Penulis: Agus S

The Indigenous People of Biafra's sit-at-home protests have paralyzed southeast Nigeria. As fear grows and losses mount, what’s the path to peace?

Monday mornings in Onitsha, one of West Africa's busiest commercial cities, used to be the most chaotic day of the week. But these days, they unfold in eerie silence.

The familiar blare of traders haggling prices has faded — replaced by an unsettling stillness as many residents of southeasternNigerialive in fear.

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement — which is pushing for the independence of Nigeria's southeast — regularly calls for stay-at-home protests to demand the release of its leader,Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu is on trial on terrorism charges in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

While theIPOB claimed it had suspended the stay-at-home order, locals continued to comply due to the fear of armed groups known to attack those who defy the measure, using enforcement tactics like arson, looting and targeted killings.

"Mondays now feel so empty," said Gift Chigo, a resident in Imo, one of the hardest-hit states in the region.

"Businesses are shut down and shops locked down. And to be honest, we don't necessarily sit at home because we support the IPOB, but out of fear. It's not about solidarity, it's about [protecting] ourselves. What can we do? Nothing," she told DW.

Formed in 2012 by two UK-based Nigerians, Nnamdi Kanu and Uche Mefor, the IPOB has been at the forefront of the renewed call for an independent state of Biafra.

Former Eastern region governor and military officer, Emeka Ojukwu, had declared the defunct state of Biafra in the 1960s following the killing of Igbos in northern Nigeria. However, that attempt to secede from the country ended with a bloody three-year civil war that led to the death of millions of people.

The agitations still persist with groups like IPOB. In 2020, the IPOB launched its armed wing called the Eastern Security Network aimed at protecting the Igbos, but residents told DW it has instead inflicted more suffering on them.

Since Kanu's arrest, the group has split into factions — some of which are more violent, exerting considerable influence and power, especially in rural communities, and targeting government facilities.

Although IPOB has repeatedly dissociated itself from the region's violence, authorities have continued to accuse the group of several violent incidents in the area. The Nigerian government has labelled the group a terrorist organization.

Apart from the sit-at-home protest every Monday, the region also observes the order on days Kanu appears in court. And, it has not only upended livelihoods and disrupted the economy of the region, but it has also led to the death of more than 700 people over the past four years.

A recent report by SBM intelligence, a Lagos-based think tank, shows that the protest has resulted in economic losses of over $4.79 billion (€4.20 billion) with key sectors like transportation, trade, and micro businesses taking the biggest hit.

In about 332 violent incidents, the protest's epicenter has been Imo state, where 332 people were killed, followed closely by neighboring Anambra with 202 deaths. Many of the victims were civilians who defied the weekly order or became caught up in clashes between the group and Nigerian security forces.

Public institutions like schools and hospitals have also been disrupted by the protest.

"I go to class three times a week even though I teach mathematics which was supposed to be taught every single day. We're seriously lagging behind due to the IPOB's order," King David, a teacher in Owerri, told DW.

Dengiyefa Angalapu, a research analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development, a think tank, shared David's concern. He noted that the educational sector has borne the most profound brunt of the sit-ins in the region.

"Students preparing for exams often miss critical academic days or are even forced to travel under risky conditions," said Angalapu. "Beyond that, students missing out on school every Monday means they only have four days to learn, and I think that's really a very critical gap compared to other regions in the country."

While there was a high rate of compliance with the order in 2021, representing about 83%, actual support is much lower now — about 29%.

Nigeria's southeast is inhabited predominantly by the Igbo ethnic group who are known for their entrepreneurial skills. The impact of the sit-ins has been substantial, and these losses are not just contained in the southeast, said Ikemesit Effiong, head of research at the Lagos-based think tank.

"People from the Niger Delta and the South South region who are looking to transit through the South East to get to other parts of the country are also materially affected because their goods cannot move over land through the region."

Effiong mentioned that the loss in productivity has weakened economic competitiveness and discouraged external investments.

"The economic loss in terms of reduced investability climate in the region is worrisome. Many projects that would have been greenlit have actually been held back or rerouted to other parts of the country because the cost of doing business has increased in the South East," he said.

Dengiyefa said that, beyond economic loss, deepening unemployment and poverty, what lies ahead is even more staggering.

"It's quite sad that a generation of youth are being raised in the southeast in a climate of fear and ideological extremism," Dengiyefa noted.

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Dengiyefa added that "with the intergenerational transfer of trauma, we're at a very big risk if this continues because we've a whole generation that has been radicalised and that's a very fundamental challenge."

Dengiyefa suggested that the Nigerian government should invest in countering secessionist narratives, including engaging local leaders.

"We need a non-military security presence such as community policing rather than having solely the armed forces which often escalate tensions" that would eventually lead to a peaceful dialogue for any political demands.

Both analysts argued that the heavy-handedness of Kanu's prosecution could be softened through government transparency and fair judicial process.

"People may not approve of Nnamdi Kanu's tactics within the region, but his message still has deep resonance. Many people see his treatment as emblematic of how Nigeria has generally treated the Southeast. So, changing that paradigm and changing that perception will be critical," Effiong added.

