Author: staff

Kanzler Friedrich Merz verkündet heute die neuen Personalien fürs Kabinett: Nina Warken wird die erste Kanzleramtsministerin und Carsten Linnemann übernimmt das Gesundheitsressort. Gemeinsam mit Maximilian Stascheit blickt Rixa Fürsen auf mögliche weitere Wechsel und Veränderungen, wer neuer CDU-Generalsekretär werden könnte und den Fahrplan der Vereidigung für die neuen Minister. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview ist die Berliner AfD-Spitzenkandidatin Kristin Brinker zu Gast. Nach neuen Umfragewerten spricht sie über die Hauptstadt-Pläne ihrer Partei und den Umgang mit der Ausgrenzung durch die politische Konkurrenz. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören…

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US President Donald Trump threatened to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for damage to ships and cargo in and around the Gulf. “Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls,” Trump wrote on Truth social. In response to Trump’s statement, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday the seizure of the assets to pay for shipping damage was an “incendiary precedent”. “Seizing another…

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US President Donald Trump will impose new double-digit tariffs on 60 countries over claims they failed to prevent forced labour. The new duties, ranging from 10 to 12.5%, take effect Friday and will replace the global 10% tariffs Trump introduced earlier this year, which expire at 12.01AM on the same day. The levies announced on Thursday will affect dozens of US trading partners, including major economies like China, India and the European Union, accounting for 99% of its imports. “The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past…

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Talking to ChatGPT about a break-up, asking it for advice before making an important decision or even using it as support to ease anxiety has become an increasingly common practice, especially among young people. What only a few years ago seemed like a tech curiosity is now consolidating as one of the main uses of generative artificial intelligence. The data back up this trend. According to a report by Harvard Business Review (source in Spanish), the most frequent use of generative AI is emotional support or companionship, ahead even of managing one’s personal life, searching for a sense of purpose…

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The first set of potential banknotes features American-Greek opera singer Maria Callas, German composer Beethoven, French-Polish scientist Marie Curie-Skłodowska, Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci, and Austrian pacifist Bertha von Suttner. The reverse of the notes depicts generic European cultural spaces including libraries, universities and public squares. The ECB said the figures represent “iconic European personalities who have contributed to building Europe’s cultural heritage” whose accomplishments “resonated around the world.” Wildlife fans can instead go for the option featuring rivers and birds, which the ECB says “highlights the resilience and diversity of Europe’s natural ecosystems”…

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He’s the seventh British prime minister to walk through the famous black door of Number 10 Downing Street since the Brexit vote 10 years ago. Can Andy Burnham refresh relations with Europe and rescue a reset with Brussels that feels like it has been kicked into the long grass?  Host Anne McElvoy talks to two guests who know the knotty relationship between Britain and the European Union. Sylvie Boulard was France’s defense minister in 2017. She was previously an MEP who joined Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party and advised him on the fallout from Brexit. Sir Simon Fraser led Britain’s Foreign Office between 2010 and 2015. He knows his way around Brussels, having served as Peter Mandelson’s chef du Cabinet when…

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Regional politicians within his own conservative party are, however, increasingly questioning whether such promises can be upheld given the strength of parties at both ends of the political spectrum. Kretschmer’s comments are widely seen as an attempt to start a debate about how to govern after the September elections without radically breaking pre-election promises and further eroding the CDU’s credibility. It is an approach that is not welcomed by party leaders in Berlin. “We are currently in the midst of a fierce political battle in three federal states, particularly with — or against — the AfD,” Steffen Bilger, one of…

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Published on 23/07/2026 – 14:25 GMT+2•Updated 18:43 The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday, holding steady as it waits to see how much of a lingering energy shock from the Middle East conflict will feed through into eurozone inflation. The ECB’s governing council held the deposit facility rate at 2.25%, with the main refinancing rate staying at 2.4% and the marginal lending facility at 2.65%. Monetary policy for the eurozone is set through these three key interest rates, with the deposit facility rate serving as the main benchmark. “The outlook for energy prices, while highly volatile, currently…

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Published on 23/07/2026 – 21:58 GMT+2 Spain’s World Cup victory has fuelled interest among Chinese tourists in visiting the country and opens up an opportunity for retailers ahead of Golden Week, one of China’s main holiday periods, according to data from travel platform Qunar compiled by Spanish company Stamp. Searches for flights between Shenzhen and Barcelona rose thirty-three-fold in the hours following La Roja’s triumph, while searches for Tenerife were up nineteen times and those for Malaga 10.5 times. More broadly, according to a 2024 study by the University of Aberdeen published in the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics,…

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Linnemann war bereits zu Beginn der Legislatur im Gespräch für ein Ministeramt. Der 48-Jährige sollte ursprünglich Wirtschaftsminister werden, lehnte die Position aber ab. Er wäre lieber Arbeitsminister geworden, wie er der „Welt“ sagte (hier). Das Ressort ging aber an die SPD. Am Ende blieb Linnemann Generalsekretär seiner Partei. Er ist seit 2009 Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestags für den Wahlkreis Paderborn. Warken hinterlässt ihrem Nachfolger eine abgeschlossene Finanzreform der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung und eine angestoßene Pflegereform, die nach der Sommerpause ins Kabinett kommen soll. Auch hier muss ein Milliardendefizit ausgeglichen werden. Warken hat zudem eine Strukturreform für das deutsche Gesundheitswesen angestoßen. Hierzu…

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