Happy 4th of July!
Ukraine
And Saudi Arabia.
Beautiful German weapons sales of the week.
Because somebody has to admire them.
German weapons exports on course to hit new record – Russia’s war in Ukraine and increased sales to Saudi Arabia helped German arms exports to reach €7.48 billion in the first half of the year.
Peace bunkers are out
Now “war bunkers” are in. Again.
Germany plans new war bunkers – German cities are calling for new bunkers to be built, to protect the population in the event of war. But critics argue there’s no point.
There might be no better way to gauge a country’s anxieties than by checking in on the companies building panic rooms and private bunkers.
Business has been going worryingly well for BSSD Defence, the Berlin-based company that builds “protection room systems” for private, business and military applications. As well as a range of home security equipment, the company offers everything from “pop-up panic rooms” for around €20,000 ($21,400) to full-scale bunkers for close to €200,000.
It starts with “beef”
And ends up someplace later with “law.”
But the law is the law. And the German language is the German language.
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. Let’s give it a try: Beef labelling supervision and duties assignment law.
‘Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungs-aufgabenübertragungsgesetz’: how viral tongue-twisters lightened up German language…
Now German, the primary vernacular of about 100 million Europeans, is turning its prickly peculiarities into an asset with an embrace of Zungenbrecher (literally, tongue-breakers) that have touched off a global comeback of the wordplay, even among people who do not speak the language.
So, wait a minute.
Are you trying to tell me that diplomats are spies?
Yikes. I honestly had no idea.
Russia buying spies to make up for expelled diplomats, German agency says – Russia has turned increasingly to blackmail and financial incentives to hire Germans to spy for it after the blow dealt to its intelligence services by Europe’s expulsion of some 600 Russian diplomats, Germany’s domestic security service said.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said Russian intelligence services were spending big to recruit agents in Germany despite Western attempts to limit their operations since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
I’d be upset too, Poland
Germany opened up the floodgates (Angela Merkel, 2015).
Let the Germans take care of the huddled masses yearning to be… to get a free lunch.
Poland upset after Germans return Afghan migrants – German police returned an Afghan family that had illegally departed Poland. Warsaw decried the move as a violation of law, German police say Polish counterparts left them waiting for hours.
“The transfer of foreigners to Poland by the German police was carried out in violation of the principles of cooperation between the two services and against the transfer law. The German authorities must not make such a decision arbitrarily.”
We’ll start checking our border crossings for once…
And jackpot! 1,400 unauthorized entries and 173 arrest warrants issued in one week.
Maybe we should do this more often. Like, for always and forever. And not just for Euro 2024.
Germany detects 1,400 unauthorised entries ahead of Euros, Bild says – Border authorities in Germany, host nation of Euro 2024, detected 1,400 unauthorised entries and issued 173 arrest warrants in the week preceding the soccer tournament, according to German newspaper Bild.
Expanded border controls introduced temporarily for the championships prevented 900 people from entering the country between June 7 and June 13, the Sunday paper said.
Never mix Afghans and soccer
And knives.
Particularly that knife part. Afghans and knives: Nicht gut. Damn. This guy must have been a real Scotland fan.
German police shoot to death an Afghan man who killed a compatriot, then attacked soccer fans – German police shot to death an Afghan man after he fatally attacked a compatriot and later wounded three people watching the televised opening game of the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in eastern Germany, police said Saturday.
German of the day: Auseinandernehmen
That means to take apart, dismantle, take to pieces.
We’ll even shoot one goal for you!
Euro 2024 updates: Germany thrash Scotland in record win – Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz inspired Euro 2024 hosts Germany to the biggest-ever opening game win at a European Championship as Julian Nagelsmann’s team inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Scotland…
An Antonio Rüdiger own goal in the 87th minute gave the sizable contingent of Scotland fans something to cheer — and they did so in exaggerated fashion — before Emre Can capped a brutal defeat, scoring Germany’s fifth in the final minute of stoppage time.
A self-inflicted hostage-taking situation?
Why is it that big German automakers are worried about Chinese retaliation?
Because they voluntarily put themselves in the position to be retaliated against. Think Germany’s voluntary dependency on Russian gas recently. That didn’t work out very well either. But for whatever reason, this is what Germans do.
Germany launches 11th-hour bid to avert trade war with China – Germany wants the EU to set tariffs on electric vehicles at a low level to avoid severe retaliation from Beijing…
Germany’s position was “problematic,” he said: While big German automakers still entertain good ties with Beijing, that’s not necessarily the case for smaller businesses, meaning “the German economy as a whole has an interest in a more assertive policy towards China.”
Observing Hermann 