News from Germany
You can access our news covering German politics, economics, culture, science and sports at www.german-news-service.com or directly via our weekly newsletter.
We also provide additional services for journalists, media professionals and website operators. (This offer is not available for German speaking european Countries.)
For journalists and media professionals: dpa agency material
Get daily agency reports, including images, from the German press agency dpa covering the most important national and international news and events concerning Germany.
You can process news items, backgrounders or round-ups directly and without additional research while publishing under your brand free of charge and without time limits.
At a glance:
- agency material free of charge
- up to 10 reports from all news desks per day (texts and images)
- publication under your own media brand in traditional, online and social media
- no license or technical service fees
- available in Arabic, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish and Serbian
Are you a journalist or media professional and want to use this service? Simply fill out our registration form.
For website operators: DW articles, pictures and videos
With a DW content box, video player or via RSS import media companies, institutions, organizations and professional partners can integrate the latest news from Germany directly into their website without any additional work.
At a glance:
- articles, pictures and videos
- simple, customized integration
- exclusive, automatically updated content
- available in Arabic, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Bosnian, and Serbian
If would you like more information, have special requirements or want to start accessing content from DW right away, just send us an e-mail. By submitting an e-mail, you automatically accept our Terms and Conditions for the usage of DW’s RSS feeds.
If you want to tell others about the German News Service, please feel free to use information flyer.
Magdeburg Christmas market attack
Syria: Germany cautions against Turkey-Kurdish conflict
Germany has cautioned Turkey against using the ousting of Bashar Assad's regime to strike at Kurdish forces in Syria, saying such a conflict would have broader security implications.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) would be the only ones who stood to gain from Turkey attacking Kurds in Syria. Kurdish forces have played an integral role in defeating IS.
On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups that posed a threat to Syria's survival, namely the IS jihadis and Kurdish fighters.
What Baerbock has said
"This must not happen," Baerbock said Monday on Germany's Deutschlandfunk public radio.
"It would help no one if the Islamic State terrorists were the ones to benefit from a conflict with the Kurds. This would pose a security threat to Syria, Turkey and Europe."
Last week, Baerbock highlighted the role Kurds played in the fight against IS and said Turkey had a responsibility to preserve Syria's territorial integrity.
Turkey has maintained strong ties with Syria's new leaders and has carried out repeated military operations against the Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria, which it sees as an offshoot of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
The Turkish government claimed that more than 40,000 people have been killed as a result of PKK terrorism.
Turkey's response
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said later on Monday the new Syrian government must not tolerate terrorism within its borders.
"In the future of Syria and our region, there is no place for any terrorist organization, including IS and the PKK," he said.
He also said Turkey would respect Syria's territorial integrity.
"The territorial integrity of Syria must be protected — this is a red line for Turkey," he said. "We will never step back from this principle."
Syria's interim leadership holds talks
Amid concern that Turkey and its allied militias may be preparing to launch an offensive on the northern Syrian border town of Kobane, Syria's interim leadership has been holding a series of talks.
In the latest discussions, Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has met with senior diplomats from Jordan and Qatar, having met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed support for "a government that represents all spectrums in Syria," as well as for "the drafting of a new constitution," according to Jordan's official Al-Mamlaka TV.
"We agree to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their state," Safadi was quoted as saying, adding that "the Arab countries agree to support Syria at this stage without any external interference."
kb/sms (dpa, AFP)
Germany: Man arrested over TikTok Christmas market threat
Police in the northern German port city of Bremerhaven arrested a man over an online threat to stab everyone with an "Arab or southern" appearance at the local Christmas market.
The man was released later on Monday after a psychiatric examination. A psychiatrist found the man did not pose a danger to others, broadcaster Radio Bremen reported.
The arrest and release came after a man drove a car through the Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday, killing five people.
What was said in the video?
The individual in Bremerhaven, with long gray hair, a beard, and glasses, repeatedly says he will target people with Arab appearance and that he has nothing to lose.
"I will go to the Christmas market here in Bremerhaven on the 25th and I'm going to stab anyone who looks Arab or southern — anyone. I'm taking enough knives with me."
The man says it "must finally come to an end here in Germany."
"This is no joke... I've got nothing to lose. I have no relatives. I am alone and I live alone. I could just as well be dead or in jail," the man says.
At the beginning of the video, the man says he comes from Bremerhaven.
He says he is posting the video in case a previous message hadn't appeared or had been blocked.
How did police respond?
After several people pointed out the video to authorities, police thanked the public and said: "Measures have already been initiated."
They later said the man had been arrested "very quickly" and that there was no danger to the public.
They did not initially provide specific information about the possible motive for the crime.
Bremerhaven, which lies on the Weser River estuary, is one of Germany's busiest ports and is an exclave of the city-state of Bremen.
The Christmas market there runs until December 30 — later than most in Germany which typically close before the main festive celebrations.
Security tightened at Christmas markets
Christmas markets are currently the focus of security authorities after a man drove a car through a Christmas market in the central German city of Magdeburg, killing five, including a 9-year-old child, and wounding 200.
The 50-year-old suspect in the attack is a Saudi Arabian doctor who has lived in Germany since 2006.
rc/rm (dpa, epd, AFP)
German defense minister warns of Russian 'hybrid warfare'
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned Sunday that Berlin must be ready to respond to any hybrid attacks from Russia in the run-up to snap federal elections and beyond.
A hybrid attack is a comprehensive cyber assault that uses multiple methods to infiltrate and compromise a target's IT systems, networks, or devices.
Pistorius' comments follow a warning by German spy chiefs over an increased Kremlin threat in October.
What did Pistorius say?
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is engaging in hybrid attacks, and Germany is particularly in focus," Pistorius told the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper group.
"He knows us well, Putin knows how to make pinpricks in us," the defense minister added. "Ignoring this threat because it makes us uncomfortable will not make it smaller but rather larger."
Pistorious cited recent incidents targeting Germany's infrastructure and energy supply, including activities blamed on Russia in the North and Baltic Seas.
He said the threat may come from disinformation on social media, designed by Kremlin-back actors to divide German society, which could help the far-right and populist parties.
"There are also campaigns on social media, interference in election campaigns, and the financing of voices, such as [the far-right Alternative for Germany] AfD and [the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance] BSW, claiming that we are not concerned with our own protection, but are heading for a war with Russia."
"We must do everything we can to prevent Putin's strategy from succeeding," Pistorius added.
Russia's military spending a threat to NATO
While there is no imminent military threat from Moscow, the defense minister warned that Putin could have rearmed his country by 2030, giving it the ability to attack NATO members.
"We must also expect that in the next few years, Putin could test how united NATO really is by making an advance in one place or another of the alliance's territory," Pistorius told the newspaper group.
Since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 20222, Putin has turned Russia into a war economy, producing more weapons and ammunition in months than all European Union states in a single year, the minister added.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government also ramped up military spending after the invasion, bringing Berlin's defense spending into line with NATO targets for the first time in decades.
When asked whether Germany is where it needs to be militarily, Pistorius said, "We are on a good path."
This year alone, he noted, 97 major projects worth €58 billion ($60.5 billion) have been launched, surpassing last year's record. But he added that it would take more than one legislative period to close the gap on 30 years of underfunding.
On Wednesday, the German Navy got key approval to expand its fleet with an order for four more advanced submarines, in a deal with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) costing about €4.7 billion.
Also this week, Pistorius said Berlin plans to increase the size of its armed forces to 230,000, up from the current target of 203,000.
However, the minister told Funke newspapers that Germany's defense sector "needs time to ramp up production capacities to produce weapons and ammunition," as the production of tanks, frigates and submarines can take several years.
Pistorius ranks highest in public support
Separately, a poll for Bild am Sonntag newspaper placed Pistorius up top in an annual ranking of German politicians.
Around 46% of those surveyed by Insa said they thought the defense minister should have as much influence as possible in German politics next year.
Bavaria's conservative state Premier Markus Söder (CSU) scored 38% on the same question, while Scholz was beaten into sixth place with 28% support.
Scholz came in behind BSW chief Wagenknecht, center-right CDU leader Friedrich Merz and AfD co-chair Alice Weidel.
mm/sms (dpa, Reuters)
Germany: Colombian care workers will not be deported
Andrea and Tino Wohlmacher ought to be celebrating. But the managers of a home for 48 dementia patients in Wilstedt, near Bremen, simply have too much to do before Christmas. They've just scored their first small victory against Germany's labyrinthine bureaucratic system of asylum applications, skilled worker immigration and deportations.
The 10 caregivers from Colombia that they employ have been granted permission to stay for the time being. Two- or three-year training contracts will allow them to stay and will prevent them from being repatriated. "We all breathed a huge sigh of relief," Andrea Wohlmacher told DW.
The story of the 10 Colombians illustrates the difficulties Germany faces in attracting and retaining urgently needed workers while maintaining a clear distinction between asylum and labor migration at the same time. This is because the untrained workers from South America submitted applications for asylum — and they were rejected.
For this reason, they were not permitted to change their applicant status to that of skilled workers. This meant that the Colombians were in danger of being forced to leave Germany, and as a result, the care facility would likely be forced to close due to a lack of staff.
"We are, I think, a perfect example of why migration is necessary. And not just for skilled workers. In Germany, we've had a shortage of workers for decades, especially in the care sector," said Andrea Wohlmacher.
According to the German Council for Nursing (DPR), there is already a shortage of around 115,000 professional nursing staff in full-time positions. The labor market is in dire straits and many hospitals, care services, and retirement homes can only survive with staff from abroad.
Case sparked outrage in Germany
When their 10 employees were threatened with deportation, the two directors in Wilstedt pulled out all the stops and made their case public. They wrote an open letter to eight politicians, prompting dozens of television crews to flock to Wilstedt. A petition to the German government received 83,782 signatures and German health minister Karl Lauterbach even accepted the petition in person.
The case sparked outrage throughout Germany: How can it be that people who are well integrated, who pay their taxes, and who are there day and night for people in need of care, are being told to leave the country?
But there is also another aspect to consider: What kind of signal is Germany sending abroad if rejected asylum-seekers can somehow remain in the country even without the appropriate training? The final decision now lies with a commission in the state of Lower Saxony responsible for handling exceptional cases.
When the petition was handed to Lauterbach, he promised to do whatever was in his power, adding: "We wouldn't be able to provide the same standard of care in Germany if we didn't have so many care workers from abroad." He said he wants to send a clear message: "Foreign care workers are more than welcome here because we depend on them and have had very positive experiences with them."
Andrea Wohlmacher firmly believes that without the publicity and talks with politicians at every level, the Colombian caregivers would probably still be facing the threat of deportation. The education permit that has staved off their deportation for the time being will now give the care home and its team a little breathing room. The 10 caregivers are currently being trained as nursing assistants, nurses and cooks.
Reform of the German immigration system needed
That is why the man who is tasked with ensuring that the immigration of skilled workers to Germany takes place in an orderly manner — in other words, not by means of a potentially hopeless asylum application — recently held talks in the Colombian capital Bogota.
For almost two years, Joachim Stamp has been the German government's special advisor for migration agreements.
"We want to reduce unauthorized migration and enable better management of labor migration. I have also made it clear in the Colombian media that the way into the German labor market is not through asylum law, but only through the proper immigration of skilled workers," Stamp told DW.