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It's been 14 years since the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki became the first German to win an NBA championship. Isaiah Hartenstein of the Oklahoma Thunder is a good bet to become the second.

"It would be an honor to win the title and to do it for Germany," Isaiah Hartenstein said ahead of the NBA Finals, which open on Thursday.

Hartenstein, whose Oklahoma Thunder enter the best-of-7 series as the clear favorites, is vying to become just the second German afterDirk Nowitzkito win an NBA title.

"The greatest strength of this team is that we do everything together. We support each other, regardless of whether you play a lot or a little," Hartenstein said of the Thunder's recipe for success.

German fans are hoping that not only will he win this year's NBA title, but that he will represent Germany at the next Olympic Summer Games, Los Angeles 2028.

"The NBA will always be No. 1 for me," Hartenstein has always said when asked about his future with the national team. This is why he missed out on German basketball's major successes in recent years: bronze at the 2022 European Championship,gold at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and fourth place at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Gordon Herbert, the man whoguided Germany to those successes, had made it clear when he took the job in 2021, that he would only consider players who were committed to the national team. Hartenstein simply didn't meet Herbert's criteria. The last of his 19 appearances for Germany came in 2018.

However, in an April interview with the German weekly "SportBild," Hartenstein said he was still open to playing for his country.

""I definitely want to play at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Regarding this year's European Championship and the 2027 World Cup, we'll have to see how far we get in the playoffs and how my body feels," he said.

"The NBA always comes first for me."

Hartenstein was born on May 5, 1998, in Eugene, Oregon, to a German father and an American mother. He holds dual citizenship, so he was also eligible to play for the United States. He chose Germany – the country where he grew up as abasketballplayer.

When he was 11, his family moved to Germany where his father Florian was playing for the Giessen 46ers. It was here, that Isaiah first took up the game.

"Even back then, he said his dream was to play in the NBA," Isaiah's youth coach at the time, Stephan Röll, told DW.

"He always worked hard, fighting for every ball. And he was a leader on every team he played on."

When Florian, a center, took a move to Bundesliga-Basketball club the Artland Dragons in northern Germany, the Hartenstein family moved with him.

Florian later worked as a youth coach for the club, where one of his players was his son.

"I put him at a guard position as a big man (213 cm, 7 ft) so he can work on dribbling, passing more. I think it helped him later on to be more versatile," Florian told the online portal "The Undefeated."

Many initially didn't believe the two were father and son due to Florian Hartenstein's darker skin.

"I know I am half-Black, but you can't really see by my skin tone," Isaiah Hartenstein told "The Undefeated."

"Sometimes they laugh and say, 'It's not possible.' And then they see my dad and kind of say, 'OK, we understand.'"

Isaiah Hartenstein, certainly isn't one to let racist comments go unchallenged.

"I tell them that it is not right what they are saying," Hartenstein said. "Even if I wasn't part Black, it's not right. Everyone is their own person. It's not about skin color. It's about your personality, what's inside."

At 16, Isaiah Hartenstein played his first Bundesliga game for the Artland Dragons. In 2016, he moved to top Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunus. A year later, he declared for the NBA draft and was selected 43rd overall by the Houston Rockets.

Hartenstein spent a year with the Rockets' farm team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League before making his NBA debut in October 2018. Over the next few seasons, he also had stints with the Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, and the New York Knicks. In 2024 he signed as a free agent with the Oklahoma City Thunder. His 3-year, $87 million (€77 million) contract makes him one of Germany's best-earning athletes.

The 27-year-old has a large image of Jesus tattooed on his right arm.

"My faith is very important to me and gives me a lot of strength," Hartenstein told "SportBild."

"When I was at the top and signed my contract with OKC, my faith helped me stay grounded."

In mid-2023, the basketball star married US model and influencer Kourtney Kellar, and their son Elijah was born a year later. "For me, family comes first," he stressed.

This article was originally published on May 21, 2025 in German. It was updated on June 4 to reflect the fact that the Oklahoma Thunder have made it to the NBA Finals and adding quotes from Hartenstein's youth coach.

As crucial waterways run low and Europe's farmers worry about their crops, the European Union is trying to come up with a strategy to keep the water flowing.

Water scarcity is a fact of life inMalta. The island in the middle of the Mediterranean, between Italy and North Africa, has no lakes or rivers and doesn't get much rainfall. And with a hot, dry climate, a population of 563,000 — and more than six times that in yearly tourist visits — every drop counts.

"We have lived forever without enough water," said Thomas Bajada, a marine biologist and recently elected member of the European Parliament. But, he told DW, that scarcity has forced his country to innovate.

Today, around two-thirds of its drinking water comes from the sea,desalinated waterthat's blended with a minimal supply ofgroundwater. Investment in other technical solutions — smart water meters, leakage management,wastewater reuse— also helps keep the taps from running dry. For now, at least.

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But as temperatures rise and weather patternsbecome increasingly unreliable due to climate change, Malta's water challenges are expected to spread.

