It will be years before the European Space Agency can send one of its astronauts to the moon, but the agency says it’s time to start practicing as it opened a facility in Germany that will let astronauts train in conditions like those on the lunar surface.

Kevin De Bruyne has scored and Belgium has got its Euro 2024 campaign up and running with a 2-0 win against Romania in Cologne.

The European Space Agency has added five new members to its astronaut corps.

Over 230 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation, most of whom live in Africa, according to a report issued on Friday by the United Nations children’s agency.

Throngs of revelers have taken to the streets of Germany’s Carnival strongholds along with floats that satirized the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, German politicians, former U.S. President Donald Trump and many others.

The Vatican document explicitly saying Catholic priests can bless same-sex unions lays out the conditions for how such blessings can and cannot involve.

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Several Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne cathedral in a protest against the city’s conservative archbishop Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

The same day owner Elon Musk abruptly dropped Twitter's name and bird logo as part of its supposed transition to an “anything app,” TikTok impishly announced it will begin letting its users post — you guessed it — text-based messages.

The deadline for Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard has been extended to as the companies seek to close a deal that has been opposed by regulators in the U.S. and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority.

Microsoft has signed an agreement with Sony to keep the Call of Duty video game series on PlayStation after the tech giant buys video game maker Activision Blizzard.

The head of the Switzerland's dairy association says the country will import more cheese than it exports this year for the first time.

A court has ordered a German diocese to pay $323,000 in compensation to a former altar boy who was repeatedly abused by a Catholic priest in the 1970s.

Jamal Musiala has scored in the 89th minute to fire Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title with a 2-1 victory at Cologne after Borussia Dortmund could only draw on the final day of the season.

Freddie Mercury’s extensive collection of costumes, fine art, and even hand-written working lyrics to “We Are the Champions” and “Killer Queen,” will be auctioned in September.

Denmark's parliament has urged lawmakers and employees with the 179-member assembly against having TikTok on phones as a cybersecurity measure.

The European Union’s executive branch has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.

TikTok is planning two more European data centers, as the popular Chinese-owned video sharing app seeks to allay growing concerns about data privacy for its users in the West.

Tens of thousands of revelers are dancing in the streets of Cologne and other cities and towns across the Rhineland as they celebrate the traditional start of Carnival in Germany.

An unprecedented crisis of confidence is shaking a historic center of Catholicism in Germany.

American game developer Blizzard Entertainment says it will suspend most of its game services in mainland China after current licensing agreements end with Chinese games company NetEase.

A Russian court has fined TikTok for failing to delete LGBT material in what is the country’s latest crackdown on Big Tech companies.

A family-run bakery in the German city of Cologne is turning off its ovens for good after 90 years because it can no longer afford rising energy prices resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Gregg Berhalter’s U.S. roster as the World Cup approaches is as notable for its absences as for those set to play in Friday’s warmup against Japan at Düsseldorf, Germany.

Around 1 million people have turned out for the Pride parade in the western German city of Cologne either to participate or to watch the colorful festivities.

When Syrian refugee Fadel Alkhudr arrived in Germany in 2015, the first thing he saw when he stepped out of the train in Cologne was the city’s majestic cathedral.

Germany’s employers and trade unions have joined together in opposing an immediate European Union ban on natural gas imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The players of Ukrainian women's soccer club FC Kryvbas are living and training in Germany after being forced to leave their home when Russia invaded.

Gio Reyna has a chance to play at Azteca for the first time Thursday night, when the U.S. faces El Tri in the start of the last trio of World Cup qualifiers.

German broadcaster RTL has hired a Ukrainian presenter to host a daily news show for others who have fled their homeland after the Russian invasion.

Inflation in Europe hit a record high for the fourth month in a row.

Germany’s ruling parties are hitting the brakes on plans for compulsory coronavirus vaccinations, saying it may take months for lawmakers to properly debate the contentious measure in parliament.

Nations across Europe are scrambling to prop up health systems strained by staff shortages blamed on the new, highly transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Germany’s leaders have agreed to toughen requirements for entry to restaurants and bars.

Official figures show that consumer prices across the 19 countries that use the euro currency are rising at a record rate.

Germany’s disease control agency has reported 52,826 new coronavirus cases in a day, a number that has roughly doubled in the last two weeks.

Carnival revelers in the western Germany city of Cologne were lining up to show proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations before they could begin the start of the outdoors celebrations _ after a hiatus due to the pandemic last year.

Germany’s Social Democrats, the country's main center-left party, is set to make the manager of its successful election campaign one of its leaders.

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Emergency workers in western Germany and Belgium are rushing to rescue hundreds of people threatened by historic floods, including residents of a town where the ground gave way beneath their homes.

Scotch whisky makers are breathing a sigh of relief after the United States agreed to suspend tariffs on one of Scotland’s main exports.

Figures show Europe's economy contracted in the first three months of the year.

The report commissioned by Cologne's archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, absolved Woelki himself of any neglect of duty with respect to abuse victims. Francis has previously declined, at least initially, to accept resignations when they were offered to repent for mishandling sex abuse cases, though he has relented after time. Woelki said he also would temporarily suspend two Cologne church officials based on the findings of the investigation. The report found Schwaderlapp neglected his duty to inform and report abuse allegations in eight cases. AdIn January, a new system drawn up by the church to compensate abuse victims took effect.