This is because the latest approval rate for asylum seekers from Colombia was 0.4%, meaning that only one in 250 Colombians had their asylum application approved. At the same time, however, an increasing number of Colombians are trying to immigrate to Germany by making applications for asylum. While the number of applications was 138 in 2018, last year 3,337 people from Colombia applied for asylum in Germany.
There are currently 14,000 Colombians living in Germany who are working and paying social security contributions. In addition, there are 3,500 students and postgraduates, as well as around 500 academics.
Germany aims to promote the regular migration of workers and decrease the number of ineligible asylum applications by establishing comprehensive migration partnerships with countries such as Colombia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Morocco and Kenya. The aim is to prevent cases like the one in the Wilstedt care facility from happening again in the future.
"It is a tragedy when nice and hard-working people are exploited by smugglers and misled into seeking asylum. Many people are clearly being purposefully misinformed by the smuggling networks," said Joachim Stamp. "Colombians who want to come to Germany should find their way into the job market and not into refugee shelters."
This article was originally published in German.
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
Human trafficking from Vietnam to Europe: What can be done?
Nam (name changed) had to wait 12 years before he could return from Europe to his parents in Vietnam. He couldn't return earlier because he had lived illegally in Germany and lacked the necessary papers to travel freely.
As a young man in search of a better life, he had decided to try his luck in Europe in 2012.
The then 20-year-old and his family borrowed money to pay human traffickers.
Nam was smuggled into Germany via Russia and lived the life of a "naked person," a term used in Vietnamese chat groups on Facebook like Luật Pháp Đức (German law) to describe illegal and undocumented migrants.
In such groups, people can pose questions anonymously, including queries related to accessing health care, travel outside Germany, marriage and divorce.
Not an isolated case
Nam's story is not an isolated case, as human trafficking from Vietnam to Europe has become a significant problem in recent years, even though the full extent of the issue remains unclear.
The issue of human trafficking from Vietnam came to the fore in October 2019 when 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered suffocated in a refrigerated truck parked outside an industrial estate in the UK county of Essex.
Several of the victims were believed to have been smuggled into Europe to work as forced laborers.
In response, the European Union, in collaboration with Europol and Interpol, decided in 2021 to focus more on fightiing human trafficking. In Germany, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) initiated a four-year research project to better understand the people-smuggling networks and methods involving Vietnamese nationals.
The BKA found in its analysis that the abuse and suffering experienced by male and female victims vary, with men generally facing labor exploitation while women are significantly more likely to be sexually exploited.
Silence is a challenge
The victims usually remain silent, which is one of the reasons why little is known of these crimes, the law enforcement agency said. It's striking, for instance, that none of the Vietnamese victims in the BKA's research sample pressed charges.
"Victims experience a very serious violation, namely that of their human rights. But victims often do not seem to perceive themselves as such," Tanja Cornelius, a researcher at the BKA's Organized Crime, Economic Crime, and Cybercrime Research Unit, told DW.
Nicole Baumann, chief superintendent at the BKA who has been working in the field of human trafficking for over 20 years, said that victims' silence poses a challenge. "Criminal proceedings are hardly possible without victim statements," she pointed out.
As a result, many crimes remain undetected and unpunished.
Similar interests and goals
Cornelius pointed to the "perfidious situation" of the victims, whose goals, in a way, run parallel to those of the perpetrators.
Research in criminal psychology reveals that victims, not traffickers, fear being caught and losing all their money and effort.
"People probably often assume that there will be a few very hard years full of deprivation at first," Baumann said, adding that they remain under the radar while working hard with the hope of paying off the debt and getting "papers" quickly. This helps the perpetrators, who also have an interest in remaining unnoticed, she noted.
That many victims see it as an opportunity is reflected in the fact that they borrow huge sums of money and take on significant risk to embark on the journey to reach Germany.
It's estimated that people smugglers charge anywhere between €10,000 ($10,500) and €23,000 per migrant, an enormous amount considering that the monthly per-capita income in the Southeast Asian country amounts to just around €190, according to government data.
The vast sum and high risk don't seem to deter many Vietnamese, as they remain willing to pay the price in pursuit of their dreams of a better life.
What role do societal factors play?
Peer pressure also plays a role.
Vietnam currently boasts many municipalities with high-rise buildings and villas of the nouveau rich imitating European architecture with pillars and tympanums. There are a number of "VND billionaire villages" where many residents became enormously rich thanks to labor exports and remittances from foreign workers.
Several of these places have been nicknamed "Seoul" or "Europe" because a significant number of people from these areas work abroad.
Young Vietnamese from these so-called "villages of tycoons," like Nam, face strong pressure from family and wider society to succeed, like others who have managed to migrate to Europe.
Some Vietnamese people smugglers and organizations that facilitate work visas also use social media to disseminate images of expensive cars, luxury trips or fancy, brand-name clothing to influence people's decision to migrate.
"Wealth is communicated on social media, and this also creates a false image. There is hardly any information about failures," Baumann said.
Social factors also play a role in ensuring the victims remain silent. Pressure to succeed leads Vietnamese victims to refrain from sharing their failures or struggles, including harsh working conditions or sexual exploitation.
Some are also willing to go to great lengths and endure any hardship to support their family.
The 2019 Essex case, however, proved a turning point, with several trafficking victims anonymously sharing their stories after that tragedy. While the disaster drew plenty of media coverage in the immediate aftermath, the focus slowly faded away.
Considering all the factors, in the case of human trafficking involving Vietnamese, violence is believed to play a subordinate role, with perpetrators usually relying on social pressure and family expectations instead of threats and intimidation.
Need for legal migration
Cornelius and Baumann, the BKA officials, emphasize that their project and research outcome are not about criminalizing a community.
Most migration from Vietnam is legal and welcome, as an aging German society needs qualified workers from Vietnam.
Recognizing the need for Vietnamese labor, the governments of both countries recently inked an agreement to boost skilled immigration.
Nam said there will always be a small number of people who will try the illegal route.
In some cases, and especially in illegal contexts, there are perceived benefits.
"They don't need to learn German, and, more importantly, they can make more money immediately. For some poorly educated Vietnamese from villages with little economic prospects, this decision makes sense," Nam added.
What needs to be done?
Combating criminal activities and people-smuggling requires an effort by society as a whole, with officials from both Vietnam and Germany working closely together.
Vietnam has just released its Migration Profile 2023 report, cooperating with global agencies like Interpol and considering joining the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air — which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime — to promote border management cooperation and fight and prevent transnational crime.
Baumann stressed that education and raising awareness remain key, especially targeting those who are likely to fall victim to human trafficking. Individuals and families can only make the right decisions if they know what the situation in Germany is like for illegal migrants, the official noted.
There are, however, legal ways to migrate, which every Vietnamese can find out about at the German Embassy in Vietnam. It may be more time-consuming, but it is a safer option.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
Germany: Child sleeps in front of kindergarten 'to be there first'
A woman called police on Sunday morning after spotting a child sleeping in front of a kindergarten entrance at 05:20 a.m. (0420 UTC/GMT) in Unna, which is located on the outskirts of the western Germancity of Dortmund.
Officers who arrived to pick the child up discovered that the four-year-old girl had left her parents' home on her own initiative, with the goal of being the first to arrive at her kindergarten.
Girl slept out in cold conditions
After finding out the kindergarten was closed, the girl fell asleep in front of its entrance.
The weather in the Unna area that night was six degrees centigrade with rain. It was also one of the longest nights of the year.
According to a statement on the Unna Police's Facebook page, the parents were then woken up by the officers who brought their daughter back home.
The parents — who were "baffled” by the officers' visit, according to police — had not noticed their child being missing.
Users replying to local broadcaster WDR's Facebook post about the story said they remember having similar experiences as children.
"Sounds familiar to me," said one user.
"I remember going to school alone at 06:00 in the morning as a child. My father then dropped by to bring me the bag I had forgotten to take with me," commented another.
The one comment everyone seemed to agree on: "Thankfully it all went well. Still, very sweet!"
ftm/kb (dpa, open sources)
German politicians criticize Musk backing for far-right AfD
The leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Friday welcomed a social media post by Elon Musk in which the American tech billionaire expressed support for her party.
Musk, a prominent supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, opined on his platform X (formerly Twitter) on Friday morning that "Only the AfD can save Germany."
Alice Weidel, who is running for chancellor as co-leader of the AfD, responded to Musk an hour later, saying:
"Yes! You are perfectly right! Please also have a look into my interview on President Trump, how socialist Merkel ruined our country, how the Soviet European Union destroys the countries [sic] economic backbone and malfunctioning Germany!"
What is the AfD?
The AfD is currently polling at around 19% ahead of the German federal election in February, second only to the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at around 33%.
But all the other parties currently in the German parliament have ruled out forming a coalition with them.
The AfD is officially suspected of being an extreme-right organization by Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesverfassungsschutz or BfV).
In the eastern German states of Saxony and Thuringia it is officially categorized as such.
In January 2024, AfD figures including Weidel's former political aide Roland Hartwig were reported to have attended a clandestine meeting of European extreme-right figures including Austrian identitarian Martin Sellner at which a "masterplan" for the deportation of millions of people with migratory backgrounds, including naturalized German citizens, was discussed.
How have other German politicians responded?
Asked about Musk's comments, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: "Freedom of expression also applies to multi-billionaires, but it also means that you're allowed to say things which aren't correct, and aren't good political advice."
Other German lawmakers from across the political spectrum criticized both Musk's post and Weidel's response, slamming "interference" and insisting that no other party will form a government with "fascists bought by billionaires."
"I was a bit surprised because we usually hear that Elon Musk is this gifted wunderkind, but when I hear these comments, I have to doubt that," the CDU's Alexander Throm told DW in Berlin.
"Change can only be made by those who govern. And the AfD will not govern. Because no other party will form a government with them."
Clara Bünger from the Left Party told DW she had no doubt that Musk's comments constituted "interference" but insisted: "It remains the case that he's not really contributing to anything policy-wise, and that he doesn't really know how political discussions work in Germany."
Anton Hofreiter from the Green Party called the AfD "traitors bought by billionaires" and "a band of fascists who have not only been bought by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin but are now being supported by a multi-billionaire-turned-right-wing-extremist."
In 2019, a German court ruled that Björn Höcke, the leader of the AfD in the regional state parliament in the eastern state of Thuringia, may legally be described as a "fascist," based on a "verifiable factual basis."
Musk: support for Trump, Farage and now the AfD?
It's not the first time that Musk has addressed the AfD. At the start of June, he posted: "They keep saying 'far right,' but the policies of AfD that I've read about don't sound extremist. Maybe I'm missing something."
After backing President-elect Trump's reelection campaign in the United States this year, Musk has also expressed support for the United Kingdom's far-right "Reform UK" and its populist leader Nigel Farage.
This week, Farage told the BBC that his party is in "open negotiations" with Musk regarding a potential donation, which The Times has reported could be as high as £78m ($100m, €96m), by the far the biggest political donation in British political history, sparking calls for the UK to tighten its electoral rules.
In Germany, state security services have warned that the upcoming federal election could be targeted by disinformation campaigns not only from Russia, but also from the United States.
Meanwhile, the leader of Germany's neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), Christian Lindner, sparked controversy this month when he appeared to praise the political views and activities of Musk and right-wing populist Argentinian President Javier Milei.
