Author: DW

Pope Leo XIV has said artificial intelligence is one of the main challenges facing humanity as he outlined his vision for the papacy.In his first formal audience, Leo said the Catholic Church must take the lead in facing newer threats to workers, such as AI. The 69-year-old said the technology posed “new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour”. Image: The Pope identified AI as a major challenge to humanity. Pic: Vatican Media/AP The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics referred to AI as he explained his choice of name to the cardinals who elected him.He…

It seems that, ever since taking office, Donald Trump and his Republican administration have been continuously berating Europe. But now, a different kind of US representative is visiting Germany: the Orchestra NOW (TŌN), a graduate program of Bard College, in the state of New York. Directed by Leon Botstein, the ensemble is presenting works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Max Bruch. It is also delivering a clear message: culture and music are the true pillars of trans-Atlantic relations. TŌN features top musicians, some of whom already have positions in other professional US orchestras Image: David DeNee A historically important location The trip to Germany is…

It was meant to land on Venus in 1972 at the height of the first space race. But “Cosmos 482” failed to leave Earth’s orbit and has been “parked” up there ever since.  Now, 53 years later, this Soviet-era Venera mission lander is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and come down in the Atlantic Ocean. Space debris from rockets and satellites reenters Earth every day. Most of it burns up in the atmosphere and pose little threat to life on the ground.  But Cosmos 482 is no ordinary space junk. It was one of two Venera 8 mission spacecraft — the…

Xabi Alonso used a regular prematch press conference on Friday to announce that he would leave Bayer Leverkusen a year before his contract at the club expires in 2026. “This week, the club and I agreed that these will be my last two games as Leverkusen coach. It’s the right moment to announce it,” he told reporters. “Now we have clarity,”  The 43-year-old Alonso thus confirmed that Sunday’s match against Borussia Dortmund would be his last home game with the Werkself. “We want to have a fitting farewell on Sunday, for some of the players and for myself,” he said.…

Skip next section Zelenskyy says leaders of ‘coalition of the willing’ to meet in Kyiv05/10/2025May 10, 2025Zelenskyy says leaders of ‘coalition of the willing’ to meet in KyivUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said leaders from the “coalition of the willing” will meet in Kyiv on Saturday. He did not say who all would be in attendance, but added that it would be an important meet for European security.  This coalition includes about 30 countries including Germany led by France and Britain, who are allied with Ukraine and willing to support it after a possible ceasefire. The US is not part of…

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was due to honor Margot Friedländer with a state medal on Friday. When the news came that Friedländer had died, he expressed his condolences instead, saying that she “gifted our country reconciliation.”  Friedländer, nee Bendheim, was born in Berlin in 1921. Several attempts by her family to emigrate after the November pogroms of 1938 failed. When her brother Ralph was arrested in January 1943, their mother turned herself in to the Gestapo, was deported to Auschwitz together with her son, and was murdered there. Friedländer, then 21 years old, went into hiding and survived for 15…

What do we know so far? The preliminary deal with the United Kingdom slashes tariffs on British-made cars, eliminates duties on steel and aluminum, and opens the UK market to American farmers. However, the pact, signed at the White House on Thursday, is not the “major trade deal” that Trump touted on social media. A full trade deal takes months or years to negotiate and must be ratified by Congress, which would further extend the timeline. The bilateral agreement is the outline of a limited trade deal that will still need extensive negotiations to finalize. Under the plan, the tariff on British-made cars…

Donald Trump has floated the idea of cutting US trade tariffs against China to 80% – as key peace talks between the sides prepare to get under way.The weekend meeting, involving top officials from both nations in Switzerland, is seen as an opportunity to ease the most damaging and punitive element of the trade war. At stake for both sides is not only a deteriorating domestic outlook but a weakening global economy.Writing on his Truth Social platform, hours after agreeing an interim deal with the UK, the president said: “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B [Bessent].”Money…

Whether heavy rain or heat, floods or drought: Extreme weather is no longer a rarity — and this applies to the entire globe. Scientists have said that Europe, which is warming the fastest due to man-made climate change, counted more than 60,000 excess deaths due to heat in 2022.  In 2023, there were more than 47,000 heat-related deaths. Most of these people had underlying health conditions, but the hot temperatures placed additional strain on their bodies. And 2024 was Earth’s warmest year since modern record-keeping began, and the past 10 consecutive years have been the warmest 10 on record. When surfaces…

What you need to know:   Rare but serious cases of lung damage have been reported in the US. Health professionals are concerned about unknown long-term effects.  Teens may be especially vulnerable to vaping risks.      A 17-year-old girl in the United States was recently diagnosed with “popcorn lung” after vaping in secret for three years. This irreversible condition, known as bronchiolitis obliterans, scars the tiny bronchioles (air sacs) in the lungs, impairing a person’s ability to breathe. While rare, her case may point to a wider issue. In 2019, nearly 3,000 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury — EVALI for short — were reported to the US Centers for Disease Control. 68 people died, mostly…