For years, doubts have grown about the international competitiveness of German industry. Take the photovoltaic sector, for example, where Germany had a lead but the real action has long since shifted to East Asia. Similarly, its famed automotive industry is fast losing ground, particularly compared to China.
The Iran war and resulting blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have focused minds on international shipping. Russian officials are promoting the Northern Sea Route (NSR), an Arctic sea lane running along their country's northern coast.
Austrian police detained a 39-year-old man in connection with an attempted blackmail case in which rat poison was placed in jars of baby food produced by the German brand HiPP, a spokeswoman for the Public Prosecutor's Office in Eisenstadt told Germany's DPA news agency on Saturday.
Ukraine plans to raise military wages, improve contracts and implement a phased discharge system for long-serving personnel, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday. The reforms, set to begin in June, aim to address acute manpower shortages after more than four years of full-scale war with Russia. What reforms did Zelenskyy announce?
German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil on Friday has defended Chancellor Friedrich Merz against criticism from the United States, pushing back at President Donald Trump. Klingbeil's remarks came after Trump hit back at Merz, government policy — and Germany — over the chancellor's assertion that Tehran had "humiliated" Washington. What did the German vice chancellor say?
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives a statement during his visit to the army at the Bundeswehr base in Munster, Germany, Thursday, April, 30, 2026.
Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said the announced withdrawal of US troops from Germany "was to be expected" The police union GdP has said at least 10 officers suffered slight injuries during May Day demos in Berlin "Timmy" the humpback whale has been set
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the withdrawal of around 5,000 American soldiers stationed in Germany, the Pentagon said on Friday. The drawdown, which would cut US troop numbers in Germany by 14%, is to be completed over the next six to 12 months, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump didn't like Chancellor Friedrich Merz's latest statements on the Iran war, that much was clear from Trump's recent rant on Truth Social, where he claimed the German leader "doesn't know what he's talking about!" So what happened?
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a charter school in The Villages, Fla., Friday, May 1, 2026.
Authorities in the UK have charged a 45-year-old man on Friday over the stabbings of two Jewish men in the community of Golders Green in London. The attack, which took place on Wednesday, left a 34-year-old man and a 76-year-old man injured.
When Viktor Orban was narrowly voted out of office for the first time in 2002, he went through a deep personal crisis. "The homeland cannot be in the opposition!" he said at the time.