Author: DW

Thursday’s high-stakes encounter between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinpingwas meant to help resolve months of global tariff tensions and smooth trade between the world’s two largest economies. While Trump gave the “amazing” talks a 12 out of 10, Beijing was more cautious, calling on the United States to keep the lines of communication open. For anyone hoping for a bigger thaw in US-China ties, the brevity of the meeting was a sobering reminder that mistrust between the world powers still runs deep. The closely-watched meeting in Busan, South Korea, lasted just 100 minutes, compared to the US president’s anticipated three to…

Bird flu cases are rising in the Northern Hemisphere, and outbreaks are likely to continue testing farmers and public health authorities determined to curb the spread this winter. The current circulating “clade” of H5N1, which is mainly carried by birds, is highly pathogenic, meaning it can cause severe avian influenza (or bird flu). Though H5N1 was first detected in the mid-1990s, outbreaks have only occurred annually since 2020. H5N1 is now present on every continent, including Antarctica, and continues to concern health authorities, disease scientists and wildlife specialists. In Germany, major farm culls — half a million chickens, ducks, geese…

When US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping meet in South Korea on Thursday, perhaps they can find common ground and inspiration in basketball. Earlier in October, two NBA teams, the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns played pre-season games in Macau, a special territory of China. Over the summer, with the league back in the country, a handful of NBA players also toured China, including LeBron James and Steph Curry. The NBA, by far the sport’s biggest competition, had been frozen out of its biggest overseas market since 2019, but the relationship seems to be thawing. LeBron James was…

US broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) said on Wednesday that it will stop all of its news operations effective as of Friday, October 31. It will be the first time the international broadcaster has completely gone off air since it was founded nearly 30 years ago. RFA is one the few reliable sources of news in regions of Asia where authoritarian governments limit people’s access to information. Suspension of news comes after deep cuts RFA had already drastically scaled back its news programming earlier in the year. It laid off almost 90% of its US-based workforce after President Donald Trump axed…

The US military killed four people in a strike on a suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday. “This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said. He also posted a 22-second video on X showing the boat in international waters erupting in a large explosion. The strike followed US attacks earlier this week that killed 14 people in the region. The latest strike brings the death toll from Washington’s anti-narcotics campaign…

10/29/2025October 29, 2025German conservatives call for greater distance from AfDMembers of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have called on the conservative party to boost its ratings by distancing itself even more clearly from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Around 30 CDU members have launched a new inner-party grouping called “Compass Mitte” (Compass Center) which they say is aimed at emphasizing the social values of the party in order to win back the support of centrist and left-leaning voters, rather than trying to appease those voters tempted by the populist AfD. “We cannot be satisfied with 28.6% at…

US aviation giant Boeing posted quarterly losses of $5.4 billion (roughly €4.6 billion) on Wednesday. This was prompted in large part by a $5 billion penalty for pushing back the first delivery of its long-delayed 777X model until 2027. The loss includes compensation payable to customers facing delayed deliveries, Boeing said. Delayed widebody a financial and an opportunity cost Last month, CEO Kelly Ortberg had said the company was behind schedule in certifying the jet and that a “mountain of work” still needed to be done. But he had not announced further delays beyond the 2026 delivery date that was planned…

Bird flu cases are rising in the Northern Hemisphere, and outbreaks are likely to continue testing farmers and public health authorities determined to curb the spread this winter. The current circulating “clade” of H5N1, which is mainly carried by birds, is highly pathogenic, meaning it can cause severe avian influenza (or bird flu). Though H5N1 was first detected in the mid-1990s, outbreaks have only occurred annually since 2020. H5N1 is now present on every continent, including Antarctica, and continues to concern health authorities, disease scientists and wildlife specialists. In Germany, major farm culls — half a million chickens, ducks, geese…

Germany edged into the Nations League final with a 2-2 draw that gave them a 3-1 aggregate victory over France, as Nicole Anyomi and Klara Bühl found the back of the net. Christian Wück’s side will face World Cup champions Spain in the two-legged final of the women’s football tournament in late November and early December. This is Germany’s first foray to the Nations League final after finishing third in 2024. It comes as the German Football Association (DFB) announced last week that they intend to make the largest single investment in the history of women’s football in Germany.  President Bernd Neuendorf confirmed that the federation…

“Three countries, two lakes, one destination,” says Greek environmentalist Mirsini Malakou, who has worked toward this vision in the Balkans for 30 years. Malakou is head of the Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP), a Greek non-governmental organization that strives to preserve one of the oldest freshwater systems in Europe, the Prespa lakes.  The mountain-rimmed lake basin where Great Prespa Lake and Small Prespa Lake lie took shape about five million years ago, long before human beings joined the ecosystem or nation states laid boundaries. Today, these two stunningly picturesque and largely unspoiled bodies of water are shared by three…