Being that everything in Germany is already busted, I’ll go with boom.
Could German infrastructure be the next hot investment?
Germany’s newly minted government is looking to the private sector to help save the country’s ailing infrastructure.
Economy minister Katherina Reiche called for a cash injection earlier this month:
“We need speed and investments, and we need private capital,” she told CNBC. “Of all the investments we will do, 10% of them could be done with public money, we need 90% of private sector investments.”
German chancellor promises to help Ukraine produce long-range missiles – Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has told Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky that Berlin will help Kyiv produce long-range missiles to defend itself from Russian attack.
“We want to talk about production and we will not publicly discuss details,” he said, when asked by reporters in Berlin if Germany would supply Kyiv with its Taurus missiles.
German government restricts migrant family reunification, path to citizenship – Germany’s government approved measures to restrict family reunification for migrants and delay citizenship access on Wednesday, forging ahead with a major shift in migration policy under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The cabinet agreed to a two-year suspension of the right for migrants who do not qualify for full refugee status, so called “subsidiary protection” holders, to bring their children and spouses to Germany.
‘Crazy’ data rules hit German plans to boost army reserve – Reservists’ association says Berlin has lost contact with almost a million potential reservists.
Strict data protection laws are hindering Germany’s efforts to swell the ranks of the armed forces of Europe’s largest nation, its reservists’ association has warned.
Patrick Sensburg, head of the Reservist Association of the German Armed Forces, said tough German and EU privacy rules meant it could not keep in contact with close to a million people who might help boost the country’s reserve forces as it seeks a stronger role in European defence and security…
Sensburg, a former member of parliament from Merz’s ruling Christian Democrats, added that while some might be unwell or uninterested, if even only a quarter of the 1mn agreed to serve it would be enough to meet the target for reservist numbers.
He said it was absurd that the body responsible for collecting Germany’s annual television fee could contact citizens a few weeks after they had moved house, while he had no way of tracking down people whose names were in the association’s records.
That means weapons and knives are forbidden (here).
Why didn’t anybody think of this before? Problem solved. At least “temporarily.”
Federal police declare temporary knife ban at major Berlin train stations – A temporary knife ban at major Berlin stations promises safety but raises questions about policing and public space.
Starting next week, Berlin’s central train stations will become no-knife zones, at least for part of the day. In an effort to curb rising violence, federal police are instituting a month-long weapons ban across twelve of the city’s busiest stations.
It Is Time for Germans To Get Seriously Angry – Early Sunday morning (last week), Germany was hit by Islamist terror—again. Five people were severely injured, two critically, in a knife attack. The perpetrator, identified as a 35-year-old Syrian refugee, was finally tracked down and arrested by police on Tuesday, 42 hours later. He reportedly entered Germany illegally two years ago. Fellow residents at his asylum shelter told reporters he maintained close connections to Islamist circles—a claim supported by evidence found in his room during the police investigation.
Germany, that much is clear, is in deep trouble. And its establishment—though the police have done a commendable job hunting down the perpetrator—remains unable to get a grip on the persistent terrorist threat.
Woman arrested after 17 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station – Four victims critically wounded in attack by 39-year-old alleged assailant in Germany’s second-largest city.
Chancellor Merz pledges affordable housing for ordinary Germans – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that the government wants to do more to make housing affordable for ordinary people again.
“Anyone earning a normal income in Germany should be able to buy a normal home,” Merz said at the Construction Industry Conference in Berlin.
“We are determined to … get things moving so that building in Germany becomes faster, easier and cheaper, enabling the average family in Germany to afford their own home as a rule,” Merz asserted.
So I judge this to probably be another misjudgement.
Trump misjudged influence on Putin, German defence minister says – U.S. President Donald Trump misjudged his influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin, Germany’s defence minister said on Wednesday, after a phone call between the two leaders yielded no progress in Ukraine peace talks, prompting Europe to announce new Russia sanctions.
“I suspect he assessed his negotiating position incorrectly,” Boris Pistorius told the Deutschlandfunk radio broadcaster, following Trump’s now-abandoned efforts to pressure Putin into accepting an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
Observing Hermann 