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Escaped tiger shot by German police after attacking man

BBC News

An escaped tiger believed to be owned by Germany's Tiger Queen has been shot dead by police after attacking one of its keepers, according to local media reports. Police say a 73-year-old man was seriously injured after being attacked on Sunday while he was inside the animal's enclosure, located in a privately-owned facility on the outskirts of the German city of Leipzig. The tiger escaped the enclosure and was found shortly after by armed police, who shot and killed the animal. The site of the enclosure is believed to be owned by controversial trainer and private owner Carmen Zander, who describes herself as Germany's Tiger Queen. The animal was one of eight big cats kept at the industrial site near the German town of Schkeuditz, according to local media.


Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin's pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation?

Al Jazeera

What are Russia's gains from the Iran war? 'We are not losers; we are winners' Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin's pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation? Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could coordinate talks with the European Union to secure a peace deal in Ukraine - a proposal met with scepticism by EU officials. European Council President Antonio Costa said recently he believed there was "potential" for the EU to negotiate with Russia and to discuss the future of Europe's security architecture. A day later, the Russian leader said the four-year-old war may be "coming to an end", adding that he was ready to hold direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Moscow or a neutral country. Speaking after Saturday's celebrations for Victory Day, which marks Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II, Putin added he would be willing to meet Zelenskyy only once the terms of a peace agreement had already been settled.


California to begin ticketing driverless cars that violate traffic laws

BBC News

Driverless cars are becoming more common in some California cities, but when the autonomous vehicles violate traffic laws, police haven't been able to ticket them - until now. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has announced new regulations on autonomous vehicles (AVs), including a process for police to issue a notice of AV noncompliance directly to the car's manufacturer. The new rules, which will go into effect 1 July, are part of a larger 2024 law that imposed deeper regulation on the technology. There have been a number of reports of the cars breaking traffic laws, including during a San Francisco blackout last year. The California DMV is calling the new rules the most comprehensive AV regulations in the nation.



Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast

BBC News

Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast Downtown Munich is best-known for chic shops and flashy fast cars but right now its streets are bedecked with posters advertising next generation drones. Europe's security under construction boasts the slogan on an eye-catching set of sleek black-and-white photographs, festooned across a scaffolding-clad church on one of this town's best known pedestrian boulevards. Such an unapologetic public display of military muscle would have been unimaginable here just a few years ago, but the world outside Germany is changing fast, and taking this country with it. The southern region of Bavaria has become Germany's leading defence technology hub, focusing on AI, drones and aerospace. People here, like most other Europeans, say they feel increasingly exposed - squeezed between an expansionist Russia and an economically aggressive China to the east, and an increasingly unpredictable, former best pal, the United States, to the west.


AI, Fancy Footwear, and All the Other Gear Powering Olympic Bobsledding

WIRED

Bobsledders rely a lot on specialized equipment to perform well and stay safe during the Formula 1 of ice." Olympic bobsledding often gets called the "Formula 1 of ice." Tracks are more than 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) long, and athletes often race down them at speeds nearing 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph). Bobsledders--whether in teams of four, two, or sliding solo--are often subjected to gravitational forces in excess of 5g. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, they're using tech aimed at making each phase of the race, from initial push to technical driving to final braking, just a little bit more precise than in previous Games.


The spectacular multimillion-euro heist nobody noticed

BBC News

It has been described as Germany's most spectacular bank heist in years. On a quiet weekend just after Christmas, a group of thieves broke into a High Street bank in the western town of Gelsenkirchen, by boring through a wall with an industrial drill. They looted more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and made off with millions of euros. Over a month later, police have yet to make an arrest. For the bank's clients, some of whom say they have lost their life savings and precious family jewellery and valuables, this is a time of anger, confusion and shock.


Rubio speech signals US-Europe relations are bruised but still friendly

BBC News

World leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have been gathering in Munich for Europe's biggest security and defence conference. The burning question on everyone's minds: is America still an ally of Europe? The keynote speech that everyone was waiting for was from Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State. Would he repeat the attacks made on Europe last year by the US Vice President JD Vance? Or would he be conciliatory?


World's rules-based order 'no longer exists', Germany's Merz warns

BBC News

The rules-based world order no longer exists, the German Chancellor has warned at a major security summit. Opening the annual Munich Security Conference, Friedrich Merz told other world leaders that our freedom is not guaranteed in an era of big power politics, and that Europeans must be ready to make sacrifice. He also admitted that a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States. The conference is taking place on the backdrop of US President Donald Trump threatening Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland by pledging to annex the Arctic territory and his tariffs on imports from European nations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was listening to Merz and will deliver his own speech on Saturday, earlier spoke of a new era in geopolitics.