With many European cities and regions still relying on outdated water management practices, around one-fifth of the continent already faces water stress every year, the European Environment Agency (EEA) reported. It noted that Europe is anticipating water demand to double by 2050, leading to severe water shortages in the future.

"Europe is at the forefront of a growing water crisis — one that threatens industry, agriculture, ecosystems and citizens' access to water," said Loic Charpentier, advocacy head at industry body Water Europe, which promotes water technology.

Extreme heat andprolonged periods of drought, once rare in Europe, are becoming a yearly problem in many regions. Multiple heat waves in 2024 shattered temperature records, with Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region suffering the most from heat stress and shrinking water reserves, according to data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The first-ever European Climate Risk Assessment, released by the European Environment Agency in March 2024, stressed that these new weather extremes were already severely disrupting ecosystems, agriculture and economic activity, human health and water supplies. Drought and extreme heat could also "exacerbate existing risks and crises … leading to water and food insecurity, disruptions of critical infrastructure, and threats to financial markets and stability."

"No one sees what is coming when we speak about water, both water pollution andwater scarcity," said Athenais Georges of the European Water Movement advocacy group. "It's a huge environmental and social justice issue, because if you have scarce water, you have rising conflicts. [We've seen] that already in other regions in the world."

In 2012, the European Water Movement spearheaded the Right2Water campaign, signed by more than 1.6 million EU citizens, which called on the European Commission to make sure water remains a public service and "ensure that all inhabitants enjoy the right to water."

The Drinking Water Directive, the EU's main law on drinking water, was revised following the campaign and entered into force in 2021. It obliges EU member countries to "improve access to safe drinking water" for all citizens.

And yet, EEA data shows that some 30% of EU citizens still sufferwater scarcityevery year.

The European Commission is due to finally present its Water Resilience Strategy in early June, after taking it off the agenda ahead of the 2024 EU elections in the wake offarmer protestsand right-wing criticism of the EU's ambitious climate plans. The strategy is expected to focus heavily on efficiency, water reuse and technological fixes — especially in sectors that rely on water, like industry and agriculture.

"We want to address the root causes of water challenges, including pollution, scarcity and the impact of climate change," said Jessika Roswall, the EU commissioner for the environment and water resilience, speaking at the European Parliament in early May. She also highlighted plans to "foster the competitive edge of our EU water industry."

Lawmakers called on the EU Commission to be "ambitious" in its update to the current water management andclimate adaptationstrategy, which Bajada called "scattered, sectoral and unreactive".

"That means moving from promises to real, binding action. We cannot afford to treat water as infinite. That is why this report calls for enforceable water efficiency and abstraction targets — sector by sector, basin by basin," said Bajada, the report's rapporteur. He acknowledged that while water management is a national issue, enshrined in the EU treaty, member states also need to understand that it is a responsibility shared across borders.

EU lawmakers said the Commission must prioritize dedicated funding for water resilience — money to modernize water infrastructure, set up nature-based solutions and useartificial intelligenceand other emerging technologies to boost efficiency, monitoring and security.

"We need money to directly invest in innovation, to directly invest in a smarter way of water management, in industry, in agriculture," Bajada, of the center-left Socialists and Democrats group, told DW. "Let's invest through public-private partnerships, using the [European Investment Bank] to scale up investment, but also a direct line in the upcoming [EU] budget."

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"Droughtand climate adaptation are only part of the larger puzzle," Charpentier, of Water Europe, said in an email, emphasizing the need to develop new infrastructure and expand digitalization. "Europe must stimulate investments across sectors — from citizens and businesses to local and regional authorities."

Environmental campaigners, however, are disappointed in what they said were successful efforts by conservative and far-right lawmakers to dilute the role of nature-based solutions, saying it set a "worrying precedent" ahead of the release of the Commission's strategy. They have called out the move to weaken nature restoration and conservation goals, along with measures to address water pollution.

"We cannot tackle a continent increasingly depleted of clean water or repair broken water cycles without working with nature," said the Living Rivers Europe NGO coalition in a statement. "Nature-based solutions, such asrestoring wetlands and removing barriers obstructing rivers, are far more cost-effective, straightforward, and environmentally sustainable than grey infrastructure and techno-fixes."

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"You cannot comply with environmental, social and ethical objectives when you are profit-driven," said Georges of the European Water Movement, which campaigns against the privatization of water services. She told DW that new, modern infrastructure like desalination plants and dams were energy intensive to build and operate, and require costly maintenance.

By contrast, she said, an approach that helped to retain more water in the soil and replenish depleted groundwater reserves — for example, byusing permeable surfaces in cities, or giving more space to rivers and streams — was more sustainable in the long run.

"If you take a look at both [types of] solutions, what's easier, what's the most cost efficient?" said Georges. "It's just giving space back to nature."

Will German Chancellor Friedrich Merz convince US President Donald Trump to be a reliable partner to Europe? Expectations are high for Merz's first visit to Washington.

Friedrich Merz andDonald Trumphave already exchanged private cell phone numbers and they are on a first-name basis, but aside from a brief encounter in New York years ago, this Thursday will be the first time that the two leaders meet.

