Court in Karlsruhe decides against extradition of Albanian man ‘in view of the state of the British prison system’
A German court has refused to extradite to the UK a man accused of drug trafficking because of concerns about prison conditions in Britain, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind.
The decision has been described as a “severe rebuke” and “an embarrassment for the UK” by a member of the Law Society.
Continue reading...Markus Söder stands by Hubert Aiwanger after he apologies for flyer found in his school satchel in the 1980s
The leader of Germany’s powerful state of Bavaria has said he will not dismiss his deputy despite a row over an antisemitic leaflet which he admitted having carried in his school satchel as a teenager.
Markus Söder said it would not be proportionate to sack Hubert Aiwanger, a move that would have upended the ruling coalition in the southern state six weeks before a regional election.
Continue reading...Woman accused of contacting beauty blogger on Instagram and offering free salon treatment before killing her with accomplice
A 23-year-old German-Iraqi woman has been indicted for murder after allegedly seeking out a lookalike on Instagram and killing her with an accomplice, in an effort to fake her own death.
The woman, identified as Shahraban Kh-B, was initially thought to have been the murder victim when the blood-soaked body of a young woman was found last August in a parked Mercedes in Ingolstadt, southern Germany.
Continue reading...Statement comes amid concern about allegations Saudi forces have killed hundreds of migrants
Germany ended a training programme for Saudi border forces, who have been implicated in the mass killing of migrants at the country’s border with Yemen, after it was alerted to reports of “possible massive human rights violations”, the German interior ministry has said.
In a statement to the Guardian, the ministry said training undertaken by the federal police service for the Saudi border force had been “discontinued after reports of possible massive human rights violations became known and, as a precaution, are no longer included in the current training programme [for Saudi security forces]”.
Continue reading...Gregor F, 98, who worked as guard at Sachsenhausen between 1943 and 1945, to be tried in juvenile court due to age at time
A former Nazi concentration camp guard has been indicted on charges of acting as an accessory to murder in the latest of a string of eleventh-hour attempts to gain justice for Holocaust victims and survivors.
The 98-year-old, identified as Gregor F, worked as a guard at the Sachsenhausen camp north of Berlin between 1943 and 1945.
Continue reading...Russian president ordered urgent removal of Graceful from Hamburg shipyard, investigation claims
Vladimir Putin moved his $100m (£75m) superyacht from a German shipyard to Russia just weeks before he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, according to secret documents released in a new investigation.
A Russian anti-corruption organisation set up by the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny claims emails show that the Russian president ordered the urgent moving of the 82-metre superyacht, called Graceful, from a shipyard in Hamburg, where it was undergoing a $32m refit, by 1 February 2022.
Continue reading...Despite progress towards a 2045 zero-emission goal, the high price of EVs has created a headache for governments
European countries are struggling to persuade people to switch from combustion engine cars to electric ones, experts warn.
Europe sells 10 times more electric cars today than it did just six years ago, according to the International Energy Agency, but its fleet is cleaning up too slowly to meet its climate goals. Governments across the continent are struggling with the price-tag of electric vehicles, which can cost several thousand euros more upfront than comparable ones that burn fossil fuels.
Continue reading...Events such as filmgoing craze partly blamed as epidemiologists warn country could have a summer wave
German epidemiologists are warning of a summer wave of coronavirus infections, blaming in part mass gatherings such as the Barbenheimer double feature craze.
The government’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), says that while infections remain low compared with at the height of the pandemic, they have been on the rise for the past month.
Continue reading...The Airbus A340 taking Annalena Baerbock to the region twice had to turn back to Abu Dhabi after refuelling
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has been forced to abandon a trip to Oceania after a problem with her government plane twice forced it to return to Abu Dhabi.
Baerbock set off from Berlin on Sunday, but a mechanical problem with her ageing German air force Airbus A340’s landing flaps meant it had to turn back to Abu Dhabi after a refuelling stop there. The aircraft took off again on Monday night, but the technical problem resurfaced and the plane had to return to the Emirati capital again.
Continue reading...Bayern Munich fans delighted but commentators question price tag and Germany’s failure to nurture homegrown talent
There may have been tens of thousands of Harry Kane fans tracking his Cessna flight’s path to Munich on Saturday, followed by standing ovations when he finally appeared before Bayern Munich supporters – many already wearing “Harry Kane – 9” shirts – to the stirring strains of Rock You Like a Hurricane by German rock band the Scorpions, but scepticism about the wisdom of the Tottenham Hotspur striker’s £100m transfer was rife among German commentators.
The affection for the 30-year-old striker was not in doubt. “Citizen Kane is now officially a Bavarian!” ran one typical headline, and the greetings servus (hello) and willkommen (welcome) towards “Herry” (as some Germans pronounce it) came thick and fast at his first press conference, at which he was flanked by bottles of water and Bavarian wheat beer.
