In some countries, broadcasters have even begun to experiment with AI-generated weather presenters.
Of these, tariffs would be among the most pressing, particularly after Trump doubled import taxes on steel and aluminium this week, prompting warnings of EU countermeasures.The US President also repeatedly expressed dismay with the speed of tariff negotiations with the EU. In May, he threatened to levy a 50% tariff on European goods, saying that it was "time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game".
Trump later backtracked and delayed the tariffs until 9 July, a move that his US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer characterised as having a "fire lit" under the EU.Germany is the EU's largest exporter to the US, leaving the country's businesses are extremely agitated about any trade obstacles.Merz, a 69-year-old reputed millionaire with a corporate background, may feel confident about going toe-to-toe with Trump, who often hails himself as the consummate "dealmaker".
Whether the Chancellor will be able to smooth the path for EU negotiators, however, remains to be seen.Constanze Stelzenmüller, an expert on German-US relations at the Brookings Institute, believes Merz's ability to push the negotiations along is limited, given that the EU as an institution has taken the lead on those talks.
"Whatever Merz says is mood music, rather than being able to say that XYZ will happen, even if major nation states aren't without influence on the European Commission," she explained. "He has to tread a delicate line."
When it comes to Ukraine, Merz is vocal in his support of Kyiv and in his criticism of Moscow - recently warning that the fighting could drag on, despite repeated talk of a ceasefire from the White House., UK detectives reviewing the case say they have identified "a number of persons of interest".
, Scotland Yard announces it has "new evidence and new witnesses" in the case and opens a formal investigation., Scotland Yard detectives say they have identified 41 potential suspects.
A BBC Crimewatch appeal features e-fit images of a man seen carrying a blond-haired child of three or four in Praia da Luz at about the time Madeleine went missing.Portuguese police reopen their investigation - to run alongside Scotland Yard's - citing "new lines of inquiry".