Winter election in the air for Germany as Olaf Scholz under pressure to get the timing rightChancellor is open to moving poll date forward to January, but some fear early vote will bring high risks for smaller partiesFri Nov 08 2024 - 19:05
Olaf Scholz finally delivers on dynamic promise as firing of Germany’s finance chief blows up his coalitionGerman chancellor morphs from soft-spoken lawyer into Scholzilla on live TV, saying there is ‘no basis of trust for further co-operation’Thu Nov 07 2024 - 20:19
Germany’s coalition stands on a knife edge after Olaf Scholz fires finance ministerChancellor accuses FDP leader Christian Lindner of ‘egotism’, but will wait until January to call snap electionWed Nov 06 2024 - 21:37
ECHR to examine case of Irishman Oisín Osborn, shot dead by Hamburg police in May 2019 Osborn family believe killing of son resulted from excessive police forceTue Nov 05 2024 - 15:41
German police arrest eight suspected members of right-wing group plotting ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaignProsecutors say members 'share a fundamental renunciation of the free democratic order' of the German stateTue Nov 05 2024 - 10:35
Multi-billion stimulus plan proposed for GermanyGerman economics minister Robert Habeck argues country trapped in vicious circle of low growth and a tight fiscal corsetThu Oct 24 2024 - 06:00
Germany’s Scholz faces wrath of business leaders against grim economic backdropChancellor under pressure amid sluggish economy and opposition leader’s popularityWed Oct 23 2024 - 06:00
Where is our hot moral indignation when it comes to the fathers of the babies found at Tuam?Small Things Like These misses an essential truth about Catholic IrelandMon Oct 21 2024 - 06:15
German mayor resigns over homophobic abuseNeubrandenburg’s town council has voted to ban the LGBT+ rainbow flag from its train stationFri Oct 18 2024 - 18:08
Biden calls for greater backing for Ukraine and praises German support on short visit to Berlin US president in Germany to hold talks with Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and Keir StarmerFri Oct 18 2024 - 15:39
Germany wrestles with its arms sales to IsraelLegal and ideological concerns including claims of genocide influence Berlin as it calibrates its supply of weapons in the context of the wars in Gaza and LebanonTue Oct 15 2024 - 18:50
EU considers controversial deportation sites outside its bordersProposal would see asylum seekers deported to ‘hubs’ outside of the EU then returned to home countriesTue Oct 15 2024 - 16:31
Ex-Stasi officer sentenced over Berlin Wall killing in 1974Polish man Czeslaw Kukuczka was shot in the back as he tried to escape to West GermanyMon Oct 14 2024 - 19:16
Germany struggles with complexities of its relationship with Israel as war and suffering continueIn the country of the Holocaust, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps have spent the last year facing off on a daily basisThu Oct 10 2024 - 18:52
Populist German politicians agree on Russia but clash on migration in first debate Parties of two alpha females of German politics now attract nearly 30% of national support in opinion pollsThu Oct 10 2024 - 15:12
How Hazel Behan was treated in German rape trial of Madeleine McCann suspect Presiding judge Uta Engemann has been criticised for her lack of sensitivity and empathy with Hazel Behan. She asked questions that prompted regular gasps from the public galleryTue Oct 08 2024 - 20:14
Chief suspect in Madeleine McCann case acquitted by German court of rape of Irish womanAccusations against Christian Brückner, unrelated to McCann case, included the sexual assault of Hazel BehanTue Oct 08 2024 - 10:53
Up in smoke: Germany’s bright new cannabis dawn obscured by cloud of bureaucracyRecreational drug legalised in April, but promised licensed shops have not materialised, while cannabis clubs are still waiting for permitsTue Oct 01 2024 - 17:47
Warsaw’s former police chief accused of accidentally blowing hole in headquarters with grenade launcherJaroslaw Szymczyk thought grenade launcher was a loudspeaker, say reportsTue Oct 01 2024 - 13:22
Austria’s victorious right-wing Freedom Party scored best with closed-border policies and unrivalled mastery of social mediaFor jubilant FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, coalition talks must end with him in the chancellery and his party heading governmentMon Sept 30 2024 - 19:32
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party scores historic election winTough negotiations loom as controversial FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl aims to form governmentSun Sept 29 2024 - 17:23
Life imitates art as populists collapse Thuringia parliamentFar-right AfD’s collapse of inaugural sitting of Thuringia state parliament provides timely backdrop to new play in which populist governor sparks constitutional crisisFri Sept 27 2024 - 16:53
Far-right Freedom Party promises ‘fortress Austria’ and zero-asylum policy as country goes to pollsFPÖ leader Herbert Kickl has shaped party’s populist brand with rhyming, racist rhetoricThu Sept 26 2024 - 20:07
Angela Merkel thwarted Friedrich Merz’s ambition to succeed her. Now they have buried the hatchetMan who finally became CDU leader in 2022 hosts event to belatedly mark Merkel’s 70th birthdayThu Sept 26 2024 - 17:45
German Green resignations increase speculation of snap electionGreen leadership steps down in Germany three days after party ejected from new Brandenburg state parliament in Potsdam after polling just 4%Wed Sept 25 2024 - 18:18
