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Germany updates: Merz meets with Saudi crown prince

Shakeel Sobhan Published February 5, 2026 last updated February 5, 2026 Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in Saudi Arabia, his first stop on a three-day visit to the Gulf region as Germany seeks closer partnerships in the region. DW has the latest. https://p.dw.com/p/586Dc Germany has deep ties with the Gulf, including defense exports, infrastructure projects, and

China’s Xi holds calls with Trump, and Putin, on same day

Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Iran and other major global issues in separate calls with United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Chinese and US accounts released Wednesday. The calls came as Beijing seeks to solidify relations with Moscow while managing tensions with Washington over trade, Taiwan, and international security. What

Ukraine updates: Trilateral talks enter second day in UAE

Published February 5, 2026 last updated February 5, 2026 Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to begin the second day of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the nearly four-year-long war. Follow DW for the latest. https://p.dw.com/p/586DM Russia continues to strike Ukraine daily, including its capital, KyivImage: Valentyn Ogirenko/REUTERS Skip

US wants to establish critical minerals trade bloc

US Vice President JD Vance announced plans to establish a critical minerals trade bloc with allies and partners, proposing coordinated price floors as Washington escalates efforts to loosen China's grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing. The Trump administration intends to employ tariffs to maintain minimum prices and shore up supplies of critical minerals used

New START: Last US-Russia nuclear treaty expires

The threat of a renewed global nuclear arms race came a little closer to reality as the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired at midnight GMT on Thursday. The New START pact and its predecessors had for decades imposed limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. It lapsed

Winter Olympics begin quietly with curling

The 2026 Winter Olympics sports program opened with the first curling matches scheduled in Italy's Cortina on Wednesday night, two days before the official opening ceremony. Several hundred spectators watched as eight teams unpacked their equipment in the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. The matches had barely begun when a brief power outage blacked out the scoreboards

US, Iran to hold talks in Oman on Friday

Iranian and US officials confirmed on Wednesday that a meeting between their countries would be held in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Friday. Earlier Wednesday, a report surfaced that negotiations between the sides were falling apart over disagreements about the format and venue, raising doubts about the talks' fate. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas

‘Doomsday Clock’: The US-Russia New START deal is ending

Time is running out: The nuclear arms reduction deal between the United States and Russia, known as New START, is set to expire by the end of Wednesday. Key world leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, have been publicly calling for the agreement's extension or preservation. START stands for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The most recent

Would-be Trump Assassin Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Ryan Routh was given life in prison on Wednesday as punishment for his attempted assassination of Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election. Routh, who was found guilty last September on five criminal counts, was sentenced at the US District Court in Fort Pierce, Florida, by Judge Aileen Cannon. Routh, who

Turkey’s textile industry crushed by China and Bangladesh

It is a bitterly cold winter's day in the central Anatolian Turkish city of Tokat. The thermometer says it's -3 degrees Celsius (27 degrees Fahrenheit). Sunduz Akkan, a mother of three, bundles up and heads to the Sik Makas factory where she worked until October. The plant's roughly 1,700 employees stopped getting their paychecks in mid-2025.
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