Author: DW

Health authorities in the United Kingdomconfirmed on December 8, 2025, that they had detected a so-called “recombinant” version of the mpox virus in a male patient. A virus becomes a recombinant virus when two existing versions of it recombine — by mixing their genetic information — to form a new, hybrid version. This can happen when different types of a virus infect a person at the same time. The UK’s national health security agency, UKHSA, said the recombinant mpox virus was detected in a man who had recently returned to the UK from Asia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Thailand, Malaysia and Japan have recorded mpox cases in…

The eyes of the political world have been firmly fixed on Washington for the whole of 2025 and, on Friday, the eyes of the football world will join them for the 2026 World Cup draw. Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body, FIFA, will be the ringmaster. But even the most powerful man in the world’s biggest sport will likely be in the shadow of US President Donald Trump despite the very public friendship the two men have formed. “I’m really lucky. I have a great relationship with President Trump, who I consider really a close friend,” Infantino said recently…

“What we cannot accept is the threat to interfere in European politics,” EU Council President Antonio Costa stated on Monday at a discussion at the Jacques Delors Institute in Brussels. Costa’s statement, which also emphasized European sovereignty, came in response to the new US national security strategy, which is largely seen as an affront to Europe. The US government regularly publishes a roadmap for its future security policy. It can be seen as indicative of what to expect from the US in Europe in the future, and the latest version criticizes European institutions.European Council President Antonio Costa highlighted the importance…

At midnight on Wednesday, Australians under the age of 16 were blocked from most social media sites, as the country introduced a world first ban. Despite their opposition to the plans, sites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube and Reddit will be age-restricted in a list that will be constantly updated. Online gaming and messaging sites such as WhatsApp will be unrestricted for now. The Australian government are relying on the social media firms themselves to police the new law, saying they must take “reasonable steps” to prevent breaches, with punishments of up to AU $49.5 million (US $32 million, €27.5 million)…

It’s been an incredible ride for Poland’s economy. Over the past two decades, the country has evolved from a postcommunist transition state to one of Europe’s fastest-growing markets. Fueled by domestic demand, European Union (EU) investment funds, and a thriving manufacturing and services sector, Poland’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) crossed the symbolic $1 trillion (€860 billion) threshold in September, according to the International Monetary Fund, cementing the country’s place among the world’s top 20 economies. Seemingly out of nowhere, the country’s opportunity to step up in global affairs came last month as the G20, the elite group of wealthy nations, was itself thrown into…

Iran is now expected to have a delegation at Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. after all. Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donjamali told state news agency Irna on Thursday that head coach Amir Ghalenoei would attend. This comes almost a week after the Iranian FA (FFIRI) announced that it would boycott the draw in protest after learning that several members of its planned delegation had been denied entry visas for the United States.  According to the English-language website Tehran Times, FFIRI President Mehdi Taj was among those who have been refused entry. In his statement Donjamali said that visas had now been…

US President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his criticism of Europe, saying the continent was “going in some bad directions” as he condemned a multimillion-euro EU penalty against Elon Musk’s social media platform X. Here are the key points: • Trump slams EU’s €120 million ($140 million) fine on X• Warns Europe is heading in “bad directions”• Musk denounces the penalty• US officials say EU is targeting American firms• EU cites transparency and data-access breaches• New US strategy warns of democratic “erosion” in Europe Speaking at the White House, Trump said that Europe was “very bad, very bad for the people” and warned that…

According to media reports, OpenAI plans to unveil a new artificial-intelligence reasoning model this week that is reportedly surpassing Google’s latest, most advanced family of AI models, Gemini 3. Online tech magazine The Decoder cites industry insiders who claim the launch is intended to counter Google’s recent advances in state-of-the-art reasoning, deep multimodal understanding of text, images and video, as well as Gemini 3’s powerful coding capabilities. Google’s parent company Alphabet introduced Gemini 3 in November, boasting benchmark results that surpassed OpenAI’s flagship model ChatGPT in key categories. Google’s Gemini 3 has reportedly pushed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to prioritize work…

Some 4,500 years ago, people dug a series of deep, wide pits in the area near Durrington Walls in southern England. They were gemometrically arranged, forming a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) wide circle that enclosed over three square kilometers (1.16 square miles). Long mistaken for naturally occuring features, the circle of human-made shafts has now come to be understood as a colossal project that lends new dimensions to the Stonehenge landscape. An invisible ring around Durrington Walls Durrington Walls is just a stone’s throw from the small English town of Amesbury, and just three kilometers, or about half an hour on foot,…

Imagine you do karate for fun but are being trained by a 10-time European champion, and it only costs you around €20 ($23) a month. Sound unlikely? In Germany, it is possible. At the Dojo Ochi karate club in the western city of Bonn, Melissa Rathmann volunteers as part of an eight-person team of coaches. In addition to her 10 European Championship titles, the 33-year-old has won numerous German championships and was twice runner-up in the World Championships. Despite her great sporting success, she has always remained loyal to her club. Melissa Rathmann in action at the karate club in BonnImage: Mariya…