When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Germany

Eurovison Contestants 2015: Germany

Germany has had a hard time choosing its artist for the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Ann Sophie will have the honor of representing her country, but she was not the singer elected by the audience during the final rounds of Unser Song für Österreich (Our Song for Austria), the German contest to chose who would run for them in Vienna this year.

Andreas Kümmert, the winner of the third season of The Voice of Germany, was originally chosen by the audience to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. In the end, he withdrew his song from the show and Ann Sophie, as the runner-up, got the opportunity to be Germany’s contestant.


She will perform a love song called “Black Smoke”, which talks about everything she has left of her failed relationship. Even though the theme is not very joyful, Ann Sophie shows great energy on stage, clearly determined to forget about her former boyfriend !

Our vote:

Does it make you want to visit that country? 1/10

Was there enough glitter? 2.25/10

Ok to quit your day job? 3/10

OVERALL AVERAGE: 2.1/10

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Green

How Climate Change May Be Triggering More Earthquakes — And Vice Versa

Researchers have identified a possible link between climate change and the frequency of earthquakes — and the quakes may also start a vicious circle of accelerating climate change.

Image of a man trying to measure the offset of a crevasse on a glacier

Crevasse on the Canwell glacier created by the earthquake that struck near Denali National Park in Alaska in November 2002

Paul Molga

PARIS — Between 1900 and 1950, the Earth recorded an average of 3.4 earthquakes per year with a magnitude greater than 6.5. That figured doubled to 6.7 a year until the early 1970s, and was almost five times that in the 2000s.

Their intensity would also have increased with more than 25 major earthquakes per year, double the previous periods. This is according to the EM-DAT emergency events database, which compiled the occurrence and effects of 22,000 mass disasters worldwide in the 20th century.

Can we conclude that there is a causal relationship with the rise of human activities, as some experts suggest? The idea was first suggested in 2011 by an Australian research team led by geology professor Giampiero Iaffaldano. At the time, it reported that it had found that the intensification of the monsoon in India had accelerated the movement of the Indian tectonic plate by 20% over the past 10 million years.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest