Germany news

Germany news

Germany's retail sector is facing a new wave of bankruptcies, with 2,490 insolvencies recorded between August 2024 and August 2025.

Homelessness in Germany has reached alarming levels, with over half a million people lacking permanent accommodation as of early 2025. The crisis affects men and women of all ages, with families and young people increasingly at risk. As winter intensifies the dangers faced by those without shelter, we look at how residents in Germany can support some of the social welfare organisations working to alleviate homelessness.

All programmers, from hobbyists to those working at Microsoft or Google, use open-source software, which is present in between 70% and 90% of the computer applications we use today. No one starts a project from scratch; instead, they turn to libraries like GitHub or GitLab to download packages of code already written, reviewed, and improved by the community. Developers spend an average of two-thirds of their time adapting open-source software to their needs, and they build their application on top of that.

The changes, the EC says, "aim to reduce the number of crashes on EU roads and undue administrative burden on citizens and authorities." Figures show that last year alone 19,940 died on EU roads. New rules include, among many other measures, the introduction of digital driving licenses and bloc-wide driving bans for dangerous drivers. All change on European roads then, you might assume - but not quite, or not yet, it turns out.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz dug in on proposed pension reforms Friday despite resistance from younger members of his conservative CDU party who fear they will saddle future generations with unaffordable costs. Speaking Friday morning after late-night talks with his junior coalition partners the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Merz said it was the SPD's "wish that we not amend this bill". "We agreed on this yesterday," he added.

Thirteen people are reportedly injured - one seriously - after a tram came off the rails in the south of Düsseldorf, western Germany, on Wednesday morning. A police spokesperson said it appeared the tram, which was travelling on the U72 line in Düsseldorf-Holthausen, had derailed due to a technical issue with the signal box. The tram was on Bonner Straße at around 5:40am when the derailment happened. The vehicle then collided with another tram.

The state's government - made up of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) - has announced it will halve its funding for integration services for international residents, dropping from €6 million to just €3 million in 2026. This means that only 21 out of 91 integration projects applying for funding will receive support in the coming year, according to the Saxony Refugee Council ( Sächsischer Flüchtlingsrat - SFR).

With China covering, for instance, more than 95% of the rare earth market, you cannot replace this in a short time," he told DW. "These are long-standing and reliable trading relationships, and the material and processes are proven.

Many of the objects dating from 1933 to 1945 up for sale under the title "System of Terror Vol II" contained the names and personal information about the persecuted. "For victims of Nazi persecution and Holocaust survivors, this auction is a cynical and shameless undertaking that leaves them outraged and speechless", Christoph Heubner, the executive-vice president of International Auschwitz Committee said in a statement. "They should be displayed in museums or memorial exhibitions and not degraded to mere commodities."

A 300-kilogram bronze church bell stolen in Bremen days ago has been recovered, the city's police said on Friday. A recycling center employee contacted the authorities to notify them he had purchased the stolen bell from two unknown men, before later learning about the stolen church bell and connecting the dots. The bell will return to the tower of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bremen, which is mostly used now as a charity shop.

The biggest Christmas Post office is the branch in Himmelpfort, Brandenburg, just north of Berlin. It dates back to 1984, when a local postal worker discovered two letters to Santa from children in Berlin and Saxony. The postal worker replied to them herself, but word quickly spread that this was the place to write to if you wanted to reach Santa. Now Himmelpfort receives around 300,000 wish lists every year.

Lars Klingbeil's trip is the first visit to China by a cabinet minister of the current German government, and the trip to Berlin's most important trading partner comes at a sensitive time. Chinese export controls, especially on rare earths, have highlighted the German economy's heavy dependence on China. The German automotive industry, for example, has felt the effects as it faces a shortage of important parts. The trip comes six months into the current government's term

Other Bundesliga clubs have queried the wisdom of bringing Melnikova in to help Chemnitz's title push. "There were only sporting reasons," club coach Tatjana Bachmayer told DW. "We didn't want to provoke anyone, and above all, we didn't want to make a political statement. We are aware that this could be seen as problematic. But for us, what counts is solidarity in sport and international understanding."

Idealo pursued legal action against Google, claiming that the Alphabet subsidiary was "self-preferencing" its own platforms, which led to unfair market advantages that hindered competitors. The company first demanded at least 3.3 billion euros, or more than $3.8 billion, in damages in February 2025. To counter, Google said it made changes in 2017 that allowed competing shopping platforms the same opportunity as Google Shopping to display ads through Google Search.