Volkswagen is no longer facing a simple internal restructuring. The German group is considering a downsizing plan that could affect up to 100,000 jobs worldwide and lead to the closure of four plants in Germany—Hanover, Zwickau, Emden, and Neckarsulm (the latter associated with Audi) after previously reaching an agreement with unions to eliminate 50,000 jobs by 2030.
The figure places Germany’s largest industrial company in the midst of its most severe labour crisis in decades.
UPDATE: According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, the attack in Stade was a “crime of passion,” with personal connections to the youth facility. Based on the current state of the investigation, no political or extremist motive has been identified.
Six adults were killed in a shooting at a youth care facility in Stade, Lower Saxony, according to the Lüneburg police headquarters . Five people died at the scene, and a sixth succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Several other people were also injured, some seriously, police said. Details about the victims are not yet available.
6 people are dead following a mass shooting at a youth welfare facility in Germany.
Shots were fired in the Dankersstrasse area of Stade in Lower Saxony. The shooting took place near Stade police station.
German cops have arrested two suspects, having earlier said they had arrested a male suspect. They added that the motive for the shooting remains unclear.
‘This is going to be a huge shock for the people of Stade.’
Podcast host James Jackson explains the latest details emerging from Germany where five people have been killed after a shooting. pic.twitter.com/8YYHJ7v2Z4
— GB News (@GBNEWS) June 29, 2026
4 women 1 male dead, suspect arrested
‘Domestic intelligence agency warns of Islamist influence on German institutions.’ So announced German tabloid Bild in early June, after journalists got hold of a secret German intelligence-agency report.
The leaked report quoted Sinan Selen, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence services, who stated that Islamists, and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, are focussed on a long-term strategy aimed at ‘gradually transforming social and political decision-making processes’.
Germany is considering reintroducing compulsory military conscription for all men by 2027.
The country has attempted to bolster its armed forces through volunteer schemes to counter the growing threat from Russia, but lawmakers fear this is insufficient.
Thomas Röwekamp, chairman of the German parliament’s defence committee, warned that Berlin would have little choice but to revive conscription if ambitious recruitment targets were not met.
Germany’s voluntary military recruitment drive has yielded just 530 new recruits from almost 300,000 18-year-olds contacted this year, prompting harsh criticism of the government’s plans to rejuvenate the country’s armed forces.
Five months after the launch of Germany’s new military registration system, the Defence Ministry said it had sent questionnaires to 298,200 young men and women who turn 18 in 2026. While completing the questionnaire is mandatory for men, women are invited to participate voluntarily.
The Ministry for State Security (Stasi), the infamous secret police of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), was one of the most ruthless and pervasive instruments of repression ever created in Europe. Operating as the iron fist of the communist dictatorship, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), the Stasi maintained a suffocating web of surveillance over its own population. Nearly 91,000 full-time officers and up to 189,000 unofficial collaborators (Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter, IM) — meaning roughly one in every six or seven East Germans — was spying on family, colleagues, or friends.
The right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has opened up a commanding lead in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, according to a new poll, highlighting the continuing rise of the party across the country.
The survey places the AfD at 37%, 15 percentage points ahead of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke, which stands at 22%.
German prosecutors have charged two men with aggravated assault over the attack of an Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) councillor, including one suspect identified by German media as a local Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician. The case and the filed charges reflect increasing political violence against right-wing politicians.
Tweet translation – Norbert Raatz (AfD council member in the Hürth city council). He was repeatedly attacked by an SPD council member and faction leader, Lukas Gottschalk.
Norbert Raatz (Ratsmitglied der AfD im Hürther Stadtrat). Er wurde mehrfach von einem SPD-Ratsmitglied und Fraktionsvorsitzenden, Lukas Gottschalk, angegriffen.😡
#NiewiederGewaltgegenAfDler#Gewaltfreidemokratie#sowashatniemand verdient pic.twitter.com/GZXS2nu7XM
— AfD im Westen (@bootzip2) December 22, 2024
wo dangerous trends are coalescing in Germany: the deterioration of private life and the tyrannization of politics. The latter comes to light in the persecution of any political opinion marginally different from that of the government.
Private life deteriorates under pressure from a stagnant economy with its withering welfare state. Unending tax hikes are coupled with the erosion and increasing unreliability of social benefits.
Time to check in with Survival Lilly for an Austrian take on all things Europe. Well some things.
Alternative für Deutschland’s (AfD) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament member Michael Meister was brutally attacked outside his private residence in Rostock on Wednesday night, in what is being investigated as a politically motivated assault by suspected left-wing extremists.
Meister said he first felt “pressure in his back” and believes one of the attackers attempted to stab him from behind. The blow was reportedly stopped by a laptop inside his backpack. The AfD politician nevertheless sustained several injuries during the attack, including a “cut to his left arm,” a kick to his leg, and “at least one punch to the face.”
Germany has proven again that there is nothing it is more afraid of than democracy itself, especially when people vote the ‘wrong way.’
The country’s state interior ministers are discussing plans that could block future AfD-led state governments from accessing sensitive intelligence and criminal investigation data, according to Junge Freiheit.
The discussions are taking place within the Conference of Interior Ministers, a body that brings together the interior ministers of Germany’s 16 federal states.
Last week, Trump administration officials met with the German government to discuss Germany paying more for prescription drugs innovated and manufactured in America.
It’s about time.
Donald Trump has always hated that U.S. pharmaceutical companies charge Americans more than the big publicly funded healthcare systems in Europe.
🇵🇱🇩🇪German police were filmed beating Poles who carried a large cross to the Place of Remembrance for Poland 1939-1945, a monument to the Polish victims of WWII in Berlin.
The incident is threatening to turn into a diplomatic fiasco. pic.twitter.com/yM7dBYEH6e
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 16, 2026
The Iran war has made supplies of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, the most strategic since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Suddenly, countries are scrambling to get their hands on molecules that provide reliable baseload power to industries and homes.
That explains why Germany is buying LNG from Canada. It’s to ensure long-term energy security, reduce reliance on volatile global supplies, and diversify away from Middle Eastern and Russian energy markets.
h/t patthedog
The German Criminal Code’s controversial Section 188, which prohibits social media users from insulting or even criticizing politicians online, has become a hot topic in Germany again after a Facebook user was fined for over €2,000 for calling Chancellor Merz a “liar.”
Pollster INSA conducted a country-wide survey to discover what Germans actually think about the law, and found widespread opposition.