The new German ChancellorFriedrich Merzof the conservativeChristian Democratic Union(CDU) is on his inaugural visit to Washington. Merz, like former chancellorAngela Merkel, the British Queen Elizabeth and French President Charles de Gaulle before him, has been invited to stay at the Blair House, directly adjacent to the White House.

It was only a few weeks ago that Merz expressed strong disapproval ofevents in the Oval Office in February, when the US president publicly ridiculed Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyand blamed him forRussia's waragainst his country. Merz also took issue with Vice PresidentJD Vanceand other Trump associates for expressing support for Germany's far-rightAlternative for Germanyparty (AfD).

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Recently, the German chancellor told public broadcaster WDR how his first telephone conversation with Donald Trump went: "It's always important not to talk for too long, but to keep it short and also let him talk."

According to Merz, every second or third word the president said was "great."

"You have to adapt your approach and work with him. At the same time, we mustn't make ourselves smaller than we are," said Merz. "We are not supplicants."

Carlo Masala, professor of international politics at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, also thinks Merz needs to be confident going into his meeting with Trump.

Masala told public broadcaster NDR: "He needs to be assertive, but at the same time make Trump feel respected as a great statesman with a strong vision. I believe that flattery combined with European self-confidence is the best strategy, although there is no guarantee that it will ultimately be successful."

The talks in Washington are likely to focus on three major issues: the war in Ukraine, the tariff disputes, and the question of Europe's contribution to its own security.

On security issues, Merz can now point to some achievements. Trump has repeatedly complained about the low defense spending of some EuropeanNATOpartners, including Germany, and threatened to withdraw US protection. Now Merz can say that Germany is planning a massive military build-up: Five percent of Germany's GDP will be allocated to defense in the future, with 3.5% going directly to the military and 1.5% to defense-related infrastructure.

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Germany is also seeking to assume a greater leadership role in Europe. The jointvisit made to Kyiv by the heads of stateof Germany, France, Great Britain and Poland to show their support, which was initiated by Merz, demonstrated Europe's willingness to meet the American demand that it takes responsibility for its own security affairs. In return, Merz and other European leaders hope to work with the US to increase pressure on Russian PresidentVladimir Putin.

On the issue of tariffs, Merz has no authority to negotiate because trade policy is a EU matter. But as an export nation, Germany is getting hit hard by trade barriers. On the day Merz departed,US import tariffs on European steel and aluminum doubled to 50%. The chancellor is likely to urge both sides to avoid an escalating trade conflict in which everyone loses.

Friedrich Merz is very much a trans Atlanticist. He is likely to try to convince Donald Trump that it is also in his own interest for the US to remain committed to Europe.

But political scientist Carlo Masala is pessimistic: "I believe that any long-term strategy that can work must assume that the United States will pull out of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine."

Europeans will have to be prepared for the US, as Ukraine's most important supporter, to withdraw, Masala said.

"And to move quickly when it comes to the question of European defense capabilities and sovereignty," he said. "That is the long-term strategy."

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With the new federal government made up of the conservative CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD), a new style has also emerged in foreign policy. Former Green Party Foreign MinisterAnnalena Baerbockwas sometimes criticized for being moralizing and patronizing.

The new government now wants to focus more on common interests and finding compromises, even with difficult partners, such as the Trump administration.

The conflicts between Germany and the US are numerous, and Friedrich Merz and Donald Trump are very different characters. But the German chancellor is determined to engage openly with the US president. Echoing a move by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, Friedrich Merz has invited the US president to visit the homeland of his ancestors. Trump's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, grew up in the winegrowing village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate region of Germany before emigrating to the US.

It is not yet known whether Trump will accept the invitation this time.

This article was originally written in German. It was corrected on June 6, 2025: The public argument in the Oval Office between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took place in February, not March as previously stated.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.

Founders flock to Munich, Germany, to access capital, expertise, and networks that can help turn ideas into thriving businesses.

It's like navigating a labyrinth — a journey hundreds of young entrepreneurs across Europe embark on each year in search of opportunity, innovation, funding, and success. They're also looking for the country and city that offers the ideal conditions to launch a business.

For an increasing number, that journey leads to Isar Valley, named after the river that runs throughMunich, and which provided the informal nickname for the Bavarian capital'stechnologyandartificial intelligence (AI)scene, inspired by theSilicon Valleytechnology hub in California.

Munich ranks 17th globally in the latestGlobal Tech Ecosystem Indexcompiled by Netherlands-based data provider Dealroom.

When measured by high-performance, innovation-driven ecosystems with strong per-capita output, Munich rises to 5th place — just behind US tech hubs San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, New York, and Cambridge.

Greek entrepreneurs Nikos Tsiamitros and Georgios Pipelidis also chose to launch theirstartupin Munich, even though Tsiamitros says there wasn't a "personal reason" to move to the capital of the German southern state of Bavaria.

"I didn't know anyone here and had never even visited the city," he told DW, but added that he was well aware of the "excellent reputation" of the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Tsiamitros arrived from Athens to pursue his master's degree in Munich, while Pipelidis came to TUM via Austria to complete his PhD.

