Burkinabe Forces’ Brutal Tactics Weaken Counterterror Fight

 May 10, 2026 

By Africa Defense Forum

Burkina Faso’s military and pro-government forces are accused of killing hundreds of civilians between January 2023 and August 2025, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Of the 1,837 civilians killed in Burkina Faso during that time, more than 1,200 were slain by the Burkinabe military and allied militias known as the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDPs). Both Burkina Faso’s military junta, led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, and the VDPs are accused of ethnic cleansing in Fulani communities.

One of the deadliest attacks on civilians came on December 14, 2023, when more than 200 Burkinabe soldiers and VDPs entered the town of Bouro on motorbikes, in pickups and armored vehicles around 9 a.m. and massacred at least 211 civilians. Witnesses said the military and VDPs accused them of collaborating with Islamist fighters.

One man lost 19 relatives in the attack.

“I found my family and my neighbor’s family massacred,” Samer, a pseudonym, told HRW. “My wives [and] my children were dead…. The only survivor [from my family] was my 11-year-old son…. I found the bodies lying on the ground, bullets in their heads, chests, stomachs. My little one was wounded in the left leg…. I took him out of a pile of corpses. I found five other injured children from my neighbor’s family.”

Samer tended the children’s wounds with torn clothing before fleeing with them to Mali.

Burkina Faso’s military and the VDPs are using indiscriminate violence in a way that mimics terror groups such as the al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW, told Reuters. Allegrozzi added that the behavior of Burkina Faso’s security forces is part of a regional pattern.

Neighboring Mali and Niger are also under military rule, and the militaries of both countries have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians. Malian government forces and their partners killed up to four times as many civilians as terrorists over the last two years, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Date (ACLED) project. Russian mercenaries operating alongside Malian troops are also accused of committing atrocities against civilians. The heavy-handed tactics are having the opposite of the intended effect as they drive civilians into the arms of terror groups.

“As state responses increasingly rely on retaliation and collective punishment, more civilians find themselves trapped in ​areas under jihadist control, where JNIM is consolidating its influence through coercion and strategic engagement with local populations,” said Heni Nsaibia, ACLED’s senior analyst for West Africa.

Between March 10 and March 11, 2025, the Bukinabe military and pro-government fighters massacred more than 130 ethnic Fulani civilians during an attack in the western town of Solenzo. It was part of a Bukinabe special forces operation called “Green Whirlwind 2,” which resulted in widespread civilian deaths and displacement.

“The viral videos of the atrocities by pro-government militias near Solenzo sent shock waves through Africa’s Sahel region, but they told only part of the story,” Allegrozzi said on HRW’s website. “Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso’s military was responsible for these mass killings of Fulani civilians, which were followed by deadly reprisals by an Islamist armed group. The government needs to impartially investigate these deaths and prosecute all those responsible.”

Traoré vowed to tackle terrorism when he seized power in September 2022, but JNIM offers a particularly violent, unrelenting challenge. In September 2024, for example, the group claimed responsibility for attacking hundreds of civilians ordered by the government to dig a defensive trench around the town of Barsalogho, which was a VDP stronghold. JNIM claimed it killed 300 members of the Burkinabè military and militia members during that attack and did not apologize for slaughtering civilians forced to dig the trench.

“This would not be an excuse to spare them,” JNIM’s Sharia Committee in Burkina Faso said in a statement to HRW. “Anyone who … follows this regime … deserves to be held accountable.”

Amid the violence, Traoré’s government is cracking down on civil society through repressive laws and by dissolving civic groups, HRW, the Kisal Observatory and a consortium of other organizations reported on April 26. Eleven days earlier, the government announced the dissolution of 118 civil society organizations, many engaged in human rights work.

“The mass dissolution of civil society groups is the Burkina Faso junta’s latest effort to silence dissent and avoid scrutiny of its grim human rights record,” Binta Sidibé Gascon, president of the Kisal Observatory, a human rights monitoring organization, said in a story on HRW’s website. “The decision reinforces a climate of fear that is crippling independent civic activity.”

The government has also expelled or banned dozens of media outlets and international organizations, conscripted critics, detained human rights workers, enforced arbitrary arrests and committed forced disappearances.

