Bild: He doesn’t care about millions and is now becoming a minister | Er pfeift auf Millionen und wird jetzt Minister
FAZ: CDU approves coalition agreement and names ministers | CDU billigt Koalitionsvertrag und benennt Minister
Funke: Ministerial team for federal government – Berlin CDU comes away empty-handed | Ministerriege für Bundesregierung – Berliner CDU geht leer aus
Handelsblatt: Merz puts his faith in managers | Merz setzt auf Manager
RND: Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office: The end of the liberal world | Donald Trump 100 Tage im Amt: Bis ans Ende der liberalen Welt
SZ: Merz brings in outside expertise | Merz holt sich Erfahrung von außen
Tagesspiegel: Due to high inflation: Poor people in Germany are getting poorer, according to welfare association | Wegen hoher Inflation: Arme in Deutschland werden laut Wohlfahrtsverband immer ärmer
taz: Migration background! A minister from Saturn | Migrationshintergrund! Ein Minister vom Saturn
Welt: Merz breaks with old rules | Merz bricht mit alten Regeln
CDU Federal Committee approves coalition agreement between Union and SPD: The chair of the small party conference, Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer, said the pact was passed by an overwhelming majority; it was not clear whether there were any dissenting votes or abstentions. CDU leader Friedrich Merz had campaigned for approval in front of around 150 delegates. He said he was certain that the future black-red coalition would initiate the promised change in policy. Merz defended the relaxation of the debt brake and pointed to external threats. The special infrastructure fund would not be „squandered,“ but would be used to create new assets. SPD members have until Tuesday evening to vote on the coalition agreement online. sueddeutsche.de, zdf.de
CDU and CSU reveal ministerial picks: The two Union parties have announced their future cabinet. lto.de, tagesspiegel. de, faz.net
- Johann Wadephul will become foreign minister, as recently reported. On ARD television, Wadepuhl praised Annalena Baerbock’s position on Ukraine, saying that she had surprisingly taken a very clear and tough stance on the issue. Along with Wadepuhl, Serap Güler and Gunther Krichbaum from the CDU and Florian Hahn from the CSU will join the Foreign Office as ministers of state. tagesschau.de
- Katherina Reiche will take over the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy. Reiche comes directly from the top job at Eon subsidiary Westenergie. On Monday, Reiche made public her relationship with former minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. MIT leader Gitta Connemann is set to become Parliamentary State Secretary and Commissioner for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses; Stefan Rouenhoff will also become Parliamentary State Secretary and is considered a proven expert on Africa. n-tv.de
- Alexander Dobrindt will become interior minister and spokesperson for the CSU ministers. In this capacity, Dobrindt will sit on the coalition committee. Hamburg MP Christoph de Vries will join the Interior Ministry as Parliamentary State Secretary. n-tv.de
- Dorothee Bär of the CSU will become Minister for Research, Technology and Space. CSU leader Markus Söder praised her as assertive. Bär was, among other things, Digital Commissioner from 2018 to 2021. North Rhine-Westphalia CDU politician Matthias Hauer and CSU politician Silke Launert will become Parliamentary State Secretaries.
- Karsten Wildberger joins Merz’s cabinet without party affiliation and becomes Germany’s first digital minister. Wildberger is currently CEO of electronics retail group Media Saturn; prior to that, he worked for telecommunications companies. Philipp Amthor and Thomas Jarzombek will work as parliamentary state secretaries in the Ministry of Digitalization and State Modernization. n-tv.de
- Patrick Schnieder will be responsible for transport policy. A large part of the special infrastructure fund will be managed and spent there; dilapidated bridges and the rail network need to be renovated. Christian Hirte and Ulrich Lange will move to Invalidenstraße as Parliamentary State Secretaries. spiegel.de
- Alois Rainer, previously a member of the Bundestag from Lower Bavaria, becomes Agriculture Minister. CSU leader Söder praised the trained master butcher as the „perfect candidate.“ He is the brother of former CSU politician Gerda Hasselfeldt. CDU politician Silvia Breher and CSU politician Martina Englhardt-Kopf will become parliamentary state secretaries.
- Nina Warken will become Minister of Health. Health policy has not been her focus to date. During the coalition negotiations, she worked in the working group on internal affairs, law, and migration. Warken has been secretary-general of the CDU in Baden-Württemberg since 2023. Tino Sorge and Georg Kippels will become parliamentary state secretaries.
- Karin Prien is considered a prominent education politician; she is moving from Schleswig-Holstein’s Ministry of Education, Science, and Research to the newly tailored Ministry of Education and Families at the federal level. Mareike Wulf from Lower Saxony and Michael Brand from Hesse will become parliamentary state secretaries.
