Germany news

Germany news

Many people are expected to brave the weather in Berlin to show solidarity with Iranian anti-government protesters

The Allgau region in the states of Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg is predicted to receive 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) of fresh snow by Saturday night, while the Black Forest could see as much as 50 cm, forecasters say. Long-distance train services in the north are expected to resume operations from 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), according to national rail operator Deutsche Bahn.

The defendant, a 21-year-old German-Iranian national living in the northern city of Hamburg, has been only partially identified as Shahriar J., in line with German privacy rules. The case shines a spotlight on the dark world of sadistic online exploitation, where predators seek out vulnerable youths and manipulate them to commit acts of self-harm, violence against themselves or animals, or to kill themselves.

The approval of the EU-Mercosur Agreement is a milestone in European trade policy and an important signal of our strategic sovereignty and capacity to act,

The arson attack is believed to have been carried out by left-wing extremists, with a letter sent to authorities by a group calling itself the "Vulkangruppe," or Volcano Group, deemed as "credible" by police. Some 20,000 households remained without power on Wednesday, with energy supplier Berlin Stromnetz saying it will take until Thursday for electricity to be fully restored to affected areas.

If you're in Germany long enough you'll discover another common rule that has serious reverence for Sunday, legally speaking. It's called "Sonntag Ist Ruhetag," or Sunday is rest day. If you factor in the German national love for regulations and bureaucracy, it's easy to see how peaceful downtime has become a matter of law. At first, it felt like a little quirk to get used to, but the more I experienced it the more it revealed about my inner mindset.

The number of Indians working in MINT professions mathematics, IT, natural sciences, and technology including engineering has risen by nearly ninefold since 2012 to more than 32,800, the study found. About one-third of full-time Indian workers aged 25 to 44 are employed in MINT occupations. The trend has also been fueled by a sharp rise in Indian students in Germany.

Safe-deposit boxes have been broken into again at a bank branch in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, marking the third such case in recent days. After an incident in Bonn and a major vault break-in in Gelsenkirchen, police have now confirmed a third suspected bank robbery in Halle, near Bielefeld. The Halle incident happened around midday on Tuesday during regular business hours, police confirmed on Friday.

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German prosecutors say they will drop an investigation of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, over possible breaches of sanctions and money laundering rules after he agreed to pay a 10 million euro (about $11.8 million) fine. The Uzbekistan-born Russian billionaire and metals magnate, who was reelected as the president of the International Fencing Federation last year, has been facing European Union sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Lufthansa Airlines, the flag carrier of Germany, takes great pride in its aviation heritage spanning almost a century. Images from the 1920s and 1930s including Junkers Ju 52 aircraft used by the Luftwaffe feature prominently in Lufthansa's marketing, alluding to the "pioneering spirit" of the brand and its place in aviation history. But the story of Lufthansa's role in the Third Reich war machine, one that includes the large-scale use of forced labor, remains largely under the radar.

When the Romans pushed over the Alps 2,000 years ago into the area between Lörrach on Germany's southern border with Switzerland, and Pforzheim to the north, they named the moody glades of deciduous trees and firs the silva nigra: the black forest. In many ways, though, the Schwarzwald, as the Germans call it, isn't dark at all. Guests on the terrace of the Romantik Hotel Spielweg in the Southern Black Forest gaze up at the white vapour trails left by planes crisscrossing

Sitting in the cramped interior of a Panzerhaubitze 2000 armoured vehicle, Tom, 20, hangs on every word coming from Achim, an officer with the German military, as he breathlessly talks students through the workings of the most modern tank in the world. What damage would you expect its ammunition to inflict? Tom asks. Achim replies: A standard round has a range of 30km, and anything within a 100-metre radius of that would be a direct hit, Achim says. The students exchange surprised glances.

The Eisbach wave on a side branch of the Isar river had been a landmark in the Bavarian city since the 1980s but it vanished in October after annual cleanup work along the riverbed. Activists had placed a beam in the water early on 25 December to partially recreate the wave, according to German media reports, and hung a banner above the water that read Merry Christmas.

Police officers shot dead a 33-year-old man at a hospital in Giessen, north of the financial capital Frankfurt, authorities said. Hospital staff called the police saying a patient had threatened them with scissors, with police describing the man as being in psychological distress, the Hesse State Criminal Police Office (LKA) said in a statement. Investigators said the man had attacked officers with the scissors, prompting them to open fire. The man later succumbed to his wounds.

It's still going to be cold, however. Forecasters expect frost, sub-zero temperatures and possibly the coldest Christmas since 2010. READ ALSO: Which supermarkets and shops are open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? The meteorologists' prediction is based on the average temperature for Germany, which is expected to be around -2C to -3C over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Germany has deported a convicted criminal to Syria for the first time since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, the Interior Ministry has said. The man was handed over to Syrian authorities in Damascus on Tuesday morning. Why has the deportation taken place now? It comes after Berlin reached an agreement with the Syrian government allowing deportations of convicted criminals and security threats to take place on a regular basis.

The deportation just before Christmas capped months of talks with Syria's government, which mirrored similar efforts by Berlin to strike a deportation deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Human rights groups have criticised efforts to send immigrants back to either country, citing continued instability and evidence of rights abuses. But Germany's conservative-led government has made the resumption of deportations to Syria a diplomatic priority since former president Bashar al-Assad fled the country just over a year ago.

BKA chief Holger Munch said the drone sightings represent a "significant situation of danger." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in October that the German government believes Russia is behind many of the drone sightings over German territory. Munch told Bild that it cannot be assumed with "100% certainty" that all of the suspicious drones are being guided by Russia. However, he said he suspects the drones are being steered by a state actor aimed at sowing uncertainty in Germany.

It's a strange season to talk about forgiveness. While streets glow with fairy lights and shop windows promise that compassion is only a gift-box away, Germany is once again confronted with the unresolved wounds of its recent past. The trap of the season is this: believing that every gesture of regret must be met with mercy. As if forgiveness was a resource available to anyone who is reasonable enough to move on, no matter how atrociously they have been treated.

The Bundesbank now predicts GDP will expand by 0.6 percent in 2026, down from a June forecast of 0.7 percent. Growth is expected to pick up to 1.3 percent in 2027, it said. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said that next year's recovery will be driven by "public spending and a rebound in exports," as major government outlays on infrastructure and the military start impacting the broader economy.

German lawmakers Wednesday approved about €50 billion in military purchases, as Berlin accelerates defence spending in the face of a hostile Russia and signs of weakening security commitments from Washington. The extensive list of procurements ranged from missiles to artillery, torpedoes, armoured vehicles, satellite systems and new uniforms as Berlin races to overhaul the long-neglected Bundeswehr. Officials said that the new purchases, greenlighted by parliament's budget committee, mean a "historic" number of defence acquisitions have been approved this year, worth nearly €83 billion.

The German pensioner received an urgent call on Tuesday from a man posing as a police officer telling him a family member was in distress a common trick used against elderly people. Immediately smelling a rat, he kept the caller on the line saying he would rush to get 10,000 (8,750) in cash and several gold coins to hand over. While he strung the conman along, his daughter called Ingolstadt police who were able to catch a 20-year-old male suspect at the pickup spot.

"More openness to technology and greater flexibility are the right steps," said Merz, who has made vocal demands for the ban to be eased as the country's flagship auto sector faces mounting problems.

At the opening of the renovated venue, Steinmeier noted that the Beethovenhalle is not only dedicated to Bonn's most famous son and his music. "It is also, and you can surely guess that this is particularly close to my heart, a place of democratic history." This democratic history began after World War II. Germany lay in ruins destroyed, divided and internationally isolated.