Skip next section Berlin, Prague stress need for long-term solution for EU’s bordersJuly 22, 2025
Berlin, Prague stress need for long-term solution for EU’s bordersGermany and the Czech Republic have agreed that there must be a long-term solution for managing the European Union’s borders.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala agreed ata meeting in Berlin on Tuesday that checks at their shared 800-kilometer (497-mile) border should be temporary.
“We want a European solution,” Merz said. “But as long as we are not able to better protect the external European borders, we must carry out checks at the internal European borders.”
While Fiala understood the German approach, he said there needed to be a long-term solution for the EU’s external borders, rather than border checks.
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Skip next section Germany’s car parts company Bosch to cut over 1000 jobsJuly 22, 2025
Germany’s car parts company Bosch to cut over 1000 jobsGermany’s car parts giant Bosch announceda fresh round of job cuts at its southern German site.
Some 1,100 jobs at Bosch’s site in the city Reutlingen will be cut by the end of 2029. The company announced that the production of control units there is no longer competitive.
“The European market for steering systems is driven by price and hard fought with new suppliers,” said Bosch’s electronics chief Dirk Kress. “The required cuts are not easy but they are essential to secure the future of the site.”
About one in ten workers would be affected, but Bosch did not say whether the cuts would involve compulsory redundancies or voluntary measures such as early retirement.
Germany’s automotives sector has been struggling in recent years, amid growing competition from China.
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Skip next section Germany cautions Poland against oil rigging ambitionsJuly 22, 2025
Germany cautions Poland against oil rigging ambitionsGerman stakeholders have sounded the alarm after the discovery of a major oil and gas deposit in neighboring Poland, amid environmental and tourism concerns.
Central European Petroleum (CEP), a Canadian company, discovered the deposit off the Polish Baltic coast, near Germany’s eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Poland, it was hailed as a “breakthrough moment,” whereas in Germany, officials voiced several concerns.
“Our future does not lie in oil from the Baltic Sea, but in energy from the sun, wind and biomass,” said Till Backhaus, Environment Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
He said the project was “backward-looking” and “contrary to the interests of the environment and tourism on the German side.”
The oil field is believed to lie some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away from the port city of Swinoujscie in north-western Poland. The city is partially located on the Island of Usedom which is divided between Germany and Poland.
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The island is known for its beaches and natural reserves. German authorities are concerned that nearby oil mining might disrupt tourism and pose an environmental hazard.
“We are a spa and holiday resort. We do everything we can to keep our beaches, our town and the sea clean,” said Laura Isabelle Marisken, the mayor of the town of Heringsdorf, a seaside resort in Usedom.
“Heavy industrial gas and oil extraction right on our doorstep, it’s obvious that this is a massive intrusion into our natural environment,” she added.
Meanwhile, Poland’s chief geologist Krzysztof Galos said the field’s development might “significantly contribute to strengthening Poland’s energy security and reducing its dependence on external hydrocarbon suppliers.”
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Skip next section Germany deports dozens of Iraqi citizens by charter flightJuly 22, 2025
Germany deports dozens of Iraqi citizens by charter flightSome 43 Iraqi citizens were deported fromGermany on Tuesday, boarding a charter flight bound for Baghdad.
The Ministry of Justice of the eastern state of Thuringia said that all those deported were “single men” who were required to leave the country, adding that some of them “had been convicted of criminal offenses in the past.”
The deportation operation involved seven federal states, as well as the federal police, the AFP news agency said.
Passengers were taken to the plane in police vehicles and airport buses, then accompanied individually by police personnel up the stairs into the aircraft, according to the dpanews agency’s photographer.
“Our message is clear: anyone who does not have a right of residence must leave our country,” said Beate Meißner, Thuringia’s Justice Minister and a member of the ruling Christian Democratic Party.
On Friday, Germany deported 81 Afghan nationals back to Afghanistan, the first such flight under Chancellor Friedrich Merz’ government.
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Skip next section Berlin under pressure regarding its stance on Israel’s conduct in GazaJuly 22, 2025
Berlin under pressure regarding its stance on Israel’s conduct in GazaGermany is facing growing domestic pressure to firm up its stance on Israel in regards to the war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the enclave, where more than a dozen residents reportedly starved to death on Tuesday.
Berlin has refrained from joining a joint statement issued by the EU and more than 20Western countries, including Britain and France, which called for an immediate end to the war.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union(CDU), is facing pressure from within his own ruling coalition.
German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan, from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the junior coalition member, said she would have liked to see Berlin join the statement.
