Author: DW

For Karen, it started with an ad and an influencer. Next came a 30 reais (€5, $5.80) bet. Then shame, spiraling debts, using her mum’s credit card and a battle against addiction that, though calmed for now, still rages. “If I was at a party, I’d be gambling. If I went to a restaurant or a bar, my cell phone would be in my hand. Even taking a shower, my cell phone would be in my hand. Under the shower, my arm stretched out,” the 29-year-old from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, told DW.   She struggles to…

Israel’s assault on Iran was discussed with Washington before it was launched. “There were no surprises here,” Fox News anchor Brett Bair said after an interview with US President Donald Trump last Friday. The US government has made clear that it was not actively involved in the attack, though questions arose as to whether this would remain the case when the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was rerouted from the South China Sea to the Middle East. And, on Tuesday, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that the United States knew the exact location of Iran’s supreme leader,…

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed hope Tuesday for renewed cooperation with Ottawa as he met with his new Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney. This comes after a bitter dispute over New Delhi’s alleged involvement in the 2023 assassination of a Canadian Sikh separatist. “I congratulate him on his great victory and I am confident that together with him India and Canada will work together to make progress in many areas,” Modi said when he met Carney on the sidelines of a G7 summit.  Carney, who took office in March, said it was “a great honor” to invite Modi to the summit in…

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway that lies between Oman and Iran, and connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) describes it as the “world’s most important oil transit chokepoint.” At its narrowest point, the waterway is just 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide, with the shipping lane just two miles wide in either direction, making it crowded and perilous. Large volumes of crude extracted by OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq from oil fields across the Persian Gulf region and consumed…

An almost century-long dispute in Germany is coming to an end.  The House of Hohenzollern — a German noble family to which the last German Emperor, Wilhelm II, also belonged — had long laid claim to various objects in German museums. They had also demanded millions in compensation for expropriated palaces and inventory. The whole thing went to court — until Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia, the great-great-grandson of the last German emperor, finally changed the aristocratic house’s strategy in 2023. He withdrew the compensation claims and thus cleared the way for out-of-court negotiations. The talks began in late 2024, resulting in the newly-reached agreement. Georg…

First came Solar Orbiter, the European Space Agency and NASA mission that revealed the sun’s poles for the first time in early June. Then came Proba-3, less than a week later. It’s another European mission, launched from India in December 2024, to observe the solar corona — the outer atmosphere of the sun. To do that, Proba-3 achieved yet another first. The mission consists of two spacecraft flying 150 meters (490 feet) apart. Together, they performed a millimeter-precision flying maneuver so that one cast a shadow over the other — creating an artificial solar eclipse. It allowed Proba-3 to block out…

Israeli defense industry exhibitions have been covered in black partition walls at the prestigious Paris Air Show, after reportedly failing to comply with a directive to remove offensive weapons from being displayed. Israel’s Defense Ministry posted up a statement on social media along with pictures, showing Israeli defense company stands sealed off with black walls, preventing anyone from seeing what lay behind the walls. Rafael, Elbit and IAI produce guided bombs and missiles, while Uvision and Aeronautics produce drones. Pictures posted up along with a statement by the Defense Ministry showed various weapons systems on display.France shuts down Israeli stands…

The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, with both sides firing missiles and drones at each other, has unsettled global energy markets.   Israeli attacks on Saturday targeted Iran’s energy infrastructure, including vital oil storage sites, refineries and power stations. Among the locations targeted was the massive South Pars gas field, which is part of the world’s largest reservoir of natural gas. It’s located off Iran’s southern Bushehr province and is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran. Iran shares control over the South Pars gas field with neighboring Qatar, which calls the reservoir under its control North Dome. The attack,…

Air travel is widely regarded as the safest way to cover long distances. Statistically, the drive to the airport poses a greater risk to travelers than the flight itself. But when there is a plane crash — such as that of Air India Flight 171 last week (June 12) — statistics offer little comfort. It killed 270 people, including 241 of the 242 people on board.The Air India crash is the first total loss of a Boeing 787-8 aircraftImage: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP As tragic as such accidents are, their consequences also extend into the economic realm. Alongside efficiency and environmental compatibility, operational safety remains…

 “Being gay and demanding my place at the Jewish table gave me the permission to talk back to Judaism over homophobia and racism, over Gaza and over misogyny,” says Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie.  The Israel-born social activist and New York City community leader has been hailed as a “maverick spiritual leader” by The Times of Israel and “one of the most interesting thinkers in the Jewish world” by the Jewish Week. He is portrayed in the documentary “Sabbath Queen.” Lau-Lavie and director Sandi DuBowski were in Berlin to attend film screenings at the Doxumentale film festival, which runs until June 22.Amichai Lau-Lavie and Sandi DuBowski in…