Author: DW

Memory of the Holocaust may be omnipresent in Israel, but it is fading elsewhere, even in the country where it was planned and by whom it was carried out. Some 80 years after the end of World War II, a 2025 survey by the Jewish Claims Conference found that roughly 10 to 12% of young adults in Germany had never heard the word “Holocaust.” The same study found that around 40% of 18- to 29-year-olds in Germany did not know that six million Jews were murdered during the Nazi era. That is one of the reasons Yad Vashem — the world’s…

This year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which opened on June 3, is the fifth to be held since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Before the war, the forum served as a venue for signing major investment agreements with foreign companies. Back then, the European Union was Russia’s key economic partner, and the forum attracted prominent Western politicians, business leaders and senior executives. But after Russia invaded Ukraine, major Western economies scaled back ties and the forum’s highest-profile foreign attendees have increasingly come from countries that are no longer among Moscow’s key economic partners. This…

What’s the best way to combat disease-spreading mosquitoes? More mosquitoes! At least that’s the plan of scientists at Google’s Debug program. The researchers want to release 16 million mosquitoes each in the US states of Florida and California in a first step. And then they want to do it all again next year. Trying to reduce the mosquito population by adding millions more sounds counterintuitive at first. But to understand the project, you have to look at what kind of mosquitoes the researchers are fighting — and what kind they’re looking to release. In a nutshell, it’s good mosquitoes vs. bad…

Some of the best young talents at the World Cup this summer include Bayer Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza and Malik Tillman, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Can Uzun, and Bayern Munich’s domestic-double winner Josip Stanisic. There’s also Juventus’ Kenan Yıldız and PSV’s Paul Wanner. Despite either being born in Germany or having gone through the academy system in the country, none of them will be playing for Germany on the world’s biggest stage this summer. They all hold dual citizenship and have opted to take the field for Turkey, Algeria, the USA, Croatia or Austria. Whether for sporting, emotional, or family reasons, or because they…

The Wim Wenders Foundation announced on Wednesday that the 1975 film “Falsche Bewegung” (“The Wrong Move”), at the center of a headline-grabbing dispute between the German filmmaker and actress Nastassja Kinski, is being withdrawn from circulation for the time being. Kinski has been trying for years to get filmmaker Wim Wenders to remove a scene from the movie. In the brief scene, her co-star Rüdiger Vogler (then over 30 years old) visits the 13-year-old in her bedroom, where she is lying on a bed wearing only panties. The man undresses down to his underwear and lies on top of her; he slaps her…

Russia and Saudi Arabia each produce between 9-10 million barrels of oil a day. Together, they account for over 20% of total world oil production. This gives them significant control over supply, despite Western sanctions and price caps on Russian oil following the war in Ukraine , and disruptions caused by the Strait of Hormuz blockade. OPEC minus one important member As the biggest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi Arabia has long dominated the formal alliance and worked to keep oil prices stable by controlling supply. Before the war in Iran started, OPEC countries…

What’s the best way to combat disease-spreading mosquitoes? More mosquitoes! At least that’s the plan of scientists at Google’s Debug program. The researchers want to release 16 million mosquitoes each in the US states of Florida and California in a first step. And then they want to do it all again next year. Trying to reduce the mosquito population by adding millions more sounds counter-intuitive at first. But to understand the project, you have to look at what kind of mosquitoes the researchers are fighting — and what kind they’re looking to release. In a nutshell, it’s good mosquitoes vs. bad…

English football legend David Beckham is set to be honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, organizers announced on Tuesday, as the United States counts down to the FIFA World Cup, which it is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada. The 51-year-old former England captain’s plaque on the famous Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles will be unveiled at a ceremony on June 12 ahead of the first game of the tournament on US soil between the United States and Paraguay in nearby Inglewood later that evening. “David Beckham’s recognition with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in the Sports…

Cologne’s Catholic Cathedral will begin charging tourists €12 (about $14) for entry from July 1. The renowned gothic church and UNESCO world heritage site first announced its plan to introduce entry fees in March, becoming one of comparatively few German places of worship charging for admission.  The figure announced on Wednesday is slightly higher than the €10 ceiling proposed in March by architect Barbara Schock-Werner, who heads the Central Cathedral Construction Association (ZDV).Guido Assmann (left) and Clemens van de Wen laid out the plans to reporters in Cologne on TuesdayImage: Benjamin Westhoff/dpa/picture alliance Why is the church charging for entry?  Church officials…

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…