“What is happening in Gaza right now is unbelievable. Innocent children are dying. People are starving,” Radovan said. “What is needed now — not at some point — is an immediate and sustainable ceasefire.”
Foreign policy spokesperson Adis Ahmetovic and rapporteur for the Middle East Rolf Mützenich, both senior SPD lawmakers, also called on Germany to join the statement, stressing that “the situation in Gaza is catastrophic and represents a humanitarian abyss.”
On Tuesday, Merz said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “very clearly and very explicitly that we do not share the Israeli government’s policy on Gaza,” urging for humanitarian aid to reach the civilian population.
“The way the Israeli army is operating there is not acceptable,” Merz said.
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Skip next section ‘Made for Germany’: German companies show optimismJuly 22, 2025
‘Made for Germany’: German companies show optimism’Made for Germany:’ German companies pledge big investments in factories, research and developmentImage: Rainer Jensen/dpa/picture allianceGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz has joined forces with the country’s top business leaders, who pledge major investment to pull Germany out of recession.
Read the full story on why German companies appear to be more optimistic about the future of the Germaneconomy.
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Skip next section Russia replaces Germany as the world’s 5th largest beer brewerJuly 22, 2025
Russia replaces Germany as the world’s 5th largest beer brewerRussia has overtaken Germany as oneof the top 5 largest beer producers in the world, according to the latest report released by the world’s largest hop trader, BarthHaas.
The report’sauthor, Heinrich Meier, stated that beer production in Russia increased by approximately 9% to 9.1 billion liters, while Germany’s output dropped by 1%to 8.4 billion liters.
BarthHaas managing director Thomas Raiser attributes Russia’s production growth primarily to a decrease in beer imports and a boost in domestic brewing.
China remains the world’s largest beer producer, with the United States is second place.
Germany has experienced a long-term decline in beer consumption due to its aging population, growing competition from a variety of other beverages, and reduced purchasing power during tough economic times.
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Skip next section What is the average German resident? Statisticians tell usJuly 22, 2025
What is the average German resident? Statisticians tell usGermany’s Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, has set up a special website providingstatistics that give averages on a number of parameters describing the country’s83.6 million residents.
Here are some of them:
At the end of 2024, the average person living in Germany was 44.9 years of age. Because women have a longer life expectancy, that goes up to 46.2 for females as compared with 43.5 for males.
The average person was1.73 meters (5 foot8.1inches) in height and weighed77.7 kilograms (171.3 lbs). Women: 1.66 m, 69.2 kilograms; men 1.79 meters, 85.8 kilograms.
Other statistics: The average resident lives in a household with one other person. A woman gives birth to 1.6 children on average in the course of her life, while the average family has 3.4 members.
The average German full-time salary is €4,634 ($5,422) monthly before tax. But here, the gender pay gap is very noticeable, with women earning €4,214 per month as compared with €4,830 for men.
The statisticians also noted that the average woman in Germany has her first childat the age of 30.4, while the average man becomes a father for the first time at the age of 33.3.
The average age for first-time marriage is higher, at 32.9 for women and 35.3 for men.
And the average person retires at the age of 64.7, with women drawing a pension for 23.2 years compared with 20.2 years for men.
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Skip next section German Air Force plane forced to make emergency landingJuly 22, 2025
German Air Force plane forced to make emergency landingThe German Air Force plane made an emergency landing in Leipzig.Image: Bundesluftwaffe/dpa/picture-allianceA German Air Force flight made an emergency landing in Leipzig on Monday night after a warning message went off in the cockpit, a spokesperson said.
Speaking with the German press agency DPA, the Airbus A319 was on its way back from Berlin to its base in Cologne.
Earlier, the plane had been carrying Justice MinisterStefanie Hubig,who had been on her first official visit to Poland. She had disembarked in Berlin.
The spokesperson said that the plane would be inspected today, after which adecision willbe made ifthe aircraft needs repairs.
German military equipment has long been the butt of international jokes for being run-down and out of date. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel famously had to break off a journey to aG20 summit when her plane experienced technical issues.
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Skip next section Major German publisher hit by hacker attackJuly 22, 2025
Major German publisher hit by hacker attackThe German media groupSüdwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH),whichowns daily Süddeutc He Zeitung, among other publications, has beenthe target of a “critical IT security incident,” it said on Tuesday.
The groupsaid its internal network was briefly accessed by unauthorized individuals in mid-July, affecting all the companies connected by it, including the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgart news dailies.
It said the attack had been stopped and that all online reporting and newspaper production had continued without disruption.