Ford says it will spend $1 billion to modernize its Cologne, Germany, manufacturing center, converting it into a European electric vehicle factory. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)DETROIT – Ford is vowing to convert its entire passenger vehicle lineup in Europe to electric power by 2030 in just the latest sign of the seismic technological changes sweeping the auto industry. Ford expects two-thirds of its European commercial vehicle sales will be electric or plug-in hybrids by 2030. “We are going all in on electric vehicles,” Rowley said. The investment is part of Ford's goal of spending at least $15 billion on electric vehicles from now through 2025.

A carnival reveler is watched by public order guards at the "Alter Markt" where normally tens of thousands of revelers dressed in carnival costumes would celebrate the start of the street carnival in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. This year all carnival celebrations are banned due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)BERLIN – Germany’s renowned Carnival celebrations got underway Thursday but without any of their usual raucous revelry. One of Germany’s first superspreader events stemmed from a Carnival celebration in a town west of Cologne last February where many people came in contact with an infected man. Cologne festival committee President Christoph Kuckelkorn told Germany’s dpa news agency that Carnival could emerge from this year purified, returning closer to its roots from the increasingly commercial, excessive celebration it had become.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media during a news conference after a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. "That's why we have to be so careful.”Still, officials agreed that states will be able to reopen schools and kindergartens sooner, with some, such as Berlin, announcing that they will gradually resume classes in elementary schools from Feb. 22. “Schools and kindergartens are unfortunately places where the virus is passed on,” DIVI President Gernot Marx told the Rheinische Post daily newspaper. Hairdressers will also be able to reopen on March 1, though with strict hygiene rules. On Wednesday, Germany's Robert Koch Institute reported the country had 8,072 new virus cases and 813 deaths in 24 hours.

Employees work in the small family-run Heller brewery in Cologne, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. That's a big problem for Germany's many small brewers, which rely heavily on selling draft beer to bars and restaurants. Official data released last week showed beer sales in Germany dropped 5.5% last year to 8.7 billion liters (2.3 billion gallons), a decline fostered by lengthy shutdowns. That's a problem above all for Germany's many small brewers. While beer remains emblematic of Germany, the country's beer sales have been declining gradually for years as a result of health concerns and other factors.

Both of the Cologne-Garcia children have spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic disorder that destroys the muscles and nervous system, but a life-saving therapy at Beaumont Children’s Hospital has them incredibly grateful this year. “It just makes us cherish the time that we have with our families so much more.”Beaumont Children’s Hospital is one of just four hospitals in Michigan that offer the infusion therapy Olivia received. They have just been absolutely amazing,” the children’s mother said. New noninvasive heart procedure at Beaumont Health shortens recovery timeImagine heart surgery without anesthesia, breathing tubes and weeks of recovery time. A new noninvasive surgery is being offered at Beaumont Hospital that has the patient awake for the procedure.

COLOGNE – Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open final defeat to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne Indoors on Sunday. Zverev has said he thinks almost constantly about that final, and he credited it with raising his game in Cologne. Zverev's previous title was at the clay-court Geneva Open in May 2019 and he is now 12-8 in career finals. The second Cologne tournament was already holding qualification matches before Sunday's final in the first tournament took place. It will feature Zverev and U.S. Open quarterfinalist Denis Shapovalov, while former top-ranked player Andy Murray has withdrawn citing tendonitis.

Medical staff takes a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus test center in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. The city exceeded the important warning level of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. All pubs and restaurants must close except for takeaway services, and schools will close for two weeks for an extended half-term holiday. Germany, which was widely lauded for rapidly slowing the spread of the virus when the pandemic first broke out, has seen rapidly climbing numbers in recent days. Italy’s other hardest hit region, southern Campania, has taken similarly strict measures, including a shutdown of schools for two weeks.

FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2019 file photo, gamers play the latest video games from Electronic Arts at the Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Streaming high-definition video and games can result in significant greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the technology used, according to a German government-backed study released Thursday. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)BERLIN Streaming high-definition videos and games can result in significant greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the technology used, according to a German government-backed study released Thursday. The report published by Germany's Federal Environment agency calculated the amount of carbon dioxide produced by data centers where material is stored for streaming, and by the transmission technology used to get it to consumers. It concluded that streaming video over fiber optic cables results in the lowest amount of CO2 emissions 2 grams per hour.

(Ina Fassbender/Pool Via AP)COLOGNE Luuk de Jong scored the winning goal as Sevilla came back from a goal down to beat Manchester United 2-1 on Sunday and reach the final of the Europa League. Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou kept his team in the semifinal at 1-1 with a string of saves either side of halftime, before de Jong won it. With the game at 1-1 and heading for extra time, Sevilla substitute de Jong made the breakthrough in the 78th minute. United had taken the lead in the ninth minute with yet another penalty in a season packed with them. Diego Carlos tangled with Marcus Rashford as the United forward had his shot saved, and then Bruno Fernandes stepped up to send the penalty into the top-left corner.

(AP Photo/Joan Montfort)NYON The Champions League will finish with a 12-day mini-tournament in Lisbon, restarting in August after a five-month suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented solution also sees the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul the originally scheduled host for the final pushed back by one year. Both competitions have yet to complete their quarterfinal line-ups with round of 16 games halted. The Champions League had four second-leg games postponed in March at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester City. In the Europa League, only six of eight first-leg games in the round of 16 were played.

Public swimming pools in Germany are starting the summer season as the government is easing the coronavirus lockdown rules. More than 2.4 million people filed for unemployment last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the business shutdowns that have brought the economy to its knees, the Labor Department said. That brings the running total to a staggering 38.6 million, a job-market collapse unprecedented in its speed. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research says 41% approve of his job performance, while 58% disapprove. Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont, said the latest layoffs may be particularly worrisome because they are happening even as states reopen.