Author: DW

Mental health awareness in both German society and sport has improved dramatically in the last decade. “I would say that we have broken down taboos, meaning that we talk more openly with friends and colleagues about topics such as depression or anxiety disorders, and we also have many prominent figures who talk about their experiences,” Johanna Belz, a sports psychologist at Germany’s most famous sports university, in Cologne, told DW.   “In the past, we always said that competitive athletes had to show strength, stamina, and motivation, and mental stress didn’t fit into that picture at all. Now, however, we recognize…

Aid for people in Gaza must begin quickly, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Paris on Thursday. “We are ready to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip immediately,” he said at the hastily convened conference of several foreign ministers from European and Arab states. Action must be taken swiftly because “thousands of people are still under threat there.”  Wadephul had left a high-level meeting of foreign ministers on the Western Balkans in Belfast, Northern Ireland, earlier than planned to travel to the French capital. While still in Belfast, he commented on his proposal made earlier in the week to host a reconstruction conference…

As Ukraine faces continued air attacks against its energy infrastructure from Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday renewed efforts to increase his country’s air defenses in talks with US President Donald Trump.  Zelenskyy wrote on X that the two leaders also discussed “details related to the energy sector.” Their call followed an earlier conversation on Saturday, Zelenskyy said, during which the two leaders agreed on Sunday’s topics. Trump undecided on providing Tomahawks to Ukraine The phone calls followed Zelenskyy’s statement on Friday that he was in discussions with US officials regarding the possible provision of various long-range precision strike weapons, including Tomahawks and additional ATACMS…

When Juri de Marco lifts his hand and plays a note on his small pocket trumpet, people start singing and making music — in concert halls and on the street. There’s no sheet music necessary; following his hand gestures allow people find their way to a shared sound that’s all their own. What de Marco makes is known as community music. “In high-classical music culture, it’s all about perfection, interpretation and fidelity to the score,” de Marco tells DW. For him, community music means “making music on an equal footing,” where the social interaction between people of different ages and…

Severe flooding and landslides caused by heavy rainfall in southeastern Mexico have left at least 41 people dead, local authorities said on Saturday. Mexico’s government said in a statement that 15 were killed in Veracruz, 9 in Puebla, 16 in Hidalgo, and one in Queretaro, while a search for 27 missing people was underway. The country’s Security Ministry said that 117 cities and municipalities in five states have been heavily impacted. Authorities said that many of the dead had been caught up in landslides.Torrential rain triggers deadly flash floods in MexicoTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to…

An exhibition tells the story of the morning of October 7, 2023, when approximately 3,000 people attending the Nova Music Festival in the Israeli desert became the victims of the deadliest attack on a music event in history. According to the Israeli military, Hamas members killed 378 festivalgoers, hundreds were injured and more than 40 were taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.   “October 7, 06:29 AM — The Moment Music Stood Still,” also known as the Nova Exhibition, has been shown in Tel Aviv, New York, Buenos Aires and other cities. Now, it’s on display in Berlin. Rather than providing a…

In the Baltic country of Lithuania, the startup sector has great ambitions — but achieving them might not be that straightforward. A construction site in the south of the country’s capital, Vilnius, will be key to the plan. Dozens of workers were bustling about there, on a recent Thursday morning. A truck was mixing cement with a humming sound, while a dredger was flattening a small patch of earth. The area is expected to become Europe’s largest startup hub by the end of 2028. The so-called Tech Zity will host 5,000 workers on roughly 55,000 square meters (65,7779 square yards). It…

In many ways, it was fitting that right when Germany needed to get back on track, they went back to where it all started for head coach Julian Nagelsmann. In Sinsheim, Nagelsmann made history when he became the youngest ever Bundesliga coach aged 28 back in 2016. Nearly a decade later, after stops at RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, Nagelsmann’s Germany delivered the performance both expected of and required from them. Aided hugely by the fact Luxembourg played an hour with 10 men after an early red card, Germany dominated the 96th best team in the world. The contest was over before it began, not…

Hardly a night goes by that Ukraine doesn’t come under aerial attack from Russia. Last Sunday night alone, almost 500 drones and rockets were fired at targets in Ukraine. As it turned out, in many of those missiles, there were Western-made components. At the beginning of the week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed this out in a filmed message, noting that somehow high-tech componentry — circuit boards, microchips, sensors, converters, semiconductors and control units — had all made it to Russia, despite Western sanctions on the country.  After the attack on Sunday as many as 100,000 internationally-sourced components had been found in the…

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reappointed Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister just days after a submitted his resignation. “The president of the republic has nominated Mr Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister and has tasked him with forming a government,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement. Lecornu accepts reappointment “It is my duty to accept the mission entrusted to me by the President to do everything in my power to give France a budget for the end of the year and to respond to the everyday problems of our compatriots,” Lecornu said. “We need to put an end to…