Bild: Frank Elstner: Emergency intestinal surgery, three months in hospital | Frank Elstner: Not-Op am Darm, 3 Monate in Klinik
FAZ: Trump’s tariffs cause global trade to shrink | Trumps Zölle lassen den Welthandel schrumpfen
Funke: Merz: Tax relief only with sufficient economic growth | Merz: Steuerentlastungen nur bei genügend Wirtschaftswachstum
Handelsblatt: The luxury bunkers of the super-rich | Der Luxusbunker der Superreichen
RND: Quick restart for foreign policy: Merz wants to meet Macron, Tusk, and Trump | Schneller Neustart der Außenpolitik: Merz will Macron, Tusk, Trump treffen
SZ: Concerns about the anti-fascist „firewall“ | Sorge um die Brandmauer
Tagesspiegel: Gaza aid continues to be blocked—Israel wants to maintain control over conquered territories | Gaza-Hilfe wird weiter blockiert – Israel will Kontrolle über eroberte Gebiete behalten
taz: The eternal struggle with the Konrad mine | Das ewige Kreuz mit dem Schacht Konrad
Welt: What the planned reform of the Working Hours Act means | Was die geplante Reform des Arbeitszeitgesetzes bedeutet
SPD warns against normalisation of the AfD in the Bundestag: SPD Secretary General Matthias Miersch told RTL/ntv that the AfD regularly calls Germany’s consistution into question. Miersch criticized Union faction vice-chair Jens Spahn, who sparked a debate over the treatment of the far-right party over the weekend. CSU parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek told BR: „A party that is under observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can never be treated like any other.“ Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has also warned against changing the way the AfD is dealt with. Courts have confirmed that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution was right to classify the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist organization, Faeser told Funke newspapers. Spahn accused his critics of „performative outrage“ on Pioneer. n-tv.de (Miersch), br.de (Holetschek), waz.de (Faeser), thepioneer.de (Spahn)
Israel wants to control 30 percent of the Gaza Strip as a buffer zone in the long term: The areas should remain under Israeli control even after a possible end to the war, said Defense Minister Israel Katz. According to UN figures, Israel currently controls around 70 percent of the Gaza Strip. Areas in Lebanon and Syria are also to remain under permanent military control, creating a buffer zone against enemy fighters. spiegel.de, rp-online.de, tagesschau.de
Ukraine manufactures 40 percent of its weapons itself: More than a thousand types of weapons are already being manufactured, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to representatives of the arms industry in Kiev. Ukraine’s arms industry employs around 300,000 people and is increasingly cooperating with foreign partners. n-tv.de
Another flight carrying people from Afghanistan has landed: The plane with 138 people on board arrived in Leipzig on Wednesday evening, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. These are people who are classified as „at risk“ and have binding promises of admission to Germany. The plane had taken off from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. Saxony’s Interior Ministry said further flights were planned for April 23 and 29. faz.net, spiegel.de, n-tv.de
Federal Administrative Court allows deportations to Greece: Germany can deport single, healthy, and able-to-work migrants to Greece, judges in Leipzig have ruled. Despite shortcomings in the Greek admissions system, the migrants are not at risk of extreme hardship. People will have to fight their way through a jungle of bureaucracy, but it should be possible to find accommodation and access to food and work. zdf.de
German Armed Forces reports increase in applicants: According to a NOZ report, the Armed Forces‘ personnel office received around 52,000 applications last year. This represents an increase of 18.5 percent compared to 2023. The rising numbers are also leading to more security checks by the Military Counter-Intelligence Service. In 2024, around 68,000 background checks were requested. noz.de
Commemoration of the Battle of the Seelow Heights 80 years ago overshadowed by controversy: The battle between the Soviet Army and the Wehrmacht 80 years ago is considered one of the most devastating on German soil. Just a few days before the end of the war, tens of thousands of soldiers died between April 16 and 19, 1945. Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev also attended the commemoration ceremony. The German Foreign Office had advised against inviting any representatives from Moscow due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Brandenburg’s SPD member of the state parliament, Sina Schönbrunn, told RBB that one could not exclude the representative of a country who wanted to commemorate his fallen compatriots. Around 800 people took part in the silent commemoration at the memorial. n-tv.de
Several tens of thousands expected to take part in Easter marches: Around 100 demonstrations, rallies, bike rides, and other events are planned across Germany, according to the Peace Cooperative network in Bonn. The themes will include calls for disarmament and peace initiatives for the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. stern.de, taz.de
More News:
- Baden-Württemberg: Court rejects exemption from swimming lessons for children on religious grounds. badische-zeitung.de
- Thuringia: Education Minister Christian Tischner opposes third free year of kindergarten. tlz.de
- Saxony-Anhalt: Victim protection complicates trial against Magdeburg attacker. n-tv.de
