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Germany: Vast wildfire forces evacuation in Eifel forest

14Aug

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Life Style, World

Germany: Vast wildfire forces evacuation in Eifel forest

08/14/2026August 14, 2026What was the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the reason WWII ordnances are strewn about the area?Tens of thousands of troops on both sides were killed or wounded in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in World War IIImage: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture allianceFriday's fire is taking place on the site of one of the longest and most costly single battles in the US military's history. That's why the area is strewn with unexploded munitions from World War II that are at risk of exploding, both aiding the fire's spread and potentially endangering emergency services. The Battle of Hürtgen Forest, or Schlacht im Hürtgenwald in German, was a three-month push by US forces. They were trying at first to pin down German forces and stop them providing reinforcements in the nearby Battle of Aa...

Human rights expert Philippe Sands wins German Peace Prize

14Aug

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Human rights expert Philippe Sands wins German Peace Prize

The 2026 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, a prestigious award that honors individuals who contribute to the realization of peace through their work, goes to French-British lawyer and author Philippe Sands, the prize's board of trustees announced on Thursday. "In his literary work, which is distinguished both by narrative brilliance and historical depth, Philippe Sands devotes as much attention to the motives of the perpetrators as to the suffering and lives of the victims," the jury noted in its statement. "At the heart of his legal work is a commitment to the universal rights of every human being, evidenced in his advocacy for victims of war crimes, racism, torture and colonial injustice." More than a chronicler of crimes and violations of international law, Sands is also a promine...

‘Loneliness influencers’: Being alone brings in the clicks

14Aug

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Life Style

‘Loneliness influencers’: Being alone brings in the clicks

A young woman in business attire comes home, cuddles with her cat, cleans her high heels, takes a shower and settles down on the couch to watch TV in her pajamas with pizza and a soft drink. Afterward, she tidies up, takes out the trash ("no clutter in this apartment ever") and spends the rest of the evening on the sofa with her cat. The title of the video: "POV: You live alone in NYC and have no friends so this is how you spend your Friday night." It has already raked in over 11 million views on Instagram. This reel is the most successful clip to date by Paulina Cee, who boasts over 320,000 followers on Instagram. Her account features numerous videos of this kind, always emphasizing her friend-free life. And Paulina Cee is just one influencer amid a broader trend: Social media is fu...

German court rules that AI music firm violated copyrights

14Aug

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German court rules that AI music firm violated copyrights

The Munich Regional Court ruled on Friday that Suno AI, a US-based company, which generates songs from text prompts. has violated copyrights and has to disclose illicit revenues. The lawsuit initiated in January 2025 by GEMA, Germany's state-mandated licensing agency, argued that Suno trained its AI models on copyrighted music without obtaining licences or compensating its rights holders. According to the ‌verdict, Suno will have to pay damages that have yet to be quantified. Suno has disagreed with the ruling and said it would evaluate all available options, including an appeal. "This is a verdict of global significance," Gema CEO Tobias Holzmueller told Reuters. A closely watched case The lawsuit has been closely watched, as it is one of the first major cases anywhere in the world ...

14Aug

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From petitions to memes: How students made dissent visible

It was a clip destined to go viral. On July 22, 2026, in rainy Mumbai, India, a casually dressed young woman stepped in front of a slow-moving police van carrying detained students. She placed her palm on the hood, forcing the vehicle to stop. Mobile phones captured the moment from every angle. She too, raised her own phone and recorded the encounter. Within hours, the clip spread across India and beyond. It became one of the defining visuals of the Cockroach Janta Party protests, a movement in which students demanded transparency and accountability, following leaks in India's medical entrance exams. But the power of the moment lay not only in what she did, but in how quickly it was seen. A single gesture, a young woman confronting authority, became a symbol shared across millions of s...

14Aug

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AfD threatens to cut funding for ‘modern-thinking’ culture

In upcoming state elections to be held on September 6, polls suggest the Alternative for Germany (AfD) could win an absolute majority in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Based on the far-right's cultural policy program, museums, theaters and cultural institutions in the region say that artistic freedom is one of the far-right party's targets. The AfD has announced that artists and institutions would be required to sign a declaration pledging "not to hold in contempt Germany and its culture" if they want to obtain state funding. Many of these organizations and individuals heavily rely on these subsidies. The AfD's interpretation of disrespect to German culture also ambiguously includes what the party calls "anti-German art." Hans-Thomas Tillschneider is the cultural policy spo...

14Aug

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Life Style, World

Mata Hari: Celebrated dancer turns WWI spy

Mata Hari was already a legend in her own lifetime. When she stepped into the Parisian limelight in 1905, she swept high society off its feet. "She danced with veils and jewel-encrusted bustiers and almost nothing else," the Parisian press reported. "Never had anyone dared to appear unveiled before the gods with such trembling ecstasy. And what wonderful movements she made — both daring and demure at the same time." Mata Hari had convinced audiences and the press that she was an exotic temple dancer — but the dark-haired performer was actually Dutch. One of the hallmarks of the Belle Epoque era was a heightened fascination with cultures the Parisians deemed to be exotic. Driven by financial desperation, she exploited this demand by pretending to be Indian. To make her act more credibl...

14Aug

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Hunger stones: The history behind ‘If you see me, weep’

As Europe's rivers recede during periods of drought, long-hidden traces of the past have resurfaced. Alongside Nazi-era shipwrecks, unexploded World War II bombs and prehistoric mammoth remains, some rivers reveal history literally written in stone. One such inscription, in German, reads: "Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine" — "If you see me, weep." These words are etched on a hunger stone in the Elbe River near Děčín in Czechia, close to the German border. The 2026 drought has revealed historical artifacts lying under Europe's rivers, like this shipwreckImage: David Jerkovic/Pixsell/IMAGO Why 'hunger'? Hunger stones, or "Hungersteine" in German, are riverbed boulders that usually stay underwater and hidden, but become exposed when river levels drop significantly during prolonged drough...

14Aug

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Life Style, Sports

AI helping create popular mobile sports games

After the World Cup and before the domestic football season begins, the world's most popular sport tends to enjoy a relatively quiet period. For some though, the need for football remains. This summer that demand has been met by the creation of a raft of mobile sports games in which players can dive into nostalgia and storytelling. This craze has seemingly been inspired by the viral 82-0 basketball game in which players can draft an all-time NBA starting five by spinning a random wheel for teams and decades. Inspired by this, Deniz Sancar, a hobbyist coder who works in advertising, created 38-0-0. Sancar told Mobilegamer.biz that despite having no previous coding experience, he built the game overnight with Claude Code, an advanced AI assistant that is designed to help with coding. The g...

14Aug

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Eurovision bars countries at war from hosting

Eurovision Song Contest organizers announced rule changes that would prevent countries involved in an armed conflict from hosting the event. Israel and Ukraine are among the countries the rule could affect, with both having enjoyed recent success in the competition. What did the Eurovision organizers say? Eurovision is typically staged by the broadcaster from the country that won the previous edition as part of a co-production involving members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Under the new rules, "the winning broadcaster will automatically be ineligible to host the Contest if an armed conflict, a sensitive geopolitical situation, or any other situation materially affects the security, safety or stability of their state or immediate region," the EBU said.Canada to join 2027 Eu...