Bild: Is the Chancellor losing his nerve? | Verliert der Kanzler jetzt die Nerven?
FAZ: Union promises „law and order“ in migration policy | Union verspricht „Law and Order“ in der Migrationspolitik
Funke: Markings and bicycle traffic lights to make intersections safer | Markierungen und Fahrradampeln sollen Kreuzungen sicherer machen
Handelsblatt: dm founds online pharmacy | dm gründet Online-Apotheke
RND: First offender as US president: A criminal before the coronation | Erster Straftäter als US-Präsident: Ein Krimineller vor der Krönung
SZ: Deadly attack on general in Moscow | Tödlicher Anschlag auf General in Moskau
Tagesspiegel: Top Russian general killed: Ukraine said to be responsible | Russischer Top-General getötet: Ukraine soll verantwortlich sein
taz: Ukrainian general attack | Ukrainischer Generalangriff
Welt: Explosion kills Russian general in Moscow | Explosion tötet einen russischen General in Moskau
Parties present election programs: After Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s lost vote of confidence, several parties have presented their programs for the early federal election in February. faz.net, handelsblatt.com
- Union wants to lower income tax, implement a tougher migration policy with a de facto ban on admitting illegal immigrants and consider re-entering the nuclear energy program. The „policy change for Germany“ provides for the replacement of the citizen’s income unemployment benefit with a new basic income with stricter sanction options. Union chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz said the party was offering a shift in policy. CSU leader Markus Söder said that not only a change of government but also a change of policy was needed. faz.net, sueddeutsche.de
- SPD wants a pension guarantee over the coming decades, explained Chancellor Olaf Scholz. According to him, this is affordable if employment remains high and people from other countries come to work in Germany. In contrast to the CDU, the SPD wants to reform the debt brake for public investments and increase state revenues by changing the inheritance, gift and wealth taxes. The defense budget should in future be set at two percent of the GDP. sueddeutsche.de, faz.net
- Greens want to make everyday life more affordable for people again and strengthen infrastructure. A „Germany fund“ is to benefit Deutsche Bahn, schools and daycare centers. The Greens are open to tightening asylum policy. The election program calls for extending and tightening the rent brake. To make climate protection more affordable, climate money is to be introduced as quickly as possible. Green chancellor candidate Robert Habeck described a reform of the debt brake as inevitable. sueddeutsche.de
- FDP wants to prioritize government budget spending. The state will be strong if it focuses on its core tasks, said FDP leader Christian Lindner. He explained that with the Free Democrats in the Bundestag, there would be no black-green majority. The FDP want tax relief for companies and a reform of the citizen’s income. The ban on new combustion engine vehicles from 2035 is to be lifted and the goal of climate neutrality for Germany is to be postponed by five years to 2050.
- AfD wants to leave the EU, abolish the euro and reintroduce the Deutschmark. The party denies man-made climate change and therefore advocates coal-fired power plants and wants to resume purchasing Russian gas. The economic sanctions against Russia should be lifted. Asylum seekers should be able to be detained at the borders.
- The left is focusing on social justice, higher taxes for the wealthy and at least hourly bus and train connections in rural areas. There should also be a pension level of 53 percent and a minimum pension of 1,310 euros. The left wants to take up initiatives like those of China and Brazil to negotiate peace in Ukraine.
RTL/ntv Trendbarometer by Forsa: CDU/CSU 30 percent (-1), SPD 17 percent, Greens 13 percent, FDP 4 percent, AfD 19 percent (+1), Left Party 3 percent, BSW 4 percent, others 10 percent. n-tv.de
- Direct election of the Chancellor: Olaf Scholz 26 percent (-1), Friedrich Merz 26 percent (-1), neither/nor 48 percent.
- Economic expertise: Olaf Scholz 18 percent, Friedrich Merz 44 percent, neither/nor 38 percent. n-tv.de
- Competence in external security: Olaf Scholz 34 percent, Friedrich Merz 34 percent, neither/nor 32 percent.