Holy See Calls On UN To Never Subordinate Migrants’ Lives To Other Interests

 May 10, 2026 

By EWTN News

By Victoria Cardiel

The Holy See emphasized the need to place human dignity at the center of migration policies during its May 6 address to the Second International Migration Review Forum being held at United Nations headquarters in New York.

In a statement, Monsignor Robert D. Murphy, interim chargé dʼaffaires of the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N., explained that the Holy See’s approach “is rooted in the Gospel and developed in Catholic social teaching, with the God-given dignity of every human person at its core.”

He articulated several priorities, among them the protection of the lives of migrants, family unity, and the impact of technology on migration processes.

The statement was part of the policy debate regarding the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM), highlighting key current and emerging challenges.

The obligation to protect lives

Regarding the protection of life, Murphy expressed his concern about the vulnerability of migrants on dangerous routes, pointing out that “protecting migrants’ lives is an obligation under international law, based on the fundamental right to life.”

He also emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation in search and rescue operations and of ensuring that the right to life “is never subordinated to any other interests.”

With regard to family reunification, Murphy noted that regular pathways for this purpose remain limited and called for greater efforts to promote family unity, including its integration into labor mobility schemes and ensuring access to education and healthcare, with particular attention to minors.

The Vatican representative also addressed the role of technological innovation, recognizing its potential to improve migration systems and make them “more predictable, accessible, and efficient,” as seen with advancements made in telemedicine, digital recruitment tools, and online consular services.

However, he warned of the risks associated with the use of surveillance technologies at borders, which, he said, “has raised concerns” within the Holy See “regarding potential human rights violations.”

In this context, he drew attention to the need to establish “adequate safeguards, robust oversight, and full respect for migrants’ right to privacy.”

Online recruitment systems

The priest also denounced the phenomenon of so-called “cyber-slavery,” a growing threat driven by criminal networks that exploit globalization and technology, which he characterized as “particularly disturbing,” noting that in these cases, victims are coerced into participating in criminal activities such as online fraud or drug trafficking.

These forms of violence, he noted, “are not isolated incidents, but symptoms of a culture that has forgotten how to love as Christ loves.”

In his conclusion, Murphy quoted Pope Leo XIV to underscore the human dimension of migration: “Every migrant is a person and, as such, has inalienable rights that must be respected in every situation. Not all migrants move by choice, but many are forced to flee because of violence, persecution, conflict, and even the effects of climate change.”

Based on this situation, the Holy See warned that the debate on migration governance must not be reduced to a technical exercise.

“Behind each objective of the GCM and policy effort stands the God-given dignity of migrants, demanding not only better governance but also solidarity, collective responsibility, and sustained efforts to ensure their protection and inclusion,” he pointed out.

• This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

 

Taiwan's circle of friends has shrunk to 12 thanks to Beijing pressure

At its peak, Taiwan was recognised by 70 countries fifty years ago. Now that number has fallen to 12, thanks to Beijing's relentless pressure. / bne IntelliNewsFacebook

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By Ben Aris in Berlin May 8, 2026

In 1969, Taiwan stood at the peak of its formal diplomatic standing, recognised by approximately 70 countries as the legitimate government of China. Today that number is 12.

Constant pressure by Beijing, which sees the island state as a region of China, has led countries to make a choice between principles and pragmatism. China has grown to become the largest trade partner for the majority of countries in the world.

The trajectory, charted by AFP that maps the collapse of Taiwan's official alliances across five decades, is one of the starkest illustrations of sustained geopolitical attrition in the post-war era.

Since 2016 alone, Taiwan has lost the recognition of ten countries to China. The question, analysts say, is no longer whether that number will fall again, but which country will be next.

The decline accelerated in the 1970s as the People's Republic of China (PRC) consolidated its international standing. The US switched formal diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 — a decisive signal that prompted a cascade of defections by other governments.

The shift was sparked by UN Resolution 2758, which expelled the Republic of China's (ROC) representatives from the United Nations in 1971 and seized the People's Republic in their place. Australia, Japan and most of Western Europe followed Washington's lead in recognising Beijing over the subsequent years, leaving Taiwan with formal ties only to countries that had not yet calculated the economic cost of maintaining them.