- Wolfram Weimer will succeed Claudia Roth as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The journalist and publisher is considered close to the CDU, but is not a party member. Some of his statements suggest an arch-conservative worldview. kress.de
- Christiane Schenderlein will become Minister of State in the Chancellery and Commissioner for Sport and Volunteering. sportschau.de
- Thorsten Frei becomes head of the Chancellery. He is one of Friedrich Merz’s closest confidants. All department heads in the chancellery are to be placed on temporary retirement. Jacob Schrot will become Merz’s new office manager and will also head the National Security Council. Jörg Semmler will become state secretary and will coordinate the ministries as a kind of head of office. Günter Sautter will become foreign policy advisor. BND deputy Philipp Wolf will take over coordination of the secret services. Deutsche Bahn board member Levin Holle is to head the economic policy department. Michael Meister will be responsible for cooperation between the federal and state governments. faz.net
Israeli intelligence chief Ronen Bar announces resignation effective June 15: He cited his agency’s failures in connection with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, for which he said he would take personal responsibility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had stated in March that he had lost confidence in Bar and announced his intention to dismiss him. However, the Supreme Court suspended the decision. Bar’s dismissal had sparked protests in Israel. Critics accuse Netanyahu of a conflict of interest because the Shin Bet intelligence agency is investigating several of his confidants. zeit.de, zdf.de
Hearing on Israel’s obligations in the Gaza Strip before the International Court of Justice: The UN General Assembly requested an advisory opinion last year. The opinion is intended to clarify the legal responsibility of the Israeli government to ensure aid for the suffering people in the Gaza Strip. The reason for this is that Israel had prohibited the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from carrying out its work by blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza. Forty countries and four international organizations are expected to participate in the week-long hearings. Israel has declined to participate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of announcing a ceasefire in bad faith: Putin’s unilaterally declared ceasefire is only intended to ensure peace and quiet during his memorial parade, Zelensky said. According to Moscow, a three-day ceasefire is to begin on May 8 „for humanitarian reasons.“ Around this date, Russia will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany with, among other things, a military parade in central Moscow. Kyiv’s priority is to protect people, not parades, Zelensky said. spiegel.de, tagesschau.de
US raw materials agreement now stronger and fairer, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: „Today, our government representatives – the Ukrainian negotiators in the talks with the US – also reported on the economic partnership agreement,“ Zelensky said in his evening video address. “The document has now become significantly stronger – fairer. It could be beneficial for both peoples, both for Ukraine and for America.“ He did not provide any details. sueddeutsche.de
Explosions in Kyiv on Tuesday night: Alarm sirens wailed; eyewitnesses reported hearing explosions during the night. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on Monday that there had been 123 combat operations on the front lines within 24 hours. The Russian army flew 57 air strikes on Ukrainian positions and settlements with 106 guided bombs and 785 kamikaze drone attacks and carried out more than 3,700 artillery strikes. Ukrainian air defenses shot down at least 40 Shahed drones in the eastern, northern, and central regions of the country on Monday, Ukrinform reported, citing the Ukrainian Air Force.
Bild Sunday trend from Insa: Union 25 percent, AfD 25 percent, SPD 15.5 percent (+0.5), Greens 11 percent, Left 10 percent, BSW 4 percent (-1), FDP 3 percent (-0.5), others 6.5 percent. bild.de
Syrian transitional government open to repatriation: Syria’s Interior Minister Anas Khattab agreed at a meeting on Monday with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and her Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner to issue the necessary documents. However, no concrete agreements have been made. According to Faeser, the main priority is to deport criminals and Islamists as quickly as possible, but also to encourage voluntary returns. Around 630,000 Syrians recognized as persons entitled to protection live in Germany. zeit.de
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach promotes electronic patient records: Lauterbach called the ePA an „era-defining moment“ at its official launch on Tuesday, saying that patients would finally have an overview of their data and findings. Doctors would be able to make better decisions. However, patient advocates have privacy concerns. zeit.de
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sees strengthening the Bundeswehr as the most important task for the government: Germany’s rearmament is the most urgent political project of the coming years, Steinmeier said at a ceremony in Brussels marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. A poorly equipped Germany is a greater danger to Europe than a well-equipped Germany – even if this statement is much harder for Germans to accept than for their allies, given the country’s history. zdf.de
Cyberattack on capital city portal: According to the Berlin Senate Chancellery, all areas of berlin.de and the service portal have been only partially accessible or completely unavailable since Friday evening. The cyberattack took the form of an overload attack, in which the servers are intended to crash due to a large number of requests. It is unclear who is behind the attack. No data was stolen. rbb24.de, spiegel.de, n-tv.de
More News:
- Hamburg: Following the SPD, the Greens also vote in favor of the coalition agreement; red-green government work will continue. ndr.de
- Hamburg: Exclusive negotiations on the Elbtower extended. n-tv.de
- Lower Saxony: Date set for resignation of Minister President Stephan Weil on May 19. ndr.de
- Lower Saxony: Second LNG ship arrives in Wilhelmshaven.
- Schleswig-Holstein: Investigations into right-wing extremist chants on Sylt largely closed. ndr.de
- Hamburg: NDR Administrative Board proposes Hendrik Lünenborg, director of NDR’s Hamburg regional broadcasting center, as new director general. spiegel.de
- Berlin: Retirement benefits for former RBB director Claudia Nothelle to remain in place. kress.de
Refugee aid agency and World Food Programme announce comprehensive cuts following US funding cuts: Filippo Grandi, head of the UN Refugee Agency, said that it would only be possible to carry out a third of the work previously done. The World Food Programme informed its staff that up to 30 percent of jobs would have to be cut. The US is currently the largest donor to UN organizations.