"Both Milei and Musk represent views which are in part extreme, absurd and even disturbing," he wrote in the Handelsblatt financial newspaper. "Yet it has to be said: behind the provocations is a disruptive energy which is lacking in Germany."
On Friday, replying to Musk on X, he claimed that he had "initiated a policy debate" with his comments, but cautioned against supporting the AfD.
"While migration control is crucial for Germany, the AfD stands against freedom [and] business – and it's a far-right extremist party," he said. "Don't rush to conclusions from afar. Let's meet, and I'll show you what the FDP stands for."
mf/lo (AFP, dpa)
Fact Check: AfD supporters spread false survey about upcoming German election
Germany's political parties have begun presenting their draft election manifestos before the upcoming snap election in February 2025. This is earlier than originally planned (here's why), and the election campaigns of the major parties have also begun on social media. One survey spread by supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) went viral with more than 370,000 views on TikTok. DW fact-checked the claim made in the posts.
Claim: The poll in this TikTok video allegedly shows a current survey (December 16), which indicates that most respondents in Germany would vote for the AfD in the upcoming federal elections, locally known as the Bundestagswahl.
DW Fact check: False.
The TikTok video was posted by a pro-AfD account with more than 20,000 followers. The video shows a photo of Alice Weidel, AfD's leading candidate for chancellor, and beneath it a survey, allegedly from December 16, 2024. The survey claims that 28 percent of respondents would vote for AfD, while 25 percent would vote for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), 16 percent for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and 14 percent for the left-wing Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
However, the poll has no connection to the upcoming federal elections and is not current either. The figures come from the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA), a German institute that conducts political and market research, and are related to the Brandenburg state election in September 2024. It was first published on September 17, 2024, before the Brandenburg state election.
The screenshot shown in the TikTok video was taken from a Facebook post of the German private media outletRTL. The source and original date were cropped out in the TikTok video.
According to the latest INSA poll results for the German federal election on December 16, 2024, 31.5% of respondents would vote for the CDU, while 19.5% would vote for the AfD and 16.5% would vote for the SPD.
Edited by: Rachel Baig
Survey: Germans fear Russia — and political instability
There is a sense of crisis in Germany: The economy has slipped into recession, and many people are worried about jobs and inflation. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are also weighing on Germans' minds.
And then, as if to add to the uncertain mood, there was the collapse of Olaf Scholz's coalition government — until recently made up of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the neoliberal FDP — which has triggered an early general election on February 23 next year.
Fear of Russia and Putin remains high
Researchers from infratest-dimap, conducting the latest DeutschlandTrend survey for public broadcaster ARD, asked Germans what they are most concerned about at the moment. Based on interviews with around 1,350 representatively selected citizens, the result was clear: At the top of the list, with 65%, was the fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attack other European countries in the future.
Compared to the survey conducted before the last federal election in 2021, the number of people who fear political uncertainty will continue has risen sharply. Confidence in politicians has also declined.
Germans prepare for likely new Chancellor Merz
Germany is currently being governed by a minority government of the SPD and the Greens after the coalition with the FDP broke up in early November. This damaged the standing of all three parties in opinion polls, and though Scholz's SPD had recovered slightly in recent weeks, all the signs suggest that the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, will win next year's election. The most likely outcome of this is a coalition government of the CDU, its Bavarian sister-party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the SPD.
The second strongest force in German politics is currently the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), sections of which are considered by intelligence agencies to be so extreme that they are a threat to Germany's constitutional order.
Poor approval ratings for all chancellor candidates
Along with the incumbent Scholz and opposition leader Merz, there are two other candidates running for chancellor: Economy Minister Robert Habeck for the Greens, and AfD leader Alice Weidel.
All four candidates have relatively poor approval ratings, reflecting general uncertainty about the political situation in Germany. Merz, at 28%, is slightly ahead of Habeck, on 27%, while Scholz is only on 19%, ahead of Weidel in last place with 17%.
Most parties in favor of further Ukraine support
One of the predominant topics as election campaigning begins is the question of whether Germany should continue to support Ukraine in the war against Russia. Most parties are in favor, albeit with differences in the details. The AfD is against it, while the renegade leftists of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) are also very skeptical.
US President-elect Donald Trump is said to be planning an agreement that would end the war, although it will likely entail Ukraine surrendering territory to Moscow.
Some 39% of Germans believe that Germany is sending too many arms to Ukraine, though a large majority also believes that Ukraine must decide for itself whether and when the country is ready to negotiate with Russia to end the war. But a slight majority shares the view that this will hardly be possible without ceding territory to Russia.
This article was originally published in German.
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
Holy Year 2025: What to expect
Construction workers in Rome have been working hard for weeks and bishops around the world have been motivating Catholics to visit the Holy City. On Christmas Eve, December 24, Pope Francis will open a "Holy Year."
First and foremost, it is a traditional religious event: a solemn pilgrimage to St. Peter's and St. Paul's basilicas and other churches in Rome. The very first Holy Year was officially held in 1300.
It is not only a religious tradition — it is also an important source of revenue: Experts estimate that about 30 million additional visitors will come to Rome in 2025 because of the jubilee.
A historical 'spontaneous awakening'
Jörg Ernesti, a Catholic theologian based in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, describes the year 1300 as "a spontaneous awakening." At the time, the arrival in Rome of a large number of pilgrims caused Pope Boniface VIII to declare a "Jubilee Year," which is also called a "Holy Year." However, the special year back then did not begin on Christmas Eve but at the end of February, with the "papal bull." Boniface also used the occasion to defend himself against accusations of heresy.
Ernesti said Boniface originally stipulated that a Holy Year should be declared every 100 years. But as early as 1350, when the papacy was in deep crisis and a succession of seven popes resided in Avignon, a second Holy Year was declared. And ever since the 15th century, one has been declared every 25 years. Historian Ernesti says "The financial aspect always played a role," adding: "But the solidarity of the universal church through the Holy Year is always important."
The Vatican also always proclaims a Jubilee "indulgence" for the Holy Year. That means if the "truly penitent" make a pilgrimage to at least one major Papal Basilica in Rome, or to the Holy Land, they will receive a full pardon of all of their sins in the afterlife.
The most recent Holy Year was 2016. It was a so-called, "Extraordinary Holy Year," because it was proclaimed earlier than the usual 25-year cycle, by Pope Francis. He announced it as a "Holy Year of Mercy" on March 13, 2015 — exactly two years after his election. Furthermore, we can expect another "Holy Year" in 2033, which will mark the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' death by crucifixion.
A global media event
Jörg Ernesti was 8 years old on Christmas Eve of 1974. He vividly recalls watching a live TV broadcast with his family of Pope Paul VI announcing the Opening of the Holy Year at St. Peter's Square in Rome. Around 40 TV stations were broadcasting live to an estimated 8 billion viewers.
Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) was the first head of the Catholic Church to turn the Holy Year into a global media event. He became President of the Second Vatican Council, which was held from 1962 to 1965. It convened over four years to "update" the Church — especially its attitude toward religious freedom. Paul VI thus had many critics, both conservative and progressive ones. He therefore dedicated the Holy Year 1975 to "Renewal and Reconciliation," as it was officially called. Paul VI pioneered giving the Jubilee Year a programmatic title. That practice has continued today.
At the end of 2015, Pope Francis opened an extraordinary Jubilee for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council. That year's motto was: "Merciful like the Father!" With this theme, Francis wished to anchor his own life's theme of mercy worldwide. A very special gesture just for that one Jubilee: he allowed dioceses around the world to set up a "holy door" in their church, which pilgrims could visit.
'Pilgrims of hope'
The Holy Year 2025 is entitled: "Pilgrims of Hope." This motto closely mirrors how Francis sees his own role — and that of the Church — in a world filled with crises and conflicts. He has been saying for years that the world seems to be experiencing a "Third World War" — one that is globalized and affecting the very poorest people. He has also vehemently denounced arms exports and wars.
The Holy Year should not be understood as only a tradition. Church historian Ernesti explains that, "Not all we associate with it today was there at the beginning." The "Holy Door," for example, as well as the hammer to "open the door," and the "bricking up of the door" at the end of the year, were additions that came many centuries after the year 1300. Now, Francis has decided he will simply "push the door open" and then walk through it. The Holy Door is the right portal of St. Peter's Basilica, which is always closed.
The Holy Year 2025 will also feature some innovations. One of them is the Jubilee's first "mascot." The manga-style pilgrimage figure "Luce" (see top photo) is intended to appeal to young people in particular, of whom the Vatican is expecting several million in Rome at the end of July.
And on September 6th, there will be a pilgrimage by members of the LGBTQ+ community to St. Peter's Basilica — an event that will appear on the official pilgrimage calendar for the very first time.
This article was originally written in German.
The human voice is German instrument of the year 2025
The voice is a democratic instrument per se. Almost anyone without health impediments can use their voice and, unlike other instruments, it doesn't cost anything. "You can be particularly creative with your voice," says Christine Siegert, President of the State Music Councilsin Germany.
The music councils annually choose an instrument of the year, and in 2025 it is the human voice. From singing and speaking to whispering or shouting, the voice can do a lot.
"All these sounds can also be used musically, and you can also be creative with loud shouts or screams," Siegert tells DW.
In addition, the voice connects people all over the world and can overcome cultural, linguistic and geographical boundaries, especially in singing. In short: for the organizers, it is a basis for communication and international understanding.
Singing in protest
"The instrument of the year is also associated with political messages," says Christine Siegert. "We know workers' songs, revolutionary songs like the Marseillaise and we also know how important singing was for Martin Luther during the Reformation. You can achieve a lot with your voice."
In Afghanistan, the Taliban's new "virtue law" prohibits women from singing or speaking loudly in public. Regardless of the content of what is sung or said, the female voice is said to be "seductive." Even if singing takes place inside the house and the sound escapes outside, there is a threat of punishment. But women raise their voices anyway. Protest videos of Afghan women recording their songs at home and posting them online are currently going viral.
The voice as a political instrument
In Germany, the voice has taken on a different political significance this year. When the state music councils decided on "the voice" as the instrument of the year 2025 three years ago, they could not have foreseen the current political situation. "Back then, we thought less about the particular challenges that democracies are currently facing," says Hartmut Schröder, general secretary of the Schleswig-Holstein State Music Council.
The voice is particularly in demand now, he explains to DW: "Here in Germany, we have the upcoming Bundestag elections, so the voice in the parliamentary process is important."
It's important to note that the German word "Stimme" has two meanings: it can mean either voice or vote.
Thus, following the failure of Germany's governing coalition, voters will cast their "voice" — or in English, their vote — in the early federal elections in February and can thus figuratively help determine the political direction of the country.
Instrument of the year
The state music councils of the federal states in Germany have jointly chosen an instrument of the year since 2008. "Back then, we started with the popular instrument, the clarinet," says Hartmut Schröder. "We wanted to draw media attention to music using instruments that are not only associated with the classical genre."
Even today, it's still important to the organizers to bring people together across genres. People who play the same instrument but would hardly have made music together, such as the star clarinetist Sabine Meyer and a band from the volunteer fire department.
Some instruments should also be brought out of the shadows and appear in a different light. "With the bassoon, we first wanted to make the instrument visible. And we placed the mandolin in an international context," says Schröder. The international context also played a role for the tuba. However, the instrument of the year 2024 was also to be brought out of its niche existence as an accompanying instrument.
