Bild: Police scandal surrounding Lauterbach | Polizei-Skandal um Lauterbach
FAZ: Bundestag approves debt plans of CDU, SPD and Greens | Bundestag billigt Schuldenpläne von Union, SPD und Grünen
Funke: After the change in the Basic Law, Wegner calls for speed in investments | Nach Grundgesetzänderung: Wegner fordert Tempo bei Investitionen
Handelsblatt: Historic arms deal | Historische Rüstungswende
RND: Putin agrees to suspend attacks on energy infrastructure – but no general ceasefire | Putin stimmt Aussetzung von Angriffen auf Energieinfrastruktur zu – aber keiner generellen Waffenruhe
SZ: Bundestag votes in favor of debt package | Bundestag votiert für Schuldenpaket
Tagesspiegel: Israel’s army attacks Gaza: Ceasefire ends with massive air strikes | Israels Armee greift Gaza an: Waffenruhe endet mit massiven Luftschlägen
taz: Thank you, Robert (Merz keeps Robert Habeck’s election promise) | Danke, Robert (Merz hält Wahlversprechen von Robert Habeck)
Welt: End of the ceasefire? Israel attacks Hamas targets in Gaza | Ende der Waffenruhe? Israel greift Hamas-Ziele in Gaza an
Two-thirds majority for financial package: The Bundestag has approved the amendment to the debt brake for defense spending and a special fund for infrastructure introduced by the CDU and SPD. In a roll-call vote, 513 members of parliament voted in favor, 207 were against, and there were no abstentions. Almost all members of the CDU, SPD and Greens voted in favor; the only SPD member to vote against was Jan Dieren, the only CDU member to do so was Mario Czaja, and the only Green member to do so was Canan Bayram. sueddeutsche.de, n-tv.de; spiegel.de
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces an expansion of attacks on the Gaza Strip: The air strikes on the Palestinian territory are only the beginning and a necessary condition for the release of hostages. Any ceasefire negotiations would only take place „under fire“. The releases so far have shown that military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of hostages. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that the Islamist Hamas had rejected proposals by US envoy Steve Witkoff for an extension of the ceasefire. welt.de, tagesspiegel.de, spiegel.de
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree on a limited ceasefire: Russia has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire on attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced after a phone call between Putin and Trump. The measure should be implemented immediately. Trump wrote on Truth-Social that the exchange with Putin was good and productive. Both sides want to negotiate a complete ceasefire in the near future. Moscow said that one condition for a lasting peace was that the US and its allies should no longer provide military aid or intelligence to Ukraine. spiegel.de, sueddeutsche.de, faz.net, zdf.de, tagesschau.de
RTL/ntv Trendbarometer by Forsa: CDU/CSU 27 percent (-1), AfD 23 percent (+1), SPD 14 percent (-1), Greens 12 percent (+1), Left Party 11 percent, BSW 3 percent, FDP 4 percent, others 6 percent. n-tv.de
Annalena Baerbock is to become President of the UN General Assembly: She is to be named as the German candidate for the presidency of the 2025/26 session. The UN’s central advisory body approves the budget, appoints the Secretary-General and decides on the filling of other important posts. As recently as July, it was reported that German diplomat Helga Schmid was to become President of the General Assembly. n-tv.de, zdf.de, handelsblatt.com
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas praises the last GDR People’s Chamber 35 years ago as a model for democracy: The euphoria of that time must be an inspiration for all the challenges ahead. People could be inspired for democracy and won over to participate, said Bas. The GDR People’s Chamber was elected freely for the first and last time on March 18, 1990. At that time, the end of the GDR was already foreseeable.
Federal Network Agency approves construction of two power lines in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt: A 75-kilometer-long section from northern Thuringia to near Erfurt was approved. It is a section of the Netzanbindung Südharz project. The second construction project concerns the Südostlink. The 95-kilometre-long route will run from Saxony-Anhalt through Saxony to eastern Thuringia. According to the information provided, the transmission system operator 50Hertz is the developer for both projects. mdr.de
More Germany News:
- Baden-Württemberg: state election to take place on March 8, 2026. n-tv.de
- Brandenburg: Public contracts will only be put out to tender if they are worth over 100,000 euros. rbb24.de
- Baden-Württemberg: State parliament debates Mannheim Planken attack. mannheimer-morgen.de
- Thuringia: Government wants to fight for jobs with growth pact. n-tv.de
- Schleswig-Holstein: Sylt is planning to increase the sand on its beaches for coastal protection. ndr.de
- Rhineland-Palatinate: Homeless people are to pay for accommodation in Mainz. swr.de
- Berlin: Construction senator Christian Gaebler rejects criticism of the Gendarmenmarkt redevelopment. spiegel.de
Five EU lawmakers charged with alleged corruption: Four of them have been accused of active corruption, among other things, Belgian prosecutors said; they were arrested. Another person is suspected of money laundering and has been released under conditions. The investigations are related to allegations that the Chinese technology company Huawei tried to exert undue influence on decision-making processes. Last year, there were already searches in the EU Parliament on suspicion of Russian and Chinese influence. spiegel.de, derstandard.at
EU Parliament wants to lift immunity of AfD politician Petr Bystron: After the Legal Affairs Committee recommended lifting the immunity, the EU Parliament is now to vote on the matter, reports Der Spiegel. The process is considered a formality, so approval is very likely. Bystron would then no longer be protected from prosecution. The background to this is a photo montage he distributed showing several politicians – including Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Chancellor Angela Merkel – raising their hands as if they were performing the Nazi salute. Before moving to Brussels, Bystron, a former member of the Bundestag, was already under investigation on suspicion of money laundering and corruption. The investigations were suspended when Bystron was elected to the European Parliament. spiegel.de
