against former conservative Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.   Bolsonaro is on trial over allegations that he was involved in a coup attempt after the 2022 presidential election, which he lost to Lula. Bolsonaro has denied the allegations.  Lula says Brazilian politicians who back…

Steel is the backbone of German industry — but it’s also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for nearly 7% of Germany’s CO2 emissions. As Germany has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2045 — five years earlier than the rest of the European Union — the steel industry must cut up to 55 million metric tons of CO₂ annually, which is roughly 30% of all industrial emissions, according to the German Steel Federation lobby group.German steelworks still emit massive amounts of carbon dioxideImage: picture-alliance / dpa In order to make German steel production significantly more sustainable, the previous government…

Theater is a reflection of the human experience, with all its emotions and conflicts. That’s why the team behind this year’s Salzburg Festival, led by artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser, has put together a program that embodies the crises happening around the world. Bloodshed and power struggles are thus dominating not only events in the world today but also the festival itself (July 18 to August 31). The program spans brutal rivalries from antiquity to the First World War. Power in focus There have always been people like Trump and Putin, says Hinterhäuser. The lust for power has been part of…

What you need to know Vibriosis is caused by Vibrio bacteria, which live naturally in brackish, warm, low-salinity coastal waters Typical European locations include the Baltic Sea, North Sea and Black Sea Climate change may be leading to more favorable conditions for Vibrio bacteria Symptoms include: diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, fever Protect yourself by avoiding raw or undercooked shellfish, and don’t swim in these waters with open wounds  Scientists attribute a lot to climate change these days — with some things being easier to prove than others. When it comes to Vibrio bacterial infections, there appears to be a strong link —…

Heat training is the order of the day on the 2025 Tour de France. Partly because the sun is shining in France and an athlete’s body should be well adapted to the heat, but also because heat training provides an extra performance boost even at more moderate temperatures. “Active heat training was one of the main things that we changed slightly in this preparation. That was the only thing, for the rest, it was a similar preparation as the last four years,” explained Kristof de Kegel, sports scientist and Head of Performance at racing team Alpecin Deceuninck. Mathieu van der…

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The earthquake took place at approximately 12:37pm local time (2037 GMT) with the epicenter situated some 54 miles (87 kilometers) south of the island town of Sand Point, with a depth of 20.1 kilometers, the USGS said. Tsunami warning withdrawn Authorities initially issued a tsunami warning, later downgraded it to an advisory, and eventually withdrew the advisory. “The Tsunami Advisory is canceled for the coastal areas of South Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula,” said the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) said two hours after the earthquake.…

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the US Department of Transportation is cutting $4 billion (€3.4 billion) in federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project. “Not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again,” he posted on social media, using a pejorative name for the Democratic California Governor, Gavin Newsom. Trump also called the project “an ill-conceived and unnecessary project, and a total waste of Taxpayer money.” Meanwhile, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “Governor Newsom and California’s high speed rail boondoggle are the definition of government incompetence and possibly corruption.” How…

Germany’s so-called new high-voltage electricity highways are growing, but experts say their development is failing to keep up with the country’s rapid growth in renewable energy. As the wind-rich north of Germany produces ever-increasing volumes of renewable energy in onshore and offshore wind parks, the country’s southern regions, where most industrial companies are situated, are craving for electricity, still heavily relying on gas or coal-fired power plants and a bit of solar energy. Almost two decades ago, four transmission system operators (TSOs) were tasked by the German government with building new power lines from north to south. Being responsible for Germany’s high-voltage grid, TSOs maintain,…

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch has spent an entire century on this earth, and does not fear death. After all, she’d often looked it in the eye when she was deported to Auschwitz simply for being a Jew. It was the largest and most notorious of the Nazi internment system. Here, people were killed on an industrial scale, around 1.1 million of them in total. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch survived because she could play the cello.While at Auschwitz, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch spent every day expecting to be killedImage: Frank Schumann/zb/picture alliance For decades, she has raised her voice against antisemitism, right-wing extremism and racism as a dedicated witness…

The years of educational disruption during the COVID pandemic have had profound effects on children’s learning outcomes, worldwide. Children from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds have been particularly affected.  Research suggests that children’s cognitive skills are declining — reflected in kids having weaker memories, attention spans, and diminished flexible thinking skills.  So, some experts are suggesting that specialized ‘brain training’ programs be used in schools to improve those skills.  Cognitive scientists are interested in testing whether these will help train children’s working memory, with brain training programs that present kids with puzzles and other challenges.  The working memory is the mind’s staging area,…