Germany warns UniCredit on mooted Commerzbank takeoverGerman government has no plans to sell remaining stake in CommerzbankWed Sept 25 2024 - 16:05
Italian bank UniCredit’s bid for German stalwart Commerzbank provokes outrageHowever, State sold shares accumulated during 2008-2010 banking crisis to bidder in auctionTue Sept 24 2024 - 16:02
Germany’s SPD benefits from keeping Olaf Scholz in backgroundChancellor has lost his three-year-old hero factor in recent elections. He has even been dropped from SPD postersMon Sept 23 2024 - 19:48
Pastors make stand as Alternative for Germany set for electoral gains in chancellor’s backyard Polls say the far-right party will get another big win in Tuesday’s state election in Brandenberg, further weakening the position of chancellor Olaf ScholzFri Sept 20 2024 - 15:00
Germany grapples with fresh economic blow as Intel pulls plug on new plantSite-clearing had already begun at giant new site for the troubled chipmakerWed Sept 18 2024 - 06:00
Friedrich Merz to compete against Olaf Scholz for chancellery in 2025 Centre-right opposition leader gets CDU and CSU backing in shift towards tougher line on migrationTue Sept 17 2024 - 18:08
Herbert Kickl, the skilled sloganeer aiming to make Austria a ‘fortress’ against immigration The leader of Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) hopes to become ‘the people’s chancellor’ following this month’s general electionTue Sept 17 2024 - 18:07
Europe floods: At least 15 killed amid record water levels across east and centre of ContinentCzech military helicopters deployed to rescue people from homes as evacuations take place in multiple cities in several countriesMon Sept 16 2024 - 18:54
German police say new border checks ‘impossible to implement’Interior minister Nancy Faeser said decision to temporarily set aside open-border measures was due to security risk posed by the numbers of irregular arrivalsMon Sept 16 2024 - 17:57
At least eight dead as heavy rains and gale force winds hit central EuropeLower Austria, the state surrounding Vienna, declared a disaster area with some 20,000 rescue crew members at workSun Sept 15 2024 - 20:53
Austrian woman given prison sentence for killing neighbour by infecting him with CovidWoman (54) ignored lockdown measures in December 2021Fri Sept 13 2024 - 16:30
German ministry denies claims it considered sanctioning academics supporting Palestine Academics sign letter backing students’ ‘right to peaceful protest’ in wake of Israel’s invasion of GazaThu Sept 12 2024 - 19:40
Germany orders nationwide checks after Dresden bridge collapseStretch of Carola Bridge fell into the river Elbe on WednesdayWed Sept 11 2024 - 19:06
Olaf Scholz attacks German opposition over migration standoffSocial Democratic Party leader rejects Christian Democratic Union claim government has ‘lost control’ of immigrationWed Sept 11 2024 - 18:12
German border checks the frustrating new normal in what was the heart of EU’s open-border Schengen areaAs migration ramps up tensions in the Scholz coalition, few in Berlin expect ‘temporary’ border measures to be eased before June 2026, when a new EU migration and asylum pact comes inTue Sept 10 2024 - 19:08
Germany announces plans to introduce checks on all bordersInterior minister says: ‘We are strengthening our inner security with concrete action’Mon Sept 09 2024 - 18:03
German Chancellor says ‘now is time’ for talks between Ukraine and RussiaGermany's Olaf Scholz tells ZDF the time is right ‘to discuss how we can get out of this war situation and towards peace’Sun Sept 08 2024 - 19:33
Germany’s leaders are struggling to deliver stable government, healthy economy and secure social orderWith old political certainties withering and new populist parties surging, the 75th birthday party for German parliamentary democracy is a festival of strange bedfellowsSun Sept 08 2024 - 17:58
What I Read This Week: Grenfell heartbreak and Germanglophiles obsession with nudityDerek Scally on the stories that caught his eye including how talk about mental health in Ireland rarely results in actionSat Sept 07 2024 - 08:00
Zelenskiy tells western defence ministers of ‘significant’ gaps between arms pledges and actual deliveriesUS defence minister praises Ukraine’s surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region for putting ‘the Kremlin’s army of aggression now on the defensive on its own turf’.Fri Sept 06 2024 - 16:38
VW’s crisis of confidence is giving the German economy a migraineThe carmaker’s struggles reflect the difficult time the country’s once-vaunted manufacturing base is going throughFri Sept 06 2024 - 06:00
Germany’s ‘prudent’ but unpopular Olaf Scholz grapples with immigration, asylum and arms for Ukraine Representative survey out this week indicated just 23 per cent of Germans would like Chancellor to return for a second termThu Sept 05 2024 - 19:48
Members of Germany’s CDU call for co-operation ban on Sahra Wagenknecht AllianceBSW party made strong showing in regional elections in Saxony and ThuringiaWed Sept 04 2024 - 19:00
Volkswagen workers in revolt as company warns of painful cutsFinance chief says drastic cost-cutting measures necessary amid weak demand in EuropeWed Sept 04 2024 - 17:28
Former top VW executive goes on trial over emissions fraudMartin Winterkorn trial comes as company seeks €5bn of cuts amid slowdownWed Sept 04 2024 - 06:00
