Survey: 63% of Germans support European sanctions on Israel – According to Deutsche Welle (DW), citing the research group Verein, the survey published by Der Spiegel Online found that 63 per cent of German voters back proposals from the European Commission to impose sanctions on Israel. Others expressed reservations or opposition.
The poll comes at a time of rising tensions in European–Israeli relations, against the backdrop of the Gaza war, which has caused widespread destruction and hunger, alongside international calls for a ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Duh. Because the Bundeswehr cannot shoot them down.
They don’t have the means.
Russian spy drones over Germany: Why the Bundeswehr cannot shoot them down – Russia uses surveillance drones over eastern Germany to monitor Western arms deliveries to Ukraine. German authorities are struggling to counter these espionage activities.
Russian surveillance drones are conducting reconnaissance flights over eastern Germany to track arms shipments to Ukraine, with over 530 drone sightings recorded in the first three months of this year alone, according to Western intelligence services.
They track the ever-changing routes of European military transports to identify which weapons will soon reach Ukraine, where new war equipment will be delivered, and when new ammunition will arrive at the front.
As long as you can say you have the highest energy costs in Europe?
Or is it the highest energy costs in the world? I forget. Go, Greens!
Germany could see power supply gap in 2030, regulator says – Germany’s Federal Network Agency on Wednesday warned that rare electricity shortfalls could occur as early as 2030 if the country’s energy transition stalls, though supply is otherwise expected to remain secure through 2035.
The Security of Supply Report, approved by the federal cabinet on Wednesday, highlights the risks should renewable expansion slow, new gas-fired power plants fail to materialize, and electricity demand not become sufficiently flexible.
It’s similar to the German spring, summer and winter of reform, only here nothing gets reformed in autumn.
Germany’s Merz faces trouble over ‘autumn of reform’ – Friedrich Merz has decided that the autumn must be the season for tackling Germany’s urgent domestic problems, but that means conflict with his center-left coalition partners.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s “autumn of reform” could turn into a season of coalition strife as he plows ahead with his ambitious plan to reform Germany’s welfare state, while bringing in tax reforms to boost the economy.
The challenges are significant: The German economy now faces a third year without GDP growth, the welfare state and pension system are failing to keep up with demographic challenges, and the federal budget has a hole of some €172 billion ($200 billion) for 2027 to 2029.
But if a Senegalese migrant bites an officer, that’s not anything either.
Senegalese Migrant Bites Municipal Officer in Berlin – A CDU politician witnessed a brutal attack in Berlin-Pankow when a 30-year-old Senegalese man assaulted two municipal officers, biting one in the cheek.
The incident began when the man was approached over a discarded cigarette. He refused to pay the €55 fine or show his ID card, instead he started insulting the inspectors and accused them of racism.
When the officers attempted to block his path, the man punched one in the face and then bit a hole in his cheek. The injured officer was hospitalized for inpatient care.
As long as they aren’t expected to volunteer themselves.
German cabinet backs voluntary military service, opening door to conscription – Compulsory military service in Germany was ended in 2011 under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made boosting Germany’s military a priority given the threat from Russia and said “we are now back on the path to a military service army”.
He summed up his thinking earlier this year saying: “We want to be able to defend ourselves so that we don’t have to defend ourselves.”
American good Samaritan stabbed by Syrian immigrant in Germany after stepping in to stop harassment – An American has been stabbed by a Syrian national in Germany after allegedly stepping in to help two female passengers being harassed on a tram, according to reports.
The young man was attacked at around 12:25 a.m. on Sunday after intervening when “two men from a group harassed female passengers” on the tram in the eastern German city of Dresden, Saxony police said in a statement.
The best part is that there are never any consequences… Right? Even when spending the money you don’t have is never actually spent.
Germany’s borrowing spree plans face a reality check – Investors would be wrong to overstate concerns about a debt surge by the country.
Germany has had an abrupt awakening on the need to increase defence spending. The country enjoyed an oversized peace dividend for years: before the Berlin Wall fell, west Germany spent almost 3 per cent of GDP on defence. In the three decades after 1993 that ratio dropped to around 1.2 per cent annually. Military capabilities fell commensurately.
Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the election of a US president given to venting misgivings about European allies, a hectic scramble has ensued to make up for lost time. As chancellor, Olaf Scholz declared a “Zeitenwende” (or historical turning point) and parliament approved a €100bn debt-financed special fund for defence spending…
Nevertheless, markets would be wrong to overstate the German debt surge. The government’s ambition will probably be thwarted when the plans get in contact with reality. Appropriating borrowing permission is much easier than actually spending it. Scholz’s military special fund is a case in point. Up to April, halfway through its life, only around a quarter of the money has been disbursed.
A major pillar of German international policy is to regularly stress how Germany will never again “go it alone.” German politicians then promptly demonstrate the importance of this strategy by going it alone once again.
Germany halts arms exports that Israel can use in Gaza – Germany is to suspend exports of weaponry that could be used in the Gaza Stripbecause of Israel’s plan to expand its operations there – the first time united Germany has acknowledged denying military support to its long-time ally.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s sudden about-turn on Friday followed mounting pressure from the public and his junior coalition partner over the manmade humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel has severely restricted supplies of food and water.
This Gaza photographer stages Hamas propaganda – Emaciated children, desperate mothers, and people begging for food with empty pots: these photos from Gaza circulate around the world. They are moving millions of people and influencing politics worldwide.
However, research by the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper now calls these images into question: Are some of the pictures from Gaza deliberately staged—and part of a propaganda strategy by Hamas terrorists?
The hunger is (almost always) real – but the images are often not entirely so. For example, a widely circulated photo recently showed desperate people in front of a food distribution point on a truck. Opposite them: photographer Anas Zayed Fteiha, a freelance “journalist” working on behalf of the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Possible problem: The scene, also captured by other photographers, shows mainly adult men waiting for food—and getting it.
Observing Hermann 