Downturn
BUSINESS
Steel to Startups: Germany’s Search for New Growth
Berlin prioritises intellectual brilliance to foster economic renewal through the Global Minds Initiative as knowledge powers a post-industrial future.
EUROPE
Germany’s Asylum Drop Threatens Economic Recovery
As Germany's economy stumbles, fewer asylum seekers apply for refuge; a trend that could worsen the very downturn driving them away in the first place.
Popular
Lithuania: Small States and the Price of Acting Alone
Some small states tried to champion democratic values on the world stage but found that moral stands are often too hard to maintain without an economic shield.
Ronaldo Boycott Exposes Saudi Football’s Fault Lines
One player refused to play. An entire model began to crack.
Trade, Not Tribes: Phoenician Culture Spread by Contact, Not Conquest
As a study published in Nature on 23 April 2025 analysed DNA from 210 individuals across 14 Mediterranean sites, researchers discovered that Phoenician ideas travelled further than Phoenician bodies, challenging centuries of assumptions about ancient expansion.
News Room No More: Bezos Cuts Washington Post by One-Third
One-third of staff gone. Democracy dies in spreadsheets.
Youthful Economic Leverage: Africa’s Coming Negotiating Power
At a point at which wealthy states grey and workforces shrink, Africa prepares to use its youthful population as a powerful tool for global negotiation.
