Germany’s most powerful union bleeding members for 7th year in a row

Germany’s most powerful union bleeding members for 7th year in a row

Germany’s IG Metall union has seen a decline in membership for the seventh consecutive year, the country’s most powerful union reported on Monday. IG Metall, which predominantely represents workers in manufacturing including across Germany’s important car industry, counted 2,015,495 members in 2025, down 3.9% compared to the previous year. It was the seventh year in…

Read More

Vatican bans German far-right politician from return to church body

Vatican bans German far-right politician from return to church body

A far-right member of a German state parliament should remain banned from a Catholic Church council, officials in the Vatican decided on Monday. Christoph Schaufert, a member of Germany’s anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, had appealed against his expulsion from the administrative board of the parish of St Mary’s in Neunkirchen in western Germany.…

Read More

Global demand for shea butter is growing: but it’s not all good news for the women who collect the nuts

Global demand for shea butter is growing: but it’s not all good news for the women who collect the nuts

Shea butter has become a highly sought-after ingredient in cosmetics and food manufacturing worldwide. Since the early 2000s its use as a substitute for cocoa butter has driven a dramatic rise in international demand. The shea butter industry has grown by more than 600% over the last 20 years. The shea tree is semi-domesticated across…

Read More

Netanyahu convenes emergency meeting as haredi parties threaten to block state budget vote

Netanyahu convenes emergency meeting as haredi parties threaten to block state budget vote

Both haredi parties have threatened to withhold support for the state budget unless agreements are reached on the draft law to avoid conscription. Prime Minister Benjamin Netantanyahu has reportedly convened an emergency meeting with Shas Party leader Arye Deri, MK Moshe Gafni from United Torah Judaism, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich after the government postponed…

Read More

Morocco: a world-class successor for Walid Regragui

Morocco: a world-class successor for Walid Regragui

Morocco: a world-class coach to succeed Walid Regragui Morocco: a world-class successor for Walid Regragui The future of Walid Regragui at the helm of the Moroccan national team continues to fuel debate in the wake of the lost AFCON final. Despite a solid campaign and the general support from the federation, the possibility of a…

Read More

Morton Feldman’s Music of Stillness

Morton Feldman’s Music of Stillness

“I really don’t feel that it’s all necessary anymore,” Morton Feldman told an interviewer in 1972. “And so what I try to bring into my music are just a very few essential things that I need—to at least keep it going, for a little while more.” Feldman had been asked whether his corpus of work,…

Read More

Peter de Sève’s “New York’s Toughest”

Peter de Sève’s “New York’s Toughest”

For the cover of the February 2, 2026, issue, the artist Peter de Sève celebrates the brave souls who continue to work when the city is paralyzed by a snowstorm. “Blizzards have provided some of my very fondest memories of living in New York,” de Sève said. “All sound is muffled. The few cars on…

Read More

Icy conditions restrict transport across Germany

Icy conditions restrict transport across Germany

Heavy snowfall and freezing rain disrupted rush-hour traffic across large parts of Germany on Monday morning. Accidents became more frequent on the roads in the north-east according to reports from states including Saxony, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said that delays and cancellations were to be expected on long-distance services. This applies to…

Read More