Why the voice is so special
The voice is probably the most primal of all forms of musical expression. Researchers assume that people had already been singing more than 150,000 years ago. The oldest instrument that has been discovered is a flute.
"We know from archaeological finds that flutes and drums already existed in the Stone Age," says Christine Siegert, president of the State Music Council of North Rhine-Westphalia. The voice is probably even older: Mothers throughout the ages have probably hummed their children to sleep long before they understood their first words.
The voice can generate trust. We can use it to exchange thoughts, feelings and ideas and thus build deep connections with each other.
Ambassador of the voice
Throughout 2025 there will be festivals and concerts across Germany to celebrate the voice as the instrument of the year. There will be more singing in schools, as well as in social facilities. After all, singing is not only fun, it also keeps you physically and mentally healthy.
Some federal states appoint ambassadors for the Instrument Year, who are responsible for promoting the instrument to the public. In the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, it's the vocal ensemble of public broadcaster NDR, an a capella choir that organizes regular singing programs and joint concerts with amateurs.
Strength in singing together
Hartmut Schröder from the Schleswig-Holstein Music Council would also like to encourage politicians to sing in 2025. "We will try to get members of parliament in Schleswig-Holstein to raise their voices in a different context, namely a musical context."
This article was originally written in German.
Germany: Dresden opera visitors fall sick
Several opera house visitors in the eastern German city of Dresden had to be treated for nausea and dizziness on Tuesday evening, the cause of which still remained unclear on Wednesday morning.
Three women, aged 62, 66, and 68, said they felt unwell at the end of a concert at the famous Semperoper in the regional Saxony state capital.
Four paramedics who treated the women then also suffered similar symptoms, prompting specialist fire brigade services to be alerted.
What caused the illness?
Air quality tests revealed no measurable quantities of toxic material and oxygen levels were also found to be normal.
Of the seven victims, two were taken to hospital, while local police have opened an investigation into grievous bodily harm.
Opera house visitors and employees were on Wednesday being questioned, but the causes remained unclear.
The concert at the historic Semperoper had featured the Saxon State Orchestra, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, performing works by Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
mf/lo (dpa, AFP)
What makes a good Christmas gift from Germany?
When Katharina visits her extended family in Peru for Christmas, her uncles, aunts and cousins give her their Christmas wish lists well before she leaves her home in Bonn.
There's one German item in particular that's always high on their list: Haribo candies. "My family writes to my father to tell him which Haribo varieties they want, because they either don't have them in Peru at all or they're very expensive," she explains.
That's why Katharina and her father go to the factory outlet in Bonn before their trip to stock up for the journey. "It often feels like half the suitcase is full," she admits. Nonetheless, Katharina and her father know the sweets are sure to bring plenty of Christmas joy.
For many people, Christmas is associated with going home. As a holiday typically associated with the celebration of family, when loved ones live far away, the pre-Christmas period becomes a time to travel.
While travelers with families in Germany only have to travel a few cities further, others have to travel much further to see their friends, parents and siblings. Around 21.2 million people with migrant backgrounds live in Germany.
Traditional German gifts?
Once a trip home has been booked, bringing back a souvenir from Germany is often essential. But what kinds of items are the most popular?
The German National Tourist Board offers various suggestions, like marzipan from the northern city of Lübeck. Another one is Stollen — bread with nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit from Dresden. And then there's the famous Lebkuchen, Germany's gingerbread, from Nuremberg. The layered cake, Baumkuchen, and the so-called Bethmännchen, a pastry made from marzipan from Frankfurt, are also typical German specialties that make great sweet treats.
But not every German present has to be edible. Germany has many popular decorative items such as traditional wooden nutcrackers or glass ornaments from the Ore Mountain region of Saxony. Artisans in the region also carve handmade incense smokers which are often modeled after the Weihnachtsmann, aka Father Christmas, or as miners, craftsmen, foresters and other local townsfolk of the Ore Mountain region. Incense is placed inside the small wooden figurines which then flows through a hole in its mouth. The holders symbolize the gift of incense the three kings brought to Jesus in the the biblical story of Christmas.
A popular German concept
Did you know that the Advent calendar is a German invention?
The person credited with inventing the printed Advent calendar in the early 20th century is German publisher Gerhard Lang, who was said to be inspired by his mom sewing 24 cookies into the lid of a box and letting him eat one each day of Advent.
Since then, the tradition has become popular around the world with Advent calendars being mass produced. As Christmas has become an increasingly commercial celebration, Advent calendars have adapted to hold anything from jewelry and cosmetics to beer. Advent calendars are popular all over the globe, including in the US.
Clemence is originally from France, but works as a soprano in Germany. When she visits her family during Christmas, she likes to bring Stollen, gingerbread spices or cookie cutters. "Sometimes beer too!" she laughs. It may not be the most Christmassy of drinks, but it is certainly a German specialty.
For Andrea, whose parents live in Portugal, Christmas tree decorations and traditional wooden toys are a must when picking out gifts to take home.
"My girlfriend's family comes from Spain," says Alexander from Düsseldorf. "I made a small package of Santas for them. There was also an Advent calendar. Both were very well received."
Christmas market inspiration
Germany's many Christmas markets are ideal places to shop for holiday goods. With sometimes hundreds of vendors selling handmade crafts and artisanal gifts, there's a lot to choose from.
Even the mugs serving the typical mulled wine, Glühwein, make great souvenirs. Each market has unique mugs printed for each annual edition of the festival, often with Christmas-themed images.
Cecilia, originally from Korea, likes to bring back Christmas market mugs when she visits her family back home. German-style Christmas markets have now also found their way into global metropolises like London, New York City and Singapore.
Germany may be the origin of many Christmas traditions, but a good gift doesn't always have to be traditional. When German-resident Sara visits her family in Croatia on Christmas Eve, she always has one thing in her suitcase: "Aperol from the airport or an XXL pack of Kinder chocolate. For me, the ultimate symbol of the West."
This article was originally published in German.
Update: The family names of all people interviewed for this piece were removed on December 17 after initial publication, following their own wish.
Christmas chocolate prices soar while cocoa farmers struggle
Grocery shopping this Christmas season may bring some relief compared to recent years, as falling food inflation in many countries helps ease the strain on holiday budgets. Except, that is, for chocolate!
As consumers in Germany rush to stock up for the holidays, local media reported this week that they are paying nearly 50% more for the Kinder Chocolate Santa Claus. Even before the Christmas shopping dash got underway, the UK's consumer association Which? warned that prices for some bars and luxury chocolate gift boxes had almost doubled across Britain.
One French chocolate producer, meanwhile, told regional daily Ouest France recently that they are now paying up to €12,000 ($12,700) per metric ton of cocoa — the main ingredient in chocolate — compared to €3,000 a year ago.
Chocoholics' worst nightmare
It seems the world is in the grip of a major bout of choc-flation and, according to some commodity traders, it's going to get much worse.
At the heart of the issue is a major shortage of cocoa, after a catastrophic harvest in West Africa caused by cacao swollen shoot virus (CCSV), which spreads from tree to tree and can cause a 50% reduction in crop yields over as little as two years.
A wetter-than-usual rainy season as a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon and fertilizer shortages, exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine — which disrupted exports through the Black Sea — are other contributory factors, alongside climate change.
Cocoa futures on London's Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) were last week trading at 8,363 UK pounds ($10,671, €10,136) per metric ton, a five-fold price increase on December 2022 and a near-tripling over the past twelve months.
"The most recent rally has been due to concerns that Ivory Coast and Ghana mid-crops may underperform expectations, reducing the potential production surplus in 2024/25," Steve Wateridge, head of Softs (soft commodities) research at the London-based Tropical Research Services, told DW.
Cocoa tree virus a 'disaster' for farmers
Wateridge described CCSV as a "disaster," adding that "little seems to be being done to control the spread in Ivory Coast and Ghana so the situation will only get worse going forward."
Michele Nardella, director of the economics and statistics division at the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), thinks it is now vital to step up sustainability programs among producers in Africa to improve agricultural practices.
"Smallholder farmers are not necessarily aware of [CCSV's] impact on yields and may not know what practices to adopt to contain them," Nardella, who is based in Abidjan, told DW. "They may be reluctant to uproot them [cocoa trees] simply because cocoa is their only source of income."
Writing recently in the Financial Times business daily, Pierre Andurand, founder and chief investment officer of Andurand Capital Management, warned of a "multiyear structural supply-demand deficit in cocoa beans," and that "much higher prices are coming."
Andurand said global cocoa output had already fallen by 13% in the 2023-24 season, noting how European and US stockpiles of cocoa pods are at 25% of their December 2023 level — the lowest on record.
Other cocoa price watchers, like the Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI), which represents the interests of more than 200 confectionary producers, are concerned the output figures may be "unreliable."
"There are conflicting figures regarding the entire harvest in West Africa. While some estimates suggest declines, the arrival of deliveries from the farms to the ports, a very important indicator, has increased considerably compared to the same period last year," BDSI told DW in a written statement.
Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) estimates that for every euro spent on a chocolate bar, only around seven cents go to cocoa farmers, while manufacturers and traders receive around 80 cents.
Ghana sweetens deal for cocoa farmers
Farmers in Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast, began hoarding their beans in anticipation of higher prices, which added to the supply shortage.
The Ghanaian government last month announced a nearly 50% increase in the amount paid to farmers, hoping to deter hoarding and smuggling to neighboring countries that offer higher prices. Last season, Ghana lost more than a third of its cocoa output to smuggling, according to Cocobod, the country's cocoa board.
So far, the price squeeze has had a limited impact on demand. In Germany, per capita chocolate consumption rose from just over 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) in 2018 to almost 9.9 kilos in 2023, according to BDSI. Separate data from market research firm NIQ suggests chocolate sales are down 1.3% over the past 12 months.
Chocolate sales in the United States fell 5.5% in the year to June, according to the Chigago-based research house Circana, although that doesn't include this year's busy holiday season.
Alternatives could take years to bear fruit
Competitors are, meanwhile, waiting to ramp up production if cocoa crop yields continue to plummet in West Africa. The ICCO's Nardella noted that "while production in Africa has decreased, it remained constant in Asia and Oceania and increased in Latin America."
Some farmers in India, which currently account for just 1% of the world's cocoa bean output, say they see the shortages as an opportunity. And while production in Indonesia, the world's third-largest cocoa producer, peaked in 2010, the government is trying to rejuvenate the sector by subsidizing tree replanting programs. From January to October, Indonesia's cocoa exports doubled year-on-year, reaching $2 billion, according to the Jakarta Post.
"Farmers in other parts of the world are already responding," Wateridge, a highly-respected expert on cocoa, told DW. "This year we expect to see record production in Ecuador, Peru, Cameroon, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda."
But even if they commit large swathes of new land to planting cocoa trees, they typically take four years to mature, so may not help ease the current crisis.
Wateridge estimates a six to nine-month delay for the latest cocoa price spike to hit consumers, meaning next year's Christmas chocolate could be even more expensive.
"The two most important factors will be whether mid-crops deteriorate further and whether higher prices significantly impact consumption during the key consumption periods of Christmas, Valentine's and Easter," he told DW.
