An eastern German city is offering two weeks of free lodgings in a bid to attract new residents as it continues to grapple with depopulation some 35 years after reunification.

Advertisement

Successful applicants will be eligible to spend two weeks in a furnished flat in Eisenhüttenstadt, some 100km (62 miles) southeast of Berlin, from September 6-20, the city administration said.

Like many other regions in the former communist East Germany, Eisenhüttenstadt has seen a sharp population decline in the decades after German reunification, with younger people in particular moving away to look for work elsewhere.

City official Julia Basan noted that the current population has declined to some 24,000 in recent years, from around 50,000 in 1990.

Eisenhüttenstadt was initially designed for a population of 30,000. Photo: Getty Images

Located on Germany’s eastern edge on the border with Poland, Eisenhüttenstadt was founded in 1950 to provide accommodation for workers at a newly established steelworks.

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – People in one Pueblo neighborhood raced into action to keep a shed fire from spreading to nearby homes.

The situation went down earlier this week on East 12th Street.

“I just heard my mom in a distressed tone, she was like ‘call 911, call 911!’” Dominic Wendel told KRDO in an interview Wednesday. “We ran up there, we didn’t even have any shoes on. It was raining, it was so cold.”

“And it was fully engulfed, and high flames,” Joanne Wendel added.

A small shed fire could have become a major catastrophe in the east Pueblo neighborhood Monday afternoon if it weren’t for people like the Wendels.

“I was standing on my porch, we were planting these flowers and it was getting ready to rain so I was going to pull them back, and we noticed a bunch of white smoke coming from behind the street,” Joanne recounted.

Joanne Wendel, her son Dominic, and her sister, Summer — as well as other neighbors — didn’t wait around.

“Hitting on the doors and windows just to make sure no one was in there,” Summer explained when asked what the family did to help.

They say they’re glad the family ended up being okay, but they’re also breathing a sigh of relief for themselves.

“It just gave a good sense of community,” said Joanne. “You could feel that your home was safe because your neighbors will react.”

“I think it shows that my neighborhood is ready to stand up for one another,” Dominic told us.

Beyond all that, they say this situation shows what the east side of Pueblo is really like.

“People kind of think of it as like the slum area of Pueblo but there’s really a lot of good people that live on this side of town,” Summer said.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.

World Press Photo has cast fresh doubt over the authorship of “The Terror of War,” a picture better known as “Napalm Girl,” amid growing debate about one of the 20th century’s defining images.

The organization, which named the image “Photo of the Year” in 1973, announced Friday that it has “suspended” its longstanding attribution to retired Associated Press (AP) photographer Nick Ut. An accompanying report said the “visual and technical” evidence “leans toward” an emerging theory that a Vietnamese freelance photographer, Nguyen Thanh Nghe, took the photo.

It is the latest twist in a controversy sparked by “The Stringer,” a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January claiming Nghe, not Ut, captured the iconic photo of a naked girl fleeing a napalm attack during the Vietnam War. Nghe was one of more than a dozen people stationed at a highway checkpoint outside the village of Trang Bang on June 8, 1972, as 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc and other villagers were mistaken for the enemy and bombarded by the South Vietnamese air force. (A year later, Ut won the Pulitzer Prize for the picture.)

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

The film contains allegations that Nghe sold his photo to the AP before editors intervened to credit Ut, who was the agency’s staff photographer in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) at the time. CNN could not independently assess the claims because the film’s producer, the VII Foundation, did not respond to multiple requests for a copy of the documentary, which has not yet been publicly released.

Photographer Nguyen Than Nghe attending the “The Stringer” premiere during the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. – Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty Images

Ut has since repeatedly dismissed allegations that he did not take the photo. A statement released on the Vietnamese American photographer’s behalf by his attorney, Jim Hornstein, called World Press Photo’s decision to suspend attribution “deplorable and unprofessional.” The statement added that Nghe’s claim is “unsupported by a scintilla of corroborating evidence or eyewitness.”

Earlier this month, the AP published a 96-page report on the matter. The investigation — which was based on eyewitness interviews, examination of cameras, a 3D model of the scene and surviving photo negatives — found “no definitive evidence” to justify changing the attribution. While the agency acknowledged that the passage of time and absence of key evidence made it “impossible to fully prove” whether Ut took the photo, crediting Nghe would “require several leaps of faith.”

But World Press Photo took a different stance, with executive director Joumana El Zein Khoury writing on the organization’s website that the “level of doubt is too significant to maintain the existing attribution.”

