Culture news Berlin's Komische Oper continues renovations despite budget cuts Berlin's Komische Oper renovations are likely to continue as city of Berlin slashes culture budget by 10%. Director Philip Bröking says that the upcoming budget cuts are extremely painful and, for many, difficult to implement. 20/12/2024
Tech News German watchdog orders biometric ID project World to delete data The iris-scanning identity technology World has already been banned in some European countries over privacy concerns. 19/12/2024
Business Volkswagen majority stakeholder supports German factory closures Car giant Volkswagen’s biggest owner, the Porsche-Piëch family, has said they are in favour of reducing the number of German plants, as a cost-cutting measure. 19/12/2024
Business Germany's consumer climate still low, DAX eyes fifth straight drop Germany's GfK Consumer Confidence Index rose slightly, but despite beating expectations, sentiment remains fragile amid high inflation and job insecurity. The DAX fell 0.9%, marking its fifth loss, as European markets slid on hawkish Fed signals. 19/12/2024
Health news Germany aims to keep thousands of Syrian doctors after al-Assad's fall Amid workforce shortages in Germany, healthcare leaders hope Syrian doctors will stay put after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. 19/12/2024
Europe News German defence minister says he wants to grow armed forces further As threats to Western Europe grow more pressing, the German military has been having difficulty attracting enough recruits. 19/12/2024
Europe News Cologne offers night taxi vouchers to help women get home safely The German city is providing vouchers worth €10 for women to use on night-time taxis, following the lead of several other municipalities in Germany. 18/12/2024
Germany CDU plans to move Germany to the right on immigration, manifesto says Germany’s largest opposition party is heavily favoured to form a government after snap elections slated for February 2025. 17/12/2024
Business Can Germany's improving financial sentiment beat business pessimism? Financial experts are more optimistic about Germany’s economy as the ZEW index rebounded more than expected in December, its highest in four months, driven by ECB rate cut prospects and snap elections. Yet, the ifo survey shows businesses remain far more pessimistic about 2025. 17/12/2024
Economy Germany's business climate at near 4-year low as 2025 outlook darkens A pessimistic outlook towards 2025 is gripping key sectors, with structural challenges and weak investment driving prolonged stagnation concerns for Europe's largest economy. 17/12/2024
Markets European stock markets hit by Germany and France's political upheavals The euro has plunged against the dollar since November amid Trump's victory in the US election, falling to 1.0330 at a two-year low on 22 November amid an unexpected contraction in the eurozone's services sector. 17/12/2024
World News Germany's Scholz loses confidence vote triggering early election The result paves the way for snap elections to be held on 23 February, with polls indicating Germany could be heading for a right-wing shift in power. 16/12/2024
Radio Schuman Are conservatives set to take back power in Germany? On Monday, the German parliament will hold a confidence vote on Chancellor Olaf Scholz amid the rise of the far-right in the country. 16/12/2024
Germany German Bundestag vote of confidence: What can we expect? The German Bundestag will hold of confidence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government on Monday. What does this mean? 16/12/2024
Travel News High-speed Paris-Berlin daily train service debuts The route is the first directly linking the two capitals' city centres. 13/12/2024
Economy Germany's Bundesbank warns of economic stagnation as trade war looms The fortune of the eurozone’s largest economy is gloomy, especially with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House. 13/12/2024
Europe News German Chancellor Olaf Scholz requests confidence vote Scholz is expected to lose the vote in the German parliament's lower house, or Bundestag, which will take place on 16 December. 11/12/2024
Business Germany’s Zalando to acquire rival fashion retailer About You Zalando says the deal will help it to build a pan-European e-commerce platform. 11/12/2024
Europe News UK and Germany agree to joint action against people-smuggling gangs The agreement includes intelligence sharing, targeting smuggling networks’ financial flows, and removing online content promoting illegal mi 10/12/2024
Business Plant closures and job cuts: Volkswagen resumes talks with unions Management and unions at Volkswagen have yet to find common ground in talks concerning the German car maker's proposal on possible job cuts and plant closures. Workers took strike action on Monday. 10/12/2024