"That's where we started working together on navigation software for public transportation," Pipelidis told DW.

They joined a hackathon — an event where programmers team up for several days or weeks to develop software, often around the clock — and they won the competition.

"From that moment on, we started to believe that our navigation and localization algorithm could become a real startup," said Tsiamitros.

Then, in March 2019, they launched their first startup business called Ariadne — derived from the Cretan princess in Greek mythology who gave Theseus a thread to find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth.

A fitting metaphor for their software, Pipelidis noted with a grin.

But having a strong algorithm is one thing. Launching a startup, writing a business plan, and securing capital is another. That's where Munich's startup ecosystem offers a crucial resource — the UnternehmerTUM entrepreneurship center based at TUM.

At UnternehmerTUM, the two business founders learned how to start and run a company, Pipelidis said, adding that thanks to that support, Ariadne was generating revenue just a few months after launch.

Ariadne's main product has since evolved from a navigation software into an AI-based people-counting and movement analytics tool. Today, it serves airports in Munich, Glasgow, and Los Angeles, as well as the German cities of Leverkusen, Bielefeld, and Regensburg, plus several malls and retailers, including IKEA.

Startups like Ariadne also benefit from hands-on mentorship. Barbara Mehner, managing partner of the Xpreneurs incubator at UnternehmerTUM is one of them.

"We help early-stage startups enter the market by connecting them with investors, mentors, and potential customers," she told DW.

Among the more than 100 tech startups founded annually in Munich is KEWAZO, a company led by Greek founder Eirini Psallida.

KEWAZO's core product is a battery-powered, remote-controlled robotic lifting system called LIFTBOT. This robot facilitates the transport and assembly of scaffolding and other construction materials.

"All industries seemed fully automated — except construction," Eirini told DW, explaining the idea behind the company. Psallida named the startup after the Greek wordkataskevazo, meaning "to produce." And like Ariadne, this startup was born out of a hackathon at UnternehmerTUM.

Today, the company's robotic lift system is in daily use at major industrial and construction sites — from the chemical park ofBASFin Ludwigshafen, Germany, to oil refineries in the US.

"I can't imagine how we would have done it without UnternehmerTUM," Psallida told DW, as the incubator gave them access to hardware, software, legal and business advice. "And we got help securing public funding without giving up any equity," she added.

The KEWAZO team includes six founders from four different countries, reflecting the diverse nature of Germany's startup landscape.

According to the latestMigrant Founders Monitorcompiled by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Germany's Startup Association, a significant number of founders in the country have amigrationbackground.

"Fourteen percent of startup founders were born abroad," said Vanusch Walk, senior researcher at the Startup Association and lead author of the report. Among the founders of so-called unicorns — startups valued at over a billion dollars — the share is even higher at 23%, he told DW.

The survey shows that migrant founders stand out for their "strong entrepreneurial mindset, willingness to take risks, and resilience" — traits that are crucial for startup success.

Despite their strengths,migrant founders also face notable challenges in Germany.

"Top of the list is access to networks," said Walk, adding that coping with Germany's infamous bureaucracy is also difficult, as well as gaining access to funding, no matter whether public or private.

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Pipelidis from Ariadne experienced this firsthand. One German venture capital firm made its investment conditional on replacing him as CEO with a German national. "They wanted a native speaker as the public face of the company," he recalled.

"I understand that customers prefer dealing with someone who speaks fluent German — that's why all our salespeople are native speakers. But replacing me as CEO? That was too much," he said.

In the end, Georgios Pipelidis and Nikos Tsiamitros secured support from a Greek VC firm. And despite the setbacks, their enthusiasm for Munich hasn't wavered. At the end of their own Ariadne thread still lies the Bavarian capital.

This article was originally written in German.

The German government has proposed several new measures as it pushes on with plans to further curb irregular migration. This comes despite a legal setback this week when a court ruled pushbacks at the border unlawful.

The German Cabinet on Wednesday approved several measures to tighten Germany's asylum laws, including a plan to make it easier to determine "safe countries of origin" and thus to deport rejected asylum-seekers.

This comes after another policy put in place by Interior MinisterAlexander Dobrindt— allowing police to send back asylum-seekers at the border without assessment of their cases according to the Dublin procedure — wasdeemed unlawful by the Administrative Court in Berlin.

Dobrindt, a conservative politician from the BavarianChristian Social Union (CSU), would like to see the government made solely responsible in the future for deciding which countries should be categorized as "safe countries of origin."

Under his plan, no approval from Germany's upper house of parliament, orBundesrat, which represents the 16 federal states, would be required anymore to decide whether there is persecution in a country that would justify granting asylum to people from there.

This would reduce the number of people eligible for asylum and make it easier to deport rejected asylum-seekers to their home countries if these were put in the "safe" category.

The Cabinet also approved the abolition of a rule calling for people in pre-deportation custody to be automatically be assigned a lawyer by the state.

