Paris: The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain called late Friday for an “immediate return” to a Gaza ceasefire, as Israel’s military pressed its renewed offensive in the Palestinian territory. Israel on Tuesday began a fresh assault on the war-battered enclave, shattering the relative calm since a January 19 ceasefire. “The resumption of Israeli … Read more
Germany’s upper house of parliament on Friday gave the final seal of approval to a massive spending package to build up the military and overhaul infrastructure. Worth hundreds of billions of euros, the so-called spending “bazooka” has been pushed by the likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose centre-right CDU/CSU won elections last month and is … Read more
Berlin: Germany accused President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday of “playing a game” after Kyiv reported Russian strikes on Ukranian civilian infrastructure hours after Moscow agreed to temporarily pause attacks on energy facilities. “We’ve seen that attacks on civilian infrastructure have not eased at all in the first night after this supposedly ground-breaking, great phone call” … Read more
Germany is nearing an agreement to unlock €3 billion of military aid for Ukraine, alongside a broader set of measures to revamp the country’s defense and infrastructure. The authorization is likely to come in the weeks ahead as Germany seeks to change constitutional borrowing rules to boost its military spending. The additional funding would almost … Read more
Berlin: Germany’s conservative election winner Friedrich Merz came a step closer Saturday towards forming a government which he has pledged will revive Europe’s top economy and its armed forces with massive new spending. The bold moves are part of his plan to rebuild Berlin’s standing in Europe, which Merz has said must respond to the … Read more
Rome: The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said on Saturday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave. “The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable … Read more
Berlin: Germany on Monday urged Israel to “immediately” stop blocking aid flowing into war-ravaged Gaza, after Israel made the move as talks on a truce extension appeared to hit an impasse. “Unimpeded access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip must be guaranteed at all times,” foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a press briefing. … Read more
German elections this week have once again underlined that Europe’s political landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Friedrich Merz’s conservatives won, but the star of the election night was Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which managed to double its support in just four years to 20.8%, emerging as the second biggest political force in the … Read more
New York: Rose Girone, the woman believed to be the oldest known Holocaust survivor, has died, her family and a Jewish organization that secures compensation for Holocaust survivors said on Thursday. When her husband was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp, Girone was eight months pregnant, the non-profit Claims Conference said in … Read more
The 2025 German federal election has brought a shift in Europe’s political landscape. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) emerged as the strongest party with 28.5% of the vote, while the Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to 20.8%, nearly doubling its vote share. This result underscores deepening regional, generational, and ideological divisions—west Germany largely stayed with … Read more
Berlin: Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance led by Friedrich Merz won Sunday’s elections with between 28.5 and 29 percent of the vote, according to first TV exit polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) followed in second place with 19.5 to 20 percent, roughly doubling its result in the last election in 2021, based on initial … Read more
A peculiar mystery involving the appearance of over 1,000 QR codes on gravestones in Munich, Germany has finally been solved. The QR codes first caught the public’s attention in December last year when cemetery-goers noticed the discreet stickers pasted on the headstones of their loved ones. When scanned, the codes revealed the names of the … Read more