Score!
The week's news at a glance.
Kassel, Germany
Germans celebrated their hosting of the soccer World Cup last summer by getting pregnant. The month-long event was treated as a giant party across soccer-mad Germany. Now, the head of the country’s largest maternity clinic, Rolf Kliche, is predicting that births will be up 10 percent to 15 percent over the next month or so, as World Cup–inspired pregnancies reach term. “With many people, the excitement they felt during the matches seems to have lasted and been employed in other ways after the final whistle,” Kliche said. He also observed that feeling happy and relaxed might contribute to women’s fertility. The German national team did better than expected, reaching the semifinals, only to be beaten by Cup winner Italy.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raids
In the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classrooms
Pros and cons The devices could be major distractions