This rule was adopted under the previous left-leaning Social Democrat-led coalition government at the behest of theenvironmentalist Green Party.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Dobrindt said, "These are essential steps that are part of a whole raft of measures to bring about the asylum transformation."

The reforms approved by the Cabinet, which are all contained in the government's coalition agreement, still need approval by the lower house of parliament, theBundestag.

ChancellorFriedrich Merz, who leads the current German coalition government of his conservative CDU/CSU bloc with the center-leftSocial Democrats (SPD), has vowed to crack down on irregular migration — a policy seen by many as a bid to reduce support for the far-rightAlternative for Germany (AfD)party, which has been gaining in popularity.

His efforts suffered a setback on Monday with the court ruling on border pushbacks but has vowed to continue with the policy "within the framework of existing European law."

Further criticism has also come from legal experts and from human rights groups.

The German Bar Association (DAV) argued on Wednesday that the proposed reform of rules governing the definition of "safe countries" would unnecessarily complicate asylum regulations.

Christoph Tometten, the DVA's expert for migration law, said that because the planned reform applied to EU law and not the right to asylum enshrined in the German constitution, there would be "unnecessarily complex differentiations" that needed to be made by administrations and courts.

This would mean that asylum proceedings could become longer rather than shorter, he said.

He was referring to the fact that the German constitution requires the Bundesrat to be involved in categorizing "safe countries," while an EU guideline allows member states to define them by decree — a guideline the German government is taking to argue its case.

German refugee advocacy group Pro Asyl called the actions of the government "undemocratic and constitutionally questionable."

The organization's spokeswoman on legal policy, Wiebke Judith, said, "The determination of allegedly safe countries of origin and third countries makes it more difficult for endangered people to receive the protection they are really entitled to."

European colonizers were thought to have brought leprosy to the Americas, but a new study reveals it existed there for thousands of years and was spread by a recently discovered bacteria species.

Scientists once believed Europeans brought leprosy to the American continents via infection from the bacterial speciesMycobacterium leprae.

But now a new studypublished in the journal Sciencereveals that a different form of leprosy-causing bacteria — calledMycobacterium lepromatosis— was already circulating in the Americas for at least one thousand years.

Leprosy was therefore already affecting American indigenous peoples well before European colonization.

The study authors analyzed more than 800 samples taken from ancient remains inCanadaandArgentina.

The genomes of the bacteria taken from the samples were reconstructed, analyzed, and dated.

Comparisons between the samples showed the bacterial genomes were of distinctive branches of thelepromatosisspecies at each end of the continent.

However, they remained genetically similar. This suggested that the bacteria species had spread rapidly across the Americas, probably covering the landmass in just a few hundred years.

Leprosy is caused by two bacteria species, not one.

Leprosy has been infecting humans for thousands of years. The disease presents as multiple numbing skin lesions. If left untreated, it can result in nerve damage, muscle weakness, paralysis and blindness. Today, leprosy can be treated withantibiotics, but ancient sufferers weren't so fortunate.

Skeletal records from 2,000BCE have been found in India with traces of thediseasecaused byMycobacterium leprae.

These are matched by written records of leprosy cases in ancient literature from Indian, Chinese and African civilizations, as well as stories in the Abrahamic religions.

Often, these ancient descriptions associated the affliction with stigmas of immorality or ritual uncleanliness.

But in 1874 the Norwegian doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen discovered that leprosy was caused by the microscopic organismMycobacterium leprae.

In 2008, doctors in Mexico found another leprosy-causing bacteria species —Mycobacterium lepromatosis— in a leprosy patient.

Before this, it was believedlepraewas the only pathogen capable of causing the disease. Now both forms of the bacteria are known to cause it.

Nicolas Rascovan, head of the Microbial Paleogenomics Unit at the Pasteur Institut in France led the investigation. He and his colleagues estimatelepromatosisandlepraediverged from a common ancestor about one million years ago.

"The diversification happened probably independent of humans," Rascovan told DW.

The arrival of thefirst European fleets to the Americasin 1492 marked the introduction of new diseases to the Americas. Leprosy — in the form of thelepraebacterium — was among them.

Archaeological evidence has shownlepraemigrated with human groups out of Africa and into Asia and Europe around 40,000 years ago.

Its introduction to the Americas, along with other diseases, by Europeans devastatedindigenous communitiesand intensified the impact of pathogens that were already circulating before colonization.

The discovery oflepromatosis' longer history on the continent further highlights the diversity of pathogens and their complex relationship with humans throughout history, said Rascovan.

"Europeans had a very important impact by bringing this new species [leprae] that was absent in America," he said.

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Rascovan hopes the presence of lepromatosis in the archeological record will improve understanding of pre-colonial disease, especially in the absence of written records.

In addition, the study helps understand modern cases of leprosy, especially how it could make the jump from animals like squirrels to humans.

"Our work is giving the kick start to really start analyzing, monitoring and understanding the diversity of natural reservoirs [disease carriers]," said Rascovan.

He said monitoring the disease and preventing spillovers from animals to humans should be a priority.

The disease is still prevalent today — 200,000 cases are reported each year globally. Brazil, India and Indonesia still report more than 10,000 new cases annually, according to WHO data.