Most of Spain’s power supply restored: On Monday afternoon, there was a widespread power outage across the Iberian Peninsula. Public life was severely disrupted for hours. The Spanish government declared a state of emergency. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for calm and asked people not to overload the mobile phone networks. The cause has not yet been conclusively determined, but a cyberattack is unlikely. Unusual temperature fluctuations may have caused some „abnormal vibrations“ in high-voltage power lines. On Tuesday morning, it was reported that most households had been reconnected to the power grid. tagesschau.de, spiegel.de, faz.net
EU border protection agency Frontex investigates human rights violations on the Greek coast: An independent human rights commissioner is investigating the incident in early April in which seven migrants died. The migrants‘ boat is said to have been rammed by the Greek coast guard. Deputy Executive Director Lars Gedes told ARD that if the allegations are confirmed, the EU Commission could freeze its financial aid to Greece. Frontex itself could also scale back its support for the country. mdr.de, tagesschau.de
US President Donald Trump gives speech on his first 100 days in office: The Republican wants to celebrate the successes of the new administration in Warren, Michigan. However, critics accuse Trump of plunging the global economy into uncertainty and snubbing allies with his volatile tariff and foreign policies. In recent polls conducted by several US media outlets, his approval rating stood at around 40 percent. For several decades, no US president has been as unpopular after 100 days in office. web.de
Liberal Party wins parliamentary elections in Canada: CBC News and CTV News reported that the Liberals would form the next Canadian government. However, it was not yet clear whether they would secure a majority in parliament. Former central bank chief Mark Carney has only been in office since March. He succeeded Justin Trudeau, who resigned as head of government. Trudeau had most recently led a minority government. Around 29 million people were eligible to vote in the election for a new House of Commons. zeit.de
More news:
- Vatican: Election of new pope to begin on May 7. faz.net
- Finland: Concerns about new infrastructure; Russia may be preparing an attack near the Finnish border. n-tv.de
- France: More than 20 people arrested after attacks on prisons. n-tv.de
- France: La Grand-Combe mosque attacker turns himself in to Italian authorities. tagesschau.de
- Turkey: Ultra-nationalist government partner MHP puts pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. sueddeutsche.de
- Turkey: PKK does not want to prevent peace process. diepresse.com
- Poland: Construction of first nuclear power plant begins. polskieradio.pl
- Switzerland: 40 percent rise in reported cases of racism. nzz.ch
- Nigeria: At least 26 dead in bomb attack in Borno state. zeit.de
- Iran: Death toll rises to 65 after explosion in container port; explosion caused by negligence. zdf.de
- Iran: According to the Ministry of Telecommunications, one of the most complex cyberattacks in the country’s history has been repelled.
Women head more than a third of state universities in Germany: The proportion of female university leaders rose from 25 to 35 percent between 2021 and 2024, reaching an all-time high. This was announced by the Center for Higher Education Development in Gütersloh. Forty-one percent of universities are headed by women, while the figure for universities of applied sciences and colleges of applied sciences is 30 percent. spiegel.de
More news:
- Wage dispute at Berlin transport company settled; Verdi accepts offer. rbb24.de
- Lufthansa discontinues in-flight sales for economic reasons. n-tv.de
- New record: Almost 43 million overnight stays at German campsites. zdf.de
- A good quarter of all employees work on weekends. tagesspiegel.de
- Burda is restructuring and announcing dual leadership. dwdl.de
- Podcasters received $100 million from Spotify in the first quarter. faz.net
- Rheinmetall reports jump in profits in the first quarter. n-tv.de
- Swiss startup uses the space between railroad tracks for solar modules. heise.de
- Legendary manager of the Reimann family’s JAB Holding, Peter Harf, steps down. handelsblatt.com
- How the Orbán system feeds media outlets that toe the party line diepresse.com
- A strong press: How the has media countered state harassment over the decades medieninsider.com
- Spotify is reportedly planning price increases in the summer – including in Europe heise.de
- Cyndi Lauper, The White Stripes, and OutKast are in the rock Olympus of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame web.de
- New Minister of State for Culture: Wolfram Weimer – A consolation prize for disappointed CDU voters zeit.de
- Chanel’s head of culture, Yana Peel: „Private companies are part of the ecosystem of the arts“ monopol-magazin.de
- Just like dad: Duchess Meghan shows off her children’s red hair n-tv.de
- Couple goes public: Guttenberg loves future economics minister Reiche n-tv.de
- FC Bayern lays down the law: Lena Oberdorf will not travel to the European Championships due to risk of re-injury sportschau.de
- BVB faces summer departure: Schlotterbeck talks with Newcastle United revealed sport.de
- Permanent arbitration tribunal confirms ruling: VfL Bochum retains points and match results in 2-0 victory – lighter thrown at VfL goalkeeper Patrick Drewes sportschau.de
- Liverpool: Arne Slot dedicates title to Jürgen Klopp – „Jürgen Klopp – na na na na na!“ 11freunde.de
Lost cell phone on the mountain: Student rescued twice in one week from Mount Fuji spiegel.de