- Berlin: Eviction of around 100 pro-Palestinian activists from a squatted lecture hall at Humboldt University ends. rbb24.de
- Lower Saxony: Dilapidated waterways hamper inland shipping. ndr.de
- Thuringia: AfD members own 154 weapons. tlz.de
- Hamburg: Former US consulate to be converted into a hotel. ndr.de
- Bavaria: Minister President Markus Söder suspects infection arose from „contact with water in an Indian slum.“ rnd.de
WHO countries agree on pandemic agreement: After tough negotiations in Geneva, they agreed on a treaty text that aims to ensure that the international community is better prepared for future pandemics and can respond more quickly. Among other things, it calls for vaccines and protective measures to be distributed more equitably. The agreement now needs to be signed by the 194 member states at the WHO Annual Assembly in May. The US is not a signatory as it has withdrawn from the WHO. faz.net, tagesschau.de
EU Commission wants to introduce two laws for accelerated asylum procedures ahead of schedule: These involve an accelerated procedure for applicants from countries with a recognition rate of no more than 20 percent and the option for member states to classify additional countries of origin as safe. The Commission is proposing an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin. This includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco, Tunisia, and Kosovo. The European Parliament and the EU Council must now consider the proposals. zdf.de, faz.net, n-tv.de
EU member states to permit shooting of wolves: EU countries have approved the EU Commission’s proposal to remove wolves from the list of strictly protected species. The EU Parliament has yet to give its approval. Around 1,600 wolves have been registered in Germany to date. In 2023, more than 5,000 farm animals were injured or killed by wolves in the country. zeit.de
Slovakia’s parliament passes controversial NGO law: Starting in July, non-governmental organizations will have to disclose the source of their funding and the identity of their largest donors and members on an annual basis. The opposition criticized the move and drew parallels with Russia, where NGOs are labeled as so-called foreign agents. Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government originally wanted to push through a similar regulation, but watered down the plan after a warning from the EU Commission. There have been several large protests in Slovakia since the beginning of the year, accusing Fico’s government of authoritarian tendencies. zeit.de, tagesschau.de, sueddeutsche.de
Sudanese RSF militia announces counter-government: It said it would introduce its own currency and separate identity cards. The militia has been fighting the army of Sudanese military ruler Abdel Fattah Burhan for two years. Thirty million people in the country are dependent on humanitarian aid. An international conference on the civil war ended in London on Tuesday, but without the participation of the parties to the conflict. sueddeutsche.de
More news:
- Georgia: Government restricts financial support for opposition. zeit.de
- Finland: Borders with Russia remain closed due to „instrumentalized migration.“ n-tv.de
- Finland: Jamming software developed to counter Russian interference with GPS satellites. derstandard.at
- United Kingdom: Inflation continues to slow. t-online.de
- France: Coalition partners accuse Prime Minister Francois Bayrou of failing to take action. wort.lu
- Czech Republic: Despite rising defense spending, the military is struggling with a shortage of recruits. mdr.de
- China: President Xi Jinping promises Malaysia better access to Chinese markets. tagesschau.de
- Puerto Rico: Massive power outage after blackout of all power plants. spiegel.de
Economic sentiment in eastern Germany continued to brighten in March: The Ifo Business Climate Index rose by 0.4 points, according to the Dresden branch. While companies assessed their current situation as slightly worse than in February, their expectations for the coming months improved slightly. The institute did not give any reasons for this. tagesspiegel.de
More news:
- Lyft acquires Freenow: Uber’s biggest competitor comes to Europe. heise.de
- Germans spend more than €7 billion on their pets. rnd.de
- All-time high for corporate group: Edeka generates more revenue than ever before. spiegel.de
- Siemens Energy raises its annual forecast. faz.net
- Mastercard, Visa, Paypal: Three US providers dominate Europe’s cash flows. tagesspiegel.de
- Associated Press and Reuters: US government restricts access to the White House for major news agencies spiegel.de
- „Russia is showing that it is an unjust state“: Former DW journalists in Russia sentenced to years in jail dwdl.de
- Global disruption: Spotify is down heise.de
- Polish Institute Berlin: Cultural awakening after the end of PiS rule tagesspiegel.de
- British rock band: The Who kicks out drummer Zak Starkey spiegel.de
- Photography book: Artist Jonas Höschl shows the right-wing extremists right here among us monopol-magazin.de
- Harvey Weinstein trial stress – jurors leave the courtroom musikexpress.de
- Downplaying alcoholism: Manager rejects serious allegations against Heino n-tv.de
- After leaving FC Bayern: Thomas Müller apparently receiving offers from all over the world n-tv.de
- Euroleague: FC Bayern Basketball defeats Red Star Belgrade in overtime sueddeutsche.de
- ATP tournament in Munich: Zverev advances to the quarterfinals after scoring easy win against Altmaier sportschau.de
- Diego Dedura-Palomero: Germany’s great tennis hope tennismagazin.de
- Attack on cycling star Van der Poel: Bottle thrower from Paris–Roubaix asks for forgiveness spiegel.de
Baby animals: Several penguin chicks born in Stralsund ksta.de