A similar seat swap followed the collapse of the USSR in 1991, when Russia quickly took over the empty seat, including its place on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The 12 that remain

Taiwan's surviving diplomatic partners are concentrated in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific: seven in Latin America and the Caribbean, three Pacific island nations, one in Africa — eSwatini — and the Vatican, which maintains ties with Taipei on the basis of its own long-standing dispute with the People's Republic over the status of the Chinese Catholic church.

Haiti's recognition is considered the most precarious. Once Taiwan's strongest foothold in the Caribbean, Haiti is now a failed state in all but name — its government non-functional, its cities controlled by armed gangs, its economy shattered. Haitian officials have engaged openly with Beijing in recent months, hoping that China's permanent seat on the UN Security Council might unlock a multilateral security mission. That engagement already skirts the diplomatic line.

Guatemala is among the most durable remaining allies, with 90 years of diplomatic relations — though even Guatemalan officials have recently faced internal pressure to reconsider the relationship as trade with China grows.

Beijing's toolkit

China's method is consistent: financial inducements, infrastructure investment and the implicit promise of trade access in exchange for switching recognition. Nauru, which switched to Beijing in January 2024 after reportedly requesting NT$2.6bn in aid from Taipei that was not forthcoming, illustrates the economic logic. China is reported to have offered $100mn per year as part of its approach.

If Taiwan were to lose all 12 remaining allies, the practical consequences would be gradual rather than immediate. The US maintains no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and yet sells it billions of dollars in arms annually. Japan has no formal relations and remains one of Taiwan's closest economic partners. Practical ties do not depend on the ally count.

But the symbolic and legal implications are significant. Each defection strengthens China's narrative that Taiwan is not a sovereign state but an unresolved question of Chinese internal affairs — an argument that Beijing deploys in every multilateral forum to limit Taiwan's participation in international organisations, from the World Health Assembly to Interpol.

 

Argentina is the IMF biggest debtor followed by Ukraine

Argentina remains by far the biggest IMF debtor, followed by Ukraine. / bne IntelliNewsFacebook

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By bne IntelliNews May 8, 2026

Argentina remains by far the largest debtor to the International Monetary Fund, underscoring the depth of its long-running financial crisis and its dependence on multilateral support. According to the latest data, Buenos Aires owes the IMF $60,176mn, equivalent to 8.7% of GDP — a level that dwarfs other borrowers and reflects the legacy of repeated rescue programmes over the past two decades.

Ukraine ranks second with $15,481mn, or 6.9% of GDP, highlighting the scale of external financing required to sustain the economy during wartime. Egypt, Pakistan and Ecuador follow closely behind, each with IMF exposures of around $10bn, although the relative burden varies significantly when measured against the size of their economies. Ecuador’s IMF debt, for example, stands at 7.3% of GDP, compared with 2.5% for Egypt and 2.6% for Pakistan.

A cluster of emerging and frontier economies rounds out the top 15, including Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Bangladesh and Ghana, with liabilities ranging from roughly $4bn to $5bn. While these figures are smaller in absolute terms, they remain significant in relation to domestic output and fiscal capacity. In sub-Saharan Africa, countries such as Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia continue to rely on IMF programmes to stabilise public finances and support balance-of-payments needs.

The data also illustrates the diversity of IMF engagement across regions. In Asia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have turned to the Fund in response to external shocks and currency pressures, while in Latin America, Costa Rica and Ecuador remain part of a broader pattern of recurrent IMF involvement. Jordan, with $2,371mn in outstanding obligations, reflects the continued reliance of smaller Middle Eastern economies on concessional financing and policy support.

When grandpa goes to prison: The challenge of ageing inmates

27.04.2026, DPA

Photo: Pia Bayer/dpa

As populations age, prison demographics are shifting as well. From accessible cells to tailored exercise programmes, prison authorities must adapt to the needs of a growing number of elderly inmates.

By Iris Leithold and Miriam Widman, dpa

A 75-year-old man was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in the north-eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for stabbing his wife to death at the end of last year.

A month later, the regional court in the state capital Schwerin handed a 74-year-old man a seven year and one-month sentence for the aggravated sexual abuse of his granddaughter.

The two men must now spend a significant part of their final years behind bars, joining 40 inmates as of earlier this year, who are at least 60 years old.