Buildings across the center of the western city of Cologne were evacuated after the discovery of three World War II bombs. Some 20,000 people had been under evacuation orders.

Large areas of the city center ofColognewere closed off on Wednesday as experts defused three bombs left over fromWorld War II, which ended 80 years ago.

The evacuation operation in Cologne, which hasseen plenty of them over the years, was one of the largest to ever be carried out in the city since World War II, with some 20,000 people ordered to leave the affected area.

The process of defusing the bombs had to be delayed at one point because of a resident refusing to evacuate, according to a city spokesperson.

An individual living in the old town resisted orders to leave their apartment, with public order officials, police, and the fire department enforcing removal measures.

Kai Kulschewski, head of explosive ordnance disposal in the nearby city of Düsseldorf, who is coordinating the disposal, had earlier said everything was going to plan. He had added that the defusing operation had yet to begin as of the afternoon because not everyone had been evacuated yet.

"We can only start when the last person is out," he said.

The evacuated area included the entire old part of the city, 58 hotels, threeRhinebridges, the town hall, the railway station in the district of Deutz, which lies across the Rhine from the city center, museums, a hospital and two care homes.

The city's major landmark,Cologne Cathedral, was, however, situated just outside the danger area.

Germany's national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, had warned that many trains will be diverted or even canceled, and road traffic has was severely disrupted.

The weapons — two 2000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and one 1000-pound bomb, all manufactured in the US — were discovered in Deutz on Monday.

In a statement on its website, the City of Cologne said, "The evacuation is the largest such measure since the end of World War II. Everyone involved hopes that the defusal can be completed in the course of Wednesday."

Bomb defusals are nothing new in Cologne, as it was one of the major bombing targets for Allied forces during the Second World War.

Among other attacks, the British Royal Air Force targeted Cologne with its first "thousand-bomber raid" on a German city overnight to May 31, 1942, dropping 1,455 tons of bombs and destroying or damaging thousands of buildings.

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Correction: An earlier version of this article had incorrectly listed the bombs as weighing 200 and 100 pounds

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher, Wesley Rahn

An AI trained on radiocarbon dating suggests some Dead Sea Scrolls might be older than previously thought. The findings could reshape our understanding of Judaism and early Christianity.

AnAI programtrained to study the handwriting styles of ancient manuscripts suggests many of the Dead Sea Scrolls might be older than previously thought, as reported ina study published in the journal Plos One on Wednesday.

The study is the latest entry in a new era of antiquity studies that has researchers use AI to reveal the secrets written onfrayed and crumbling scrolls.

The new method combines AI, radiocarbon dating, and handwriting analysis to more accurately estimate an ancient text's age.

The now proposed redating could reshape our understanding of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and of Judaism and early Christianity, the authors of the study say.

"It is very exciting to set a significant step into solving the dating problem of the Dead Sea Scrolls and also creating a new tool that could be used to study other partially dated manuscript collections from history," said study author Mladen Popovic from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, the first of which were discovered in a cave in Israel in 1947, are the most momentous manuscript discovery of the past hundred years.

There are around 1,000 manuscripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among them are some of the oldest known copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible. Studies of these manuscripts have profoundly changed understanding of the origins ofChristianityand the formation of post-biblicalJudaism

Dating these manuscripts with paleography — the study of ancient handwriting — reveals them to have been written over several hundred years between 250 B.C.E. and 100 C.E.

However, scholars have struggled toanalyze ancient texts, particularly with distinguishing one writer's style from another, meaning dating isn't very reliable.

The researchers aimed to improve analytical methods by using AI to study handwriting and cross-reference this data with radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating estimates the age of materials by measuring carbon-14 isotopes that slowly disappear over time.

"The advantage of the [AI] model is that it provides quantified objectivity to palaeography, reducing the method's subjectivity," the authors write.

An AI model was first trained on 24 manuscripts with reliable radiocarbon dating. The authors then used this AI model to analyze the handwriting style of 135 scrolls with unknown dates spanning three centuries from around 200 B.C.E. to 100 C.E.

This created a better way of dating written manuscripts with 79% accuracy, according to the analysis.

"This novel approach allowed [the researchers] to combine historical expertise with technical precision," said Thea Sommerschield and Yannis Assael, who previously developed AI tools for the study of ancient texts at the University of Oxford, UK, in a joint email to DW. Sommerschield and Assael were not involved in the study.

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The authors of the study believe their analysis could lead to a new chronology of the scrolls. If verified, it would change understanding of the history of ancient Judea and the people who wrote the texts.

The AI analysis found the manuscripts are older than previous estimates overall, suggesting dates in the early second century B.C.E., and sometimes slightly earlier.

Scholars often assume that the rise and expansion of the Hasmonaean kingdom from the mid-second century B.C.E. onward caused a rise in "literacy scribal intellectual culture." The authors say their findings suggest that scribes were copying multiple literary manuscripts before this period.

Sommerschield and Assael say the new study shows AI could be used to provide more accurate dating of other ancient texts.