Continue reading...Arms firm Rheinmetall to refurbish vehicles following military aid package announced at Nato summit
Thirty secondhand Leopard I battle tanks are to be refurbished by the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall at the orders of the German government and exported to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the company has confirmed.
The tanks are part of a fleet of 49 vehicles that the Düsseldorf-based company purchased from the Belgian private defence company OIP Land Systems. Some of the vehicles are reportedly in such poor condition they will serve only for the supply of spare parts.
Continue reading...Freddy Versluys says he has sold the former Belgium main battle tanks, which could be in combat in six months
Dozens of secondhand Leopard 1 tanks that once belonged to Belgium have been bought by a major European country for the Ukrainian army fighting Russia, according to the arms trader who sold them.
Freddy Versluys, CEO of the private defence company OIP Land Systems, told the Guardian that he sold 49 tanks to another European government, which he could not name due to a confidentiality clause. He said he also could not disclose the price. Versluys added it could be up to six months before they were on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Key data this week will offer a hint as to whether the eurozone’s powerhouse can shake off recent stagnation
Engine of the eurozone, industrial powerhouse, export world champion – just some of the ways Germany’s economy has been described over the years.
However, recent figures have indicated that the good times have come to an end, with Europe’s largest economy stuck in recession.
Continue reading...Prosecutors say suspect led pro-regime paramilitaries who detained and tortured political opponents
A Syrian man accused of leading a pro-government militia in Tadamon, a Damascus neighbourhood that was the site of a massacre of civilians in 2013 filmed by its perpetrators and revealed by the Guardian last year, has been arrested in northern Germany.
The suspect, identified as Ahmad H in line with German privacy rules, is the first person to be detained in connection with crimes in Tadamon, where militia and soldiers loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, brutalised the local population – recording some of their acts – in the early years of the country’s civil war.
Continue reading...Comments by CDU leader Friedrich Merz could see erosion of political ‘firewall’ separating conservatives and far right
The leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has said his party is willing to cooperate with the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) at a local political level, triggering cries of protest from his own party and raising concerns about the firewall between German conservatives and the far right.
In an interview with state broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, CDU leader Friedrich Merz categorically ruled out joining a coalition with the AfD at a national level but said such a taboo should not apply to local politics.
Continue reading...Review could show that thousands more Jews and prisoners of war died on Alderney than previously thought
The full horrors of the only Nazi concentration camps to exist on British soil will finally be investigated in an official government inquiry, the Observer can reveal.
Eighty years on from one of the darkest episodes in British history, the government is to carry out a review into the numbers of prisoners murdered by the Nazis on Alderney, the tiny Channel Island and British crown dependency.
Continue reading...Experts reach conclusion after analysing video of animal that triggered lion hunt
A 30-hour search for an escaped lioness that had residents on the southern fringes of Berlin shelter in their homes and the rest of the German capital on tenterhooks has found that what was thought to be an exotic feline predator was most likely a common wild pig.
After no more sightings of the big cat were reported overnight, Michael Grubert, the mayor of the municipality of Kleinmachnow, said two leading experts had analysed the video that had originally triggered the lion hunt. “With a relatively high degree of certainty the tendency is towards a wild boar,” Grubert said.
Continue reading...People urged to stay inside as officials track down ‘dangerous animal’ in south-west of capital
Residents on the south-western outskirts of Berlin are being urged to stay indoors after overnight sightings of a “loose, dangerous animal”, suspected to be an escaped lioness.
Brandenburg police advised people living in the districts of Kleinmachnow, Stahnsdorf and Teltow on the borders of the German capital to refrain from walking in the woods and to keep pets or farm animals indoors on Thursday. Nurseries were allowed to open but they were urged to avoid letting children play outdoors.
Continue reading...Follow the day’s news live
It will be easier for women to medically terminate pregnancies up to 63 days of gestation, now that the Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved an application from MS Health to amend restrictions on the prescribing of MS-2 Step (Mifepristone and Misoprostol).
MS-2 Step was only able to be prescribed by a doctor certified to prescribe the medicine, and then dispensed by a pharmacist who was a registered dispenser.
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While we know that slowing global growth, higher prices and higher interest rates will impact our economy and labour market and continue to strain household budgets over the coming months, Australia is in a better position than nearly anyone else to face the challenges ahead.
Continue reading...Berlin to buy 100 Boxer heavy weapon carriers made in Brisbane by German manufacturer Rheinmetall
The prime minister has touched down in Europe, confirming a deal worth more than $1bn to sell Australian-made armoured vehicles to Germany before talks at a Nato summit.
Anthony Albanese landed in Berlin on Sunday night, German time, before a scheduled meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday.
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