They are not alone. "Of these, seven prisoners were already 70 and older," says Tilo Stolpe, spokesman for the justice ministry in Schwerin.

A global shift behind bars

The trend extends far beyond Germany. Around the world, prison populations are ageing at a notable pace.

According to Penal Reform International, a UK-based non-governmental organization dedicated to criminal justice reform, the proportion of older prisoners continues to rise in many countries.

The group says no global data on the number of older people in prison is available, but says known rates range from 1.8% of the prison population in Indonesia to as high as 20% in Japan.

And "there has been a 311% increase in the daily average number of older persons in prison in the last 20 years," it says.

In some countries with harsh sentencing guidelines, such as in the United States, many older inmates will likely die in prison.

A US Sentencing Commission report from 2022 showed that nearly 40% (38.6%) of offenders who were sentenced at 70 years of age or older were handed prison terms exceeding their life expectancy.

Challenges for prison operations

"Older prisoners more often have chronic illnesses, reduced mobility and increased medical and care needs," Stolpe, the spokesman for the justice system in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern says.

According to the ministry, barrier-free cells are available in the prisons. The newly built preventive detention unit at the Bützow prison alone has 10 rooms with extra-large sanitary facilities intended for older detainees with "typical geriatric symptoms" he says.

In the state that was formerly part of East Germany, the number of older prison inmates is rising.

In 2004, 19 people over 60 were behind bars, which in 2012, the figure was 27, according to the ministry. Over the past 10 years, the numbers have remained stable, it said. But a further growing need to accommodate elderly offenders is expected.

The establishment of a geriatric unit at Bützow, some 50 kilometres south of the Baltic Sea, has already been scheduled, Stolpe says, with plans to address conditions such as dementia, immobility and sleep disorders.

Then money became tight, forcing a postponement until after 2031, the justice ministry says.

For now, care is often provided through external mobile services entering the prison, Stolpe says.

In serious cases - such as terminal illness - prosecutors may suspend a sentence, though such decisions are weighed carefully against public safety concerns.

Prison experts also see the presence of older prisoners in prison as positive. They are far less likely to be involved in conflicts in an institution and can also have a calming and mediating effect on other prisoners, they say.

And they are less likely to re-commit crimes once freed, the US Sentencing Commission report notes, with a recidivism rate of 21.3% compared to 53.4% for those under 50.

Cardio training instead of work

In Germany, prisoners are supposed to work to prepare for life after prison. In practice, available jobs are primarily given to younger inmates.

If the opportunity arises, older prisoners can also work while in custody. According to the ministry, there are no special jobs exclusively for older prisoners.

"However, care is taken to ensure that their work involves physically lighter activities, for example as unit orderlies on the wings or - if they are suitable for relaxed custody conditions - on the prison’s outdoor grounds."

Older inmates can also use the leisure and sports programmes in the prison. If medically indicated, cardio training, meaning exercise to strengthen the cardiovascular system, or extended unlocked time on the wing can also be made possible.

Other German states

Specialized units for prisoners over 60 already operate in parts of Germany, including facilities in Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

At one prison in the western city of Bielefeld, an interdisciplinary care team is tasked wtih creating "spaces for reflecting on age-related changes in the beginning final phase of life" according to an information sheeet.

The facility offers help with pension matters and severe disability issues, water aerobics and the opportunity to move around in the prison’s own park.

• Penal Reform International
• US Sentencing Commission Report

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

Urban coyotes quietly thrive in Chicago but experts say don't panic

WHY DHS TARGETS CHIGAGO

27.04.2026, DPA

Photo: Amy Katz/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Coyotes have been spotted across Chicago, from downtown streets to nearby suburbs. Experts say the sightings are a normal seasonal pattern. But you may want to keep your dog on leash or cat indoors during peak times, just to be safe.

By Madeline King, Chicago Tribune

Coyotes have been spotted out and about in central Chicago neighbourhoods and its suburbs, and wildlife experts say there's no cause for alarm.

According to Chris Anchor, a wildlife biologist for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, people see more of the species when mating season peaks, normally around mid-February.

Experts also say that activities may also increase into the spring and summer months when male coyotes are foraging for pups.

