Category Archives: Germany

Alexei Navalny death: protesters gather across Europe to express outrage and denounce Putin

Posted on by

Demonstrators from Berlin to Vilnius, London to Rome chant slogans against Russian president and demand accountability over death

Hundreds of protesters, many of them Russian émigrés, gathered in cities across Europe and beyond on Friday to express their outrage over the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Often gathering outside Russian embassies, they chanted slogans critical of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, whom many blame for the activist’s death, holding up signs calling him a “killer” and demanding accountability.

Continue reading...

UK could contribute to nuclear shield if Trump wins, suggests German minister

Posted on by

Comments draw Britain into debate about European security without US providing bulk of Nato’s nuclear deterrent

The UK could contribute to a new European nuclear shield if Donald Trump becomes US president again, a senior German minister has suggested, drawing British politicians into the debate about how Europe’s security could be bolstered in the event of the Republican frontrunner winning in November.

Questions over a European nuclear deterrence have intensified after Trump’s remarks on Saturday that he would not defend any Nato member that failed to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence – and would even encourage Russia to continue attacking.

Continue reading...

Japan loses crown as world’s third-largest economy after it slips into recession

Posted on by

Fall in rank below Germany has been attributed to a weak yen and country’s ageing, shrinking population

Japan has been eclipsed by Germany as the world’s third-biggest economy and has slipped into recession, according to data released Thursday, as the country battles a weak yen and an ageing, shrinking population.

Japan’s economy, now the world’s fourth-biggest, grew 1.9% in 2023 in nominal terms – meaning it is not adjusted for inflation – but in dollar terms its gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $4.2tn compared with $4.5tn for Germany.

Continue reading...

Nato chief rebukes Donald Trump and announces record defence spending

Posted on by

Jens Stoltenberg accuses Trump of undermining alliance and says 18 members are expected to invest at least 2% of GDP this year

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, has accused Donald Trump of undermining the basis of the transatlantic alliance as he announced that 18 Nato members were expected to beat the target of spending more than 2% of GDP on defence.

It was the second rebuke by the Nato chief to the Republican frontrunner in less than a week, reinforced by a declaration that Germany was among the countries planning to spend over the threshold for the first time in a generation.

Continue reading...

Tui investors vote to leave London Stock Exchange amid record results

Posted on by

More than 98% of shareholders in Europe’s biggest travel operator vote to delist in favour of Germany

Tui, Europe’s biggest travel company, is abandoning the London Stock Exchange in favour of listing its shares solely in Germany.

A vote on Tuesday resulted in 98.35% of shareholders backing a company proposal to drop its UK listing, in what will be seen as the latest blow to London’s standing in international finance.

Continue reading...

Stone age wall found at bottom of Baltic Sea ‘may be Europe’s oldest megastructure’

Posted on by

Structure stretches for almost a kilometre off coast of Germany and may have once stood by a lake

A stone age wall discovered beneath the waves off Germany’s Baltic coast may be the oldest known megastructure built by humans in Europe, researchers say.

The wall, which stretches for nearly a kilometre along the seafloor in the Bay of Mecklenburg, was spotted by accident when scientists operated a multibeam sonar system from a research vessel on a student trip about 10km (six miles) offshore.

Continue reading...

German firm BASF to pull out of Xinjiang after Uyghur abuse claims

Posted on by

Chemicals producer says audits revealed no wrongdoing but recent media reports crossed red line

The German chemicals producer BASF has said it will withdraw from its two joint ventures in Xinjiang, after media reports about alleged human rights abuses relating to its partner company, which BASF’s CEO said crossed a red line.

In a statement on Friday, BASF said that while “regular due diligence measures including internal and external audits have not found any evidence of human rights violations in the two joint ventures”, the recent reports “indicate activities inconsistent with BASF’s values”.

Continue reading...

Putin says release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich may be possible

Posted on by

Russian president suggests detained Wall Street reporter could be freed in prisoner exchange

Vladimir Putin has said he believes “an agreement can be reached” to free the imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich, hinting he would trade him for a Russian killer serving a life sentence in Germany.

Speaking on Thursday to Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, Putin said he did not rule out the possibility of Gershkovich returning “to his motherland”.

Continue reading...

Sweden to drop inquiry into Nord Stream pipeline explosions

Posted on by

Investigators previously found blasts that damaged undersea pipelines in 2022 were an act of sabotage

Swedish prosecutors have said they will end their investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in 2022, dodging the question of who destroyed the then new energy link between Russia and Europe shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

After a near 18-month inquiry, the investigators concluded they did not have jurisdiction in the case because Sweden’s citizens and interests had not been harmed.

Continue reading...

German firm BASF urged to quit Xinjiang over ‘gross abuses’ of Uyghurs

Posted on by

Exclusive: Politicians say chemicals producer ‘appears to be implicated’ in abuses of minorities in Chinese province

The German chemicals producer BASF “appears to be implicated in gross abuses” of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and should withdraw from the Chinese province, a group of politicians from around the world have said.

The group made the allegation in a letter to BASF’s chair, Martin Brudermüller, on Monday, after the German media outlets Der Spiegel and ZDF published a joint investigation on Friday.

Continue reading...