German delegation holds first talks with new rulers in Syria: Led by Tobias Tunkel, the Middle East Commissioner of the German Foreign Office, talks were held in Damascus with Ahmad Husain asch-Schar’a and other high-ranking HTS representatives. The topics were the political transition process in Syria and the protection of minorities and women. In addition, the German delegation met with representatives of civil society and religious communities and inspected the German Embassy in Damascus, which has been closed since 2012, the Foreign Office announced. faz.net, tagesschau.de
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits troops in buffer zone to Syria on the Golan Heights: Netanyahu visited Mount Hermon to get a picture of the situation, his office announced. The summit of the mountain serves Israel to „identify both near and far threats,“ the defense ministry explained. The incursion into Syrian territory has also met with international criticism. welt.de, merkur.de, telepolis.de
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky demands „real, lasting peace“ in 2025: „We must create peace in such a way that Putin can no longer break it,“ Zelensky says in a video address at a summit of ten European countries in Tallinn. „We all see that next year could be the end of this war, and we all have to make sure that happens.“
Defense Ministry sees German alliance capability threatened by Ramstein lawsuit: In the lawsuit before the Constitutional Court regarding the use of the US airbase for American drone missions, BMVg State Secretary Thomas Hitschler has warned against endangering the country’s ability to protect its security; a strong presence of US troops is indispensable in this country. If Germany were obliged to monitor missions worldwide according to the standards of its own understanding of international law, this would have significant consequences for its military alliance capability. Two Yemenis whose relatives were killed in a US drone strike in 2012 have filed a lawsuit. They argue that Germany also bears responsibility because the data stream ran through Ramstein. Their lawsuit was dismissed by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig in 2020. faz.net, sueddeutsche.de, rnd.de
State government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania appoints new board for controversial climate foundation: In the future, a lawyer and the former president of the state farmers‘ association are to run the foundation on a voluntary basis. The controversial foundation was established by the state government in 2021 and was intended to help secure the completion of Nord Stream 2. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, these activities were halted, but the state government failed in its attempt to dissolve the foundation. ndr.de
Brandenburg’s interior minister Katrin Lange is reviewing the report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution on the AfD’s classification as „right-wing extremist“: According to WDR, NDR and Süddeutscher, a reclassification was planned for November, but is said not to have been implemented because of the federal election. There were fears that the AfD could interpret such a step as an attempt to influence the party. AfD state leader Rene Springer reacted to the research with accusations, calling the classification a „political instrument against the opposition“. The AfD in Brandenburg has so far been classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected right-wing extremist case. The interior ministry only took over last week. tagesschau.de, morgenpost.de
More Regional:
- Saxony: CDU and SPD have signed a coalition agreement, clearing the way for a minority government. sueddeutsche.de
- Saxony: CDU politician Michael Kretschmer hopes to be re-elected as prime minister. faz.net
- Thuringia: The state government of CDU, SPD and BSW is vetting state secretaries before appointment. otz.de
- Brandenburg: Proceedings against Potsdam’s Lord Mayor Mike Schubert for possible acceptance of benefits in office have been dropped in exchange for a fine.
- Hessen: Court declares sacking of former state secretary Lamia Messari-Becker „permissible“. hessenschau.de
- Brandenburg: Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke on the false start of the red-purple coalition and his personal future. rnd.de
- Thuringia: State supports migration initiative from Bavaria. n-tv.de
- Berlin: Mother of Russian opposition member Vladimir Kara-Mursa at Charite; suspicion of poisoning not confirmed. tagesspiegel.de
- Lower Saxony: Rent controls significantly expanded. ndr.de
- Hessen: Landtag against Rhein-Main-Link underground cable through vineyards. faz.net
- NRW: New hospital plan presented; hospital landscape to be significantly restructured. wdr.de
- Lower Saxony: Hope for Colombian nursing assistants facing deportation. spiegel.de
- Schleswig-Holstein: Ministry of Economic Affairs doubts the Flensburg city council’s expert opinion on the relocation of the port. shz.de
- Berlin: Knife bans at Kottbusser Tor and Görlitzer Park. n-tv.de
Sakharov Prize awarded to opposition politicians from Venezuela: The opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia were honored. EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the two had risked everything for justice, democracy and the rule of law. Opposition leader Machado was unable to accept the prize in person. She has gone into hiding for fear of persecution by the authorities. She was not allowed to run in the July presidential election, with opposition candidate Gonzalez Urrutia standing in her place. He was then pursued in Venezuela by arrest warrant, fled to Spain and was granted political asylum there. sueddeutsche.de