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

“At the same time, lacking conclusive evidence pointing definitively to another photographer, we cannot reassign authorship either,” she continued, adding: “The suspension will remain in place unless further evidence can clearly confirm or refute the original authorship.”

Citing the AP investigation and the documentary, which included visual analysis by Paris-based research group Index, World Press Photo said there are “substantial and credible reasons” to doubt the existing attribution. The organization’s report centers on several “unresolved issues,” including the camera used to take the photo and analyses of Ut’s position relative to the image’s vantage point.

A reconstruction of the scene by Index, based on a “geo-based timeline,” suggested that Ut would have needed to have “taken the photo, run 60 meters (197 feet), and returned calmly, all within a brief window of time,” World Press Photo said. The organization described that scenario as “highly unlikely” though “not impossible.”

The AP, meanwhile, has disputed the 60-meter figure, saying that Ut’s purported position on the highway — which is based on “shaky,” low-resolution footage filmed by a TV cameraman — could have been as little as 32.8 meters away from where the image was captured, and that the photographer “could have been in the position to have taken the shot.”

The photograph’s subject Kim Phuc Phan Thi, who survived her injuries, poses with retired AP photographer Nick Ut in 2023. – Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images

World Press Photo also pointed to ongoing questions over equipment. The AP has previously said it is “likely” the photo was taken using a Pentax camera, which Nghe is known to have used. Ut, however, had frequently said he carried cameras by Leica and Nikon. When questioned for the AP’s investigation, Ut told the agency he also used Pentax cameras. The photo agency said it subsequently found negatives in its archives, shot by Ut in Vietnam, with “the characteristics of a Pentax camera.”

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

World Press Photo also noted the possibility that another person altogether — Vietnamese military photographer Huynh Cong Phuc, who sometimes sold images to news agencies — took the photo. The AP’s investigation noted that he, like Ut and Nghe, “could have been in the position to have taken the shot.”

Earlier this month, Ut welcomed the findings of the AP’s latest report, saying in a statement that it “showed what has always been known, that the credit for my photo … is correct.” He added: “This whole thing has been very difficult for me and has caused great pain.”

Appearing in the world’s newspapers the day after it was taken, “The Terror of War” became a symbol of opposition to the Vietnam War. In the decades since, Ut has campaigned for peace alongside the photo’s subject, now known as Kim Phuc Phan Thi, who survived her injuries and was granted political asylum by Canada in 1992.

Speaking to CNN to mark the image’s 50th anniversary in 2022, the photographer recounted his version of events, saying: “I saw Kim running and she (screamed in Vietnamese) ‘Too hot! Too hot!’

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

“When I took the photo of her, I saw that her body was burned so badly, and I wanted to help her right away. I put all my camera gear down on the highway and put water on her body.”

Ut said he put the injured children in his van and drove them for 30 minutes to a nearby hospital. “When I went back to my office, the (dark room technician) and everyone who saw the picture told me right away it was very powerful, and that the photo would win a Pulitzer,” he added.

In a statement emailed to CNN, the organizer of the Pulitzer Prizes said it “does not anticipate future action” regarding Ut’s award. “The Pulitzer Prizes depend on submitting news organizations to determine the authorship of their entries,” the statement read. “AP’s extensive review showed insufficient proof to withdraw credit.”

This article was updated to include a statement from Pulitzer Prize organizers.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

By Pete Muntean, Chris Isidore, Aaron Cooper, CNN

Washington (CNN) — United Airlines and JetBlue Airways announced an agreement Thursday morning to share frequent flier benefits and sell tickets on each other’s websites.

If approved by regulators, the deal, called “Blue Sky,” would allow United’s MileagePlus members and JetBlue’s TrueBlue members to earn and redeem miles on “most” flights operated by the other airline, according to a statement from the carriers. Frequent flyer benefits, including priority boarding, free baggage and preferred seats will be offered when passengers travel on the other airline’s aircraft. More details will be announced later this year, the statement notes.

Both airlines will also display the other’s itineraries and fares on their website and apps when passengers search for a flight to buy, the statement said. JetBlue previously had an alliance with American Airlines that ended in 2023 after a Justice Department lawsuit under the Biden administration.

As part of the agreement with United, JetBlue will also give United space for seven round trips a day at John F. Kennedy Airport starting as early as 2027. United shut down all operations there in 2022, focusing on the other side of New York at Newark Liberty International Airport. JetBlue currently operates about 180 round trips a day at JFK.

“United’s global reach perfectly complements JetBlue’s East Coast leisure network, and significantly expands the options and benefits for TrueBlue members, no matter where in the world they are traveling,” Joanna Geraghty, CEO of JetBlue said in a statement.