"This new study shows that computational tools don't diminish the role of human expertise, they enhance it, opening new paths for discovery in even the most well-studied texts," they said in their email.

Antiquity scholars believe they are on the brink of a new era of because of AI. Researchers have also, for example, been using AI totranslate ancient textsthat have been vexing ancient scholars for decades.

Russian fertilizer has become increasingly important to European agriculture over the past three years, despite the war in Ukraine. Brussels appears to be finally dealing with the issue but not everyone is convinced.

Amid the intense focus on theEuropean Union'sefforts toreduce imports of Russian gasand oil over the past few years, a significant product has slipped under the radar: fertilizer.

Russia is a major global producer and exporter of fertilizer, which is used by farmers and food producers to provide nutrients to plants and crops.

While the EU has largely cut out Russianoil and gasfrom its import list, it has ramped up its purchases of the country's fertilizer sinceRussia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia's share of EU fertilizer imports has grown from 17% in 2022 to about 30% now. In 2024 alone, imports rose by more than 33% to around $2 billion (€1.75 billion).

According to the MIT Observatory of Economic Complexity — a detailed trade data platform — Russia exported a total $15.3 billion worth of fertilizers in 2023, making it the largest exporter in the world.

While its primary export markets are India and Brazil, the EU collectively accounts for a significant chunk of Russia's exports, weighing in at around 13% in 2023.

Earlier this month, however, the European Parliament endorsed theEuropean Commission'sproposal to introduce a 6.5% tariff on fertilizers imported from Russia and Belarus. The plan is to continue ramping up the tariffs to 50% by 2028.

This can be partly explained by the type of fertilizer Russia produces and how it produces it. Russia specializes in nitrogen-based or inorganic fertilizer,which requires huge amounts of natural gas both as a raw material and to produce it.

Many EU nations require nitrogen-based fertilizers because they are particularly rich in nitrogen and vital nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium.

William Moseley, professor of geography at Macalester College in the USA and a member of the UN High-Level Panel of Experts for Food Security and Nutrition, told DW that Russia is particularly well-placed to meet this demand because it can use cheap gas to produce the fertilizer for far lower prices than European competitors can.

The European fertilizer sector has railed against what some have said is Russia "dumping" cheap fertilizer into the EU market.

When European energy prices surged and energy marketswere disrupted by the invasion of Ukraine, many European producers of nitrogen-based fertilizers were forced to stop production. Now they have lost market share to Russia and are struggling to compete.

According to Moseley, the EU's tariff plans suggest it is serious about weaning itself off Russian fertilizer by 2028.

"This will force EU countries to source inorganic fertilizer from elsewhere," he told DW, identifying China, Oman, Morocco, Canada or the US as potential alternative markets.

Mosley believes other alternatives for the EU would be to turn to its own sources of nitrogen-based fertilizer — which would be very expensive, due to the gas requirements — or to ramp upthe use of organic fertilizermade from manure and composted organic waste.

This option, he added, was "more sustainable and better for the soil."

"While it is unlikely that the EU could become totally independent of inorganic fertilizer imports, it could certainly shift the ratio towards more dependence on home-grown organic fertilizer production, especially if it is done gradually," said Mosley.

The EU itself has acknowledged that it wants to move in this direction of developing fertilizer processed from animal dung and urine.

Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, said in February that the livestock sector could "provide a positive input to the circular economy" with organic fertilizer, as it is "domestically grown and doesn't need to come from outside and is not based on high energy prices like gas."

Moseley thinks the EU fertilizer tariffs, if carried out as planned by 2028, will gradually eliminate Russian imports from the EU market. "By 2028, the duties will be so high that it will be economically unviable for the EU to import inorganic fertilizer from Russia and Belarus."

The EU's sanctions will come into effect in July and specifically target agricultural products which it had neglected previously, including fertilizers.

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In a statement, the EU Commission said particularly fertilzer imports "make the EU vulnerable to potential coercive actions by Russia and thus present a risk to EU food security."

The reason why the sanctions are to be phased in gradually over the next three years is to give EU farmers time to find alternatives, particularly if they are already dependent on Russian fertilizers.

In astatementon the EU tariff plan, the president of the Fertilizers Europe industry group, Leo Alders, said surging imports of Russian fertilizers into Europe have been "undermining fair competition and putting pressure on domestic producers" for too long.

Although calling for higher tariffs to be brought in more quickly, Alders wrote that "by levelling the playing field, tariffs will contribute to ensuring that European producers can continue supplying European farmers with high-quality, sustainable fertilizers for years to come."

However, farmers' groups are not happybecause they feel the EU has not done enough to develop realistic, affordable alternatives to Russian fertilizer.

Copa and Cocega, the two major agricultural umbrella organisations in the EU, released a joint statement urging the EU to present a clear strategy on diversification of fertilizer supply.

If the EU is determined to reduce dependency on Russian and Belarusian fertilizers, they said, it must present a "credible and forward-looking" alternative.

"We cannot afford to further undermine the economic viability of farms or the food security of millions across the EU," the statment underlined.