Edited by: Uwe Hessler
Volkswagen plant closures, layoffs averted, says union
The German union IG Metall said Friday it had reached a deal with Volkswagen to avoid involuntary redundancies and plant closures at the carmaker's production sites in Germany until 2030.
Union representatives have been negotiating for weeks with the company — Europe's largest automarker — over cost-cutting measures, including plans to close three plants, cut wages and slash jobs.
"We have succeeded in finding a solution for employees at Volkswagen sites that secures jobs, safeguards products in the plants and at the same time enables important future investments," union negotiator Thorsten Gröger said in a statement.
"No site will be closed, no one will be laid off for operational reasons and our company wage agreement will be secured for the long term," said Volkswagen's works council chief Daniela Cavallo.
Volkswagen said the deal also included provisions to cut more than 35,000 jobs in "socially responsible" ways by 2030.
Marathon talks
Friday's breakthrough in the northern city of Hannover came after a marathon negotiations lasting 70 hours — the longest in the carmaker's history.
Gröger said that under the agreement, workers will have job security until 2030 but will have to forego wage increases in the coming years and bonuses will be cut.
He said the package "includes painful contributions from employees, but at the same time creates prospects for the workforce."
VW's proposed plant closures, wage cuts and layoffs had already led to thousands of workers across the country going on strike twice in the past month.
The union had threatened further walkouts in the new year if a deal was not struck before the Christmas holidays.
What did Volkswagen say?
"After long and intensive negotiations, the agreement is an important signal for the future viability of the Volkswagen brand," group CEO Oliver Blume said in a statement.
The company said the agreement with the union would allow savings of €15 billion ($15.6 billion) a year in the medium term. It will also reduce technical capacity at its German sites by 700,000 vehicles.
"We had three priorities in the negotiations: reducing excess capacity at the German sites, reducing labour costs and reducing development costs to a competitive level," said VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer. "We have achieved viable solutions for all three issues."
The company cited competition from China, sluggish demand in Europe and slower-than-expected adoption of electric cars as reasons why it needed to cut costs.
nm/kb (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Trump tells EU: Import more US oil and gas or face tariffs
US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened the EU with new tariffs unless the bloc imports more American oil and gas.
"I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
"Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!"
According to US government data, the EU is already the biggest buyer of US energy exports.
Trump's plans for tariffs
Trump has pledged to impose hefty tariffs on three of the United States' largest trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — when he takes office on January 20. Such a wide-ranging move could have major implications for the global economy.
He has also said Europe can expect to pay a price with the goods it exports to the US if it doesn't do more to close the trade gap with Washington.
Last year, the US had a goods trade deficit with the EU of €155.8 billion ($161.9 billion). However, in services, it had a surplus of €104 billion, according to the EU statistics office Eurostat.
Exports from the EU are dominated by Germany, with key goods being cars, machinery and chemicals.
Trump argues that increasing tariffs on goods from other countries would help US companies produce more domestically and create more local jobs.
How did the EU respond to Trump's threat?
The EU is seeking to avoid a trade conflict with the US under Trump's incoming administration.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Friday it was open to talks with the president-elect about how to strengthen what it described as an already strong relationship.
"The EU is committed to phasing out energy imports from Russia and diversifying our sources of supply," a spokesperson said, while noting that the US also enjoyed "a substantial trade in services surplus vis a vis the EU."
The EU has dramatically increased its purchases of US oil and gas since deciding to cut reliance on Russian energy following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In the first quarter of 2024, the US supplied 47% of the bloc's liquefied natural gas imports and 17% of its oil imports, according to Eurostat data.
nm/kb (Reuters, AP, AFP)
Gamechanger: AI’s Impact on the Working World
Will AI destroy jobs, and where does all the technology’s energy come from? Is AI always right? And what are the prospects for autonomous air taxis?
Where is Europe in the global AI race?
China and the US are the global leaders in artificial intelligence. Europe is lagging far behind – but can it make up ground in this vital technology of the future?
How will artificial intelligence change the working world?
Artificial intelligence is as revolutionary as the steam engine once was. And by 2030, AI could replace up to 30% of the hours currently being worked. But can the technology also create jobs?
AI robots from Germany
Neura Robotics has relocated production of its cognitive robots from China back to Germany. Its humanoid machines are designed for a variety of applications – from household chores to welding.
Can nuclear power cover AI’s energy demands?
Amazon and Google need a lot of power for their AIs. Could nuclear energy be a solution? There are already plans for the first small modular reactors in the US.
Can AI make mistakes?
AI appears to be superior to humans in many areas. But is it infallible? Of course not. There are regular epic fails by AI. So why isn’t the technology as smart as its makers claim?
Air taxis: flying high or destined to flop?
The hype surrounding air cabs is huge. But they’ve been called an “ecological absurdity for ultra-rich people.” Will they become affordable and environmentally-friendly enough to find a mass market? And what about the dangers?
Broadcasting Hours:
DW English
WED 25.12.2024 – 00:30 UTC
WED 25.12.2024 – 05:30 UTC
WED 25.12.2024 – 11:30 UTC
WED 25.12.2024 – 14:30 UTC
WED 25.12.2024 – 22:15 UTC
THU 26.12.2024 – 02:30 UTC
THU 26.12.2024 – 06:30 UTC
THU 26.12.2024 – 19:02 UTC
FRI 27.12.2024 – 03:30 UTC
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3
Delhi UTC +5,5 | Bangkok UTC +7 | Hong Kong UTC +8
London UTC +/-0 | Berlin UTC +1 | Moscow UTC +3
San Francisco UTC -8 | Edmonton UTC -7 | New York UTC -5
Is Germany responsible for spiking electricity prices in Europe this winter?
The winter in Europe is having an impact on renewable energy production and electricity prices in general. At least that is what some Scandinavian countries are saying.
Since companies cannot store vast amounts of electricity yet, power must be used when it is generated. In the past, the European energy market was stabilized by power produced by fossil-fuel or nuclear plants.
The introduction of more renewables into the system brings more volatility. As the percentage of renewables goes up, so does the dependence on the fickle sun and inconsistent wind.
Without sun solar panels are kept in the dark. A lack of wind keeps wind turbines from spinning. In Europe, it is a phenomenon that usually happens in winter, a time when more energy is needed to stay warm.
Renewables can add to instability
Germans have a word for a period where little or no energy can be produced because there is limited wind or sunlight: "Dunkelflaute" or "dark doldrums."
The technical name is "anticyclonic gloom," which doesn't sound nearly as menacing, though experts cannot agree what exactly needs to happen to get this designation.
Even if it is a slippery term, the phenomenon is serious. With lower renewable output, other sources of electricity need to be tapped, which can lead to short-term price spikes. Sometimes this means importing it from other countries.
Right now, the dark-doldrums effect is highly relevant for prices, "but for yearly averages it does not matter much," said Mathias Mier, an economist at the Munich-based ifo Center for Energy, Climate and Resources.
"In future, it might have more impact, but it is the role of governments and markets to steer the system into directions that minimize that impacts of 'Dunkelflaute'," he told DW.
Long-term contracts protect most consumers
Though most electricity consumers in Germany have long-term contracts with price guarantees, others are more price sensitive, particularly industrial manufactures who pay fluctuating daily rates for their electricity.
Broadly speaking, electricity prices are determined by the type of supply, the costs of maintaining and investing in the grid, taxes and the costs of clean and backup technologies, says Conall Heussaff, a research analyst at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank.
Heussaff, who who has investigated energy prices and electricity market design, told DW that supply and demand are also factors, but more in the short term. A clean energy system like the EU has will lead to lower average prices in most periods, with brief periods of very high so-called spot prices on the free market.
Norway and Sweden up in arms
This year, Germany has experienced a few short dark-doldrum periods. But one made big waves as the country needed more electricity from other places than usual to cover demand. This led to one of those brief periods of higher prices at home and abroad since electricity goes where demand and price are the highest.
In the early morning of December 12, a megawatt hour of electricity cost €107 ($112) but that quickly shot up to €936, according to data gathered by Agora Energiewende, an energy think tank. The next day it was back down again, hitting a low of just under €115.
Though prices normalized quickly, the reactions from Scandinavia were immediate. Norway's energy minister Terje Aasland said he was considering cutting shared-energy links to Denmark, while others in Norway want to renegotiate existing connections to Germany and the UK, reported the British business daily Financial Times.
Sweden's energy minister Ebba Busch said she was only open to a new underwater cable connection to Germany if Germany rejigs its electricity market to protect Swedish consumers and their access to cheap homegrown energy.
Calling for more electricity nationalism is in direct conflict with the European Union's goal of an integrated electricity market. If countries ensure low prices at home before sending electricity abroad it will harm the system and make climate goals harder to reach.
How connected is the European electricity market?
"Overall, Europe's electricity market is deeply, physically interconnected and institutionally harmonized, especially considering it is a collection of many different nation states," said Heussaff. It is the second-largest synchronized electricity grid on the planet after China.
Mathias Mier agrees that the European market is well connected, pointing out that "almost every seventh unit of electricity is traded across borders."
For the European Commission building up that cross-border energy infrastructure is a priority. It will reduce dependence on imports. It will also ensure better access to energy plus help achieve the targets of the European Green Deal to emit 55% less greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
In 2023, renewables were the leading source of EU electricity. They made up 44.7% of the electricity production mix, an increase of 12% compared with 2022, according to Eurostat, the EU's official statistical agency.
Nuclear power accounted for nearly 23% of electricity production, while fossil fuels made up another 32%.
At the same time, the EU Commission warns that electricity consumption is expected to increase by around 60% by 2030. More worryingly 40% of distribution grids are over 40 years old, making it harder to handle increased demand and the addition of more renewables like rooftop solar panels.
To help coordinate the needed investments, the EU has come up with the Trans-European Networks for Energy. These are policies meant to make planning and permitting easier for cross-border energy infrastructure including electricity.
How can the European electricity market improve?
Nearly anything can be improved. And something as complex as the European electricity market can definitely be improved. Getting countries to agree, invest and follow through are big hurdles though.
For Mathias Mier the biggest challenge to improve the market is "locational prices that reflect the real demand-supply scarcity in combination with enabling demand response."
Price development is important for Conall Heussaff, too. So far, electricity prices have evolved unevenly in Europe, he says. Some regions are lucky to have renewable resources like wind, solar or hydropower, which give them a price advantage. But affordable energy across Europe is essential for competitiveness.
To reduce prices in Europe more generally Heussaff has three suggestions: Incentivize demand-side flexibility to respond to changing conditions, better European coordination for cross-border investments and more physical connections between countries to share energy resources.
Edited by: Uwe Hessler
Potential cancer-causing chemicals have been found in black spatulas and takeaway containers. Is it time to throw them out?
The onions are caramelized in your pan, you flip them over with your black spatula, but in doing so you've probably laced your dish with hidden chemicals.
That's what a recent study published in the journal Chemosphere concludes — household black plastic items have been silently releasing harmful chemicals.
Researchers tested various household objects made from black plastic to see if they had traces of toxic substances usually found in recycled materials.
The study's lead author Megan Liu, a science and policy manager for US-based environmental advocacy organization Toxic-Free-Future, said 85% of the products tested contained chemicals used as flame retardants.
