Author: DW

Social media giant Meta on Thursday announced plans to lay off about 8,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, as it seeks to scale up development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The owner of social media platforms Facebookand Instagram, along with the messaging app Whatsapp, said in an internal memo that the first round of cuts is due on May 20. Along with the cuts, Meta said 6,000 further posts would be left unfilled. Also on Thursday, US media reported that tech giant Microsoft was planning to offer voluntary early retirement buyouts for around 8.700 workers, or about 7%…

On Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his country was prepared to supply mine clearance and maritime reconnaissance to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. “We could provide mine-clearance vessels — we are good at that,” Merz said, adding that a “sound legal basis” would be needed for such an intervention. His announcement followed consultations with fellow European leaders on a potential multinational mission to secure the strait after the war. The same day, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared the critical waterway “completely open” for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, and US President Donald Trump likewise said it was…

Even by Bayern Munich’s standards, wrapping up men’s and women’s Bundesliga titles with a week remaining in April is impressive. The women’s football team sealed their fifth title in the last six seasons with a 3-2 win at Union Berlin on Wednesday, having won 21 and drawn one of their 22 league games so far. Later that evening, the men reached the German Cup final with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen having made it 12 out of 13 Bundesliga titles a few days before that. “It was a really great evening that leaves us wanting more,” said women’s captain Giulia Gwinn after scoring…

Running a cozy little bookshop where readers can meet and connect over their favorite authors is a dream shared by many book nerds. But beyond the romanticized idea, the independent bookstore business is renowned for being risky, which is why most people never get to follow that dream. There is a creative and popular alternative, however: The Open Book, in the coastal town of Wigtown, Scotland, offers a “bookshop holiday” experience in which guests volunteer to run the bookstore during their one- to two-week stay at the apartment above the shop.  “I think what draws people here is the dream. The kind of ‘what if’ —…

Iran’s shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has drawn comparisons with the supply disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and US President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime. The pandemic exposed the world’s heavy dependence on China for manufacturing everything from electronics to medical gear, while Trump’s tariffs, introduced last year, also accelerated efforts to cut that reliance. The war in Iran has highlighted yet another weakness: how fast a disruption to critical raw materials such as oil, gas and fertilizers can ripple across global trade. The International Energy Agency described the loss of roughly 10% of the world’s oil supply and a fifth of global liquefied…

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has identified seven organic compounds in rock near the planet’s equator, five of which had not previously been found on Mars.  Researchers publishing in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday said the experiment also hinted at the presence of another organic compound bearing a structure similar to the precursors to DNA, the molecule that carries genetic information in living organisms on our planet.  However the scientists also noted that the organic compounds — molecules primarily composed of carbon atoms bonded to other elements that form the structural basis of all life on Earth — could have formed…

The outcome was decided in the penultimate round. A draw against his closest rival, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, was enough for Javokhir Sindarov to win the World Chess Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. “Every round was very, very tough, and the past week was the hardest of my life,” the new chess superstar said after his breakthrough victory. “I slept really badly and I’m glad it’s over.” Winning the Candidates Tournament means Sindarov, 20, will now face the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh of India for the World Chess Championship title in late 2026. With Gukesh just 19, it will be a duel…

Spread out below Berlin’s landmark TV tower, with a glass front that gleamed orange in the sun, the hammer and sickle wreath hanging prominently in the middle: The Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik) served as an architectural calling card of communist East Germany. From its opening 50 years ago through its controversial destruction in 2006-08, the iconic building embodied the ideals and promises — or for many, failed promises — of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Even today, in its structural absence, its legacy lives on, a memory that reveals the debates and complexities woven into German history. The Palace of the Republic was connected to many…

Russia plans to stop oil exports from Kazakhstan to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline from May 1, threatening a key refinery which supplies the vast majority of diesel, petrol and heating oil needed for the city of Berlin. The PCK refinery, located in the town of Schwedt about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Berlin, receives oil supplies via the pipeline. Previously run by Russian oil major Rosneft, the German government seized the refinery’s operations following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since 2022, the refinery has imported Kazakh crude oil in increasing volumes, which is transported from the Central…

On an otherwise ordinary Thursday, a 14-year-old entered a middle school in the southern city of Kahramanmaras, opening fire on two classrooms, killing eight students and a teacher. The shocking attack followed another school shooting two days earlier in Siverek in Turkey’s Sanliurfa province, in which the gunman wounded 16 people before killing himself in a showdown with police.  While it often seems that such attacks come out of the blue, they are rarely spontaneous. Instead, mass shootings generally follow a narrative that regularly includes escalating grievances and missed opportunities to intervene. What do we get wrong about mass shooters? A shocking act of violence like…