Bild: Pension and Bürgergeld: What’s set to change | Rente und Bürgergeld: Das ändert sich jetzt
FAZ: Haseloff praises „change of strategy“ in migration policy | Haseloff lobt „Strategiewechsel“ in der Migrationspolitik
Funke: Hundreds of thousands of commuters in the region – Berlin benefits from the coalition agreement | Hunderttausende Pendler in Region – Berlin profitieren vom Koalitionsvertrag
Handelsblatt: Finally some progress? Handelsblatt reviews the coalition agreement | Geht es jetzt endlich voran? Der Koalitionsvertrag im großen Handelsblatt-Check
RND: Markus Söder: Deputy Chancellor based in Munich | Markus Söder: Nebenkanzler mit Sitz in München
SZ: Breathing space after Trump’s emergency brake | Atempause nach Trumps Notbremse
Tagesspiegel: US tariffs: Union expects Merz and Trump to meet soon | Zölle: Union erwartet rasches Treffen von Merz und Trump
taz: Trump reaches his limits | Trump stößt an seine Grenzen
Welt: CSU approves black-red coalition agreement | CSU billigt schwarz-roten Koalitionsvertrag
CSU is the first of the three parties to approve the coalition agreement: The unanimous decision was made in a conference call between the party leadership, the CSU state parliamentary group in the Bundestag and the Bavarian members of the Landtag. CSU leader Markus Söder said the results of the negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD were good for Germany and very good for Bavaria. The disadvantages that the state had experienced under the traffic light coalition have been ended. faz.net, sueddeutsche.de
Active and retired members of Israel’s air force criticize war in Gaza: In an open letter, they say that the fighting is mainly serving political and personal interests, but not the security of the country. The signatories call for an agreement to release all hostages in the Gaza Strip, even if this would mean the end of the war against Hamas. Otherwise, they say, the lives of the hostages, as well as those of soldiers and civilians, are threatened. Most of the 1,000 signatories are retired military personnel. n-tv.de
„Coalition of the Willing“ develops first concepts for security guarantees: The supporting states want to keep their concrete plans for a possible ceasefire secret for the time being. Revealing the plans and discussing them publicly would only benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin, said British Defense Minister John Healey at NATO headquarters in Brussels; the plans are already very concrete. At the invitation of France and the United Kingdom, defense ministers from 33 countries are taking part. The Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that US support is essential for a multinational peacekeeping force. tagesschau.de, mannheimer-morgen.de, handelsblatt.com
Formation of a government consisting of the CDU and SPD: 55 percent good, 29 percent bad, 11 percent don’t care. zdf.de
- Approval among supporters: CDU 79 percent, AfD 10 percent, SPD 77 percent, Greens 65 percent, Left Party 40 percent, BSW 45 percent, FDP 53 percent.
- Can Merz implement the political change he promised: Yes 30 percent, No 64 percent.
- Friedrich Merz as Chancellor: I like it 36 percent, I don’t like it 59 percent.
More complaints about data protection violations: Last year, there were around 8,670 complaints, according to the federal data protection commissioner Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider. That was almost 1,000 cases more than in 2023. The agency’s activity report states that checks and visits to supervised bodies remained at a consistently high level and that the range of advisory services was expanded in 2024. The Federal Data Protection Commissioner is an independent federal authority. She is not subject to the legal supervision of the government or a ministry. heise.de, zeit.de
Almost 2.8 million people in Germany have never used the internet. This corresponds to a good four percent of the population aged 16 to 74, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Compared to the previous year, this is a decline of one percentage point. Germany is thus just below the EU average of five percent. The figure is lowest in the Netherlands at under one percent and highest in Croatia at 14 percent. heise.de
Jobcenter imposes significantly more sanctions on Bürgergeld recipients: Last year, benefits were cut in almost 370,000 cases. Compared to 2023, this is an increase of 63 percent, according to the Federal Employment Agency. The most common reason for sanctions was missing appointments. On average, 62 euros were cut. According to the Federal Employment Agency, less than one percent of employable Bürgergeld recipients were affected. In its coalition agreement, the future government has agreed to take more decisive action against rule violations. zeit.de, n-tv.de, tagesschau.de
Author of threatening letter in Duisburg apparently wanted better school system: North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister Herbert Reul told the interior committee that the author had demanded better school education in a kind of manifesto in a further email. Due to the threats, face-to-face teaching was cancelled at numerous schools in Duisburg on Monday. On Wednesday evening, another anonymous threatening letter with right-wing extremist content was received at a grammar school in Duisburg. It is not yet clear whether the cases are connected. n-tv.de; n-tv.de (new threatening letter)
More News:
- Berlin: New state election law expands powers of state election officials. rbb24.de
- Brandenburg: New skinhead movement concerns Office for the Protection of the Constitution. rbb24.de
- Berlin: Public prosecutor’s office to appeal after influencer receives suspended sentence for shooting New Year’s rocket. zeit.de
- Thuringia: 50-year-old man fined after paint attack on Sahra Wagenknecht. mdr.de
- Rhineland-Palatinate: 30 km/h speed limit in Mainz city center suspended after public outcry. faz.net
- Hamburg: City clears its own nature reserve. ndr.de
