That means forced labor.
IKEA’s motto: “Everything is possible if you think in opportunities.”
IKEA to compensate East German prisoners for forced labor – The German branch of IKEA has pledged millions to compensate victims of the former Communist East German regime, who were forced to make furniture components in the GDR.
But somebody has to do it.
Germany’s loveless coalition teeters on brink of break-up – Chancellor Olaf Scholz snubs partners, fuelling speculation of early elections in spring.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a much-vaunted “industrial summit” on Tuesday, sitting down with business leaders and union bosses to figure out how to pull Germany out its current malaise. Pointedly left off the guest list: his own finance and economy ministers.
Robert Habeck, the economy minister, responded by unveiling plans for a multibillion-euro, debt-financed investment fund — an idea not previously discussed with cabinet colleagues — while finance minister Christian Lindner simply scheduled his own, rival business summit on the same day…
Speculation is growing in Berlin that the alliance could soon collapse, pulled apart by its own internal contradictions. Several German media outlets have even named a possible date for snap elections — March 9, more than six months ahead of schedule.
At Germany’s automobile industry burial.
Volkswagen AG workers in Germany will pause production on Monday to join rallies about the automaker’s plans for unprecedented factory closures in the country.
Labor leaders plan to inform employees at 11 German sites about the latest on negotiations with the company. The events kick off a contentious week for Europe’s biggest carmaker, which is expected to post declining sales and profit when it reports third-quarter results on Wednesday…
The automaker has had a rough few weeks since it issued its second profit warning in three months in late September. While its premium brands including Audi and Porsche have been the carmaker’s biggest source of profit in recent years, they’re now struggling. Porsche AG on Friday said it’s weighing cost cuts and reviewing its model lineup after a demand slump in China hit its profits.
Hmmm. That’s a tough one.
What can stop the rise of populism in Germany? How about taking care of the problem you created? You know, like the voters have been demanding you to do for nearly ten years now? Until the migrant madness ends, this “populism” you fear won’t.
What can stop the rise of populism in Germany and elsewhere?
Populist parties are on the rise in Germany as they are all over the world. What can open societies do to protect democracy?
“We have to realize that party democracy is losing structure and strength. Party democracy is changing into a movement democracy, which is much more volatile.”
Other than that though, alles ist in Ordnung (everything’s OK).
Germany’s lost decade: How the Fortune 500 Europe giant is flirting with long-term irrelevance – There is an elephant in the room of the 2024 edition of the Fortune 500 Europe. It’s not a crisis-riddled company or scandal-hit CEO. Rather, it’s the whole German economy.
For most of the 21st century, economists and neighboring countries have looked to Germany with admiration and envy as it managed to weather economic storms with relative ease, capitalizing on trade with growing economies and expanding the power of its industrial giants in the process.
However, a shifting world order has pulled the carpet out from underneath Germany. The industrial quirks that once helped it outgrow its European peers are fast becoming a burden, and crisis after crisis has exposed a lack of planning at the top of government.
Uh-oh. If “Russian disinformation is growing in Germany…”
Then German state media disinformation providers are going to have to crank it up a notch. No prob. We’re on it already.
Russian disinformation is growing in Germany – Russia is flooding Germany with more disinformation than ever, officials warn. Analysts say this tactic is helping pro-Kremlin narratives increasingly seep into the country’s politics.
“We see that this strategy is gradually achieving its goals, and the public debate in Germany is increasingly shifting in a direction that serves the Kremlin’s interests.”
At least she got the continent right.
Thank goodness we always have celebrities like this to set us straight about what’s going on in the world.
‘We knew where the enemies were,’ Goldberg said, after unknowingly mixing up Germany and Russia.
“Even if you are a true Republican, don’t you remember? ‘Tear down this wall.’ Reagan was clear about who our enemy was, and still is.”
I wonder why.
It costs over four thousand euros for a commercial aircraft to leave a German airport. In other European countries it costs as little as 500 euros. Some say this has to do with German regulation and “green kerosene” madness but I’m sure there must be a more… reasonable explanation.
Lufthansa CEO concerned more airlines will cut German routes – After airlines such as Eurowings and Ryanair have cut back their connections in Germany due to excessive fees and costs, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr fears a negative impact on Germany as a place to do business.
Why should Germans worry about that?
Vater Staat (Father State) has everything under control. Wie immer (as usual).
Germans fear rising cost of living – Inflation, migration, expensive housing — these are the things that most people in Germany are worried about, according to the latest study “Germans’ Fears 2024.”
“Lieber ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende.”
“Better to have an end with fright than fright without end.”
Migrants say Germany’s ‘welcome culture’ has soured as far-right parties rise – On Sunday, voters in the eastern German state of Brandenburg will vote for a new regional parliament. The anti-migrant far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, could win the most votes. On 1 September the AfD won a major German election for the first time, coming first in the eastern state of Thuringia. In Brandenburg polls show the AfD leading with 28%.
To undermine support for the AfD, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left wing-led government on Monday introduced checks for migrants on all of Germany’s borders. He also wants to increase deportations of people whose application for asylum is unsuccessful. Opposition conservatives meanwhile want the borders closed to asylum seekers altogether.
Observing Hermann 