“We’re always looking for ways to give our MileagePlus members even more value and benefits and this collaboration gives them new, unique ways to use their hard- earned miles and find options that fit their schedule,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in the same statement.

The airlines will remain separate companies and will manage and price their flights independently, the statement noted.

The Biden administration took a very activist position opposing business combinations. Besides opposing the JetBlue and American alliance, it also filed an antitrust suit that was successful in blocking JetBlue’s purchase of Spirit Airlines. The Trump administration has signaled it is far more open to allowing mergers to go through, announcing rules that will give a clearer path towards banking mergers, for example.

The-CNN-Wire

™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

By Marnie Hunter, CNN

(CNN) — Geoff and Pennie Zuercher spent decades living in Florida, but the popular retirement spot wasn’t what the American couple envisioned for themselves when they wrapped up their careers.

Nearly 20 years ago, the Zuerchers decided they would retire abroad, and the location they recently settled on — the sun-splashed city of Nice in the South of France — suits them better than the Sunshine State.

“Nice is what Florida wishes it was,” said Pennie, 63, listing some of the Mediterranean city’s most attractive attributes: “beautiful weather, low humidity … what they call hot here is not hot compared to Florida. And just a different cultural climate, more laid-back.”

Florida’s “fast-paced culture” was more stressful, said Pennie, who worked as a finance executive in the public and private sectors. The Zuerchers lived in Florida for decades, most recently in Wilton Manors, just north of downtown Fort Lauderdale.

In Nice, on France’s famed Côte d’Azur, no one is rushing you out the door when you eat in a restaurant, and settling in at a sidewalk café to nurse a beverage and people-watch is one of French life’s great pleasures.

“France allows you to live life at a slow pace which is healthier and more enjoyable,” said Pennie, who ended up retiring a little earlier than she had anticipated for medical reasons and said her health has “improved tremendously” while living in Nice.

The way French people interact with strangers is a good fit for the couple, too. A reserve that some perceive as cold or rude is neither, they say.

“They have more formal social norms…,” said Geoff, 61, who retired from the insurance industry after first working as a police officer. “While you’re on the street, you know everybody’s sort of minding their own business. And when you go somewhere and you meet somebody, you always have a ‘bonjour.’ You try to use some French. As long as they see that you’re trying … they become very welcoming.”

The fact that no one is trying to chat with her in line at the supermarket as many Americans would is a relief to Pennie, who calls herself a “moderate introvert with some extrovert.”

“The French, they don’t just start talking to people unless they absolutely have a reason to talk to people, but then once you get to know them, and very much like us, once you get to know us, we’ll talk your ear off, we’ll be loyal friends,” she said.

The courtesy that’s extended to everyone is another aspect of the culture they admire.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the guy sweeping the street out in front of the place or the bank president, everybody is assumed to have value and should be treated with … a certain amount of respect, and I really appreciate that,” said Geoff.

The Zuerchers love their new home, but it wasn’t even on their radar until recently.

Choosing the South of France

After they first started thinking about retiring abroad, Pennie and Geoff explored Mexico, the Caribbean and other spots closer to the United States to make visiting with their three grown sons and Geoff’s parents easier.

But nothing clicked for them quite like France.

For Pennie, their first trip to the country in 2016 — to attend a bucket-list Jimmy Buffett concert in Paris — sparked an almost instant desire to live in France.

The Zuerchers stuck to Paris for the first couple of trips, then started venturing to different regions. Being able to travel easily was the key driver for moving abroad, Pennie said, but US politics have also figured into their desire to move in recent years, noting that they “lean liberal.”

They took a series of trips in February — thinking that if a place appealed to them in cold, gray winter, they’d surely like it at its best. They eventually narrowed their search to a 90-kilometer circle around Paris. But during one of their trips, a relocation expert suggested they consider Nice.

“Our first reaction was — ‘If I can’t afford Paris, I can’t afford Nice.’ And that is not the case. Nice is half the price of living in Paris for buying property,” Pennie said.

“You know, we live on a much lower income than we did when we worked full-time, and we live very comfortably. We travel, we put money away every month. It’s amazing how easy and affordable life is here in Nice,” she said.

Geoff also assumed Nice would be too expensive for them — and too hot, but “found out that neither one of those was true. And we just fell in love with it,” he said.

That first visit was during Carnival in February of 2023, and by the end of November that same year, the Zuerchers were on a plane bound for their new home with just six suitcases, a hatbox and a dog. They had already made an offer on their one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Nice, which they found with help from the Adrian Leeds Group and furnished with items purchased once they arrived in France.