EU and United Arab Emirates start talks on free trade agreement: The European Union and the United Arab Emirates will start negotiations on a free trade agreement. This was announced by EU Commission President von der Leyen after a telephone conversation with the ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE President Muhammad bin Zayid Al Nahyan. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will soon travel to the United Arab Emirates again to advance the talks. stern.de, t-online.de
European Court of Justice casts doubt on Italy’s Albania model: EU member states are allowed to determine safe countries of origin for their asylum procedures themselves, the ECJ’s Advocate General said. However, the corresponding regulation must disclose the sources on which this is based so that courts can review the assessment. A court in Rome had referred the matter to the ECJ because, in its view, the Italian law does not explain the basis for the classification. A ruling is not expected before May. The opinion of the Advocate General is not binding, but judges often follow it. tagesschau.de
Two courts in Turkey order release of more than 100 students: In addition, the house arrest of at least 25 other students was lifted. They had taken part in an unauthorized rally to protest the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The arrest triggered a wave of protests in Turkey. Around 2,000 people were taken into custody, including students and journalists. Imamoglu is challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential election. n-tv.de
US Congress paves the way for tax cuts: Following the Senate, the House of Representatives also passed a corresponding budget resolution. Speaking on the Truth Social online service, President Donald Trump called it „great news“ and promised the biggest tax cuts for citizens in US history. This means that tax cuts from Trump’s first term in office can now be extended and expanded. Congressional Democrats criticized the bill, saying only the rich would benefit. t-online.de, handelsblatt.com
More news:
- Liechtenstein: Brigitte Haas first woman to head government. vorarlberg.orf.at
- Northern Macedonia: Rapprochement with the USA as a „strategic partner“. de.nachrichten.yahoo.com
- Norway: Rape to be defined by lack of consent. spiegel.de
- Spain: Expansion of private universities is to be curbed. faz.net
- Sudan: Amnesty International denounces sexual atrocities by RSF militia. spiegel.de
- Afghanistan: Men targeted by Taliban moral police for beard length and hairstyles, according to UN; more people arrested for missing prayers in mosques during the month of Ramadan. tagesschau.de
- Panama: Government allows stationing of US troops at the Panama Canal. zeit.de
- Dominican Republic: Death toll after roof collapse of a nightclub rises to 221; 189 people rescued from the rubble. zdf.de
- Argentina: General strike against President Javier Milei’s austerity policy. zeit.de
EU puts counter-tariffs on US imports on hold after Trump backdown: Following US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was suspending most tariffs, the EU is refraining from taking countermeasures for the time being. New EU tariffs on US products would also be put on hold for 90 days because the EU wants to give negotiations a chance, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. If the negotiations do not go well, the EU states would take countermeasures. She welcomed US President Trump’s announcement that the new additional tariffs would be suspended for dozens of countries. handelsblatt.com, n-tv.de
Economic research institutes expect mini-growth in Germany: In the new joint diagnosis, the growth forecast for 2025 has been lowered to 0.1 percent. In the fall, the institutes expected 0.8 percent. In their calculation, the researchers took into account the effects of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and motor vehicles. However, possible further tariffs and corresponding countermeasures by the EU have not yet been included. According to the experts, however, these are likely to further depress growth. Next year, the institutes expect stronger growth of 1.3 percent again – the billions from the CDU/CSU and SPD’s financial package for infrastructure and armaments should once again boost the economy. zdf.de, n-tv.de
More news:
- Grid operator Amprion announces investments in the expansion and modernization of power lines. waz.de
- Job ad for „digital native“ is age discrimination. heise.de
- Bundesbank: Poor households have lost the most wealth recently. handelsblatt.com
- Verdi declares collective bargaining for ground handling services a failure and seeks arbitration. stern.de
- Deutsche Bahn starts big spring clean. n-tv.de
- Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food: Germans eat more cheese and save on butter. spiegel.de
- AI is driving up demand for electricity: Data centers will consume twice as much in 2030 heise.de
- Prada acquires Versace for 1.24 billion euros. faz.net
- „As quickly as possible“: VAUNET increases pressure on tax incentives dwdl.de
- Digital ARD use is increasing, but Hager wants more dialog dwdl.de
- ProSieben brings back „Crash Games“ after ten years dwdl.de
- Combatting fake news and right-wing propaganda: Award for blog „Volksverpetzer“ augsburger-allgemeine.de
- The Three Investigators and the Old Poet – Thomas Mann zeit.de
- Exhibitions in Berlin: Yoko Ono – Art for Peace tagesschau.de
- Queer art exhibition in former women’s prison in Berlin tagesspiegel.de
- Long Night: Culture meets innovation in Mannheim mannheimer-morgen.de
- Verdict in „MeToo“ trial: Filmmaker James Toback receives billion-dollar fine n-tv.de
- Country hopes for a windfall: Jennifer Lopez is bringing a big performance to Kazakhstan n-tv.de
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- With luck and Kaua Santos: Eintracht Frankfurt score a draw against Tottenham faz.net
- Third division: At TSV 1860, they’re celebrating recent successes like they’re at Oktoberfest sueddeutsche.de
- 2030 World Cup: South American Football Association proposes final round with 64 teams spiegel.de
- Mbappé lawyers seize 55 million euros from PSG account n-tv.de
- Another shot at 100? Djokovic in Monaco has no expectations ran.de
- Ice hockey team suffers heavy defeat against the Czech Republic spiegel. de
Wrong food: Passenger freaks out on the plane and forces pilot to turn back n-tv.de