Coyotes, who are instinctually territorial, are therefore patrolling their land more often.

“Everybody in the Chicagoland area lives within the territory of a family group of coyotes,” Anchor said.

Another reason for these omnivores’ more obvious visibility is that prey can becomes scarce in the winter, causing them to travel farther for food, said Seth Magle, senior director of Lincoln Park Zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute.

He added that coyotes help the environment by eating rabbits, geese and other animals that would otherwise overpopulate the area.

Preschool teacher Kelsey Davies said she has seen one or two coyotes on her street. “What I tell them is, ‘Please eat all the bunnies in my yard. Help yourself,’” she said.

Davies, 50, said the high number of coyote sightings is rare for her neighbourhood. Before the past winter, she hadn’t seen a coyote on her street in years.

She said she now sees them most often at night, when the species is most active, and occasionally hears them howl along to ambulance sirens.

“They don’t bother us. I’m not going to bother them,” Davies said. “I feel like we can live together.”

They look at her and her goldendoodle on their nightly walks, but Davies said the coyotes aren’t aggressive and usually walk away. But Davies said she understands why her neighbours who have small dogs worry.

Despite the fears of some people, experts say the coyote diet does not include humans or pets.

“If coyotes were truly an issue, you would already know about it,” Anchor said. “It would be a huge public service social issue.”

Anchor and Magle stressed that coyotes are almost always peaceful toward and even afraid of humans. Anchor said that it’s far more likely to be bitten by a dog than a coyote — only one person gets bitten by a coyote in North America in an average year.

The two also noted that coyotes are all around people, even those living in densely populated areas. Coyotes look for places to hide where they won’t be disturbed by people.

In cities during the winter, they’ll sleep in cemeteries, on golf courses and in patches of shrubs, Magle said.

Anchor added that there are families living at Navy Pier and the Museum Campus.

“They’re thriving in our cities … but they’re doing it by avoiding us,” Magle said.

Between 2,000 and 4,000 coyotes live in Cook County, according to Stanley Gehrt, a professor of wildlife ecology at Ohio State University and researcher with the Urban Coyote Research Program.

Coyotes returned to the area in the late ’70s and early ’80s after being driven out by human development and population growth for nearly 100 years, according to Anchor. White-tailed deer, beavers and Canada geese also came back to the area, Anchor said.

Gehrt said experts aren’t sure why coyotes returned to urban areas. “What makes it even more of a mystery is that that same pattern occurred in cities across the Midwest and the Eastern US,” he said.

Gehrt said coyote numbers have remained relatively stable for the last decade or so because the species self-regulates its population.

Coyotes can have litters of four pups or as many as 13. Since both parents — who mate for life — remain involved in raising the pups, the litter sizes can increase as long as there’s enough available food.

It’s a common misconception that city coyotes have become dependent on human food, Gehrt said. The species still hunts its natural prey.

Coyotes have the potential to become dangerous to people when they associate humans with food and stop being afraid of them, making it important to keep trash secured and refrain from feeding coyotes, Magle said. In the very rare case that a coyote approaches a person, it’s best to make loud noises to scare it away, he added.

Anchor said while coyote attacks on pets are rare, they are more common than attacks on humans. He recommended keeping dogs on leashes and cats indoors.

Magle said more people are learning to appreciate urban wildlife. When he started working at the Urban Wildlife Institute 16 years ago, he would get calls asking him who would “do something” about the coyote. Now, the calls he gets about coyotes are mostly from people who are enthusiastic and want to share their sightings.

“Maybe your knee-jerk reaction is like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t belong here,’ but then when you think about it, you’re kind of like, ‘Why not? Who decides that?’” Magle said. “‘Maybe a city can be a place for wildlife.’”

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

Quantum computing is reaching a commercial turning point, study finds

29.04.2026, DPA

Photo: Malin Wunderlich/dp

Quantum computing is becoming an economic driver, as cloud solutions, mega-deals and a race between Europe, the US and China are setting new standards – and opening up opportunities for industry giants and newcomers alike.

The year 2026 is on track to mark a turning point for quantum technology, as global investment in related start-ups surged more than tenfold in a single year to a record $12.6 billion in 2025, according to a new report by consultancy McKinsey & Company.