The Zuerchers came to France on a long-stay visa, and they now have residence permits or titres de séjour, which they must reapply for annually for five years. After that, they said they’ll be eligible to apply for a 10-year permit. There are minimum income requirements that they have shown they meet in order to live in France as retirees.

They’re drawing on their US pensions, social security and other retirement savings.

“We’re taking our American retirement and spending it in France … They benefit from that and we benefit from the French culture, and the benefits and things like that that go with it, and it seems to work out, you know, where it’s a win-win,” Geoff said.

The ins and outs of their new life

The Zuerchers’ housing expenses are low. They used the proceeds from the sale of their townhouse in Wilton Manors to pay cash for their apartment in Nice. They pay about $200 quarterly in HOA fees, about $500 a year for homeowners insurance and about $1,200 in property taxes.

Several times a week Pennie and Geoff eat out, usually at lunchtime. On shopping days, they walk a few blocks with their hand cart to the supermarket, then go a couple more blocks to a local fruit and vegetable market, then stop at the boulangerie for a baguette on the way home. They’re impressed by the very high quality of food in France.

The Zuerchers walk much more than they did back in the States, and their apartment is about 200 yards from a tram stop.

“Nice has an absolutely fantastic, first-rate, public transportation system … that all people are willing to use,” Geoff said. “That’s one of the things in the United States, I think, is that there’s an unwillingness to use public transportation because it’s not always the best.”

They don’t need a car day-to-day, although they’ll occasionally rent one for a road trip. And they can use the extensive train network to take day trips — to Ventimiglia in Italy, for example, with a stop-off in Monaco on the way back.

Their place is three tram stops away from the center of Nice, in a residential area removed from the hub of tourist activity. Their building was constructed in the 1990s. Some transplants want to live in Nice’s Old Town in historic bourgeois buildings — a more expensive location for apartments that can be pricey to maintain. “When you buy into a 200-300-year-old building, you also buy 200- and 300-year-old problems,” Geoff said.

Their space is definitely smaller than what they were used to, but the apartment has a sunroom and a large terrace.

Learning the language

There are downsides, of course. Pennie and Geoff both named the language barrier as perhaps the biggest challenge.

“The older you get, it’s harder to learn a language,” Pennie said, although their French has vastly improved since they first arrived. Geoff said they’ve given themselves five years to get to where they can converse easily about straightforward topics, noting that they need to be ready to volunteer during the 2030 Winter Olympics.

And the frustrations of France’s bureaucracy can “make us throw things against the wall,” Pennie said. But overall, the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

Every country has its issues, Geoff said, “so we’re not walking around with rose-colored glasses like France is perfect, but it really fits us.”

Pennie said that some fundamentals — choice, equality, health care — feel more expansive in France than they do in the US.

“Right now, I feel like I have more rights as an immigrant in France than I would in my own country, if I went back. And so that value of the country and its government of taking care of its people is very important to us as well,” she said.

The Zuerchers have obtained national health insurance — l’Assurance Maladie. The carte Vitale ID card that’s issued with it covers roughly 70% of medical costs, Pennie said, and even before reimbursement, health care is far less expensive than in the US.

Family and friends — on both sides of the ocean

Family and friends are what the Zuerchers miss most. Their family members are spread out across the US, so travel was always part of getting together. It’ll just be a longer trip now.

In Nice, they’ve made a handful of French friends and there’s a sizable expat community, which the Zuerchers initially viewed with mixed feelings. They had been advised to choose a place where there would be a group of other foreigners navigating similar situations.

“And at first our reaction was, ‘Well, we’re not wanting to be just a bunch of Americans in another country,’” Pennie said, but she came to see the benefits of being part of an expat community.

“We’re all going through the same experiences. When it’s time for the next process, ‘OK, we’re going to get our carte Vitale,’ which is our health insurance, there’s someone who’s already been through the process who can help us and advise us,” she said.

Their social calendar is much busier than it was in the US, Pennie said, with something happening at least three evenings a week, including a Friday night expat apéro gathering.

The Zuerchers don’t envision returning to live in the United States. And they have some advice for Americans who are considering a move to France.

“Come with an open mind,” Geoff advised. “You cannot have a closed mind and live in France.” He also suggested dialing down your volume, as the French way of life is just quieter than it is in the States.

“Begin working on some French,” Pennie advised. “Definitely learn the cultural courtesies, so that when you get here you have a good experience.”

And line up someone locally who can help you find a place, get your utilities set up and assist with other practicalities that can be difficult to navigate at first.

And jump in, try to speak the language and meet people, she said.

“Don’t be afraid to get out and live the life.”

The-CNN-Wire

™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.