"We purchased 203 black plastic food serviceware items, hair accessories, kitchen utensils, and toys, and screened them for bromine, a chemical element that indicates presence of (the harmful) brominated flame retardants," Liu told DW.
"They then selected the 20 products with the highest levels of bromine, and found flame retardants in 17 of those products."
Why are black plastics harmful?
Plastics used in electronic and electrical products contain flame retardants to prevent them catching fire.
Decabromodiphenyl Ether (DecaBDE) was one of the most commonly used flame retardants until the European Union banned its use in electronics in 2006. Since then, similar chemicals have replaced it.
However obsolete additives like DecaBDE can slip through the cracks. When electronic plastics are recycled, these chemicals can make their way into household objects.
Recycled parts from old electronics like TV casings are often used to make black household plastics, but these recycled products are not strictly checked for the presence of harmful fire-retarding chemicals.
That's why Liu's team only tested black plastics for flame retardants and not other colored variants.
"We did not test other colors of plastic besides black plastic. Toxic flame retardants are intentionally added to the black plastic enclosures around electronics," Liu said.
Liu also found higher levels of toxic flame retardants in styrene-based plastics often used in electronics, including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and high impact polystyrene (HIPS), "further supporting our hypothesis that flame retardants are ending up in everyday products we don’t expect".
What health risks do black plastics have?
Flame retardant plastics, particularly DecaBDE, have been linked to cancer, hormonal imbalance, nerve and reproductive damage. Potentially, it's a package of hidden health risks.
Similarly, another chemical compound called 2,4,6-Tribromophenol in black plastic is, "associated with thyroid disruption in humans and mice and has been detected in serum, breast milk, and placenta,” the study states.
These flame retarding plastics have been known to leach from household electronics like televisions into the environment, according to 2015 research published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
The consequences are greater when these contaminants travel from cooking utensils into food and from toys to saliva.
It's not just black plastic, though. In 2024, the Research Council of Norway identified a quarter of all plastic chemicals — not just those found in black recycled plastics — are hazardous to human health and the environment.
Is it time to throw your black plastic cooking utensils away?
In Liu's study, the highest leakage of harmful chemicals was observed in a sushi tray — a simple black takeaway box.
The study further observed high risk in kitchen utensils like peelers, spatulas and spoons.
Notable contamination was also found in children's toys, including plastic cars, a traveler's checker set and a pirate coin medallion.
Liu's team also expressed concern these fire retarding plastics were more often found in consumer products sold at small retailers catering to immigrant communities or specific ethnic groups.
But tracking contamination is difficult, particularly where recycled materials are involved.
Bethanie Carney Almroth, an ecotoxicology researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said recycling programs like those used to recycle plastic drink bottles often mix waste products indiscriminately.
"We know very little about which chemicals are present in recycled materials," Carney Almroth told DW.
Households could address exposure to these chemicals by avoiding toys with black plastic components and replacing utensils made from these materials with wooden ones.
Other simple measures to reduce exposure include not reheating food in black plastic containers, and throwing away chipped or dented plastic utensils.
But Carney Almroth says such measures alone won't cut it.
"Given the pervasive presence of plastics in products, and the lack of information available to the public, people should also support systemic changes necessary around plastics governance, including bans and restrictions on chemicals, changes in product design and shifts to reuse or refill systems," said Carney Almroth.
Edited by: Matthew Ward Agius
Primary Source:
Additional reading:
Postpartum depression: New dads get baby blues too
A trial of a new cognitive behavioral therapy program may provide a step toward greater support for new fathers experiencing postpartum depression, which is underrecognized in men.
While postpartum depression is common in women — affecting around 25% of new mothers — it also affects 10% of new fathers. The emotional and psychological toll on men can be just as profound.
A new parental training intervention highlighting childhood developmental milestones and play-based parenting has shown promise for men with the condition. The results of the 18-month trial have now been published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Among 357 new fathers split into two trial groups, those who undertook the "Learning Through Play Plus Dads" program showed a reduction in depressive symptoms. Children also benefitted.
"Children of fathers [who] received the intervention showed better social and emotional development compared to children of fathers [who] received [no] treatment," said study leader Ishrat Husain from the University of Toronto, Canada.
Postpartum depression in men is hard to spot, new dads called for help
Rates of depression and postpartum depression are higher in lower middle-income countries, where access to evidence-based mental health assessment and treatment can be limited.
Husain's latest study emerged from work with mothers managing postpartum depression in Pakistan.
"During our group's work with mothers experiencing postpartum depression in Pakistan, we were approached by their partners to develop similar interventions for them," said Husain.
Husain's treatment for postpartum depression is one of many being trialed around the world.
Broadly, they find that similar support interventions are moderately effective at treating this depression in both men and women, especially when coupled with antidepressants.
Experts say the main problem is that postpartum depression in men is an underrecognized issue, so people often don't realize effective treatments are available.
There is also little research into sociocultural factors associated with postpartum depression, and whether policy-level changes such as parental leave for fathers help the psychology of families.
How is postpartum depression different for men than women?
While mothers with postpartum depression often display sadness and anxiety, men may experience symptoms that are less easily recognized as depression. Common signs include:
- Irritability or anger: Dads may become short-tempered or prone to frustration.
- Withdrawal: They might isolate themselves from their families or avoid bonding with their baby.
- Risky behaviors: Some engage in substance use, gambling, or other impulsive actions as a coping mechanism.
- Work-related changes: Excessive working or a sudden drop in productivity can be signs of avoidance or feelings of inadequacy.
- Physical symptoms: Fatigue, headaches, or changes in appetite can accompany emotional struggles.
Postpartum depression in a parent has been shown to impair a child's cognitive performance, behavior disturbance, and insecurity of attachment.
These problems can persist into late childhood and adolescence, furthering the importance of finding effective treatments for postpartum depression.
What causes postpartum depression?
Scientists don't have a definitive answer on what causes postpartum depression.
Husain explained postpartum depression for men and women is due to a combination of factors. These include biological factors like genetic vulnerability to depression, factors like low self-esteem, and social factors like the financial strain and social isolation that many new parents experience.
For women, pregnancy rewires parts of their brains. Women also experience shifts in hormonal levels in the transition to pregnancy and after childbirth. These hormonal shifts can disrupt mood regulation, especially in people more susceptible to hormonal fluctuations.
Naturally, these changes do not occur in the same way for men. But studies show that men do experience hormonal shifts when they become dads.
"Studies in men with postpartum depression have shown changes in brain structure and function in fathers compared to men without children, as well as decreased testosterone levels in expectant fathers," said Husain.
Researchers are working to understand how these systems interact and why some people develop postpartum while others do not. The hope is that they can develop new ways to better detect and treat postpartum depression for both moms and dads alike.
Edited by: Matthew Ward Agius
Source:
Husain MI, Kiran T, Sattar R, et al. A Group Parenting Intervention for Male Postpartum Depression: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 02, 2024.doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.2752
Berlin-Paris high speed rail route launched
The first direct high-speed rail link between Paris and Berlin was launched on Monday.
A German ICE train, left the French capital's Gare de l'Est station at 9:55 a.m. (0855 GMT) and was due at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6:03 p.m.
"In 8 hours, you can travel from the German to the French capital via Frankfurt South, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg,” Deutsche Bahn said in a post on social media platform X.
The once-a-day service with German rail operator Deutsche Bahn's (DB) high-speed ICE train — operated in collaboration with France's SNCF — comes amid a strong appetite for more rail options.
Symbol of German-French ‘friendship'
Germany and France are the European Union's two most populous countries and also the largest economies.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner hailed the new rail route and said it "is also a good symbol of the German-French friendship."
The launch comes as DB works to distance itself from its reputation for unreliability. In November the rail operator said that only 60% of its long-distance trains arrived at their destination punctually, defined as under six minutes late.
DB wants to improve the figures by 2027 and is aiming for punctuality of more than 75%.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said he was hopeful that "improvements in punctuality and quality promised by the DB will come to fruition.”
A one-way ticket for the 1,100- kilometre journey costs from €24.99 ($26.23) to upwards of €99 ($104) and more depending on class or ticket and demand.
kb (AP, AFP)
11 crazy Carnival events held between November 11 and Lent
1. Carnival begins
The 11th day of the 11th month is a magical date for Carnival lovers. In German Carnival strongholds, which include the Rhineland, and especially Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Aachen and Mainz, the season officially begins at precisely 11:11 a.m. on November 11.
A jester called "Hoppeditz" awakes in Düsseldorf. Cologne greets its triumvirate of fools — Prinz, Bauer and Jungfrau (prince, peasant and maiden) — and the traditional "Fool's Charter" is read in Mainz, accompanied by the famous "Narhalla" parade. These celebrations usually take place on the main square or in front of city hall in different cities. People go out wearing costumes, and local musicians as well as loads of alcohol keep the party going all day long. Some will keep partying throughout the night, as bars are also in carnival fever.
2. The carnival 'sessions'
Official carnival clubs in the German strongholds begin their program in January. Yet the "alternative" carnival already gets going in December. That's why you can sometimes see people wearing costumes ahead of Christmas — and they're not going as Santa Claus.
In Cologne, the carnival gala called "Stunksitzung" is particularly popular. The anarchist cabaret show has been held there for over 40 years. The thousands of tickets are always sold out within just a few hours. Other "Sitzungen" (which means sessions, but they're actually stage shows) organized by carnival associations take place in January. Other "official" events include performances by local bands, choirs and orchestras, as well as dance groups. In Mainz, these events are rather political and literary.
3. Mainz acts foolish on New Year's Day
After November 11, it's mostly quiet in Mainz. People rather focus on the upcoming Advent season.
Yet on January 1, Mainz celebrates its official street carnival, called the "Kampagne" (or campaign).
November 11 is just a prelude to the real action launching the new year, explains Lothar Both, the President of the "Ranzengarde," a carnival club in Mainz. There, a parade goes through the city at 11:11 a.m. All those who have survived their New Year's Eve party can just keep on drinking while the carnival clubs and their guards march through the streets with their brass bands and drums.
4. Let's sing in Cologne
Established nearly a decade ago, another "campaign" has turned into a real cultural event in Cologne. It's called "LMS," and it aims to introduce everyone to new Carnival songs.
LMS stands for "Loss mer singe," which is dialect for "Let's sing." This event takes the form of a tour of the pubs of Cologne, where hundreds of people practice the new season's songs together. A winner is chosen at the end of the evening.
5. Bivouacs in Dusseldorf
The carnival clubs in Dusseldorf organize events called "Biwaks" (Bivouacs), to introduce themselves to the population, or the "fools." At the beginning of January, these events are held everywhere and include music, snacks and drinks — providing yet another opportunity to party. Obviously, most of these parties begin at 11:11 a.m.
6. Proclamation of the 'prince' in Cologne
The "Dreigestirm" or "triumvirate of fools" rules on Carnival in Cologne. This triumvirate consists of the prince, the peasant and the maiden (also portrayed by a man dressed as a female).
At the beginning of January, these three high representatives of the Cologne Carnival come out in their magnificent costumes. During the proclamation of the prince, the mayor of the city gives him his "Pritsche" (a kind of flat whip), which the prince then symbolically swings around over his "foolish" people.
The peasant represents the fact that Cologne freed itself from the power of the archbishops. As "Mother Colonia," the maiden protects the city.