EU and Western Balkans discuss further rapprochement: The heads of state and government of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have been invited. The summit is being chaired for the first time by the new EU Council President Antonio Costa, who called for a „new era of trust“. The European Union wants to encourage all six Western Balkan countries to make further efforts at reform that could eventually lead to their admission to the community. euractiv.de
Disease X is probably a severe form of malaria: Authorities believe that a severe form of malaria is the cause of the previously unexplained cases of illness and death in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many patients are also malnourished, according to the Ministry of Health in Kinshasa. The outbreak of the so-called „Disease X“ killed 143 people in November. Symptoms include fever, headaches, breathing problems and anemia. The assessment by the Congolese authorities is in line with the WHO’s suspicions. The WHO had sent experts to the affected region after initial reports of the disease. tagesschau.de
More News:
- EU: EU Commission examines influence of TikTok on elections. tagesschau.de
- EU: Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls for new EU asylum pact. rainews.it
- EU: EU supports pushbacks against refugees at EU’s eastern border in Poland. taz.de
- Austria: FPÖ leads provincial government in Styria; cooperation with ÖVP. faz.net
- Ireland: Facebook parent company Meta fined millions for data breach. faz.net
- France: Authorities impose night-time curfew on Mayotte in aftermath of cyclone. zeit.de
- Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán benefits from new electoral reform. zeit.de
- Switzerland: Separate vote on new agreement; Federal Council wants to split the EU package. tagesanzeiger.ch
- Georgia: Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili calls pro-EU protests „not peaceful“. de.euronews.com
- Denmark: Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson released; no extradition to Japan. sueddeutsche.de
- United Kingdom: Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky takes over Royal Mail. faz.net
- Spain: Colombia wants ancient Quimbaya treasure back. sueddeutsche.de
- Congo: Criminal complaint against Apple and subsidiaries in France and Belgium for conflict minerals. heise.de
- Mozambique: Death and devastation caused by Cyclone Chido. tagesschau.de
- Iran: The law on headscarves, which has already been passed, is being put on hold for the time being. spiegel.de
- China: Satellites detect Chinese nuclear submarine on Hainan Island; missile hatches open. focus.de
- Japan: Eco-power to become main source of energy through energy transition; nuclear power remains important. n-tv.de
- Vanuatu: Six dead after strong earthquake. spiegel.de
- Donald Trump is suing the Iowa regional newspaper „Des Moines Register“ and a polling institute because of an election poll. spiegel.de
- Alleged killer of United Healthcare boss charged with terrorism. spiegel.de
German business morale falls to lowest level since May 2020: At 84.7 points, the lowest level since May 2020 was reached in the Ifo Business Climate indicator. Economists had originally expected 85.5 points. The weakness of the German economy has become chronic, explained Ifo President Clemens Fuest. welt.de, n-tv.de
More from Business, Tech and Science:
- Germany’s largest car insurer HUK-Coburg acquires Pitstop garage chain. spiegel.de
- Low capacity utilization and losses: Brose is cutting 700 jobs in Germany. n-tv.de
- Honda and Nissan are working on a merger, according to a report. handelsblatt.com
- Money transport sector reaches agreement in wage dispute: No cash shortage before Christmas. faz.net
- One in five Dax board positions filled by a woman. faz.net
- Electric car boom causes fuel consumption in China to fall sooner than expected. spiegel.de
- Crisis signals: No reason to celebrate: Russia is suffering from the war economy. capital.de
- IFO index: Economy even more pessimistic for 2025. faz.net
- Financial windfall for German employees: Ifo Institute expects noticeable salary increases. t3n.de
- AI Act: Employers warn against overregulation in labor law. table.media
- Retirement planning: Germans trust stocks more than pensions. faz.net
- Radical change of course: Trump’s team wants to stop subsidies for electric cars. n-tv.de
- Impending job losses: downsizing like a Bosch – the automotive supplier has to save money and staff, and the unions are willing to make sacrifices. But what good is it if the products flop? wiwo.de
- CNN team duped: Syrian who was freed from prison was a member of the secret service. n-tv.de
- Media rights: DFL sells Bundesliga passport abroad. horizont.net
- TikTok becomes entertainment partner of the International Ski Federation FIS. horizont.net
- DNA figures from AGMA: big news brands such as Focus, Spiegel, Zeit, FAZ and Süddeutsche saw a sharp increase in November. meedia.de
- Binding solution: Restitution of Nazi-looted art – Arbitration board to mediate. monopol-magazin.de
- Havana Biennial: „I want to leave the country“ – Cubans leave cries for help on a German work of art. welt.de
- Michael Jackson: Lost tapes emerge. musikexpress.de
- Architecture prize awarded: These are the most beautiful hotels in the world. t-online.de
- „Don’t understand the hype“: Thomas Gottschalk finds Dubai chocolate too bitter. tagesspiegel.de
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- New attempt at a new league: „Unify League“ instead of Super League. faz.net
- „Everyone is unhappy“: Ronaldo wants to become president of the Brazilian Football Association. faz.net
- Important role for Haas: German woman will create a Formula 1 first in 2025 – US team will have the first woman as a race engineer from 2025 – German Laura Müller. sport.de
- Boxer Wladimir Klitschko: Almost 50 and ready for a comeback. sueddeutsche.de
- At the World Darts Championship in London: Scottish professional Cameron Menzies is booed and bursts into tears. faz.net
Merkel: Pantsuits used to be a „political issue“. faz.net