The attack has been reported to the police cybercrime unit and the incident is being investigated by external IT security experts, it said.
SWMH is one of Germany’s largest newspaper publishers and employs some4,500 people.
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Skip next section Top court rejects case of doctor jailed for assisting suicideJuly 22, 2025
Top court rejects case of doctor jailed for assisting suicideGermany’s Constitutional Court has upheld a three-year jail sentence handed to a former doctor convicted of assisting in the suicide of a mentally ill patient.
The man had filed a complaint with the court claiming that his basic rights had been violated by his punishment.
The court said the manhad failed to prove sufficiently that this was the case.
The former doctor was sentenced in 2024 by a regional court in Essenfor having assisted thepatient to commit suicide in 2020, although the latter suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was considered by the court to be incapable of taking a freedecision to take his life.
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Germany under some circumstances, but the patient has to be determined to be mentally sound enough to make the decision.
What makes assisted suicide so controversial?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in the world, at this website: https://www.befrienders.org/
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Skip next section WATCH — Will German startups be able to benefit from European rearmament?July 22, 2025
WATCH — Will German startups be able to benefit from European rearmament?European countries have massively increased their defense spending amid fears of further Russian territorial aggression.
Several startups in Germany are seeking to exploit the trendbut face many challenges.
DW has this video analysis:
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Skip next section Patient-data-sharing system could ‘crash land,’ doctors’ association warnsJuly 22, 2025
Patient-data-sharing system could ‘crash land,’ doctors’ association warnsThe German Association of General Practitioners (Hausärztinnen- und Hausärzteverband) has warned that a newly introduced system aimed at allowing health care providers to more easily exchange patient data is in danger of “crash landing.”
“The number of active users is sobering,” association chairman Markus Beier told the daily Rheinische Post. “If those in charge keep on as they have been, one of the most important care projects of the past years will fail slowly but surely.”
He said this would be bad news for patients, as “a well-implemented electronic patient file indubitably would have the potential to tangibly improve and simplify care.”
He called on health insurance companies to conduct a “big and coordinated information campaign” for their customers.
Beier, however, also criticized the system itself as being over-complicatedto use, saying that barely a week went by in which doctors’ practices didn’t have problems accessing patient files.
Electronic patient fileswere rolled out nationwide in April of this year. The files contain the entire medical history of a patient, with aim of facilitating treatment coordination between physicians and other health care providers.
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Skip next section Germany among countries targeted by SharePoint hacking operationJuly 22, 2025
Germany among countries targeted by SharePoint hacking operationInternet security experts say there have been dozens of hacking attacks on self-hosted servers using Microsoft’s SharePoint software, affectingseveral organizations, including government bodies, mostly in Germany and the US.
The SharePoint servers are widely used by organizations, including government bodies, major industrial firms, banks, auditors andhealth care companies, for the internal sharing of documents and to facilitate collaboration.
Security researchers warn that the hacking operation, reportedly known as “ToolShell,” is a serious one and can allow actors to fully access SharePoint file systems, including services connected to SharePoint, such as Teams and OneDrive.
The hack allows the perpetrators to potentially drop a so-calledbackdoor to give them continuous access to victim organizations.
Microsoft said it had “provided security updates and encourages customers to install them,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
It said the vulnerability affects only on-site SharePoint servers used within businesses or organizations and not Microsoft’s cloud-based SharePoint Online service.
Eye Security, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm that helped uncover the operation, has declined toidentify the affected organizations, but said the relevant national authorities had been notified.
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Skip next section Dobrindt set to attend EU ministers’ migration meeting in DenmarkJuly 22, 2025
Dobrindt set to attend EU ministers’ migration meeting in DenmarkInterior ministers from the 27 EU member states are set to meet in the Danish capital,Copenhagen, for talks focusing on migration and European security.
Discussions are to center on how best to repatriate people who have had their asylum requests refused and how to combat irregular migration.
The fight against organized crime and the drug trade will also be on the agenda.
Proposals on the table include the possibility of setting up so-called repatriation centers outside the EU.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is expected to be among the attendees.
Dobrindt has already implemented controversial pushback measures at Germany’s borders that a court has ruled to be illegal.
Last Friday, the conservative politician from Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU)also pushed for much harsher European migration policies in talks with counterparts from Austria, France, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic during a summit hosted in Germany.
This included proposals to be more rigorous in sending people back to home countries whose security situation is fragile, such as Syria and Afghanistan.
Germany holds EU migration summit, starts first deportationTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
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