Meanwhile, more and more people are calling for women to play the role of the "prince" in the triumvirate — a carnival princess instead of a prince. But Cologne's 200-year-old traditional carnival surely needs a little more time for such "revolutionary" ideas.
7. 'Weiberfastnacht,' or Fat Thursday
The last Thursday before Lent is very similar to the November 11 party. On market squares of different carnival strongholds, thousands of fools and jesters take to the streets, at 11:11 a.m. of course, to enjoy speeches, music and even more alcohol. True carnival professionals don't hold back — they'll take a week off until Ash Wednesday to party extensively before Lent starts.
8. Barrel races and school parades
Beyond the countless carnival parties, other traditions are maintained.
In Cologne on Carnival Sunday, small parades called "Schull- und Veedelszöch" go through the different neighborhoods of the city. A good 8,000 people participate in the city parades organized by schools and local carnival clubs. They are original, political, sometimes a little chaotic and above all, colorful, not least because of the often completely homemade costumes. The group with the best and most imaginative costumes is selected by a jury and is allowed to take part again in the huge Rose Monday parade, a major recognition for Cologne carnival fans.
In Dusseldorf, the neighborhood of Niederkassel celebrates the Sunday before Rose Monday with a traditional barrel race. Participants roll wheelbarrows around a racetrack. Traditionally, there is a team of princes and farmers in the race. Sometimes, the mayor of the city also participates.
9. 'Rosenmontag,' or Rose Monday
The Rose Monday parades in Dusseldorf, Cologne and Mainz are now world-famous. International TV stations film these. For carnival-goers, they are the climax of the carnival season.
Colorful floats poking fun at politicians alternate with brass bands and dance groups organized by carnival associations. Throughout the parade, candies and small bouquets of flowers are thrown at the crowd.
At the end of the parade always comes the prince's sumptuously decorated float. For the carnival rulers, this parade closes a week of tightly scheduled duties.
10. 'Nubbelverbrennung,' or burning of the straw man
A huge straw man called "Nubbel" hangs above pubs in Cologne. It is burned in the night before Ash Wednesday. The Nubbel stands for all the sins committed by the fools during carnival season, as well as all other recent misfortunes — for example, if the local football club lost their last game.
In Dusseldorf, a similar character called "Hoppeditz" is burned that night.
11. Fish on Ash Wednesday
On Ash Wednesday, Lent begins and goes on until Good Friday. For strict Catholics, this means going through a period of six weeks without eating meat, with fish being allowed on Fridays.
Some non-Catholics also pick something they will stop consuming during that period, for example, alcohol, tobacco or even the internet. A traditional meal of fish launches the fasting period on Ash Wednesday.
This article, originally written in German, is an updated version of one published in November 2015.
Magdeburg Christmas market attack: German football in shock
The last weekend before the winter break in the Bundesliga season is usually marked by a festive mood. But the events in Magdeburg, where a car drove into a Christmas market killing five people and injuring 200 others, overshadowed matches across Germany.
As the 1.FC Magdeburg players headed towards the fans that had travelled to see them win 5-2 in Düsseldorf, the news was just starting to filter in. Players, coaches and fans looked crestfallen. "When football becomes a secondary concern,” read the statement on the club's site where a match report would usually sit. "Our club won the away game at Fortuna Düsseldorf 5:2, but to be honest, we are also finding it difficult to find the words. That's why the match report ends here."
Christmas takes back seat
Hours later, on Friday night, the tragedy loomed large in the top flight match between Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. "It's almost impossible to talk about football tonight. Right now the people in Magdeburg are in our thoughts," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said after his side's 5-1 win. His opposite number, Marco Rose struggled to process the news while Bayern later canceled their Christmas party, set for later that evening. Instead, fans sang "Silent Night, Holy Night" with the local Tölzer Boys’ Choir.
German handball league and cup champions SC Magdeburg also called off their Bundesliga home game against Eisenach.
On Saturday morning, as the scale of the devastation became somewhat clearer, the German Football League (DFL), which operates the Bundesliga, advised clubs in the top two divisions (those which they control) to hold a minute's silence.
Support across top divisions
"German football is shocked by this attack, and its thoughts are with the victims and their families at this tough time. We also wish the injured a speedy recovery," the DFL wrote on its website.
Many clubs went further, with floral displays and messages of support. "Much strength to Magdeburg," read a banner held up by the players in the match between Paderborn und Karlsruhe, in the 2.Bundesliga, the same league Magdeburg play in.
In the top division, the sentiments and displays were similar. "There are always more important things than football," said Freiburg player, Christian Günter, summing up the general mood.
Edited by: Pascal Jochem
Youssoufa Moukoko: False age claim for Dortmund star
Why is Youssoufa Moukoko in the headlines?
A recently-released documentary from German broadcaster ProSieben has made a series of claims about the Borussia Dortmund striker, who is currently on loan at French club Nice. 'Tricks, Cheats, Deception - The Million Dollar Business with Football Talent', states that the Germany international is 24, rather than his previously accepted age of 20. Among other claims, it also says that Youssoufa Moukoko is not his real name.
The claims are made by a man named Joseph Moukoko, who previously claimed to be the footballer's father and now says he helped muddy the waters in order to increase the player's chances in Europe. Youssoufa Moukoko was born in Cameroon.
What has been said?
Dortmund reacted quickly to the claims. "In the case of Youssoufa Moukoko, the biological parents and the date of birth are derived from official identification documents and birth certificates issued by a German authority," the club told Sky Germany.
"These documents are still valid today and are the basis for playing authorizations and permits for clubs, regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign, and of course also for association teams such as the German U21 national team."
In the documentary, Joseph Moukoko says that Dortmund employed him to help smooth things along. "My wife was employed by an agency that works for BVB's sponsor Evonik, and I was employed directly by BVB. That's how we received money every month. We didn't work. We got the money that way," he said. DW cannot verify any of the documentary's claims.
Why is this important?
Well, if the claims are true, it would mean Moukoko was playing overage during Germany's under-21 European Championship win in 2021. Age has also been an enormous factor in his career so far. Moukoko was regarded as a teen prodigy after breaking a string of goalscoring records in Borussia Dortmund's youth teams. He then became the youngest player in Bundesliga history the day after his 16th birthday and became the league's youngest ever scorer 27 days later.
While his current ability is not impacted by his age, should the claims be true, they would affect both the history books and Moukoko's transfer value. Younger players tend to carry a higher premium in football, given their best years are thought to be ahead of them.
Has this sort of thing happened before in German football?
In short, yes, more than once. Most notably in the case of Stuttgart winger Silas. Ahead of the 2021-22 season, the Bundesliga club released a statement saying the player's real name was actually Silas Katompa Mvumpa, and not Silas Wamangituka Fundu as previously thought. It also said he was a year older than was believed. Stuttgart said the player's previous agent had held these things over him so he could keep Silas as a client. A few days after the announcement, Silas was fined €30,000 and banned for three months by the German FA (DFB).
A few years before that, the case of Bakery Jatta's identity was a big topic in German media. The Hamburg player had arrived as a refugee in Germany in 2015 but tabloid Bild claimed in 2019 he was not who he claimed to be. A handful of Hamburg's 2. Bundesliga opponents that year filed complaints as a result of the claims. But no legitimate evidence was found by authorities to support this, despite Jatta's home being raided in 2020 and a court dismissing a case against him in 2022.
While not exclusively an issue for players with African roots, it is often players from the continent who are suspected of altering documents to help their careers in Europe. Last year, Cameroon were in the eye of the storm. An under-17 team for a UNIFACC tournament - contested by Central African countries - were disqualified after failing MRI tests. In the end, 21 players from that squad were banned before 62 were banned from league football in the country.
What happens next?
Reasonably enough, likely nothing until the picture is clearer. At the moment, the claims of Joseph Moukoko do not appear to have any solid evidence attached to them, though Pro Sieben may know different. For now, Youssoufa Moukoko is free to play for Nice in Ligue 1. He is also free to play for the German national team, with whom he featured at the 2022 World Cup. But a dip in form for Dortmund after that, means he has not featured since a late cameo in the group stage loss to Japan.
Edited by: James Thorogood
2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia: What to expect
When will the 2034 World Cup take place?
Nothing is for sure yet, but given that the World Cup in neighboring Qatar was played in the winter, throwing the European football schedule out of whack, a repeat is likely.
In Saudi Arabia's bid report, they detail that the weather in June and July in major cities like Riyadh and Jeddah would be between 32 and 38 degrees Celsius (89.6 and 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit ) — conditions that are not conducive to playing. Temperatures in the country are at their mildest between October and April, which poses a challenge to organizers.
Furthermore, tournament organizers will also have to consider Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and prayer taking place from mid-November to mid-December in 2034.
With the global player's union FIFPro currently going after FIFA because of an overloaded playing calendar, football's world governing body will have to manage the complicated European playing schedule, especially with the reformed Champions League format now including games in January.
What about the stadiums?
They are likely to be some of the most unusual stadiums ever seen at a World Cup, especially if the FIFA report on the bid is to be believed.
Some of the new stadiums will be designed by Populous, a US architecture firm that is also designing Morocco's new stadium for the 2030 World Cup and is set to build a multi-use, climate-neutral, 20,000-capacity event arena in Munich in the coming years. The designs include a stadium built at the top of a 200-meter cliff with an exposed segment. The concept of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium is straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Organizers say there will be 15 stadiums across five cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Al-Khobar and Neom. The latter is a city that is yet to be built and is part of the country's 2030 vision to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil.
Given that 12 of the 15 stadiums are set to be in Riyadh, the capital, and Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea, the tournament will mostly feel quite similar to Qatar, where all the stadiums were in close proximity. Those traveling around the country will likely look to fly, given that Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East and is around six times bigger than Germany.
Some venues will debut at the 2027 Asian Cup, but all eyes will be on the completion of Riyadh's King Salman International Stadium. It is planned to have a capacity of 92,000 and will host the opening ceremony and 2034 final.
Will everyone be welcome?
As was the case in Qatar, same-sex relations are illegal. In Saudi Arabia, being transgender is not recognized. Women's rights are also restricted.
Speaking to the BBC in late 2023, Saudi Arabia's sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz, said, "Everyone's welcome in the kingdom. Like any other nation, we have rules and regulations that everyone should abide by and respect."
Similar things were said ahead of the tournament in 2022, although tolerance had its limits. Rainbow flags and hats were taken off fans and journalists at the tournament. Manuel Neuer, among others, dropped their plan to wear "One Love" armbands after FIFA threatened to book any player wearing one. Germany's response was to pose for their pre-match photo with their hands over their mouths, with then-head coach Hansi Flick later confirming this was the team showing they felt FIFA was silencing teams. Recently, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich said he regretted making the gesture.
What about alcohol?
Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia, and drinking it can lead to fines, prison sentences or even deportation.
However, given that alcohol laws have been relaxed in the wider Gulf region in recent years and that alcohol was served at a fan zone in Doha, there is a chance regulations might be relaxed by 2034. FIFA though will not press the local government on the issue.
Stadium beer sales were banned in Qatar and that will remain the case according to a report from the Guardian citing senior sources from within world football's governing body.
What about the cost?
There is no official or reported number for how much this tournament will cost. Given that Qatar spent $220 billion, making the 2020 edition the most expensive tournament ever, it seems likely that Saudi Arabia will spend even more. The kingdom has invested around €6 billion in sports since 2021, and the budget for a home World Cup appears limitless.