EU sees security and stability in Europe threatened by digital disinformation attacks from Russia and China: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas presented a report in Brussels according to which the two countries have a „massive digital arsenal“ with which they intend to weaken Europe. The goal is to destabilize our societies, to harm our democracies, to drive wedges between us and our partners, and to undermine Europe’s importance in the world, Kallas said. tagesspiegel.de, capital-beat.tv
UN climate report sees 1.5 degree mark exceeded: Man-made climate change accelerated significantly last year, according to a report on the state of the world’s climate by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The average global temperature in 2024 probably exceeded the critical 1.5-degree mark for the first time. According to the WMO, the data also show that Arctic sea ice is melting faster and sea levels are rising significantly faster. Certain consequences of global warming would be irreversible for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, the report says. spiegel.de
Congo’s President Paul Kagame and Rwanda’s President Felix Tshisekedi declare willingness for ceasefire: Both met for the first time since the advance of the M23 militia for direct talks in the Qatari capital Doha. Both presidents subsequently declared their willingness to accept an unconditional ceasefire by all parties. The M23 militia, which is supported by Rwanda with soldiers and weapons, has captured large areas in eastern Congo in recent weeks. The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of wanting to exploit the natural resources in the resource-rich region. zeit.de
USAID closure by the Doge Board of Appeals likely unconstitutional: The expedited closure could violate the constitution in several ways, wrote U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang of Maryland. There is no law, he wrote, that authorizes the executive branch to shut down the organization. Chuang ruled in a temporary injunction that the email and computer access of all employees must be restored. At the same time, Doge must not take any further steps to dissolve the agency. The Doge government department, led by billionaire Elon Musk, had dismissed around 1,600 employees of the development agency and furloughed almost all employees abroad. zdf.de, spiegel.de
More news:
- Hungary: As expected, parliament has banned annual Pride parades. zeit.de
- France: Police clear theater occupied by refugees in Paris. deutschlandfunk.de
- Belgium: social partners at federal level are preparing to abolish early retirement. vrt.be
- Great Britain: Labour government cuts social services for disabled. faz.net
- Austria: Government announces industrial strategy. handelsblatt.com
- Bosnia-Herzegovina: New nationwide arrest warrant issued for Milorad Dodik. euronews.com
- Switzerland: Shackles for banking giants UBS and Credit Suisse. faz.net
- Switzerland: Fears of a new record in corporate bankruptcies. nau.ch
- Austria: fiasco surrounding Kitzbühel’s „Putin Villa“ and a Russian estate in Tyrol. merkur.de
- Peru: State of emergency declared in capital Lima after brutal series of violence. zeit.de
Foreign students are an economic boon for Germany: a study by the employer-oriented German Economic Institute on behalf of the German Academic Exchange Service concludes that the taxes and duties paid by those who stay in Germany would very quickly exceed the benefits they receive from the German state during their studies. Of the people who entered the country with visas for higher education in 2010, 45 percent were still in Germany ten years later, according to the study. n-tv.de
Nursing training in Germany is becoming more popular: the number of newly concluded training contracts rose by nine percent to around 59,500 compared to the previous year, according to the Federal Statistical Office. However, the total number of nursing trainees remained roughly the same at just over 147,000. The number of male trainees rose by four percent, but the field is still predominantly female. In 2024, the proportion of women was 74 percent. spiegel.de
More news:
- Women work almost a quarter less than men. handelsblatt.com
- Siemens plans to cut around 6,000 jobs worldwide, 2,850 of them in Germany. tagesschau.de
- Federal Court of Justice: Cartel Office may monitor Apple more closely. zdf.de
- US astronauts have returned to Earth after nine months on the ISS. zdf.de
- Shortage after bird flu: USA asks Germany for more eggs tagesschau.de
- No more Tesla, Jack Daniels and Whatsapp: Protest at the checkout: Consumers boycott US products rnd.de
- New figures: Sales of electric cars in Europe are increasing table.media/esg
- Radio Free Europe: EU states demand support for US foreign broadcaster table.media/europe
- Computers as authors: Italian daily newspaper „Il Foglio“ has an entire issue written by AI spiegel.de
- Dubious journalism: „Nius“ and the invented quotes uebermedien.de
- Spark Art Fair opens in Vienna monopol-magazin.de
- After discrimination allegations: the managing director of the Berliner Ensemble resigns with immediate effect rbb24.de
- Defamation suit over „Not Like Us“: Drake’s record label accuses him of hypocrisy spiegel.de
- Court records in dispute over Prince Harry’s US visa published faz.net
- Kirsty Coventry: The woman who is to succeed Thomas Bach as IOC president sueddeutsche.de
- Germany’s goalkeeping question: Nagelsmann does not yet answer the most exciting DFB personnel question n-tv.de
- Match in Bochum on the verge of being abandoned – Power games all over again: Do football fans have too much influence? rnd.de
- Legal action against associations: “Tennis is broken“ – Professionals sue ATP and WTA – The accusation – Abuse of a monopoly and anti-competitive business practices sportschau.de
- Next season – Just like in football: the German handball Bundesliga introduces goal-line technology rnd.de
- Thüringen Ladies Tour: Germany’s most important women’s cycling race canceled sportschau.de
“Plopp“: Beer bottles are briefly as loud as aircraft turbines spiegel.de