Global revenues of quantum computing companies also broke the $1 billion threshold for the first time, figures from McKinsey's Quantum Technology Monitor 2026 show.

Quantum computers differ fundamentally from conventional machines. Instead of bits, which are either 0 or 1, they use so-called qubits. Qubits can be not only 0 or 1 but both simultaneously — a property known as superposition.

Qubits can also be linked to one another regardless of the distance between them, a phenomenon known as entanglement. This connection makes quantum computers particularly fast at certain tasks, such as identifying patterns or simulating complex systems.

Transformation in research and AI

As a result, they can solve some problems far more quickly than conventional computers — above all in fields such as cryptography, materials research and artificial intelligence.

The report shows that the topic has reached the boardrooms of global business. "2026 is the year in which quantum computing moves from a technology promise to a strategic management question," said Henning Soller, a partner at McKinsey.

He said the focus was no longer primarily on technical feasibility, but on which companies were now building the capabilities and partnerships needed to secure genuine competitive advantages.

McKinsey's researchers said they had observed a fundamental shift in the sources of funding. Whereas the sector had long depended on public subsidies, private investors and capital markets had now taken the helm.

While around one third of investment still came from public sources in 2024, that share shrank to just 3% in 2025. Almost half of private investment — 44% — came via capital markets in 2025, including through initial public offerings.

Geopolitical race: Europe adopts, the US funds

The report also highlights the geopolitical dimension of the technology. While the US dominates in start-up financing, large transactions and the location of market leaders — with 64% of investment flowing into US start-ups — Europe leads in actual corporate adoption of the technology.

Asia, and China in particular, is rapidly catching up in the background: China leads the world in research publications and patent applications in the field of quantum computing, which McKinsey said pointed to strong state-directed efforts to build intellectual property.

For European business, the report's message is clear: The window for securing a leading position in the quantum economy is closing. Companies that continue to dismiss the technology as a distant prospect risk missing out on the next great industrial revolution.

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

Dogs' brains shrank by half in course of domestication, study shows

30.04.2026, DPA

Photo: Thomas Warnack/dpa

Dogs’ brains shrank by around half at certain stages during their domestication, a study shows.

Early ancestral dogs still had brains of a similar size to their wolf relatives, say scientists.

But by 5,000 years ago, their brains had shrunk dramatically by almost half (46%), to a size comparable only to that of today’s small terrier and miniature dog breeds, according to the study published in the Royal Society Open Science.

That may also have altered dogs’ temperament, suggests the team led by Thomas Cucchi from the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris.

The reduction in brain size may have made the animals more alert and cautious, traits that could have been valuable in ancient human societies.

For their study, the researchers analysed 207 skulls, 185 from modern dogs, dingos and wolves, and 22 prehistoric ones. The oldest specimens were 35,000 years old.

They used CT scans to create virtual impressions of the skull cavities. In fossil skulls, their volume is considered a reliable indicator of brain size.

Challenging coexistence

The findings suggest the Ice Age ancestors of modern dogs show no signs of reduced brain size compared to wolves of that era. In one specimen found in Belgium, the internal skull volume was even slightly larger.

Living in close proximity to humans may have created new cognitive challenges, such as more complex social interactions and the use of new food sources, the scientists suggest.

Some 30,000 years later, we see a different picture, with dogs' brain volume having shrunk significantly. Furthermore, the animals had become smaller, the researchers say.

Dogs reached a shoulder height of 35 to 45 centimetres. Their skulls would have resembled those of modern herding dogs in shape and size, according to the scientists' estimates.

Needing dogs for safety

That change came as humans in Central Europe, who had previously lived as hunter-gatherers, became increasingly sedentary, switching to farming and rearing livestock.

As agriculture spread, settlements emerged and that meant new roles for dogs, the scientists say. The animals may have lived near human settlements as scavengers, been used as guards and may have served as a source of meat.

The team suggests humans may have played a direct role in altering brain size through targeted behavioural selection, breeding for docility. Similar patterns are also evident in other farm animals, though to a lesser extent.

Scientists are still trying to work out how far the shrinking of the brain affected the animals’ intelligence.

Brain size alone is not the decisive factor, but rather, above all, how efficiently the brain is organized.

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH