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Japan’s empty temples seek new ways to survive

8Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style, World

Japan’s empty temples seek new ways to survive

The 370-year-old structure has all the attributes of a classically designed Japanese temple, from the curved roof to the timber-frame walls, spacious tatami-mat prayer hall and elaborately decorated altar. Set in manicured gardens on the Chita Peninsula in central Japan, the 350-square-meter (3,767-square-foot) property is on the market for 482 million yen (€2.66 million). The estate agent's pitch says the price includes dismantling by "expert heritage craftsmen" and delivery to anywhere in Japan, where it would be fully restored into a "stunning" two- or three-bedroom home. The sale and removal of the temple marks the end of its role in the local community in the hills above the Nagasawacho district, but it is a better fate than many places of worship across Japan. There are around 77,...

Renoir Museum robbery: Two paintings missing

8Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style, News

Renoir Museum robbery: Two paintings missing

Two thieves have stolen two paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera after breaking into the building early on Tuesday, the town's mayor said. The heist follows a series of high-profile art and cultural-property thefts in Europe. What happened at the Renoir Museum? The thieves initially took four artworks, valued together at around €9 million ($10.5 million), but abandoned two as they fled. The thieves broke into the museum shortly before 6 a.m., Mayor Bryan Masson said. They were detected with the help of the town's video surveillance system. Police gave chase, but the pair escaped. "During their flight, they abandoned one of the stolen paintings," Masson said. Authorities did not immediately identify the three works that remained missing.Renoir spen...

Renoir Museum robbery: Three paintings missing

8Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style, News

Renoir Museum robbery: Three paintings missing

Two thieves have stolen three paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera after breaking into the building early on Tuesday, the town's mayor said. The heist follows a series of high-profile art and cultural-property thefts in Europe. What happened at the Renoir Museum? The thieves initially took four artworks, valued together at around €9 million ($10.5 million), but abandoned one as they fled. The thieves broke into the museum shortly before 6 a.m., Mayor Bryan Masson said. They were detected with the help of the town's video surveillance system. Police gave chase, but the pair escaped. "During their flight, they abandoned one of the stolen paintings," Masson said. Authorities did not immediately identify the three works that remained missing.Renoir sp...

PISA test reveals alarming drop in reading and math skills

8Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Culture, Life Style

PISA test reveals alarming drop in reading and math skills

The results of the 2025 PISA study, published on September 8, show a dramatic drop in performance in reading and mathematics around the world. The Program for International Student Assessment, better known as PISA, is a global study that measures how well 15-year-old students can apply their knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science to real-life situations. The test is designed to measure problem-solving skills rather than evaluate students on memorized school facts, which means they cannot revise in preparation for it. First administered in 2000, it is considered the world's most influential measure of educational performance. In 2025, more than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies took the test. The study always includes in its ranking the average of the int...

Why North Korea’s women’s football team is so good

7Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style, Sports

Why North Korea’s women’s football team is so good

A year ago, North Korea's women successfully defended their U-17 World Cup title after defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in Morocco. It was the fourth time that the country has won the competition. Now the country's U-20 team enter the World Cup in Poland as defending champions, having won their third World Cup in 2024. North Korea's women have clearly cemented their status as the dominant force in women's youth football. But what is it that makes a state that, according to the United Nations, "does not have any parallel in the contemporary world," so good at youth football? "International sport is one of the few ways to demonstrate their sovereignty, existence and identity to the international community, so this type of big success, from their point of view, is an important occasion where ...

Werner Herzog: Germany’s wild man of cinema is back

7Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style

Werner Herzog: Germany’s wild man of cinema is back

When Werner Herzog needed a title for his memoirs, he reached back to one of his own films: "Every Man for Himself and God Against All," the original German title of his 1974 feature known in English as "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser." For Herzog, the last wild man of European cinema, it's less a title than a worldview. Over more than 60 years as a provocative, boundary-breaking filmmaker, Herzog has made films on the slopes of active volcanoes, and in the middle of the Sahara. He's filmed in the jungle and north of the Arctic Circle, telling stories of characters who live at the edges of human achievement. Often, in making these films, Herzog has pushed himself, and his collaborators, to the edge as well. Now 84, Werner Herzog shows no signs of slowing down. He's back with a new feature f...

Why the North Korean women’s football team is so good

4Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style, Sports

Why the North Korean women’s football team is so good

A year ago, North Korea's women successfully defended their U-17 World Cup title after defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in Morocco. It was the fourth time that the country has won the competition. Now the country's U-20 team enter the World Cup in Poland as defending champions, having won their third World Cup in 2024. North Korea's women have clearly cemented their status as the dominant force in women's youth football. But what is it that makes a state that, according to the United Nations, "does not have any parallel in the contemporary world," so good at youth football? "International sport is one of the few ways to demonstrate their sovereignty, existence and identity to the international community, so this type of big success, from their point of view, is an important occasion where ...

DW and Beethovenfest put Georgia in the spotlight

4Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style

DW and Beethovenfest put Georgia in the spotlight

Georgia will take center stage at the Beethovenfest Campus Concert in Berlin on September 24. The event combines music with discussion of current social issues.The Campus Concert begins at 7 p.m. with the panel discussion "Democracy under pressure? The situation for cultural and media professionals in Georgia." Guests from the worlds of culture and media will discuss current developments in the country, as well as the importance of artistic freedom, independent journalism, and social dialogue.Georgia has faced months of political tensions and public debate. Questions over democratic participation, media freedom, and cultural self-determination continue to shape discussions across the country. The panel will explore these developments and provide context for the concert that follows.Jochen ...

2026 Beethoven Festival evokes a sense of home

4Sep

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Life Style

2026 Beethoven Festival evokes a sense of home

Four trumpeters will be scattered throughout the concert hall, accompanied by organ music, promising a magnificent auditory experience in Bonn's newly renovated Beethovenhalle. The piece "A Call to the Heavens" was composed by Stefan Behrisch specifically for the opening of this year's Beethovenfest. Additionally, the London Symphony Orchestra, led by principal conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, will perform Ludwig van Beethoven's "Die Weihe des Hauses" ("The Consecration of the House") as well as Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 at the opening concert on September 4. The Beethovenhalle aims to make everyone feel at home Image: Marc John/Bonn.digital/picture alliance For nine years, Bonn's Beethovenhalle, a designated historic landmark, was unavailable for the festival. But now, as Philipp Seliger...

Germany: From emigration to immigration destination

3Sep

By Europe WorldNo Comments

Life Style

Germany: From emigration to immigration destination

"Why should [they] be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the Exclusion of ours? [...] [They] will shortly be so numerous [...] and will never adopt our Language or Customs." These defamatory comments about refugees and asylum-seekers sound as if they might have been made today by the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD). Yet in this instance, the people vilified and accused of refusing to integrate are Germans — and the harsh judgement was made in the 18th century by none other than Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The pursuit of happiness and a better life are mentioned in the American Declaration of Independence, which Franklin helped write. Over the centuries, th...