About 200,000 people protest across Germany against far-right AfD party

Posted on by

Chancellor says protests are ‘strong sign in favour of democracy’ as demonstrators gather in Berlin, Dresden, Hanover and other cities

About 200,000 people have taken to the streets of Germany in further protests against the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Protests on Saturday also took place in Dresden, Mainz and Hanover in a sign of growing alarm at strong public support for AfD.

Continue reading...

Laurie Anderson ends German professorship after criticism of Palestine support

Posted on by

Essen’s Folkwang University took issue with the American artist’s support of a ‘letter against apartheid’ by Palestinian artists

The artist, musician and film director Laurie Anderson has withdrawn from a guest professorship at a university in Germany after officials took issue with her support for a 2021 statement by Palestinian artists titled Letter Against Apartheid.

The decision, announced days before Anderson is due to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Grammys, adds to the wave of cultural events that have been scrapped in Germany after artists expressed views deemed by officials to be anti-Israel.

Continue reading...

Deutsche Bank to cut 3,500 jobs

Posted on by

German bank becomes latest global lender to target staff in post-pandemic cost reductions

Deutsche Bank is to cut 3,500 jobs, making it the latest global lender to target employees as part of post-pandemic cost reductions, amid a drop in profits.

The German bank said that while it had made progress on a €2.5bn (£2.1bn) cost-cutting programme that it first announced in 2022, it still needed to save €1.6bn of that total, meaning thousands of staff had to go.

Continue reading...

Eurozone narrowly avoids recession as German economy shrinks

Posted on by

Single currency zone’s stagnating GDP figure will add to pressure for ECB interest rate cut

The 20-nation eurozone has narrowly avoided recession after the region’s economy flatlined at the end of 2023, official figures show.

Zero growth in the single currency zone in the final quarter of last year followed a 0.1% economic contraction in the third quarter meaning that recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction – was just averted. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the eurozone’s economy to shrink by 0.1% in the fourth quarter.

Continue reading...

AfD narrowly loses first election since mass deportation meeting revelations

Posted on by

District runoff in Thuringia closely watched to gauge whether huge protests against party have dented support

The far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party has been narrowly beaten in its first electoral test since revelations came to light of its involvement in a plan for the mass deportation of foreigners that has sparked huge protests across Germany. Its candidate lost against a conservative rival in a district administrative election the importance of which resonated far beyond the local area.

In a tight second-round runoff in the district of Saale-Orla in the south-eastern state of Thuringia, the AfD candidate, Uwe Thrum, had victory snatched from him by his Christian Democrat (CDU) rival Christian Herrgott by 4.6 percentage points.

Continue reading...

Breslau 1941: clandestine photos tell of the Holocaust’s upheaval and terror

Posted on by

Images taken secretly some 80 years ago are being published for the first time to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day

A remarkable series of photographs of Jewish families being forced to leave their homes in Germany in the middle of the second world war has been published for the first time, following a chance discovery.

The images are a striking new testament to the sudden upheaval and terror of the Holocaust and were taken secretly by an amateur photographer. He is believed to have wanted to pass down the scenes he was witnessing, despite the risk to himself. They show groups of people gathering outside a restaurant near the railway station in the Silesian city of Breslau, now Wrocław in Poland. Jewish men, women and children of all ages were held here for a few days before deportation by train. Almost all are certain to have been killed just a few days later in a documented shooting in Lithuania. Others were killed at a later date in Poland.

Continue reading...

Thousands across Austria take part in protests against far right

Posted on by

‘Defend democracy’ events were planned for Innsbruck, Salzburg and in front of parliament building in Vienna

Thousands of Austrians have taken to the streets of the country’s three largest cities, in a spillover of protests over the rise of the far right in neighbouring Germany.

Under the slogan “defend democracy”, gatherings organised by a broad alliance of civil society organisations, NGOs, political groups, church communities and trade unions took place in Innsbruck, Salzburg, and in front of the parliament building in Vienna.

Continue reading...

France debates plan to enshrine abortion as constitutional right

Posted on by

Impetus for change was US supreme court overturning Roe v Wade, while Germany passes law banning harassment of women at abortion clinics

The French parliament has begun debating moves for France to become the first country in the world to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, guaranteeing women access to the means to end a pregnancy voluntarily.

The justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, told the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on Wednesday that abortion rights were not simply a liberty like any other, “because they allow women to decide their future”.

Continue reading...

Germany considers entry ban on Austrian behind mass deportation plan

Posted on by

Interior ministry considering options against Martin Sellner after days of protests against AfD

German authorities are closely examining the possibility of an entry ban for the far-right Austrian whose master plan for the deportation of immigrants is at the heart of a storm gripping Germany over the rightwing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.

Martin Sellner, the founder of the so-called Identitarian Movement, which preaches the superiority of European ethnic groups, could be banned from entering Germany if he is deemed to pose a threat to German democratic stability, according to members of the interior affairs committee of the Bundestag.

Continue reading...

‘Anti-European’ populists on track for big gains in EU elections, says report

Posted on by

France, Poland and Austria among nine countries where radical rightwing parties predicted to finish first

Populist “anti-European” parties are heading for big gains in June’s European elections that could shift the parliament’s balance sharply to the right and jeopardise key pillars of the EU’s agenda including climate action, polling suggests.

Polling in all 27 EU member states, combined with modelling of how national parties performed in past European parliament elections, shows radical right parties are on course to finish first in nine countries including Austria, France and Poland.

Continue reading...