Human rights groups are concerned about stadium and infrastructure development. With 11 of the 15 stadiums yet to be built along with 10 fan zones, there is still much ambitious work to deliver on. The same applies to the required public transport improvements, with high-speed rail and a new metro in Riyadh expected.
Human rights campaigners have long said that the country's human rights violations are a major concern and that the government is using sport to detract from its issues. The Saudi government insists that their investment in sports is opening up tourism and boosting their economy.
In FIFA's evaluation of the Saudi bid, it awarded a 4.2 out of 5, saying that the tournament had "good potential" to "serve as a catalyst for reform."
Amnesty International, a humanitarian organization, has said on numerous occasions that a World Cup in the country should not take place unless major human rights reforms were made.
Edited by: Matt Pearson
Germany's Padel boom is saving tennis clubs
Not even the cold temperatures in early December could deter the members of a padel club in Niederwalgern, just over 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) north of Frankfurt, from getting together for the last tournament of the season.
"Padel has become a passion," said Marco Otto, who took up the new sport, which is more about fun and community than competition, around two years ago. "It's a fast, dynamic game."
Little effort for a lot of fun
Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. The smaller courts are similar to tennis, with a net in the middle and two service courts, but the court is partially surrounded by glass panes, similar to squash, which can be included in the game as barriers to deflect the ball. Players use a short, plastic racket.
"The biggest difference to other backs-troke sports is that you don't have to invest so much to have fun," youth coach Jan Weitzel told DW. "Padel is easier to learn than other sports, especially for children and young people whose frustration tolerance is not yet as high."
According to Weitzel, tennis, for example, is much more training-intensive. With padel, a player can get that first sense of achievement after just a few sessions.
Tennis not turning a profit
The club in Niederwalgern only had the new courts built two years ago, having previously focused exclusively on tennis. However, this was no longer profitable in the long term because, as with other clubs in Germany, demographic change was causing problems.
"We had an outdated membership structure and dwindling membership numbers, as well as few new members. As a result, at some point we were no longer able to offer team matches and hardly any training sessions," said board member Moritz Blömer. Interest in traditional tennis gradually waned.
Blömer: 'At some point, the thing would have been dead'
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the German population is getting older on average, with the birth rate falling. This not only has an impact on the labor market and pensions, but also means many sports clubs are gradually losing their base.
Older people often retire from active club functions, while young members are missing as replacements. Streaming services, social media and video games have become increasingly popular and are displacing sport and traditional club activities.
"Due to the declining number of members, it might have gone well for another 10 years and we could have kept the business going," said Blömer. "But at some point, the thing would have been dead."
The demise of clubs has serious social consequences for a society, as clubs offer spaces for interpersonal interaction and promote a sense of community, integration and social skills.
"The great thing about club life is the team spirit," said padel enthusiast Marco Otto. "You meet like-minded people and it often quickly develops into friendship. You meet up and have a lot of fun."
Club takes risks, gets into debt
This was also the case for Blömer when he moved with his family to Niederwalgern 13 years ago. He signed up to the tennis club and quickly made friends with the locals. However, the club had to change in order to attract younger players.
"We discovered padel as a trending sport," explained Blömer. "And we simply wanted to try to continue offering something young, modern and attractive."
Two courts were initially planned to be built, and the small club took a financial risk in making the move. "It was an investment that was 10 times our bank balance," recalled the 41-year-old. However, with sponsors, public funding and an increase in membership fees, the money was eventually raised.
Development in Germany on the right track
In order for the plan to work, the club needed 30 new members — a large number with just 1,400 inhabitants in the community.
But their new courts were the first with a 100-kilometer radius, and combined with adverts on digital channels and organized events the move to padel was a success.
"We now have 80 padel-playing members. Of these, around 40 are former tennis players who have switched to padel within the club," said Blömer, adding proudly: "As a club, we have grown by around 30% in the last two years."
Young people in particular have joined the club and become part of the new padel community. Training takes place twice a week, there is a team registered in the second division and tournaments are held regularly. The padel club of the nearby comprehensive school also uses the club's courts.
Padel is growing rapidly
Figures from the business consulting agency Deloitte show that padel is not only booming regionally, but throughout Germany and the rest of the world.
According to the Global Padel Report of 2024, there were around 10,000 courts worldwide in 2016. Today there are almost 50,000, and that number continues to rise.
Padel was invented in Mexico in 1965, and initially took its time to develop in Europe. In Spain, though, padel is the second-most popular sport after football — with around 16,000 courts and more than 5 million players. There has been a worldwide professional tour for almost 20 years, and the best players come from Spain and Latin America.
In Germany, on the other hand, the sport is still in its infancy. There are currently just under 600 courts here — 300 more than in 2022.
This article was originally written in German.
Germany's 2026 World Cup qualifiers depend on Italy game
Despite their strong Nations League performance, Germany are left in the awkward position of not yet knowing their exact 2026 World Cup qualifying path — even after Friday's draw.
After finishing top of their Nations League group, Germany will face Italy in the quarterfinals in March 2025. The outcome of that game will affect which World Cup qualifying group Germany ends up in.
If Germany win their quarterfinal against Italy, they will be in Group A with Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg, and will start their campaign in September. Germany haven't played Slovakia since Euro 2016. They also played Northern Ireland in that tournament, but beat them more recently in qualifiers for Euro 2021. Germany haven't played Luxembourg in nearly 20 years.
If they lose to Italy, they will be in Group I with Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova and start their qualifying campaign in March. Being in this group would mean a return to Germany for Erling Haalandand a first-ever qualifier against Israel for Germany's men. Germany would also face Moldova for the first time since 1999, and play Estonia again, having last faced them in qualifying for Euro 2021, winning the home game 8-0.
In short, beating Italy would not only give Germany a chance at winning the Nations League but also place them in a smaller World Cup qualifying group that would start later in the year.
“I think group A is a little more comfortable but it’s hard to know right now," said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann. With draws, it can always be worse or better. I think in group I, Norway are a very good team with many good and experienced players. Group A might be the easier path but we have to beat Italy first. That’s the next step.”
Germany dominated their 2022 World Cup qualifying group, losing just once albeit notably at home to North Macedonia. Under Julian Nagelsmann, Germany have been rejuvinated, losing only one game in all of 2024.
A complicated draw
Elsewhere in the European part of the World Cup qualifying draw, Thomas Tuchel's England were drawn in Group K with Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra.
With the 2026 tournament set to be the first World Cup with 48 teams, UEFA now has 16 qualifying spots on offer. They will be secured by the 12 group winners, and the runners-up (plus four teams with the best Nations League records) will go into the playoffs for the final four European spots.
In addition to the 16 European teams, there will be nine teams from Africa, eight from Asia and six from South America. Canada, the US and Mexico all qualify automatically as hosts and there will be three more teams from North and Central America (CONCACAF). Oceania have an automatic spot for the first time and two more will qualify through the intercontinental playoffs in March 2026.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
Germany backs Saudi Arabia World Cup 2034 bid
In the end, the decision was unanimous for the governors of Germany's DFB football association: yes to Saudi Arabia 2034. "There was not a single vote that said we were on the wrong track here," its president, Bernd Neuendorf, said on Friday. "The decision is supported by the entire association."
As a result of the way that FIFA has handled the awarding of its upcoming showpiece tournaments, the decision also means that Germany endorses the 2030 tournament's being hosted mainly by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
Both bids were the only ones on the table, but it was still possible for Germany to vote against or abstain. However, doing so against one bid would automatically mean doing the same for the other. With Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay also set to host matches in 2030, anything but a yes vote might have been politically tricky for the DFB top brass, which also includes Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Neuendorf said Germany "would have taken ourselves out of the game" had the DFB not voted in favor of the bids. "We must work with FIFA to improve the situation in Saudi Arabia in terms of human rights and sustainability," he said. The DFB president also described the human rights situation in the kingdom as "critical" and "not something we gloss over."
Fans do not share DFB view
Neuendorf said the prevailing European view of Saudi Arabia's lamentable human rights record is not universally shared, that the country was committed to sport and that a rejection would have been "pure symbolic politics."
That is not a position that will wash with many fan groups in Germany, a country where football and politics are rarely seen as separate by the fans.
"It contradicts all ethical principles of sport to select such a country to host the World Cup," fan group Fairness United said earlier this week.
"FIFA's decision is based solely on the logic of profit and corruption and makes a mockery of its own noble commitment to human rights and sustainability."
A Human Rights Watch report, released this week ahead of FIFA's awarding of the tournaments on December 11, is once again scathing of the kingdom's record, revealing dreadful working conditions for the country's 13.4 million migrant workers and finding that the World Cup will be "stained with pervasive rights violations." Saudi Arabia has also drawn consistent criticism for its treatment of women, LGBTQ+ people and other minorities.
Shades of Qatar
For many observers, it's all reminiscent of Qatar 2022, when similar arguments were made by the press and human rights organizations to little avail. But Neuendorf has previously rejected the comparison.
That World Cup saw Manuel Neuer and Germany clash with FIFA over the Germany captain's being able to wear the rainbow armband in support of LGBTQ+ rights in a country where homosexuality is banned. Later in the tournament, the German team covered their mouths in their prematch team photo in response to the denial of that request. It appears likely some will be vocal in opposition to Saudi Arabia as hosts.
Former Germany international Toni Kroos recently told Sports Illustrated Germany that "it's wrong that footballers should only concentrate on the sport and close their eyes to the rest of the world."
And Neuendorf told DW last year: "As the largest association in the world, we believe we have the right to take a close look at what is happening at FIFA. And we also dig deeper if we don't get satisfactory answers about certain processes."
Edited by: Jonathan Harding
About GNS
You can access our news covering German politics, economics, culture, science and sports at www.german-news-service.com or directly via our weekly newsletter.
We also provide additional services for journalists, media professionals and website operators. (This offer is not available for German speaking european Countries.)
For journalists and media professionals: dpa agency material
Get daily agency reports, including images, from the German press agency dpa covering the most important national and international news and events concerning Germany. You can process news items, backgrounders or round-ups directly and without additional research while publishing under your brand free of charge and without time limits.
At a glance:
- agency material free of charge
- up to 10 reports from all news desks per day (texts and images)
- publication under your own media brand in traditional, online and social media
- no license or technical service fees
- available in Arabic, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish and Serbian
Are you a journalist or media professional and want to use this service? Simply fill out our registration form.
For website operators: DW articles, pictures and videos
With a DW content box, video player or via RSS import media companies, institutions, organizations and professional partners can integrate the latest news from Germany directly into their website without any additional work.
At a glance:
- articles, pictures and videos
- simple, customized integration
- exclusive, automatically updated content
- available in Arabic, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Bosnian, and Serbian
If would you like more information, have special requirements or want to start accessing content from DW right away, just send us an e-mail. By submitting an e-mail, you automatically accept our Terms and Conditions for the usage of DW’s RSS feeds.
If you want to tell others about the German News Service, please feel free to use information flyer.
GNS Newsletter
The German News Service is a free newswire by DW for anyone interested in German topics.
With a free subscription to our weekly newsletter, you will receive the most important German topics from politics, business, culture, science and sport directly in your inbox.
Stay up to date and subscribe via the form!