The northern state of Lower Saxony's internal intelligence agency will monitor the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party as a "surveillance object of considerable import" on the far-right. Interior Minister Daniela Behrens and state intelligence agency (or Verfassungsschutz) head Dirk Pejril announced the move at a press conference on Tuesday.
"Bound by responsibility" is the motto of the upcoming Christian Democratic Union (CDU) federal party conference in Stuttgart, set to take place February 20 and 21.
A poison found in threatened frog species in the Ecuadorian foothills has been named as the cause of Alexei Navalny's death in prison. Scientists from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK performed a postmortem analysis of the Russian pro-democracy campaigner and opposition leader, who died on February 16, 2024.
Berlin's new airport? Planned for 5 years, finished in 14. Stuttgart's central station? Still under construction after 16 years. Hamburg's concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie? Nine years instead of three. And the costs? Sometimes 10 times higher than promised. Or take Cologne's opera house.
Heads of state and government from the EU gathered at an "informal retreat" at the Alden Biesen Castle in eastern Belgium on Thursday, in lieu of a full monthly leaders' summit in Brussels. The talks will focus on reviving and streamlining Europe's economy, with the leaders also set to discuss ways to counter threats from China, Russia and the US.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday for refusing to wear a different helmet than the one that honors athletes killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych has since taken his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which was hearing his case on Friday morning.
The figure 1.35 should set off alarm bells for policymakers: on average, each woman in Germany now has just 1.35 children — a record low, and far below the 2.1 needed to keep the population stable. These latest calculations from the Federal Statistical Office underscore the scale of the demographic challenge.
The Swedish military said on Friday that a Russian drone had flown unauthorized off the coast of southern Sweden while a French aircraft carrier was docked in the port of Malmo. French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is in Malmo this week to take part in regular NATO exercise activities.
During talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized expanding economic ties with China in the face of erratic US trade policy, while at the same time addressing concerns over managing competition and heavy trade imbalances.
Warning: this article contains graphic descriptions of violence More reports are surfacing across the continent of Africans fighting in Russia's war in Ukraine. This week, South Africa's foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, met with the families of 11 South African men recently repatriated after being lured into the conflict.
A win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday would send Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich 11 points clear of their opponents and all but seal back-to-back Bundesliga titles for the Belgian coach. While the football is his focus, Kompany’s powerful, forthright and eloquent monologue on racism and victim-blaming last week struck a chord beyond the game.
"Is religion class actually being taught?" "Is another subject being taught instead of religion class?" "Are there insults against the president in classes?" These questions were reportedly asked by inspectors to students at a school in Turkey’s Izmir province.